Part 10 (2/2)

'What's to be done next?' said Sir Henry blankly

'Drift, I suppose,' I answered, and we drifted accordingly All the afternoon and well into the evening we floated on in the gloo when day ended and night began, for down in that vast gulf the difference was not ht above us, which, having nothing better to do, we observed with great interest Suddenly it vanished, the darkness beca sound filled the air 'Underground again,' I said with a groan, holding up the lamp Yes, there was no doubt about it I could just make out the roof

The chasm had come to an end and the tunnel had recoer and horror To describe all its incidents would be too wearisoht we struck on a flat projecting rock in mid-stream and were as nearly as possible overturned and drowned However, at last we got off, and went upon the uneven tenor of our way And so the hours passed till it was nearly three o'clock Sir Henry, Good, and Alphonse were asleep, utterly worn out; U, when I perceived that the rate at which ere travelling had perceptibly increased Then, suddenly, I heard Uaas make an excla branches, and I beca bushes or creepers Another minute, and the breath of sweet open air fanned ed fro upon clear water I say felt, for I could see nothing, the darkness being absolutely pitchy, as it often is just before the dawn But even this could scarcely damp my joy We were out of that dreadful river, and wherever weto be thankful for And so I sat down and inhaled the sweet night air and waited for the daith such patience as I could command

CHAPTER XI THE FROWNING CITY

For an hour or one to sleep also) till at length the east turned grey, and huge hosts of long-forgotten dawns

They were the vapours rising frorey turned to prilorious bars of light sprang up across the eastern sky, and through the upon their arroay, scattering the ghostly vapours and awaking the e and longitude to longitude

Another ates were open and the sun hiroo as of ten ht and covered her with brightness, and it was day

But as yet I could see nothing save the beautiful blue sky above, for over the water was a thick layer of h the whole surface had been covered with billows of cotton wool By degrees, however, the sun sucked up the lorious sheet of blue water of which I could not ht or ten miles behind us, however, there stretched as far as the eye could reach a range of precipitous hills that for wall of the lake, and I have no doubt but that it was through some entrance in these hills that the subterranean river found its way into the open water Indeed, I afterwards ascertained this to be the fact, and it will be soth and directness of the current of the mysterious river that the canoe, even at this distance, was still answering to it Presently, too, I, or rather Uaas, oke up just then, discovered another indication, and a very unpleasant one it was Perceiving soaas called ht the canoe to the spot, whereupon we discovered that the object was the body of a ineturned hinized in the sunken features the lineaments of--whom do you suppose? None other than our poor servant who had been sucked doo days before in the waters of the subterranean river It quite frightened ht that we had left him behind for ever, and behold! borne by the current, he had made the awful journey with us, and with us had reached the end His appearance also was dreadful, for he bore traces of having touched the pillar of fire--one ar burnt off The features were, as I have said, sunken, and yet they preserved upon the face as the poor felloas sucked down Really the sight unnerved one through, and I was heartily glad when suddenly and without any warning the body began to sink just as though it had had abeen acco that turning it on its back allowed a free passage to the gas Down it went to the transparent depths--fatho line of bright air-bubbles, swiftly chasing each other to the surface, alone reone, and that was an end of our poor servant

Uhtfully watched the body vanish

'What did he follow us for?' he asked ”Tis an ill ohed

I turned on hiestions

If people have such ideas, they ought in common decency to keep them to themselves I detest individuals who reeable presentied as a co one all about it at breakfast, even if they have to get up early to do it

