p and
whispered:

"The guns in his hut!"

"Ah, true," and Simba turned round and gave Niani a couple of guns, to
Kalulu he gave one, he reserved one for himself, then went into the hut,
found the powder bag, the load of bullets and ammunition; snatched a
bow, a quiver full of arrows, a couple of spears, and a long Arab sword,
which Tifum had also appropriated, and with the booty, too valuable to
be measured at a money value for such an expedition as he now proposed
to himself, he withdrew as silently as he had come.

Once at the tree the guns were distributed, one to Abdullah, one to
Moto, the "Joe Manton" to Selim, who hugged it to his heart, while Simba
retained another. To Kalulu he gave a spear with the bow, and a quiver
full of arrows. Niani got another spear, while he also received the
precious powder-keg to carry. Simba carried the bullets and sword.
Kalulu still carried the ghastly load, but nothing was said to any of
the others of the deed that was done. Simba merely said "Come," and the
five followed him obediently.

"Four hours more of night till dawn," said Simba, after they had got a
little distance off. "We must march south. Come."

In a hard, dry, trackless forest, when once a fugitive escapes it
becomes impossible to find him. Had Kalulu not taken the precaution to
strip himself of his cloth, and place the head of Tifum in it, it is
probable that the fugitives might have been pursued; but there was no
clue to the direction they had taken, for five hundred warriors had
trodden the ground all around while hunting for fruit, or sticks, or
water for cooking, the day before, even if the hard drouthy ground might
have received the impression of a few men's naked feet. And the natural
questions the warriors would ask themselves and each other in the
morning would be, "Which way have they gone? Is it north, south, east,
or west? or any other of the lesser or intermediate points?" to which,
of course, no definite answer could be given; while the more
superstitious would say, "Ah! it is Soltali who has taken them away!"
and would fear to leave their fellows.

Simba, Moto, and Kalulu knew this, and though they journeyed fast, they
journeyed confidently. But, as each of the party was busy with his own
thoughts, no words were exchanged until it was grey morning, and day had
more power to pierce the gloom of the forest than the old moon, which
but faintly showed them their way before morning, when Sel