hich I had been upon the point of firing
at the antelope. We could see that the buck was quite dead, and from
our hiding place we waited to discover the identity of his slayer when
the latter should approach and claim his kill.

We had not long to wait, and when I saw the head and shoulders of a man
appear above the crest of the knoll, I sprang to my feet, with a
heartfelt cry of joy, for it was Delcarte.

At the sound of my voice, Delcarte half raised his rifle in readiness
for the attack of an enemy, but a moment later he recognized me, and
was coming rapidly to meet us. Behind him was Snider. They both were
astounded to see me upon the north bank of the river, and much more so
at the sight of my companion.

Then I introduced them to Victory, and told them that she was queen of
England. They thought, at first, that I was joking. But when I had
recounted my adventures and they realized that I was in earnest, they
believed me.

They told me that they had followed me inshore when I had not returned
from the hunt, that they had met the men of the elephant country, and
had had a short and one-sided battle with the fellows. And that
afterward they had returned to the launch with a prisoner, from whom
they had learned that I had probably been captured by the men of the
lion country.

With the prisoner as a guide they had set off up-river in search of me,
but had been much delayed by motor trouble, and had finally camped
after dark a half mile above the spot where Victory and I had spent the
night. They must have passed us in the dark, and why I did not hear
the sound of the propeller I do not know, unless it passed me at a time
when the lions were making an unusually earsplitting din upon the
opposite side.

Taking the antelope with us, we all returned to the launch, where we
found Taylor as delighted to see me alive again as Delcarte had been.
I cannot say truthfully that Snider evinced much enthusiasm at my
rescue.

Taylor had found the ingredients for chemical fuel, and the distilling
of them had, with the motor trouble, accounted for their delay in
setting out after me.

The prisoner that Delcarte and Snider had taken was a powerful young
fellow from the elephant country. Notwithstanding the fact that they
had all assured him to the contrary, he still could not believe that we
would not kill him.

He assured us that his name was Thirty-six, and, as he could not count
above ten, I am sure that he had