robation decided him.

"It iss goot," said the doctor anxiously. "We haf come for elephant,
please."

"All right," and the American's face cleared as he held out his hand to
the Arab. "We'll split even, Selim!"

"Hurray!" shouted Charlie in delight. "Bully for you, General! Good
work, Jack!"

"That is entirely agreeable," smiled Selim, as he gripped Schoverling's
hand. "Now, my friends, we have been in this country for two days, and I
have many affairs to get back to. There is no reason why we should delay
here for an hour. It is still two hours to sunset, and our camels could
cover much ground before then. So, if you are willing, let us divide the
spoils and I will trouble you no more."

"That suits us," exclaimed the explorer, springing to his feet. "Come
along and we'll have a look at the stuff."

Casting a glance opposite as they arose, Charlie saw that the Arabs had
started a fire and seemed to be eating, while the camels grazed. The
party left the zareba and moved over to the stockade. Jack threw the
canvas from the two piles, and for a moment the Arab's eyes glittered as
he surveyed the great heap of ivory.

"Those tusks," he said, "will be hard for us to carry off. We had
thought to sling them on our camels, but after our experience of that
desert to the north it would make hard work, I fear."

"Well," suggested Charlie, "you might swap your share of the ivory for
some of our gold-dust. That would make it easier to carry."

"Yes," added the General thoughtfully. "We can carry the tusks easily
enough in the wagon. There are sixteen each, Selim, and the same number
of bags. Here's one I cut open."

The Arab ran the soft gold-dust through his fingers for a moment.

"There is no use stopping to count or weigh all this, Schoverling. Each
tusk must be worth, at an average, some fifteen pounds at the coast.
Each of these bags seems to be of a size, and they are probably weighed
to the same amount. My share of the ivory is worth, at a guess, some two
hundred and forty pounds, or twelve hundred of your dollars. What would
you say the dust weighs?"

"That is a little hard to say," returned the American. "I rather think,
however, that an estimate of about two hundred and fifty dollars--or
fifty pounds a bag--would be just about right. If that suits you, I'm
agreeable."

"I think that is nearly correct," smiled Selim, nodding. "It is, I
believe, slightly an under-estimate, but that matters little. Then, at