h are on Dingo's collar!"

Then, all at once, turning to the old black: "Tom," he asked, "have you
not told me that this dog only belonged to the captain of the 'Waldeck'
for a short time?"

"In fact, sir," replied Tom, "Dingo was only on board two years at the
most."

"And have you not added that the captain of the 'Waldeck' had picked up
this dog on the western coast of Africa?"

"Yes, sir, in the neighborhood of the mouth of the Congo. I have often
heard the captain say so."

"So," asked Captain Hull, "it has never been known to whom this dog had
belonged, nor whence it came?"

"Never, sir. A dog found is worse than a child! That has no papers,
and, more, it cannot explain."

Captain Hull was silent, and reflected.

"Do those two letters, then, awake some remembrance?" Mrs. Weldon asked
Captain Hull, after leaving him to his reflections for some moments.

"Yes, Mrs. Weldon, a remembrance, or rather a coincidence at least
singular."

What?"

"Those two letters might well have a meaning, and fix for us the fate
of an intrepid traveler."

"What do you mean?" demanded Mrs. Weldon.

"Here is what I mean, Mrs. Weldon. In 1871--consequently two years
ago--a French traveler set out, under the auspices of the Paris
Geographical Society, with the intention of crossing Africa from the
west to the east. His point of departure was precisely the mouth of the
Congo. His point of arrival would be as near as possible to Cape
Deldago, at the mouths of the Rovuma, whose course he would descend.
Now, this French traveler was named Samuel Vernon."

"Samuel Vernon!" repeated Mrs. Weldon.

"Yes, Mrs. Weldon; and those two names begin precisely by those two
letters which Dingo has chosen among all the others, and which are
engraved on its collar."

"Exactly," replied Mrs. Weldon. "And that traveler----"

"That traveler set out," replied Captain Hull, "and has not been heard
of since his departure."

"Never?" said the novice.

"Never," repeated Captain Hull.

"What do you conclude from it?" asked Mrs. Weldon.

"That, evidently, Samuel Vernon has not been able to reach the eastern
coast of Africa, whether he may have been made prisoner by the natives,
whether death may have struck him on the way."

"And then this dog?"

"This dog would have belonged to him; and, more fortunate than its
master, if my hypothesis is true, it would have been able to return to
the Congo coast, because it was there, at the time when