because There was a conclusively. "And he seems inclined to throw it about. Van der Merwe and I guided him over the drift, and we scoffed a quart on the spot and each brought a bottle away with us." sound of hoofs, and the speaker jumped up, exclaiming, "Here they come-Grafter and Davey," as two fresh officers cantered up. "Hello!" was the shout of the foremost as he saw the table. "What have we here? Tea in a gooseberry bottle or a drop of the real stuff? All to yourselves, in the afternoon too! What'cher been up to? Railway accident, hospital train smashed up-salvagewilling helpers lend a handeh?" "Let 'em all come," said Wolfe, lifting up the bottle and examining it; "there's just a toothful left for each of you. It's no gooseberry, my sons; look at this," and he pointed to the label, while Orle produced a cracked tumbler and a teacup. "Now, you two," said Wolfe, "if you want a drop more of the same dog, just listen. Let ons maak a plaan." They listened. "There is an almighty fool-no, he's a dear boy really, but a Percy-who is now trekking with two mule waggons and four or five men from Valk to the Pont. He left the drift about three o'clock and his mules have been trekking since morning, so you can figure out his pace for yourselves. The point is that one of his waggons is bang-full of champagne!" "Ikona!" came as one word from the two newcomers. "Fact; present from home, if you please, for the regimental mess All Englands.' But never mind that: he's got the stuff," Wolfe slapped the bottle "Didn't Van der Merwe-er -lend-you his?" suggested Grafter with meaning. "No, no; I draw the line somewhere. Now, it's a pity to waste what Providence has put in our way, and we mustn't let those other brutes up north get it all. Orle and I can do no more now-we have done our bit; but there are lots of us between this and Grampians. That's the size of the situation, and I leave it to you. You can run it your own way; but I advise you to ride after him, ask him where he is going, play the Samaritan, tell him he's gone astray, take him round a bit, and put him back on the same road. And if you don't each get a bottle, I'll eat my hat!' No more was necessary. The "Samaritans " were already mounting. One leaned forward to Wolfe "See here, old son. What's wrong with holding him up? Ambush the lot, shoot a mule or two from cover, and then Davey and me ride up in the nick of time, having driven off the enemy?" "No, I wouldn't; dangerous. He's got some men; they're all armed, and Percy is all right only he doesn't know who to watch. If he thought it was hostilities,' he'd hoist half-adozen Union Jacks and fight to the bitter end, and some one might be killed or wounded. No, no, it won't do; it's gently that does the trick. After wards you can pass the good news on to Batley and the others." "How about the waggon breaking down?" "Can't be done in daylight with four men round it. Besides, that'll be a last resource when he gets fed up with giving away quarts of fizz to friendly guides. You'd better do as I say, but I don't care a darn how you do it: there it is, take it or leave it, only don't kill anybody, and if you get an extra bottle or two somehow, think of me and Jack here. Get a move on. The sooner you work it the more chance for the next lot.” "You're a beauty; thanks. Good-bye. Good-bye, Jack. Come on, Dave," and the two cantered off northwards side by side in deep consultation. Wolfe and Orle chuckled as they watched them out of sight, then turned to their duties, which, though not heavy, were extremely monotonous when nothing happened. Their little excitement was over, but the bright sun which shone on the bridge guard was also shining on a small convoy now some miles away, and upon two brigands "pricking o'er the plain" towards it in a small cloud of dust. him drew up in a siding some Some six days later Lieutenant Wolfe had cause to go by train to Grampian's Pont. He arrived towards evening, when the station was crowded. The train which had brought "Hello, old chap! you still here and railing up? What's happened to your convoy?" Simkin, besides looking decidedly the worse for wear, seemed too depressed to show much surprise or any cordiality at his friend's_reappearance. "Yes, it's me. Had the devil's own time since we last met. Lost my way several times, had several-almost too many -kind friends to put me straight though, but when I got near this infernal den of thieves everything went wrong." The train began to move with a series of jolts, which, as they reached Sim kin's truck, almost threw he carefully withdrew a fat down the redoubtable Wolfe. "Waggons kept on break ing down; mules went lame, strayed, fell sick; lost nearly all my stuff, so I dumped the remainder on the rail, and here I am. Had enough trekking." bottle with sloping shoulders and gold top, which he triumphantly brandished. Wolfe waved a farewell and stopped running. The train rumbled on into the gloom. Thoughtfully he picked his way behind it towards the station, muttering, "Well, that beats the band — all gone! Some of these irregular corps are simply hogs. Just my luck! Five minutes earlier and I'd told him that he was in the wrong end of the train, shoved him into another truck, and then—_—_____” There came The train was gathering speed, and Wolfe had to drop off and run. Though surprised and breathless, yet like the good officer he was, he did not get confused or lose his head. He went straight for the to him strategic point. "Good Lord! lost all that back