Home Again 
army, but I was too much excited to be willing 
to stop. 
The forest which belted Ejahyay was now 
in sight. All suspense was now over. I was 
safe. 1 was free. Oh, the happiness of that 
moment! My heart was ready to burst with 
tumultuous joy and, for a moment, I forgot 
what might be before me. With an exultant 
shout 1 put spurs to my horse and went 
in a sweeping gallop across the plain. Dashing 
through the intervening forest and the city gate, 
1 came in another moment to the mission com¬ 
pound. But nobody greeted me. No one was 
in sight, and the silence of the grave reigned 
throughout the place. My heart sank within 
me. I leaned over the wall and saw my inter¬ 
preter within a few feet of me reclining on a mat 
in the piazza of his house. His countenance was 
much dejected, and when I saw how really dis¬ 
tressed he was, 1 was much moved by this evi¬ 
dence of his sincere affection. In a low tone, 1 
spoke his name, and when he looked up, 1 made 
a gesture for silence. But there was no restrain¬ 
ing him. At first his eyes dilated as if he had 
seen a ghostly apparition, then he sprang to his 
feet with a loud cry of joy, and started for the 
gate with his arms held aloft as if about to fly. 
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