“All right. I congratulate you, Percy, as well as myself,” said Denis; “and now we must see how we can get across.”
They soon reached the margin of the river. It was apparently not very deep; but on the possibility of crocodiles existing in it, they were not inclined to attempt swimming across. Presently, however, they saw a person running along the bank. They shouted and waved to him. He saw them, and waved in return.
“I shouldn’t be surprised if that is my brother Rupert,” cried Percy, “though I shall not know him to a certainty, even when I see him close; it is so long since we parted.”
The person they had seen was lost to sight among the trees, but soon reappeared on board a boat, in which he quickly came paddling across.
“Who are you?” he asked, “though I am sure you are Englishmen.”
“Yes, I am Percy Broderick, and this is my friend Denis Maloney.”
“And I am Rupert Broderick,” said the person in the boat, leaping out, and shaking hands warmly with his brother and then with Denis. “I am delighted to see you, and so will father and mother be, and the girls. We were beginning to grow anxious about you. How have you managed to get here all alone? and what has become of Hendricks the hunter, with whom we understood you were coming through Zululand?”
“I’ll tell you all about it as we go along,” answered Percy. “I know Denis here is very hungry, and I confess that my joy in getting home has not quite taken away my appetite.”
“Well, get into the boat, and we’ll soon be at the house; it isn’t as grand a mansion as you might have expected to find, but it’s big enough to hold us, and a few visitors besides.”
They were soon across, Percy and Denis talking all the time, giving such bits of their adventures as they knew would be interesting to their hearer. No sooner did they land, than Percy set off running, eager to meet his father and mother and sisters.