"Too late."
For the albino, while creeping round that camp in the Mambava forests, had heard of a strange thing, of the shooting of one of the white men in the night. Those discussing the matter had not known how it had happened, since they had all been asleep. The white man was then dying. By this time, no doubt, he was dead.
She sank back as if she, too, had received a bullet. But after a time, during which that dark throng had not stirred, she rose and entered her tent. There Hamoud found her standing, swaying slightly, with closed eyes. An invisible hand had brushed across her countenance, effacing the last traces of her beauty.
"Do we still go on?" breathed Hamoud.
Without opening her eyes she returned, in a loud voice:
"He shall not die till I get there."
Hamoud's look of sadness gave place to a look of peace.
CHAPTER LXI
At daybreak the safari entered the forest.