"We'll keep watch of them, Tom."
As they neared their airship, there came, running down what
served as the main village street, an African who showed evidence
of having come from afar. As he ran on, he called out something
in a strange tongue. Instantly from their huts the other natives
swarmed.
"What's up now?" cried Ned.
"Something important, I'll wager," replied Tom. "Ned, you go
back to the missionaries house, and find out what it is. I'm
going to stand guard over my camera."
"It's come!" cried Ned a little later, as he hurried into the
interior of the airship, where Tom was busy working over a new
attachment he intended putting on his picture machine.
"What has?"
"War! That native, whom we saw running in, brought news that
the battle would take place day after to-morrow. The enemies of
his tribe are on the march, so the African spies say, and he came
to summon all the warriors from this town. We've got to get
busy!"
"That's so. What about those Englishmen?"
"They were talking to the missionaries when the runner came in.
They pretended to have no interest in it, but I saw one wink to
the other, and then, very soon, they went out, and I saw them
talking to their native bearers, while they were busy over that
box you said was a picture machine.
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