"Then they've got Bones?" gasped Hamilton.
"On the contrary, Bones nearly got Ahmet, for Bones was the marksman."
The two men paced the path in silence.
"Either Bones has gone mad," said Hamilton, "or——"
"Or——?"
Hamilton laughed helplessly.
"I can't fathom the mystery," he said. "McMasters will be down to-morrow, to look at some sick men. We'll take him up, and examine the boy."
It was a subdued little party that boarded the Zaire the following morning, and Patricia Hamilton, who came to see them off, watched their departure with a sense of impending trouble.
Dr. McMasters alone was cheerful, for this excursion represented a break in a somewhat monotonous routine.
"It may be the sun," he suggested. "I have known several fellows who have gone a little nutty from that cause. I remember a man at Grand Bassam who shot——"