they felt comfortable,
think everything right, and quite sure to catch us presently. Now they
begin to see it is not so easy after all." They maintained their
relative positions till the sun was near the horizon.

"It is ten o'clock, Luka, the sun will set in half an hour. You lay your
paddle in, and get us a cup of tea and a bit of that dry meat. You had
better boil the kettle over one of the candles. Then you lie down to
sleep for four hours, after that I will take a turn. We are a deal
better off than those fellows behind; they must keep on paddling all
night, and as they only have one man in each boat there is no relief for
them."

Luka did as he was ordered. After drinking his tea Godfrey lighted his
pipe, and Luka lay down. Godfrey did not feel very sleepy, although he
had not closed his eyes the night before; but they had had a long bout
of sleep when compelled to keep their tent by the fog, and the
excitement of the chase kept him up now. As it grew dusk he could see
that the canoes drew closer, but he had no hope, in any case, of giving
them the slip, for it was never perfectly dark. When, four hours later,
he woke Luka the sky was brightening again.

"More wind come presently," the Tartar said, looking at the sky.

"I won't lie down just yet, Luka. It will be quite light in half an
hour, and I want to have a good look towards the shore before I go to
sleep."

Luka at once took the paddle. The wind was perceptibly freshening and
the canoe was slipping fast through the water.

"Now, Luka," Godfrey said presently, "stand up and have a look round. Be
careful how you do it; it would not do to capsize her now."

Two minutes later Luka exclaimed, "I see them; a whole lot of canoes,
twenty or thirty, over there," and he pointed towards the shore but
somewhat ahead of them.

"Sit down, Luka, and I will stand up and have a look. Yes, it is as much
as they will do to cut us off. They did not calculate on our coming
along so fast. I will luff up a little more, and we shall pass ahead of
them however hard they paddle."

So saying he sat down, hauled in the sheet and headed nearer to the
wind. "The fellows behind won't see them for some time," he said. "The
canoes must be four miles away at least, and I don't suppose they could
see each other more than half that distance, being so low in the water.
If we had just a little more wind we should do it nicely."

Half an hour later the sheet was eased again, and the