That electrified both of us. “Ralph Stone?” we ejaculated together. Etcham nodded. For some minutes Van Rieten and I were silent. Van Rieten had never seen him, but I had been a classmate of Stone’s, and Van Rieten and I had discussed him over many a camp-fire. We had heard of him two years before, south of Luebo in the Balunda country, which had been ringing with his theatrical strife against a Balunda witch-doctor, ending in the sorcerer’s complete discomfiture and the abasement of his tribe before Stone. They had even broken the fetish-man’s whistle and given Stone the pieces. It had been like the triumph of Elijah over the prophets of Baal, only more real to the Balunda. We had thought of Stone as far off, if still in Africa at all, and here he turned up ahead of us and probably forestalling our quest. II Etcham’s naming of Stone brought back to us all his tantalizing story, his fascinating parents, their tragic death; the brilliance of his college days; the dazzle of his millions; the promise of his young manhood; his wide notoriety, so nearly real fame; his romantic elopement with the meteoric authoress whose sudden cascade of fiction had made her so great a name so young, whose beauty and charm were so much heralded; the frightful scandal of the breach-of-promise suit that followed; his bride’s devotion through it all; their sudden quarrel after it was all over; their divorce; the too much advertised announcement of his approaching marriage to the plaintiff in the breach-of-promise suit; his precipitate remarriage to his divorced bride; their second quarrel and second divorce; his departure from his native land; his advent in the dark continent. The sense of all this rushed over me and I believe Van Rieten felt it, too, as he sat silent. Then he asked: “Where is Werner?” “Dead,” said Etcham. “He died before I joined Stone.” “You were not with Stone above Luebo?” “No,” said Etcham, “I joined him at Stanley Falls.” “Who is with him?” Van Rieten asked. “Only his Zanzibar servants and the bearers,” Etcham replied. “What sort of bearers?” Van Rieten demanded. “Mang-Battu men,” Etcham responded simply. Now that impressed both Van Rieten and myself greatly. It bore out Stone’s reputation as a notable leader of men. For up to that time no one had been able to use Mang-Battu as bearers outside of their own country, or to hold them for long or difficult expeditions. “Were you long among the Mang-Battu?” was Van Rieten’s next question. “Some weeks,” said Etcham. “Stone was interested in them and made up a fair-sized vocabulary of their words and phrases. He had a theory that they are an offshoot of the Balunda and he found much confirmation in their customs.” “What do you live on?” Van Rieten inquired. “Game, mostly,” Etcham lisped. “How long has Stone been laid up?” Van Rieten next asked. “More than a month,” Etcham answered.