shook himself
in his chair until his sword clanked on the floor.

"Now listen," he cried. "These men of whom we speak, the governor of
Zaila, the English colonel, the captain of the Aden steamer, and the
other two unfortunate Englishmen, not one of these men will ever come
out of Africa alive, I will wager a hundred thalers."

"Done!" cried Lieutenant von Leyden.

"Done!" echoed Dr. Goldbeck.

Hardly had the echoes of their voices died away when the sentry wheeled
about hastily and said: "Captain, something comes down the river. It has
just rounded the bend. It looks too large for a boat."

Captain Becker rushed down below, hurried back with a pair of glasses,
and took a long survey.

"It is a raft," he cried, turning to his companions. "Men are lying on
it; whether dead or alive I cannot tell. Man a boat at once. The current
runs swift, and we will have barely time to reach it."

The boat was ready almost as soon as they reached the ground, and under
the steady movement of four pairs of oars they shot swiftly out on the
yellow tide of the Juba.

In silence they approached the drifting object, the boat's prow cutting
sharply the opposing waves.

Now it was twenty yards away--ten yards--five-yards--then the boat
bumped gently on the logs and Dr. Goldbeck boarded the raft, followed
quickly by his two companions.

"_Meln himmel!_" he cried. "What can this mean? Six dead bodies!
Horrible! horrible!"

He turned pale for a moment. Then, as his professional instinct asserted
itself, he knelt beside the motionless forms, and one by one tore the
breast covering away and applied his hand to the heart.

"Ach!" he cried joyfully, rising to his feet, "they still live; there
still remains a spark of life! To the shore, quick! lose no time, or all
will die!"

A rope was speedily hitched to the raft, and the men began to pull
lustily for the bank.

"Captain Becker," exclaimed Lieutenant von Leyden, suddenly smacking
his knee, "you are two hundred thalers out of pocket. There lie the lost
men now. That is Sir Arthur Ashby with the sandy beard, and the others
are no doubt his companions."

"_Tausend donner!_ that is true!" cried the doctor. "You are right,
Carl. It is miraculous!"

Captain Becker smiled grimly, but said nothing.

A severe pull of ten minutes brought the raft to the little wharf, and
in the strong arms of the German soldiers the rescued men were borne
tenderly into the garrison-house and placed on c