rumpeted the gigantic King. The two camps
were separated by a space of a few miles, but as from both sides they
drew to each other simultaneously, the whole trip did not last long.
Soon the rifle shots could not only be heard but seen. Yet one last
sky-rocket flew out in the air not farther than a few hundred paces.
After that numerous lights glistened. The slight elevation of the
ground hid them for a while, but when Stas passed it he found himself
almost in front of a row of negroes holding in their hands burning
torches.

At the head of the row were two Europeans, in English helmets and with
rifles in their hands.

With one glance of the eye Stas recognized them as being Captain Glenn
and Doctor Clary.

XXV

The object of the Captain Glenn and Doctor Clary expedition was not at
all to find Stas and Nell. It was a large and abundantly equipped
government expedition despatched to explore the eastern and northern
slopes of the gigantic mountain Kilima-Njaro, as well as the
little-known vast regions lying north of that mountain. The captain as
well as the doctor knew indeed about the abduction of the children from
Medinet el-Fayum, as intelligence of it was published in the English
and Arabian papers, but they thought that both were dead or were
groaning in slavery under the Mahdi, from whom thus far not a European
had been rescued. Clary, whose sister married Rawlinson in Bombay and
who was very much charmed by little Nell during the trip to Cairo, felt
keenly her loss. But with Glenn, he mourned also for the brave boy.
Several times they sent despatches from Mombasa to Mr. Rawlinson asking
whether the children were found, and not until the last unfavorable
reply, which came a considerable time before the starting of the
caravan, did they finally lose all hope.

And it never even occurred to them that the children imprisoned in
distant Khartum could appear in that locality. Often, however, they
conversed about them in the evening after finishing their daily labors,
for the doctor could by no means forget the beautiful little girl.

In the meantime the expedition advanced farther and farther. After a
long stay on the eastern slope of Kilima-Njaro, after exploring the
upper courses of the Sabak and Tany rivers, as well as Kenia Mountain,
the captain and doctor turned in a northerly direction, and after
crossing the marshy Guasso-Nijiro they entered upon a vast plain,
uninhabited and frequented by countless her