Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/502

 DlCr lASDS. THE BOT CAFTArv. district oT Central Africa; bc bad takcn a consderablc quantity of money to procure the aeccss^ry sopjdtes oo ihe way, and this had cxdtcd the cuptdity of h'-s giHde, who •eizcd Ihc opportunity, whîlst therj- were encamping on the banks of the Congo, to assassinate his employer, and get pOKMsiof) of hÎ3 propertj'. Ncgoro, boweser, bad not escapcd; he had fallen înto the hands of the Portn^cse. by whom he was recognized as an agent of the stave-dealer Alvcz, and coivdenincd to spend the rest of bis daj's in prison, He contrived afler a wbilc to make bis escape, and, as bas bccn aiready mentioned, found hîs way to Neir Zealand, «bcnce hc had returned by securing an engage- ment on board the " l'iigrim." Betn-een the time when he wa* attacked by Negoro and the moment of bis death, Vcrnon had managcd to write the few brief Unes of which tho frai^'nicnfi .still sunived, and to dcposît the document in the box from which the money had been stolen, and by a last eflort had traced out bis initiais in blood upon the naked wood which formed the wall of the hut For many diys Dingo watched besidc bis master, and throughout that time his eyes were resting so perpetually upon the two crimson letters in front of him, that mère instinct seemed to fasten thcm Indclibly on his memory. Quitting his watch one day, perhaps to pacify his hunger, tlic dog wandercd to the coast, whcre he was picked up by the captain of the "Waldcck," afterwards to be transferred to the vcry ship on which hîs owner's murderer had been engaged as cook. AU throughout thîs tîme poor Vernon's bones had been blcaching in the African forest, and the first resolution of Dick and Mrs. Wcldon was to give the residue of his rcmains somc semblance of a décent burial. They wcre just procceding to their task whcn Dingo gave a furious growl, and daslied out of the hut; another moment, and a terrible shriek made it évident that he was in conflict with some dread antagonist. Hercules was quickly in pursuit, and the whole party foUowed in tîme to witness the giant hurl himself upon a man with whom aiready Dingo was in mortal combat