water, and with an ordinary load the platform would be at
least a foot above the surface. The whole fabric was very strong, for
the platform itself was formed of saplings which were lashed carefully,
and no ordinary shock would break up the raft. A small bulwark was then
run around the edges.

At the end of a week the second raft also lay completed, and now the
boys had to face the somewhat difficult task of explaining their purpose
to Mbopo. They took him over to the sacred hut, and Burt pointed to the
ivory tusks, with gestures of uprooting them.

"Take him to Buburika Mac," he explained over and over. "You go along.
Come back afterwards."

Mbopo looked doubtful as he grasped the idea that the tusks were to be
loaded on the rafts. Finally, however, he nodded and the boys drew a
breath of relief. That they would be obeyed now they had no fear at all,
for the pigmies were their devoted slaves in every way, and stood in
evident awe of the two boys and especially of "Mwanzi."

This belief was confirmed when Mbopo addressed the tribe in a great
council that night. The pigmies made not the slightest opposition, and
the boys could see by his gestures that he was describing their desires.

"All right," murmured Burt as the two short guttural barks ascended from
the audience, "it's all over but the shouting, Critch. S'pose we can get
the stuff loaded up to-morrow?"

"We ought to," replied his chum. "We'll have to see first. Those thorns
are tangled up with the tusks somethin' fierce."

Next morning the entire tribe left the village and approached the
sacred hut of Pongo. Under the direction of Mbopo, who took matters into
his own hands now, the work of uprooting the ivory was begun. This was
difficult, but by evening the last of the great tusks lay in the pile by
the river edge. All that remained was to load them aboard the rafts.
This, however, would be no easy matter, for the tusks were heavy and the
balance of the rafts must be preserved.

Critch took charge of the loading, while Burt attended to getting
provisions together for the journey. There was dried meat in abundance,
and plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. The boys had a long
consultation over loading the ivory, for even with the protection of the
dwarfs a raftload of tusks would be too much of an inducement for the
tribes they were sure to meet.

At length it was settled by making a layer of tusks, of which there were
thirty-nine in all, on the platfor