ice I was fortunate enough
to come upon the partially devoured `kill' of a lion--once it was a
zebra, and the other time it was a giraffe--still comparatively fresh;
and if it had not been for them I believe I should not have survived,
for I was literally at the end of my tether when I came upon them. And
I had no means of making a fire, you will understand. I struggled
along, however, as best I could, losing all count of dates, and crazy as
a loon more than half the time; and ultimately, a few miles on the other
side of the Orange River, I fell in with an elephant hunter named King,
who took care of me and finally handed me over to some friends of mine
who at that time lived in Cape Town. But although I told King--and a
good many other people, for that matter--what happened to me in
Mashonaland, and how I came to be in such a terrible plight, I always
omitted that part about the gold; and you, Ned, are the first and the
only one to whom I have ever mentioned it. And I would not have
mentioned it to you if I had not felt convinced that you possess all the
qualities necessary to enable you to go up there, get a load, and safely
bring it back with you."

CHAPTER FOUR.

I START UPON MY GREAT ADVENTURE.

In the privacy of my own room that night, after I had parted from the
major, I gave my most careful consideration to the suggestion which he
had thrown out; and despite the gruesome fate of the Dutchman, Van
Raalte, at the hands of the Mashonas, which my host had hinted at rather
than described, the project decidedly appealed to me. It is true that I
possessed no personal knowledge of the Mashonas, but I had an idea that,
in essentials, they would probably resemble pretty closely the Zulus, of
whom I knew something; and, if so, I could understand not only their
treatment of Van Raalte--and of my friend Henderson too, as Van Raalte's
companion and partner--but also that it might be quite possible for a
white man possessed of a certain amount of tact and a tolerably
comprehensive knowledge of the nature of the South African savage to
enter their country and leave it again in safety.

That there was gold in Mashonaland was news to me; for although I had
once or twice heard the general opinion casually expressed that South
Africa would perhaps some day be found to be rich in minerals, I had
never until now heard of the precious metal having actually been found,
and I felt sure that, had such a rumour ever gained cu