"And those men were coming to attack us last night?" asked the captain.
"You are sure of that?"

"Yes," said Cheditafa, "it was last night. They not know how many you
are, and all were coming."

"And some of them had already been here?"

"Yes," replied the African. "One day before, three went out to look for
Mok, and they found his track and more track, and they waited in the
black darkness, and then came here, and they heard you all sleep and
snore that night. They were to come again, and if they--"

"And yesterday afternoon the lake came down and swept them out of
existence!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff.




CHAPTER X

THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES


Captain Horn had heard the story of Cheditafa, he walked away from the
rest of the party, and stood, his eyes upon the ground, still
mechanically holding his gun. He now knew that the great danger he had
feared had been a real one, and far greater than he had imagined. A
systematic attack by all the Rackbirds would have swept away his single