west coast of Africa, instead of toward Zanzibar on the opposite side
of the dark continent.

When in a short time they reached the beach, only to find no camp in
sight, Philander was positive that they were north of their proper
destination, while, as a matter of fact they were about two hundred
yards south of it.

It never occurred to either of these impractical theorists to call
aloud on the chance of attracting their friends' attention. Instead,
with all the assurance that deductive reasoning from a wrong premise
induces in one, Mr. Samuel T. Philander grasped Professor Archimedes Q.
Porter firmly by the arm and hurried the weakly protesting old
gentleman off in the direction of Cape Town, fifteen hundred miles to
the south.

When Jane and Esmeralda found themselves safely behind the cabin door
the Negress's first thought was to barricade the portal from the
inside. With this idea in mind she turned to search for some means of
putting it into execution; but her first view of the interior of the
cabin brought a shriek of terror to her lips, and like a frightened
child the huge woman ran to bury her face on her mistress' shoulder.

Jane, turning at the cry, saw the cause of it lying prone upon the
floor before them--the whitened skeleton of a man. A further glance
revealed a second skeleton upon the bed.

"What horrible place are we in?" murmured the awe-struck girl. But
there was no panic in her fright.

At last, disengaging herself from the frantic clutch of the still
shrieking Esmeralda, Jane crossed the room to look into the little
cradle, knowing what she should see there even before the tiny skeleton
disclosed itself in all its pitiful and pathetic frailty.

What an awful tragedy these poor mute bones proclaimed! The girl
shuddered at thought of the eventualities which might lie before
herself and her friends in this ill-fated cabin, the haunt of
mysterious, perhaps hostile, beings.

Quickly, with an impatient stamp of her little foot, she endeavored to
shake off the gloomy forebodings, and turning to Esmeralda bade her
cease her wailing.

"Stop, Esmeralda, stop it this minute!" she cried. "You are only
making it worse."

She ended lamely, a little quiver in her own voice as she thought of
the three men, upon whom she depended for protection, wandering in the
depth of that awful forest.

Soon the girl found that the door was equipped with a heavy wooden bar
upon the inside, and after sever