rders to prevent
any such visit, by lying to us or in other ways. We probably would have
gone surging past here at top speed."

"Wal, it don't git us nothin' to talk about things that 'ain't
happened," interposed the practical Tim. "Question is, where do we go
from here? And how?"

All eyes went to the coronel, who sat languidly smoking his morning
cigar.

"Coronel, we are in your hands," McKay said, bluntly. "Your men, I
presume, are all out at work in various parts of the bush. We want a
crew and, if possible, guides. Can you help us?"

The coronel flicked off an ash and spoke slowly:

"I have two men, senhores, who have no peers as bushmen. They are the
two whom you saw yesterday. Frankly, they are most valuable to me, and I
hesitate about sending them on so dangerous a mission as yours. Yet they
might succeed where most men would fail, for they have repeatedly gone
into the bush on risky journeys and returned unharmed. Their adventures
would fill books.

"The older of these two, Lourenco Moraes, has been more than once among
the cannibals of this region, and so he knows something of them.
Naturally he did not live long among them; he left them as soon as he
could. But he has the faculty of extricating himself from hopeless
positions--or perhaps it would be better to say that his cool head and
good fortune together have preserved him thus far. '_Tanta vez vae o
cantaro a fonte ate gue um dia la fica_'--the pitcher may go often to
the spring, but some day it remains there.

"Pedro Andrada, the younger, is not so steady and cool-headed as
Lourenco. Yet he is a most capable man, and the two together--they are
always together--make a very efficient team."

"I bet they do," Tim concurred, heartily. "I like that Pedro lad fine."

"So do I," the coronel smiled. "Now, gentlemen, I will not order these
men to go with you. If they go it must be of their own choice. They have
only recently returned from a hazardous mission and they are entitled to
rest. Yet I have little doubt that they will jump at the chance to risk
their lives in a new venture. If they choose to go, I suggest that you
place yourselves entirely in their hands and give them free rein. You
would look far for better men."

"And we're lucky to get them," Knowlton acquiesced. "To them and to you
we shall be greatly indebted."

"Not to me, senhor," the coronel demurred "I do nothing but bring you
men together. Theirs is the risk. 'Tonio! Find Pedro an