the power," declared the lad. "I used full force
on the whale, just to see what it would do. It was the first tine
I'd tried it on anything alive. I can so regulate the charge that it
will kill even an elephant, and leave scarcely a mark on the beast."

"I'd like to see it done," remarked the old hunter.

"I'll show you, if we sight any sharks," promised Tom. He was able
to keep his word for that afternoon a school of the ugly fish
followed the steamer for the sake of the food scraps thrown
overboard. Tom took his position in the stern, and gave an
exhibition of shooting with his electric gun that satisfied even Mr.
Durban, exacting as he was.

For the lad, by using his heaviest charges, destroyed the largest
sharks so that they seemed to instantly disappear in the water, and
from that he toned down the current until he could kill some of the
monsters so easily and quickly that they seemed to float motionless
on the surface, yet there was no life left in them once the electric
charge touched them.

"We'll use the light charges when we're killing elephants for their
tusks," said Tom, "and the heavy ones when we're in danger from a
rush of the beasts."

He little knew how soon he would have to put his plan into effect.

They arrived safely at Majumba, the African coast city, and for two
days Tom was kept busy superintending the unloading of the parts of
his airship. But it was safely taken ashore, and he and his friends
hired a disused warehouse in which to work at reassembling the Black
Hawk.

Tom had everything down to a system, and, in less than a week the
aircraft was once more ready to be sent aloft. It was given a try-out,
much to the astonishment of the natives, and worked perfectly.
Then Tom and his friends busied themselves laying in a stock of
provisions and stores for the trip into the interior.

They made inquiries about the chances of getting ivory and were told
that they were good if they went far enough into the jungle and
forests, for the big beasts had penetrated farther and farther
inland.

They also tried to get some news regarding the captive missionaries,
but were unsuccessful nor could they learn what had become of Tomba,
who had brought the dire news to civilization.

"It's too soon to hope for anything yet," said Mr. Anderson. "Wait
until we get near the country of the red pygmies."

"And then it may be too late," said Tom in a low voice.

It was two weeks after their arrival in Maj