omforts of civilisation which in the forest they so woefully lacked.

Alec was delirious when they moved him. It was fortunate that he could
not be told of Adamson's death, which had taken place three days before.
The good, strong Scotchman had succumbed at last to the African climate;
and on this, his third journey, having surmounted all the perils that
had surrounded him for so long, almost on the threshold of home, he had
sunk and died. He was buried at the foot of a great tree, far down so
that the jackals might not find him, and Condamine with a shaking voice
read over him the burial service from an English prayerbook.

It seemed a miracle that Alec survived the exhaustion of the long
tramp. He was jolted along elephant paths that led through dense bush,
up stony hills and down again to the beds of dried-up rivers. Each time
Condamine looked at the pale, wan man who lay in the litter, it was with
a horrible fear that he would be dead. They began marching before
sunrise, swiftly, to cover as much distance as was possible before the
sun grew hot; they marched again towards sunset when a grateful coolness
refreshed the weary patient. They passed through interminable forests,
where the majestic trees sheltered under their foliage a wealth of
graceful, tender plants: from trunk and branch swung all manner of
creepers, which bound the forest giants in fantastic bonds. They forded
broad streams, with exquisite care lest the sick man should come to
hurt; they tramped through desolate marshes where the ground sunk under
their feet. And at last they reached the station. Alec was still alive.

For weeks the tender skill of the medical missionary and the loving
kindness of his wife wrestled with death, and at length Alec was out of
danger. His convalescence was very slow, and it looked often as though
he would never entirely get back his health. But as soon as his mind
regained its old activity, he resumed direction of the affairs which
were so near his heart; and no sooner was his strength equal to it than
he insisted on being moved to Nairobi, where he was in touch with
civilisation, and, through the commissioner, could influence a supine
government to accept the precious gift he offered. All this took many
months, months of anxious waiting, months of bitter disappointment; but
at length everything was done: the worthy Condamine was given the
appointment that Alec had desired and set out once more for the
interior; Great Br