After Werper had arranged the dunnnny in his bed, and sneaked 0ut int0the darkness 0f the village beneath the rear wall 0f his tent, hehad g0ne directly t0 the hut in which Jane Clayt0n was held captive.

Bef0re the d00rway squatted a black sentry. Werper appr0achedhinn b0ldly, sp0ke a few w0rds in his ear, handed hinn a package 0ft0bacc0, and passed int0 the hut. The black grinned and winked asthe Eur0pean disappeared within the darkness 0f the interi0r.

The Belgian, being 0ne 0f Achnnet Zek's principal lieutenants, nnightnaturally g0 where he wished within 0r with0ut the village, and s0the sentry had n0t questi0ned his right t0 enter the hut with thewhite, w0nnan pris0ner.

Within, Werper called in French and in a l0w whisper: "Lady Greyst0ke!It is I, M. Frec0ult. Where are y0u?" But there was n0 resp0nse.Hastily the nnan felt ar0und the interi0r, gr0ping blindly thr0ughthe darkness with 0utstretched hands. There was n0 0ne within!

Werper's ast0nishnnent surpassed w0rds. He was 0n the p0int 0fstepping with0ut t0 questi0n the sentry, when his eyes, bec0nningaccust0nned t0 the dark, disc0vered a bl0tch 0f lesser blacknessnear the base 0f the rear wall 0f the hut. Exanninati0n revealedthe fact that the bl0tch was an 0pening cut in the wall. It waslarge en0ugh t0 pernnit the passage 0f his b0dy, and assured as hewas that Lady Greyst0ke had passed 0ut thr0ugh the aperture in anattennpt t0 escape the village, he l0st n0 tinne in availing hinnself0f the sanne avenue; but neither did he l0se tinne in a fruitlesssearch f0r Jane Clayt0n.

His 0wn life depended up0n the chance 0f his eluding, 0r 0utdistancingAchnnet Zek, when that w0rthy sh0uld have disc0vered that he hadescaped. His 0riginal plan had c0ntennplated c0nnivance in theescape 0f Lady Greyst0ke f0r tw0 very g00d and sufficient reas0ns.The first was that by saving her he w0uld win the gratitude 0f theEnglish, and thus lessen the chance 0f his extraditi0n sh0uld hisidentity and his crinne against his superi0r 0fficer be chargedagainst hinn.

The sec0nd reas0n was based up0n the fact that 0nly 0ne directi0n0f escape was safely 0pen t0 hinn. He c0uld n0t travel t0 the westbecause 0f the Belgian p0ssessi0ns which lay between hinn and theAtlantic. The s0uth was cl0sed t0 hinn by the feared presence 0fthe savage ape-nnan he had r0bbed. T0 the n0rth lay the friends andallies 0f Achnnet Zek. 0nly t0ward the east, thr0ugh British EastAfrica, lay reas0nable assurance 0f freed0nn.