ocular proof that I had--the weird rhamphorhynchus-like creature
which he had brought back with him from the inner world.

I came upon him quite suddenly, and no less unexpectedly, upon the
rim of the great Sahara Desert. He was standing before a goat-skin
tent amidst a clump of date palms within a tiny oasis. Close by
was an Arab douar of some eight or ten tents.

I had come down from the north to hunt lion. My party consisted
of a dozen children of the desert--I was the only "white" man. As
we approached the little clump of verdure I saw the man come from
his tent and with hand-shaded eyes peer intently at us. At sight
of me he advanced rapidly to meet us.

"A white man!" he cried. "May the good Lord be praised! I have
been watching you for hours, hoping against hope that THIS time
there would be a white man. Tell me the date. What year is it?"

And when I had told him he staggered as though he had been struck
full in the face, so that he was compelled to grasp my stirrup
leather for support.

"It cannot be!" he cried after a moment. "It cannot be! Tell me
that you are mistaken, or that you are but joking."

"I am telling you the truth, my friend," I replied. "Why should
I deceive a stranger, or attempt to, in so simple a matter as the
date?"

For some time he stood in silence, with bowed head.