"He is not bothering about us," said Mr. Hume. "I take it that he has heard of Muata's hiding-place, this Garden of Rest, and wants it for his own use. Now, lads, is this to be our quarrel? There is no call upon us to interfere, and we should escape a lot of trouble if we did not interfere. I put the matter to you. Shall we 'bout ship, and go down past the Stanley Falls towards the Zambesi and the south, where there is good hunting."
"We'll keep on, sir, if you don't mind."
"Oh, it's all the same to me," said the hunter.
"Don't tell me," said Compton. "You are not indifferent about it, for you said you would like to meet Hassan."
"So I would, lad. I would rather shoot a man like that than a lion. The animal kills for food, the man slays for the savage lust of power."
"Then we keep on," said Compton, "and no more speeches from the captain to the crew on the score of turning back."
"There's one thing," said Mr. Hume; "this Garden of Rest, if we find it, may turn out to be a complete naturalist's preserve."
"Hurrah!" cried Venning. "Give me the beetles, and you can have the gorillas. Let's hope we shall have a real rest in this wonderful place."
"Won't be much rest while Hassan is around," said Compton; "but we'll have the pull of him if we can get there first."
"Without his knowledge," added the hunter. "The advantage of a surprise is everything in native warfare, as you have gathered in listening to Muata's yams."