ried, in consternation.

"Well, we must just go back and fetch 'em. I couldn't bring 'em with
me. Challenger was up the tree, and Summerlee was not fit for the
effort. The only chance was to get the guns and try a rescue. Of
course they may scupper them at once in revenge. I don't think they
would touch Challenger, but I wouldn't answer for Summerlee. But they
would have had him in any case. Of that I am certain. So I haven't
made matters any worse by boltin'. But we are honor bound to go back
and have them out or see it through with them. So you can make up your
soul, young fellah my lad, for it will be one way or the other before
evenin'."

I have tried to imitate here Lord Roxton's jerky talk, his short,
strong sentences, the half-humorous, half-reckless tone that ran
through it all. But he was a born leader. As danger thickened his
jaunty manner would increase, his speech become more racy, his cold
eyes glitter into ardent life, and his Don Quixote moustache bristle
with joyous excitement. His love of danger, his intense appreciation
of the drama of an adventure--all the more intense for being held
tightly in--his consistent view that every peril in life is a form of
sport, a fierce game betwixt you and Fate, with Death as a forfeit,
made him a wonderful companion at such hours. If it were not for our
fears as to the fate of our companions, it would have been a positive
joy to throw myself with such a man into such an affair. We were
rising from our brushwood hiding-place when suddenly I felt his grip
upon my arm.

"By George!" he whispered, "here they come!"

From where we lay we could look down a brown aisle, arched with green,
formed by the trunks and branches. Along this a party of the ape-men
were passing. They went in single file, with bent legs and rounded
backs, their hands occasionally touching the ground, their heads
turning to left and right as they trotted along. Their crouching gait
took away from their height, but I should put them at five feet or so,
with long arms and enormous chests. Many of them carried sticks, and
at the distance they looked like a line of very hairy and deformed
human beings. For a moment I caught this clear glimpse of them. Then
they were lost among the bushes.

"Not this time," said Lord John, who had caught up his rifle. "Our
best chance is to lie quiet until they have given up the search. Then
we shall see whether we can't get back to their town a