Sanders smiled.
"Found that ki-chu?" he asked derisively, and his eyes rose incredulously at the other's nod.
"Here!" said Mr. Hold triumphantly, and he drew aside the curtains of the cage.
It was empty.
"Hell!" bellowed Big Ben Hold, and threw his helmet on the ground naughtily.
"There it is!" He pointed across the open stretch of country which separated the city from the forest. A little form was running swiftly towards the woods. Suddenly it stopped, lifted something from the ground, and turned towards the group. As its hands came up, Sergeant Abiboo of the Houssas raised his rifle and fired; and the figure crumpled up.
"My ki-chu!" wailed the showman, as he looked down at the silent figure.
Sanders said nothing. He looked first at the dead Sakola, outrageously kidnapped in the very midst of his people, then he looked round for Bosambo, but Bosambo had disappeared.
At that precise moment the latter was feverishly scraping a hole in the floor of his hut wherein to bank his ill-gotten reward.
CHAPTER X