Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/248

396 WORKMEN AND HEROES by his own hand in the flames of his burning citadel. Thence Stanley went to Spain, where a great civil war had broken out, and he witnessed the sacking of cities, the prosecution of sieges, and battles large and small innumerable. This war over, in the autumn of 1869, the civilized world was wondering whether Dr. Livingstone, the African missionary and explorer, were dead or alive. Dr. Livingstone, who was of Scottish birth and was in the service of the London Missionary Society, had been long laboring in South Africa, a country of which the outer world then knew but very little. Along the coast here and there were points occupied temporarily by white traders and travellers, but the interior of the Dark Continent was known only through the tales of the slave- catchers, who brought to the coast the black people they had gathered like so many cattle in the interior. Dr. Livingstone was doing what he could to spread the light of the Christian religion through those benighted regions. His first departure into the interior of Africa was from Cape Town, in 1840, and for more than thirty-three years he spent his life in the arduous work to which he had con- secrated himself. In 1858 he had returned to England and published a book, giving an account of his missionary labors and his discoveries, and, liberally pro- vided with means, he returned to Africa to carry on his work. He was accom- panied by his wife, who died in the interior of Africa in 1862. In 1863 he re- turned to England and published a second book, giving some further account of his explorations. Again, in 1 865, he returned to Africa, and for more than a year no word came from him, but there ran a rumor that he had been killed by the savages. Early in 1869, however, letters from Dr. Livingstone, written a year before, were re- ceived on the coast, showing that he was alive and well. He had travelled many thousands of miles, being the first white man that had ever penetrated those dark and mysterious regions in the heart of Africa. But now, in the au- tumn of 1869, more than twenty months had passed since any word of his had come out of the darkness, and the world was ready to believe that the faithful missionary and explorer had dared his fate too often, and had died in the jungles of Africa. It was at this time that Stanley, resting after a long and arduous campaign in Spain, received from James Gordon Bennett, who was then in Paris, a tele- gram summoning him to an interview in that city. Arriving at the French capi- tal early in the morning, Stanley went straight to Mr. Bennett's lodgings, before that gentleman had risen from his bed. In answer to his knock a voice com- manded him to enter. The two men had not met in many years. Stanley was bronzed and aged by sun and storm, and Bennett, surprised, abruptly asked, "Who are you?" " I am Stanley, and I have come to answer your message," was the reply. Bennett motioned Stanley to a seat, and after a, moment's pause, asked : " Will you go to Africa and find Livingstone ? " Stanley was startled. For a moment he reflected ; then he replied, " I will ; and before he left the room his agreement with Bennett was practically con-