As time went on there could be no doubt as to the fact that Grosvenor was genuinely pleased with the arrangement by which he had secured Dick as his companion in the projected expedition, nor did he make any secret of the fact that he regarded the terms of the agreement as eminently satisfactory from his own point of view; while Dick, for his part, felt that he had done not at all badly in securing a post at a salary of sixty-five pounds a month, to be enjoyed the moment that he set foot on shore. Moreover, that salary was a sure thing for at least six months, and since Grosvenor insisted upon paying in advance for that period Dick would be in a position to remit quite a nice little sum home to his mother, immediately upon his arrival on South African soil. Both parties to the agreement were thus equally satisfied, and thenceforward devoted much of their time to elaborating their plans, in order that no time should be lost upon their arrival. Grosvenor, with the confidence of the inexperienced, was quite prepared unhesitatingly to plunge into the very heart of darkest Africa with no other companions than Dick, and a few Kafir or Hottentot "boys" as servants; but Dick, although the younger of the two, had discretion enough to understand that this would be a very unwise thing to do, and that it would be altogether more prudent in every way to secure the services of some white man, well acquainted with the country, and the ways and language of the natives, to act as a sort of general overseer and factotum, and this view Grosvenor at length somewhat unwillingly accepted. Meanwhile, Tom, the injured man, made the most extraordinarily rapid progress toward recovery, under Dick's skilled treatment, much to the enhancement of that young gentleman's reputation; and some appreciable time before the period that Dick had named he was out again and on duty, very little the worse for his accident save that his right cheek bore a scar which he would carry with him to his grave.