tious; then bade the men paddle
faster, ever faster.

All that night they rowed on, taking turns to rest, except Alan and
Jeekie, who slept a good deal and as a consequence awoke at dawn much
refreshed. When the sun rose they found themselves across the lagoon,
over thirty miles from the borders of Asiki-land, almost at the spot
where the river up which they had travelled some months before,
flowed out of the lake. Whether by chance or skill Fahni had steered a
wonderfully straight course. Now, however, they were face to face with a
new trouble, for scarcely had they begun to descend the river when they
discovered that at this dry season of the year it was in many places
too shallow to allow the canoe to pass over the sand and mud banks.
Evidently there was but one thing to be done--abandon it and walk.

So they landed, ate from their store of food and began a terrible and
toilsome journey. On either side of the river lay dessicated swamp
covered with dead reeds ten or twelve feet high. Doubtless beyond the
swamp there was high land, but in order to reach this, if it existed,
they would be obliged to force a path through miles of reeds. Therefore
they thought it safer to follow the river bank. Their progress was very
slow, since continually they must make detours to avoid a quicksand or
a creek, also the stones and scrubby growth delayed them so that fifteen
or at most twenty miles was a good day's march.

Still they went on steadily, seeing no man, and when their food was
exhausted, living on the fish which they caught in plenty in the
shallows, and on young flapper ducks that haunted the reeds. So at
length they came to the main river into which this tributary flowed, and
camped there thankfully, believing that if any pursuit of them had been
undertaken, it was abandoned. At least Alan and the rest believed this,
but Jeekie did not.

On the following morning, shortly after dawn, Jeekie awoke his master.

"Come here, Major," he said in a solemn voice, "I got something pretty
show you," and he led him to the foot of an old willow tree, adding,
"now up you go, Major, and look."

So Alan went up and from the topmost fork of that tree saw a sight at
which his blood turned cold. For there, not five miles behind them,
on either side of the river bank, the light gleaming on their spears,
marched two endless columns of men, who from their head-dresses he
took to be Asiki. For a minute he looked, then descended the tree a