return
of the Kaffir; but would he surely come? They knew that travelling in
Africa was a very uncertain business. Their present position was proof
that some accident might occur to hinder him from reaching the camp.

By this time they were almost certain that some serious misfortune,
perhaps death itself, had befallen Hendrik.

As if to confirm them in this belief, just then three large crocodiles
were seen swimming around the rock, lingering there, as though they
expected ere long to get their sharp teeth into the flesh of those who
stood upon it.

The great hunter became angered at the sight. It suggested the probable
fate of their companion, as it might, in time, be their own. He seized
hold of his roer, and, drawing the damp charge, freshly loaded the gun.
Aiming at the eye of one of the hideous monsters, he pulled trigger.

The loud report was followed by a heavy plunging in the water, and the
behaviour of the crocodile gave evidence of the correctness of the
hunter's aim.

After springing bodily above the surface, it fell back again, and
commenced spinning around, with a velocity that threw showers of spray
over those, who stood watching its death-struggles.

Its two companions retreated down the river, and, as the brothers saw
them depart, the thoughts of both were dwelling upon the same subject.

Both were thinking of Hendrik! We also must go down stream, and see
what has become of him.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

FROM BAD TO WORSE.

On finding himself in the water as he parted from his companions,
Hendrik had not much exertion to make.

A gentle motion of the limbs sustained him on the surface, and he was
borne onward with a velocity that promised a speedy termination of his
voyage.

Some place must soon be reached where the banks would be low enough to
be ascended, and the current not too quick to hinder him from crossing
to the shore. He was spirited past several rocks, one of which he only
avoided with great difficulty, so swiftly did the current carry him
along.

When about a mile from his companions, as he supposed himself, he saw
that the banks on both sides were shelving and he tried to reach the
shore.

The current was still rapid as ever, and for each foot made in the
direction of the land, he was borne several yards down the channel of
the stream.

The velocity with which he was moving awoke in his mind a vague sense of
a danger not thought of before starting, and altogethe