er life. The baby
was brought into camp, wrapped up, and cared for, and it will never know
how near it came to being devoured by a leopard or a forest hog. It was
the crying of this baby that we heard, and we assumed that its mother
had cast it aside so that its wailing would not betray the hiding-place
of the remainder of her family. One can only imagine what her terror
must have been to make this sacrifice in the common interest.

Now, a three-months-old baby is a good deal of a problem for a _safari_
to handle. In our equipment we had made no provision for the care of
infants. We could wrap it up and keep it warm, and feed it canned milk,
but I imagine the proper care of a little babe requires even more than
that. It was imperative that we find the mother before the baby died.

[Drawing: _A Tent Boy Found It_]

So we first enjoined our mob of porters, who are chronically noisy, to
be quiet under penalty of a severe _kiboko_ punishment. We then sent out
Kavirondo, the big, good-natured porter who always acted as our
interpreter when dealing with the natives of the mountain district. He
spoke the dialects of the Wanderobo tribes. He was a messenger of peace,
and he was told to shout out through the forest that we were friendly,
that we had the baby, and that the mother should come and get it. We
felt absolutely certain that the sound of his voice would carry to where
the mother was hidden.

For an hour or more we heard the strong voice of Kavirondo crying out
his message of peace, and yet no answering cry came from the black
depths of the forest. It began to look as if we were one little black
baby ahead. In the meantime the baby was behaving beautifully. It was
wrapped warmly in a bath towel and seemed to enjoy the attention it was
receiving. Some one suggested that we leave it in the shack and then all
retire so that the mother could creep in and recover it. But this had
one objection--a leopard might creep in first.

We cooked our dinner and away off in the forest came the echoing shouts
of Kavirondo. The camp settled down to quiet and the camp-fires twinkled
among the towering trees. Then some one rushed in to say that the father
and mother had come in.

[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. "Kavirondo"]

[Photograph: Outlined Against the Sky]

[Photograph: A Reception Committee]

Kavirondo had restored the baby! There was an instant impulse to rush
down to see the glad reunion, but better counsel preva