s, to
impute nothing and to infer nothing which he could not prove up to the
very hilt, and there were, moreover, personal facts arising from the
explanation, facts of which his whole soul abhorred the revelation, and
of which nothing short of the iron hand of stern necessity would
persuade him to speak, even to Leigh.

By the camp fire that night the white men consulted long and earnestly,
whilst their sable followers crouched near them in the gloom, in abject
fear of the arrival of another unwelcome messenger from the mysterious
rifles of their unseen foes.

Not one single instant would these black fellows have remained beside
our two friends had they possessed even the ghost of a notion of where
to run to, but to their terror-stricken minds the whole vast unknown of
Central Africa, backed by their white masters, was preferable to facing
the certainty of having to retrace their undefended steps through the
Black Pass of the Dark Spirit of Evil, whose weird natural horrors were
so ably seconded by unseen, but none the less unerring, marksmen.

The conclusion that Leigh and Kenyon ultimately came to was, that they
had better coast round the slaver's supposed position in an easterly
direction, making themselves thoroughly acquainted with the general run
of the country, and keeping, meantime, their present distance from the
pass, gradually work in a semicircle until they again reached the
eastern exit of the kloof, when they would once more make a determined
and final effort to fathom the secret of the place; and in accordance
with this resolution the little band struck their tents at daybreak, and
to the delight of the natives once more turned their faces towards the
rising sun.

For a full hour the little party marched cheerfully eastwards, and then
their journeying in that direction was brought to a sudden and
unpleasant end by the two leading natives disappearing into the ground
without a moment's warning. No power on earth could save the wretched
men, who vanished into the morass--for such it was--ere any of the party
had even time to stretch out a hand to help them.

The rest of the black fellows drew cautiously away, with their teeth
chattering, and uttered cries indicative of intense fear, and no
possible argument would induce any of them to again take the lead, so
that Kenyon and Leigh had to get in front of the party and run the
entire risk, whilst these cowards leisurely and safely followed them at
a res