"The first thing I want," he told them after he had been greeted by Zuppner and Hines, "is a bath, and then if you will have Bob cook a couple of cows I'll give you the details of the expedition while I am eating them. A couple of handfuls of Bos Primigenus and some wild fruit have only whetted my appetite." A half hour later, refreshed by a bath, a shave and fresh clothing, he joined them in the mess room. As the three men seated themselves, Robert Jones entered from the galley, his black face wreathed in smiles. "Ah'm suttinly glad to see you all, Mas' Jason," said Robert. "Ah knew sumpin was a-goin' to happen though--Ah knew we was a-goin' to have good luck." "Well, I'm glad to be back, Bob," said Gridley, "and I don't know of anyone that I am any happier to see than you, for I sure have missed your cooking. But what made you think that we're going to have good luck?" "Ah jes had a brief conversation with mah rabbit's foot. Dat ole boy he never fails me. We suah be out o' luck if Ah lose him." "Oh, I've seen lots of rabbits around, Bob," said Zuppner. "We can get you a bushel of them in no time." "Yes suh, Cap'n, but you can't get 'em in de dahk of de moon where dey ain't no dahk an' dey ain't no moon, an' othe'wise dey lacks efficiency." "It's a good thing, then, that we brought you along," said Jason, "and a mighty good thing for Pellucidar, for she never has had a really effective rabbit's foot before in all her existence. But I can see where you're going to need that rabbit's foot pretty badly yourself in about a minute, Bob." "How's dat, suh?" demanded Robert. "The spirits tell me that something is going to happen to you if you don't get food onto this table in a hurry," laughed Gridley. "Yes suh, comin' right up," exclaimed the black as he hastened into the galley. As Gridley ate, he went over the adventures of the last seventy-two hours in careful detail and the three men sought to arrive at some definite conjecture as to the distance he had covered from the ship and the direction. "Do you think that you could lead another party to the clearing where you became separated from Von Horst and the Waziri?" asked Zuppner. "Yes, of course I could," replied Gridley, "because from the point that we entered the forest we blazed the trees up to the time we reached the trail, which we followed to the left. In fact I would not be needed at all and if we decide to send out such a party, I shall not accompany it." The other officers looked at him in surprise and for a moment there was an embarrassed silence.