ce I found I could do so, and one day mentioned
to my uncle that I had not only done so, but had saved fifty pounds.

But one event occurred during this period, which broke the monotony of
civilised life.

It was on a Sunday afternoon, during the winter time, that my uncle
accompanied me, to call on a family who lived on the borders of
Hampstead Heath. Some of the members of this family were much
interested in my adventures in Africa, and I had promised to bring over
a knob-kerrie made of the horn of a rhinoceros, to show one of the
daughters who was an invalid, and could not visit my uncle's house to
see the few African curiosities that I had there. We stayed at this
house till it became dusk, and then set out on our walk home. At that
date Hampstead Heath was a lonely place, and robberies were not
unfrequent. It occurred to me, soon after we had commenced our walk,
that if I were alone I might possibly have an adventure, which I
believed would have been amusing. Armed as I was with this formidable
knob-kerrie, I could have felled an ox; then I had not neglected my
running, and I felt certain that not one Englishman in a thousand could
catch me, in case I chose to run. I did not expect that two men walking
across the Heath were likely to be stopped by highwaymen. As these
ideas crossed my mind, my uncle said, "This heath is rather a dangerous
locality to be in late at night: there have been several robberies here
lately."

"I was just thinking of that," I replied, "but I suppose the robbers
don't use firearms."

"Not if they can help it," said my uncle, "as that would make too much
noise."

As we wended our way across the heath, I watched carefully the ground in
advance. Although it was a darkish evening I could still see several
yards in front of me. Everything was quiet, and we seemed the only
people out at the hour. Suddenly, from some bushes near the path, three
men jumped up, and were at once within a yard of us.

"Now then," said one of these men, "just hand out what you've got,
before we knock your brains out."

He had scarcely spoken, before I had lunged at the lower part of his
chest with my knob-kerrie, the point of which was sharp as a knife.
Shifting my hand to the sharp end, I brought the heavy knob down on the
head of the man next to me, who fell as though he had been shot. The
third man had grappled with my uncle, and the two were struggling
together; for my uncle, although old, was s