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BRAVE AND BOLD, «| 4g
ried splashing of oars, which told them. that Doe Clancy .
and his crowd, had, taken to their boat: and were, proceed-
ing up the river. ||
‘By the. aid. of,a elle. brandy Jack Howard’ “managed
to bring. his fair charge. out of her faint, and when her
eyes rested upon the kindly faces about her.a sigh of re-
lief left the girl’s lips.
She explained how she came to be in the clutches of
* a heavy, poisonous dew would fall; the fumes of, which
the .rascally.men‘in a very few words. ~.
She was from the little town of Cooloo, where she had
always lived. Her-parents were natives. ‘of Cape .Town,
but since her earliest infancy had lived on the banks of
the Congo River.
Her. father made his living by ‘hunting and trapping,
and had started with a boat load:of skins down the river,
to a trading station a_few- miles from its mouth.
The girl, who. gave her name as Masie Langford, 2
accompanied her father on his trip. -
That night. they camped on the. banks of the river’
about a quarter of a mile above our friends.
Being a little restless, Masie. left her. tent. near: mid-
nicht and strolled down to the water’s edge.
She had scarcely reached it when she was "pounced upon ) Tt did not take them a great while to outht Van, the
by. four men and carried cff-into.the forest.
She did not get an opportunity to cry out until she
uttered the screams heard by our friends..
‘Just as the girl concluded her story the blast of. a horn
was heard from a point up ‘the river.
“That is father!” exclaimed. the girl.
found out that I am missing. I must go to him-at once.
_ Iam mutch obliged to you, gentlemen, for your kindness.”
She turned her bright eyes upon. Jack Howard as she
spoke.
That young man promptly took. the hint and offered
to escort her back to her father. -
await Jack’s return.
It was the best. part of an hour before the young man
got back, and when he did so, he said he had placed the
girl safely under her father’s care,.who seemed. to. be
oa nice old man, indeed, and was a very talkative one, too.
“Masie Langford i is too nice a girl to be living in these
wilds,” said he.after a pause. “But, pshaw!
that is the last we shall ever see of her.”
The next morning the party once more set out on their
journey up the river.
Jack Howard was on the lookout for the boat of Lang:
ford, the hunter, but as that had gone down the river at
the breaking of day, he did not get an opportunity to see
the girl he “had become suddenly interested in.
And so they kept on for five days, finding traces of
_Doc Clancy on the banks of the river almost every night.
They had now reached a branch of the river which
pointed northeast toward the very heart of the unknown
interior.
It did not. take them long to find. that Clancy had
gone that way, as traces of camp fires could be. found
on the bank.
“T was sure they would go this way,” said Jack Howard,
“Clancy? s companions know the course we had mapped |
out, and they think we are in search of some yast treasure ; ;
and, consequently, they want to get. there’ ahead of us.’
“He has just
I Stippose :
The further our friends proceeded up the now: narrow
“stream, the more dangers they were forced to encounter.
Crocodiles were now as thick as the. hair on the back. }
of a dog, and they were careful not to run the boat against. 5}
any of the ferocious creatures.
The climate at this point was very bad.
during. the day that none of our friends dared trust them-
selves in the stin over ten minutes at a time; and at night
threatened to give all hands the fever.
But, thanks to Dr. Pestle’s ample supply of medicine, ,
all kept i in ‘excellent health.
- Two weeks had elapsed since. they had started up the:
river, and they had. now reached a point where it- was
impossible to proceed any further with the boat.
a e- ‘ .
“CHAPTER VII. .
VAN’S: PERIL 0 a
Jack Howard and his companions were admirably
equipped for an overland journey through | the African.
wilds.
mate and Gregory, the sailor, as well as they were them-
selves.
Each one of the six wore high top boots, buckskin
breeclies, and broad-brimmed straw hats. They also car-
ried knapsacks over their shoulders,
filled with useful articles.
Before starting out on foot they hauled their boat well
up from the muddy stream and covered it with boughs
“and leaves, as they found Doc Clancy had done before
them.
in advance of our friends.
This part of the country was so ‘thickly wooded that in
many places the rays of the sun never reached the ground. .
Poisonous serpents held carnival here, and the explor-— }
ers had.to be continually on the watch for them.
Just before sunset they came toa halt, weary from their
first day’s tramp.
Thus far they had not been molested by savages, : _
though they had passed through the domain of more than ~
one band.
If they had been a large, regular organized exploring
party, they would have had no end of trouble, as they
would then have visited black tribes, supposed to be
friendly, and begged permission of ‘them to proceed
through the various kingdoms.
In this way. their presence would become known to
every tribe within fifty miles of them, no matter in what
section they might be, as was the case with Stanley and
other great explorers. '
But our little party were in for it on their own hook,
and asked permission from no one to travel on their way.
They would be all right so long as ‘they were not inter-
cepted by some roving “band.
Jack Howard calculated that they were now in a section
of country where no one had ever, been. before, save the
natives and the villains they were following. |
Prof. Drearland made a rather lengthy note of this, and
seemed much pleased at his young friend’ ’s idea of it.
It was so hot.
which | _were well |
By the looks of the trail made by the murderer and his
Accor dingly the two set out along the - river bank, our followers they must. have arrived there fully two days
hero and his companions taking. seats. about the fire to.
2 aa end pte Ho
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