to him a scene of a river Bubbly?" he panted. "Oh no," said the "Peach," raising his voice as Wolfe fell behind in the race. "Not all; I've got this," and taking the straw case from under his arm in flood. Above the swirl of water he heard the snapping of wire, the pop of a cork, and the words, "Perhaps a trifle dry, but quite a good brand— eh what?" THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON. TWENTY-FOUR centuries ago a long way from the Nile watera line of Æschylus-"Egypt shed, but then Ptolemy had nurtured by the snow"-em- never enjoyed much of a repubodied a geographical theory tation for accuracy. Still doubt which descended from Heaven remained in some minds, and knows what early folk-wan- explorers kept their eyes open dering. Aristotle with his for snow mountains which apyupoûv ôpos, the Mountain of should actually feed the Nile, Silver from which the Nile since after all so ancient a flowed, continued the tradi- tradition had probably some tion in literature. Meantime ground of fact. Speke in 1861 Sabæan Arabs, trading along thought he had discovered the east coast of Africa, and them in the chain of volcanoes making expeditions to the in- between Lake Kivu and Lake terior, came back with stories Albert Edward, but these of great inland seas and snow mountains held no snow. He mountains near them. What received a hint, however, which they saw may have been only might have led to success, for Kilimanjaro and Kenia, but the he heard from the Arabs of popular acceptance of their re- Unyamwezi of a strange mounports points to the earlier tale tain west of Lake Victoria, linking the snows with the seldom visible, covered with Nile valley. Greek and Roman white stuff, and so high and travellers spread the rumour, steep that no man could ascend and presently it found its way, it. In 1864 Sir Samuel Baker probably through Marinus of was within sight of Ruwenzori, Tyre, into the pages of the and actually saw dim shapes geographer Ptolemy. Ptolemy looming through the haze, to had no doubt about these which he snows. He called them the Mountains of the Moon, and definitely fixed them as the source of the river of Egypt. For centuries after him the question slumbered, and men were too busied with creeds and conquests to think much of that fount of the Nile which Alexander the Great saw in his dreams. When the exploration of Equatoria began in last century the story revived, and the discovery of Kenia and Kilimanjaro seemed to have settled the matter. It was true that these mountains were name of a his men saw, but he seems to have considered it a hallucination. Stranger still, Emin Pasha lived for ten years on Lake Albert and never once saw the range-a fact which may be partly explained by his bad eyesight. Ruwenzori keeps its secret well. The mists from the Semliki valley shroud its base, and only on the clearest days and for a very little time can the traveller get such a prospect as Mr Grogan got -"a purple mass, peak piled upon peak, black-streaked with forest, scored with ravine, and ever mounting till her castellated crags shoot their gleaming tops far into the violet heavens." "While looking to the south-east and meditating upon the events of the last month, my eyes were directed by a boy to a mountain said to be covered with salt, and I saw a peculiar-shaped cloud of a most beautiful silver colour, which assumed the proportions and appearance of a vast Following its form downward, I became struck with the deep blue-black colour of its base, and wondered if it portended another tornado; then as the sight descended to the gap between the eastern and western plateaux I became for the first time conscious that what I gazed upon was not the image or semblance of a vast mountain, but the solid substance of a real one, with its summit covered with snow. . . . It now dawned upon me that this must be Ruwenzori, which was said to be covered with a white metal or substance believed to be rock, as reported by Kavali's two slaves." mountain covered with snow. Stanley had neither the time nor the equipment for mountain expeditions, though to the end of his life Ruwenzori remained for him a centre of romance. It was his "dear wish," as he told the Royal Geographical Society shortly before his death, that some lover of Alpine climbing would take the range in hand and explore it from top to bottom. In 1889 one of his companions, Lieutenant Stairs, made an attempt from the north-west, and reached a height of nearly 11,000 feet. Two years later Dr Stuhlmann, a member of Emin's expedition, made a bold journey up the Butagu valley on the west, discovered the wonderful mountain vegetation, and nearly reached the snow level. In 1895 came Mr Scott Elliot, who was primarily a botanist, but who, in spite of bad malaria, managed to struggle as far as 13,000 feet. Then followed troubles in Uganda, and it was not till 1900 that the work of exploration was resumed. To make the story clear it is necessary to explain that the range runs practically north and south, and that about half-way it is cut into by two deep valleys-the Mobuku running to the east and the Butagu running to the Semliki on the west. Fort Portal at the northern end is the nearest station, and as from it the eastern side is the more accessible, it was natural that the Mobuku valley should be chosen as the best means of access. In 1900 Mr Moore reached its head, and ascended the mountain called Kiyanja to the height of 14,900 feet. He had no sight of the range as a |