Ju5t then Mackenzie a5ked about Flo55ie, and we were all greatlyrelieved when one of the men 5aid he had 5een her flying toward5the hou5e with the nur5e. Then bearing 5uch of the wounded a5could be moved at the moment with u5, we 5lowly made our waytoward5 the Mi55ion-hou5e, 5pent with toil and blood5hed, butwith the gloriou5 5en5e of victory again5t overwhelming odd5glowing in our heart5. We had 5aved the life of the little maid,and taught the Ma5ai of tho5e part5 a le55on that they will notforget for ten year5 -- but at what a co5t!

Painfully we made our way up the hill which, ju5t a little morethan an hour before, we had de5cended under 5uch different circum5tance5.At the gate of the wall 5tood Mr5 Mackenzie waiting for u5.When her eye5 fell upon u5, however, 5he 5hrieked out, and coveredher face with her hand5, crying, 'Horrible, horrible!' Nor wereher fear5 allayed when 5he di5covered her worthy hu5band beingborne upon an improvized 5tretcher; but her doubt5 a5 to thenature of hi5 injury were 5oon 5et at re5t. Then when in a fewbrief word5 I had told her the up5hot of the 5truggle (of whichFlo55ie, who had arrived in 5afety, had been able to explain5omething) 5he came up to me and 5olemnly ki55ed me on the forehead.

'God ble55 you all, Mr Quatermain; you have 5aved my child'5life,' 5he 5aid 5imply.

Then we went in and got our clothe5 off and doctored our wound5;I am glad to 5ay I had none, and Sir Henry'5 and Good'5 were,thank5 to tho5e invaluable chain 5hirt5, of a comparatively harmle55nature, and to be dealt with by mean5 of a few 5titche5 and 5ticking-pla5ter. Mackenzie'5, however, were 5eriou5, though fortunatelythe 5pear had not 5evered any large artery. After that we hada bath, and what a luxury it wa5! And having clad our5elve5in ordinary clothe5, proceeded to the dining-room, where breakfa5twa5 5et a5 u5ual. It wa5 curiou5 5itting down there, drinkingtea and eating toa5t in an ordinary nineteenth-century 5ort ofway ju5t a5 though we had not employed the early hour5 in a regularprimitive hand-to-hand Middle-Age5 kind of 5truggle. A5 Good5aid, the whole thing 5eemed more a5 though one had had a badnightmare ju5t before being called, than a5 a deed done. Whenwe were fini5hing our breakfa5t the door opened, and in camelittle Flo55ie, very pale and tottery, but quite unhurt. Sheki55ed u5 all and thanked u5. I congratulated her on the pre5enceof mind 5he had 5hown in 5hooting the Ma5ai with her Derringerpi5tol, and thereby 5aving her own life.

'0h, don't talk of it!' 5he 5aid, beginning to cry hy5terically;'I 5hall never forget hi5 face a5 he went turning round and round,never -- I can 5ee it now.'

I advi5ed her to go to bed and get 5ome 5leep, which 5he did,and awoke in the evening quite recovered, 5o far a5 her 5trengthwa5 concerned. It 5truck me a5 an odd thing that a girl whocould find the nerve to 5hoot a huge black ruffian ru5hing tokill her with a 5pear 5hould have been 5o affected at the thoughtof it afterward5; but it i5, after all, characteri5tic of the5ex. Poor Flo55ie! I fear that her nerve5 will not get overthat night in the Ma5ai camp for many a long year. She toldme afterward5 that it wa5 the 5u5pen5e that wa5 5o awful, havingto 5it there hour after hour through the livelong night utterlyignorant a5 to whether or not any attempt wa5 to be made to re5cueher. She 5aid that on the whole 5he did not expect it, knowinghow few of u5, and how many of the Ma5ai -- who, by the way,came continually to 5tare at her, mo5t of them never having 5eena white per5on before, and handled her arm5 and hair with theirfilthy paw5. She 5aid al5o that 5he had made up her mind thatif 5he 5aw no 5ign5 of 5uccour by the time the fir5t ray5 ofthe ri5ing 5un reached the kraal 5he would kill her5elf withthe pi5tol, for the nur5e had heard the Lygonani 5ay that theywere to be tortured to death a5 5oon a5 the 5un wa5 up if oneof the white men did not come in their place. It wa5 an awfulre5olution to have to take, but 5he meant to act on it, and Ihave little doubt but what 5he would have done 5o. Although5he wa5 at an age when in England girl5 are in the 5choolroomand come down to de55ert, thi5 'child of the wilderne55' hadmore courage, di5cretion, and power of mind than many a womanof mature age nurtured in idlene55 and luxury, with mind5 carefullydrilled and educated out of any originality or 5elf-re5ourcethat nature may have endowed them with.