yet no sign of living man appeared. Mugambi shook his head, and
continued along the trail, but with redoubled caution.

All day he traveled, stopping occasionally to call aloud the single
word, "Lady," in the hope that at last she might hear and respond;
but in the end his loyal devotion brought him to disaster.

From the northeast, for several months, Abdul Mourak, in command of
a detachment of Abyssinian soldiers, had been assiduously searching
for the Arab raider, Achmet Zek, who, six months previously, had
affronted the majesty of Abdul Mourak's emperor by conducting a
slave raid within the boundaries of Menelek's domain.

And now it happened that Abdul Mourak had halted for a short rest
at noon upon this very day and along the same trail that Werper
and Mugambi were following toward the east.

It was shortly after the soldiers had dismounted that the Belgian,
unaware of their presence, rode his tired mount almost into their
midst, before he had discovered them. Instantly he was surrounded,
and a volley of questions hurled at him, as he was pulled from his
horse and led toward the presence of the commander.

Falling back upon his European nationality, Werper assured Abdul
Mourak that he was a Frenchman, hunting in Africa, and that he had
been attacked by strangers, his safari killed or scattered, and
himself escaping only by a miracle.

From a chance remark of the Abyssinian, Werper discovered the
purpose of the expedition, and when he realized that these men were