the whole camp was aroused.

Seizing their rifles, Van and Jack Howard sprang through the dense undergrowth in the direction the cries came from.

It was tedious work forcing their way through the thorns and dank weeds, but they accomplished it in short order.

As they emerged into an opening about two hundred yards from their camp they beheld a truly startling scene.

A young and beautiful girl was struggling in the midst of four men, who had seized her and were making efforts to stifle her cries.

Both Van and Jack were astonished beyond measure when they beheld the fair creature, who was as white and as civilized in appearance as they were, in those wild parts.

But neither lacked in coolness, and the next instant their rifles were leveled at the men, while the voice of Jack Howard rang out:

"Hands up, you cowards! Unhand that lady at once, or you die!"

Had a bombshell exploded in their midst the four villains could not have been more astonished.

With one accord they let go their hold upon their captive and turned their startled gaze upon the intruders.

As they did so, Van gave a low cry of astonishment.

One of the men was no other than Doc Clancy!

As his eyes rested upon the villain our hero forgot everything else, and, with a single bound, sprang forward and seized Clancy by the throat.

"I have got you at last, you murderous scoundrel!" he cried. "Down on your knees, or I will choke the life from you."

Again was Van Vincent too rash.

With a muttered oath Doc Clancy tore himself from the infuriated boy's clutch and struck him a fearful blow between the eyes.

Jack Howard was unable, at that moment, to render Van any assistance, as he had caught the girl in his arms to keep her from falling to the ground.

By the time he had gently deposited her upon the ground the four scoundrels were lost in the mazes of the forest, and Van was struggling to his feet in a dazed manner.

The whole thing took place in less than a minute, and by the time the mate and the rest of those belonging to the camp reached the scene, it was all over.

The mate and Prof. Drearland conducted Van back to camp, followed by Jack, who carried the unconscious girl in his arms.

They had scarcely reached it when they heard the hurried splashing of oars, which told them that Doc Clancy and his crowd had taken to their boat and were proceeding up the river.

By the aid of a little brandy Jack Howard managed to bring his fair charge out of her faint, and when her eyes rested upon the kindly faces about her a sigh of relief left the girl's lips.

She explained how she came to be in the clutches of the rascally men in a very few words.

She was from the little town of Cooloo, where she had always lived. Her parents were natives of Cape Town, but since her earliest infancy had lived on the banks of the Congo River.

Her father made his living by hunting and trapping, and had started with a boat load of skins down the river, to a trading station a few miles from its mouth.

The girl, who gave her name as Masie Langford, accompanied her father on his trip.

That night they camped on the banks of the river about a quarter of a mile above our friends.

Being a little restless, Masie left her tent near midnight and strolled down to the water's edge.

She had scarcely reached it when she was pounced upon by four men and carried off into the forest.

She did not get an opportunity to cry out until she uttered the screams heard by our friends.

Just as the girl concluded her story the blast of a horn was heard from a point up the river.

"That is father!" exclaimed the girl. "He has just found out that I am missing. I must go to him at once. I am much obliged to you, gentlemen, for your kindness."

She turned her bright eyes upon Jack Howard as she spoke.

That young man promptly took the hint and offered to escort her back to her father.

Accordingly the two set out along the river bank, our hero and his companions taking seats about the fire to await Jack's return.

It was the best part of an hour before the young man got back, and when he did so, he said he had placed the girl safely under her father's care, who seemed to be a nice old man, indeed, and was a very talkative one, too.

"Masie Langford is too nice a girl to be living in these wilds," said he after a pause. "But, pshaw! I suppose that is the last we shall ever see of her."

The next morning the party once more set out on their journey up the river.

Jack Howard was on the lookout for the boat of Langford, the hunter, but as that had gone down the river at the breaking of day, he did not get an opportunity to see the girl he had become suddenly interested in.

And so they kept on for five days, finding traces of Doc Clancy on the banks of the river almost every night.

They had now reached a branch of the river which pointed northeast toward the very heart of the unknown interior.

It did not take them long to find that Clancy had gone that way, as traces of camp fires could be found on the bank.

"I was sure they would go this way," said Jack Howard. "Clancy's companions know the course we had mapped out, and they think we are in search of some vast treasure; and, consequently, they want to get there ahead of us."

The further our friends proceeded up the now narrow stream, the more dangers they were forced to encounter.

Crocodiles were now as thick as the hair on the back of a dog, and they were careful not to run the boat against any of the ferocious creatures.

The climate at this point was very bad. It was so hot during the day that none of our friends dared trust themselves in the sun over ten minutes at a time; and at night a heavy, poisonous dew would fall, the fumes of which threatened to give all hands the fever.

But, thanks to Dr. Pestle's ample supply of medicine, all kept in excellent health.

Two weeks had elapsed since they had started up the river, and they had now reached a point where it was impossible to proceed any further with the boat.