ecruit?"

"Not exactly, Parnik, but one to whom I have promised shelter, for
a while. Ranji is dead. I should have been dead, too, and eaten;
had it not been for my comrade, here. Here is the skin of the beast
who slew Ranji and, when I tell you that the leopard stood with one
paw on me, you may guess that my escape was a narrow one."

"The brute was a large one," one of the other men said, as
Meinik--for such was the name of Stanley's companion--unrolled and
held the skin up. "I see it had a bullet between the eyes, and
another just behind the ear; and there is a knife cut behind the
shoulder. It must have been hot work, when it came to knives, with
a beast of that size."

"Give us some food, and cocoa; we have eaten nothing today, and
have walked far. When we have fed, I will tell you my story."

The Burman's recital of the adventure with the leopard excited
great applause, and admiration, from his comrades.

"'Tis wonderful," one said, "not so much that our new comrade
should have killed the leopard, though that was a great feat; but
that, armed only with a knife, he should attack a beast like this,
to save the life of a stranger. Truly I never heard of such a
thing. Has he all his senses?"

Meinik nodded. He had received permission from Stanley to say who
he was. Stanley had consented with some reluctance, but the man
assured him that he could trust his companions, as well as himself;
and that it was much better to tell the truth, as it would soon be
seen that his features differed altogether from their own and that,
therefore, he was some strange person in disguise.

"He is in his senses," he said, "but he does not see things as we
do. He is one of those English barbarians who have taken Rangoon,
and against whom our armies are marching. He was captured at Ramoo;
and sent by Bandoola, as a prisoner, to Ava. He has made his escape
and will, in a short time, go down the river; but at present the
search is too hot for him. So you see that he is, like ourselves, a
fugitive."

"What is his age?" one of the men asked, after a silence, during
which they all gazed at the newcomer.

"He is but a lad, being as he tells me between sixteen and
seventeen; but you see his skin is stained, and his face marked, so
as to give him the appearance of age."

"If the men of his race are as brave as he is, Meinik, our troops
will truly have harder work than they think to drive them into the
sea. Does he speak our tongue?"