r find me, I feared, yet if they
did, what could they accomplish against this horde of savage warriors?

Would that I could warn them. I thought of the girl--doubtless she
could get word to them, but how was I to communicate with her? Would
she come to see me before I was killed? It seemed incredible that she
should not make some slight attempt to befriend me; yet, as I recalled,
she had made no effort to speak with me after we had reached the
village. She had hastened to her mother the moment she had been
liberated. Though she had returned with the old queen, she had not
spoken to me, even then. I began to have my doubts.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that I was absolutely friendless
except for the old queen. For some unaccountable reason my rage
against the girl for her ingratitude rose to colossal proportions.

For a long time I waited for some one to come to my prison whom I might
ask to bear word to the queen, but I seemed to have been forgotten.
The strained position in which I lay became unbearable. I wriggled and
twisted until I managed to turn myself partially upon my side, where I
lay half facing the entrance to the dugout.

Presently my attention was attracted by the shadow of something moving
in the trench without, and a moment later the figure of a child
appeared, creeping upon all fours, as, wide-eyed, and prompted by
childish curiosity, a little girl crawled to the entrance of my hut and
peered cautiously and fearfully in.

I did not speak at first for fear of frightening the little one away.
But when I was satisfied that her eyes had become sufficiently
accustomed to the subdued light of the interior, I smiled.

Instantly the expression of fear faded from her eyes to be replaced
with an answering smile.

"Who are you, little girl?" I asked.

"My name is Mary," she replied. "I am Victory's sister."

"And who is Victory?"

"You do not know who Victory is?" she asked, in astonishment.

I shook my head in negation.

"You saved her from the elephant country people, and yet you say you do
not know her!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, so she is Victory, and you are her sister! I have not heard her
name before. That is why I did not know whom you meant," I explained.
Here was just the messenger for me. Fate was becoming more kind.

"Will you do something for me, Mary?" I asked.

"If I can."

"Go to your mother, the queen, and ask her to come to me," I said. "I
have a favor to ask."