aboons. The full horror of what had happened flashed into my mind.

My wife and Tota had been carried off by the baboons. As yet they had
not been killed, for if so their remains would have been found with
those of the dogs. They had been carried off. The brutes, acting under
the direction of that woman-monkey, Hendrika, had dragged them away to
some secret den, there to keep them till they died--or kill them!

For a moment I literally staggered beneath the terror of the shock. Then
I roused myself from my despair. I bade the native run and alarm the
people at the kraals, telling them to come armed, and bring me guns and
ammunition. He went like the wind, and I turned to follow the spoor. For
a few yards it was plain enough--Stella had been dragged along. I could
see where her heels had struck the ground; the child had, I presumed,
been carried--at least there were no marks of her feet. At the water's
edge the spoor vanished. The water was shallow, and they had gone along
in it, or at least Hendrika and her victim had, in order to obliterate
the trail. I could see where a moss-grown stone had been freshly turned
over in the water-bed. I ran along the bank some way up the ravine, in
the vain hope of catching a sight of them. Presently I heard a bark in
the cliffs above me; it was answered by another, and then I saw that
scores of baboons were hidden about among the rocks on either side, and
were softly swinging themselves down to bar the path. To go on unarmed
as I was would be useless. I should only be torn to pieces as the dogs
had been. So I turned and fled back towards the huts. As I drew near I
could see that my messenger had roused the settlement, for natives with
spears and kerries in their hands were running up towards the kraals.
When I reached the hut I met old Indaba-zimbi, who wore a very serious
face.

"So the evil has fallen, Macumazahn," he said.

"It has fallen," I answered.

"Keep a good heart, Macumazahn," he said again. "She is not dead, nor is
the little maid, and before they die we shall find them. Remember this,
Hendrika loves her. She will not harm her, or allow the babyans to harm
her. She will try to hide her away from you, that is all."

"Pray God that we may find her," I groaned. "The light is going fast."

"The moon rises in three hours," he answered; "we will search by
moonlight. It is useless to start now; see, the sun sinks. Let us get
the men together, eat, and make things ready. _Ha