Africa, lay reasonable assurance of freedom.

Accompanied by a titled Englishwoman whom he had rescued from a
frightful fate, and his identity vouched for by her as that of a
Frenchman by the name of Frecoult, he had looked forward, and not
without reason, to the active assistance of the British from the
moment that he came in contact with their first outpost.

But now that Lady Greystoke had disappeared, though he still looked
toward the east for hope, his chances were lessened, and another,
subsidiary design completely dashed. From the moment that he had
first laid eyes upon Jane Clayton he had nursed within his breast
a secret passion for the beautiful American wife of the English
lord, and when Achmet Zek's discovery of the jewels had necessitated
flight, the Belgian had dreamed, in his planning, of a future in
which he might convince Lady Greystoke that her husband was dead,
and by playing upon her gratitude win her for himself.

At that part of the village farthest from the gates, Werper
discovered that two or three long poles, taken from a nearby pile
which had been collected for the construction of huts, had been
leaned against the top of the palisade, forming a precarious, though
not impossible avenue of escape.

Rightly, he inferred that thus had Lady Greystoke found the means
to scale the wall, nor did he lose even a moment in following her
lead. Once in the jungle he struck out directly eastward.

A few miles south of him, Jane Clayton lay panting among the branches
of a tree in which she had taken refuge from a prowling and hungry