. He saw, however, the men in one of the canoes
cease paddling and drop behind the rest, and could make out that one of
its occupants was doing something.

"I hit one of the canoes, Luka; I fancy they are trying to patch up the
hole." He loaded the gun again, this time with his largest-sized shot,
laid it down and resumed his paddle.

"I have put in buck-shot this time, Luka; I don't want to kill any of
the poor beggars, and the shot will spread. I have put in double charges
so as to give them a good dose as they come up. Small shot would be of
no use, it would not get through those thick leather coats of theirs.
Now, then, let us send her along."

The wind was certainly freshening, for it was not until another four or
five miles had been traversed that the canoes had crept up to within a
hundred yards' distance. At last Godfrey felt it was time to fire again,
and waiting till the canoes were within about seventy yards' distance he
fired both barrels, slightly shifting his aim between each shot. A
series of yells arose from the canoes, four or five of them at once
dropped behind.

"Paddle your hardest, Luka, while I load again, the beggars are coming
up fast now."

The natives with yells of fury were sending their canoes through the
foaming water, and were but fifty yards away when he again fired. This
time five or six of the natives dropped their paddles, and two of the
canoes were upset. A volley of arrows fell thickly round the boat, and
one or two spears skimmed along the water close to it. Godfrey seized
his paddle again.

"Head towards the shore, Luka," he said; and as the boat headed round he
slackened the sheet and so brought the wind nearly dead aft. The boat
was on an even keel now, and they could feel by the lessened strain on
the paddles that her speed was considerably increased. In two or three
minutes Godfrey looked round; the canoes were a hundred yards behind.

"We are gaining on them, Luka."

Another ten minutes and the interval was more than doubled.

"They are beginning to get tired," Godfrey said. "We are going a good
deal faster, of course, now we have got the wind astern, but I do not
think they are going as fast as they did, and I expect that last dose of
buck-shot took the heart out of them a good deal. They had reckoned that
we should be only able to fire once or twice before they came up, and
that I should use bullets; but that handful of buck-shot evidently
peppered a good many of t