The man, who had been joined by several of his comrades, pointed back in the direction whence he had come. No white man, however, was in sight, and Mr. Halliday decided to hurry on and see what had become of him, ordering the men to follow, which they were plainly reluctant to do. He came within half-a-mile to the scene of the stampede, the loads of the porters strewing the grass; but there was no sign either of the rhinoceros or of the young white man who, as the scared natives said, was the master of the safari. Coja declared that the bwana must have been gored or trampled by the rhinoceros, and suggested that they should hurry on and get out of danger as quickly as possible; but Mr. Halliday would not hear of leaving the spot until he had made an effort to find the unfortunate traveller. He ordered the men to set down their loads and remain with them while he made a search, and asked whether any of them could follow a rhinoceros trail. One and all first denied that they had ever seen a rhinoceros; but Mr. Halliday sternly told Coja that they would have no supper unless they recovered their memory, and then Coja himself reluctantly admitted that if the trail was very clear, and if the white men would go one on each side of him with their guns, he would try to lead them after the animal.
As a matter of fact, the trail was easily found, the ground being soft and the grass heavily trampled. It led them into a dense mass of bush. Mr. Halliday, holding his rifle ready for the least sign of danger, plunged into the jungle with John and Coja, the latter soon declaring that he saw, together with the great hoof-marks of the animal, forming paths on both sides of a ridge of grass, the smaller and fainter tracks made by a white man's boots.
"Him killed dead, sure 'nuff," said Coja solemnly. "No good look no more."
"We'll make sure of it. Go on," said Mr. Halliday, and the three continued to follow the trail.
"What's that?" cried John suddenly, a few minutes later.
"White man call; him no dead yet," said Coja.
"Hallo!" shouted Mr. Halliday, and a faint "Hallo!" came in answer.
Coja turned a little to the right, in the direction of the sound. Mr. Halliday called again, and again the answer came, louder, but still curiously muffled. Led by the sound, they now left the trail of the rhinoceros, and had proceeded but a few steps farther when Coja suddenly came to a halt, and bursting into laughter, cried, "Him down there!"
"Where?" said Mr. Halliday in amazement, looking about him. And then he saw, in the midst of the grass, a deep hole, and at the bottom, nine or ten feet below the surface, a young white man sitting cross-legged.
"Hallo!" he said, looking up with a smile. "I thought it was my brother, though it wasn't like his shout. Can you help me out? I'm afraid I've sprained my ankle."