A STRANGE SCENE. 



i6g 



Something resembling a decayed 

 stump could be seen, moving slowly 

 along the opposite bank. Suspecting 

 its identity, he watched it until it 

 paused, as though, like the raft, it had 

 struck against the bank. The next 

 minute an immense crocodile crawled 

 sluggishly from the water and disap 



A DISMAL REGION. 



peared among the trees and undergrowth on the edge of the river. He would 

 have given it a shot as it came into view, but for the fear of attracting the attention 

 of the wild men he suspected were in the vicinity. He could not afford to allow 

 any side issues to draw him from the real business of his exploration. 



He was standing in this incertitude, when his blood was set tingling by a cry 

 so sharp and agonizing that he started and glanced around, with a gasp of affright 



The cry came from a point close at hand, slightly behind him and no more than 

 a few rods up stream. 



Possibly it might be that of some wild animal, but to his ears it had the sem- 

 blance of a man in mortal suffering. Glancing at his weapons, to make sure they 

 were right, he began picking his way up stream, resolved to penetrate the mystery 

 without delay. 



The solution c^me sooner than he expected. 



