preparations were completed, and that he would leave immediately. What
could I do then? I did the only thing there was to be done, and hurried
to Alexandria. Of course he had left the place before my letter reached
it; and I learned that from the rapid way in which he set out he must
already be far out of reach. Even then I would have gone after him, and
tracked him to the sources of the Nile themselves, if I had been able.
But I had no experience in travel of that kind. I couldn't manage a band
of Arabs, for I didn't know a word of their language, and of course I
could not stop to study it. That idea would have been absurd. Besides,
other reasons had weight with me, and so I came reluctantly back."

"Africa! the sources of the Nile!" exclaimed Edith, dolefully. "I can't
understand why he should have chosen those places."

"Well, it is no new idea. It is a thing that he has had in his mind for
years. I have heard him talk of it long ago. I remember hearing him,
once say that the only chance now remaining by which a man could gain
brilliant distinction was the discovery of the sources of the Nile.
Every other part of the world, he said, is known."

"How long should you think he might be absent on such a journey?" asked
Edith, anxiously.

"How long? Ah! Miss Dalton, so long that it should not be thought of.
Years must elapse before he returns."

"Years!"

"Yes--if he ever does return," said Dudleigh, in a mournful voice. "With
him now the question is not, When will he return? but rather, Will he