Just then, however, the others woke up and began to rejoice exceedingly at finding that ere out of that dreadful river and once more beneath the blue sky Then followed a babel of talk and suggestions as to ere to do next, the upshot of all of which was that, as ere excessively hungry, and had nothing whatsoever left to eat except a few scraps of biltong (dried ga abandoned all that remained of our provisions to those horrible freshwater crabs, we determined to make for the shore But a new difficulty arose We did not knohere the shore was, and, with the exception of the cliffs through which the subterranean riverbut a wide expanse of sparkling blue water Observing, however, that the long flights of aquatic birds kept flying fro frorounds on shore to pass the day in the lake, and accordingly headed the boat towards the quarter whence they ca, however, a stiffish breeze sprang up, blowing directly in the direction anted, so we improvized a sail with a blanket and the pole, which took us along , washed doith the sweet lake water, and then lit our pipes and awaited whateverfor an hour, Good, as searching the horizon with the spy-glass, suddenly announced joyfully that he saw land, and pointed out that, froht wethe olden dowhat in the world it could be, Good reported another and still -boat was advancing towards us

This bit of nehich ere very shortly able to verify with our own eyes, threw us into a considerable flutter That the natives of this unknown lake should understand the art of sailing seeree of civilization In a few more minutes it beca boat had h in doubt, and then careat swiftness In ten more minutes she ithin a hundred yards, andthat she was a neat little boat--not a canoe 'dug out', but built more or less in the European fashi+on with planks, and carrying a singularly large sail for her size But our attention was soon diverted from the boat to her crehich consisted of a man and a woman, _nearly as white as ourselves_

We stared at each other in a that we must be mistaken; but no, there was no doubt about it They were not fair, but the two people in the boat were decidedly of a white as distinguished from a black race, as white, for instance, as Spaniards or Italians It was a patent fact So it was true, after all; and, mysteriously led by a Power beyond our oe had discovered this wonderful people I could have shouted for joy when I thought of the glory and the wonder of the thing; and as it e all shook hands and congratulated each other on the unexpected success of our wild search All my life had I heard ruhlands of this vast continent, and longed to put them to the proof, and now here I saith my own eyes, and was duht when he wrote 'Ex Africa semper aliquid novi', which he tells

The ood but not particularly fine physique, and possessed straight black hair, regular aquiline features, and an intelligent face He was dressed in a brown cloth gar like a flannel shi+rt without the sleeves, and in an uns and feet were bare Round the right ared to be gold

The woe eyes and curling brown hair Her dress was made of the same material as the man's, and consisted, as we afterwards discovered, first of a linen under-gar strip of cloth, about four feet wide by fifteen long, which ound round the body in graceful folds and finally flung over the left shoulder so that the end, which was dyed blue or purple or so of the wearer, hung down in front, the right ar dress, especially when, as in the present case, the wearer was young and pretty, it is quite is) was greatly struck with it, and so indeed was I It was so simple and yet so effective

Meanwhile, if we had been astonished at the appearance of the man and woman, it was clear that they were far more astonished at us As for the man, he appeared to be overcome with fear and wonder, and for a while hovered round our canoe, but would not approach At last, however, he cae that sounded soft and pleasing enough, but of which we could not understand one word So we hailed back in English, French, Latin, Greek, German, Zulu, Dutch, Sisutu, Kukuana, and a few other native dialects that I am acquainted with, but our visitor did not understand any of these tongues; indeed, they appeared to bewilder hi stock of us, and Good was returning the colass, a proceeding that she see unable to an to head off for the shore, his little boat ski away before the wind like a s As she passed across our bows the e sail, and Good pro lady I was horrified at this proceeding, both on general grounds and because I feared that she ht she did not, for, first glancing round and seeing that her husband, or brother, or whoever he as engaged, she promptly kissed hers back

'Ah!' said I 'It seee that the people of this country understand'

'In which case,' said Sir Henry, 'Good will prove an invaluable interpreter'

I frowned, for I do not approve of Good's frivolities, and he knows it, and I turned the conversation to more serious subjects 'It is very clear towith a host of his fellows, so we had bestto receive them'

'The question is hoill they receive us?' said Sir Henry

As for Good he an to extract a small square tin case that had accoe Noe had often remonstrated with Good about this tin case, inas to carry, and he had never given any very explicit account as to its contents; but he had insisted on keeping it, saying ht come in very useful one day