"I will read it to you, boys, although that is a difficult matter, for the writing is uneven and much blurred. On one part of the sheet there is a blot of blood—the blood, I presume—of the poor fellow who was trying to deliver the communication."
Unfolding the stained document, Randolph Rover bent closer to the table lamp that he might read the more easily. As for the boys, they fairly held their breaths, that no spoken word might escape them.
"The letter is addressed to me," said the uncle. "But the envelope is, as you can see, very much torn. I will read," and he did so.
"NIWILI CAMP, on the Congo,
"July the 18th, 189—.
"DEAR BROTHER RANDOLPH:
"If, by the goodness of God, this reaches you, I trust that you will set out without delay to my assistance.
"I write under great difficulties, as a prisoner, of the Bumwo tribe of natives, ruled by King Susko.
"I have discovered the secret of a gold mine here, and the king will not let me go, fearing that I will tell the outside world of my discovery and bring the English or French here to slay him and his followers. They know nothing here of Americans.
"I entrust this to the care of an English sailor who is going to try to make his escape. I cannot go myself, having had my leg broken by a blow from one of my jailers.