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His one hope was that Jane was still safe and with Rokoff. If this was the case, it
would be but a matter of an hour or more before he should be able to wrest her
from the Russian.
He knew now that M'ganwazam was treacherous and that he might have to fight
to regain possession of his wife. He wished that Mugambi, Sheeta, Akut, and the
balance of the pack were with him, for he realized that single-handed it would be
no child's play to bring Jane safely from the clutches of two such scoundrels as
Rokoff and the wily M'ganwazam.
To his surprise he found no sign of either Rokoff or Jane in the village, and as he
could not trust the word of the chief, he wasted no time in futile inquiry. So
sudden and unexpected had been his return, and so quickly had he vanished into
the jungle after learning that those he sought were not among the Waganwazam,
that old M'ganwazam had no time to prevent his going.
Swinging through the trees, he hastened back to the deserted camp he had so
recently left, for here, he knew, was the logical place to take up the trail of Rokoff
and Jane.
Arrived at the boma, he circled carefully about the outside of the enclosure until,
opposite a break in the thorny wall, he came to indications that something had
recently passed into the jungle. His acute sense of smell told him that both of
those he sought had fled from the camp in this direction, and a moment later he
had taken up the trail and was following the faint spoor.
Far ahead of him a terror-stricken young woman was slinking along a narrow
game-trail, fearful that the next moment would bring her face to face with some
savage beast or equally savage man. As she ran on, hoping against hope that she
had hit upon the direction that would lead her eventually to the great river, she
came suddenly upon a familiar spot.
At one side of the trail, beneath a giant tree, lay a little heap of loosely piled
brush--to her dying day that little spot of jungle would be indelibly impressed
upon her memory. It was where Anderssen had hidden her--where he had given
up his life in the vain effort to save her from Rokoff.
At sight of it she recalled the rifle and ammunition that the man had thrust upon
her at the last moment. Until now she had forgotten them entirely. Still clutched
in her hand was the revolver she had snatched from Rokoff's belt, but that could
contain at most not over six cartridges--not enough to furnish her with food and
protection both on the long journey to the sea.
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