d to look, when they
swore they'd allow no firearms to be taken."

"I don't wonder at their not permitting it," observed Wilmore.

"Nor I, Frank. The wonder to me has always been that they let the
officers and passengers go at all. But it seems that such of our men as
agreed to join these Congo pirates would not do so, except on the
express condition that the lives of all on board were to be spared; and
the pirates daren't cross them. But we mustn't dawdle here talking.
There's plenty to be done by all of us, and more than we can do, too."

Warley and Nick accordingly set off in opposite directions, and Lavie
and Frank began their work. They first took an axe from their stores,
and choosing from among the drift-wood three of the longest spars,
resolved to fix two of them in the ground, and lash the third to their
upper ends. They selected for this purpose a hollow between two high
sand hills, about a hundred yards above high-water mark. Then they were
to cut six more poles, and lay them on either side against the ridge
piece, burying the other ends in the sand. Over this frame-work the
tarpaulin was to be stretched, and kept in its place by laying some
heavy pieces of wood on the lower ends. Thus a small tent would be
formed, at the bottom of which the boat's sail was to be spread, forming
a convenient place on which to lay their stores, and make up their beds.

Plainly it would occupy a considerable time to complete these
arrangements, but they had not advanced half-way, when Nick came
hurrying back in a state of the greatest excitement, declaring that he
had seen, at a short distance, the roofs of what was evidently a town of
considerable size; and on a flat piece of ground adjoining it, a number
of men--soldiers they seemed to be--in red and white uniforms, drawn out
in long lines, as if on parade.

"A large town, Nick! soldiers in uniform!" repeated Wilmore in great
astonishment. "You must be dreaming."

"I assure you I am not," replied Gilbert, whose demeanour showed that he
was thoroughly in earnest. "I could see, quite distinctly above the
fog, the towers of a church, apparently, and a long row of battlements,
evidently part of a line of fortifications; and, through openings in the
mist, the red caps and jackets of the soldiers were as plain as anything
I ever beheld in my life."

"But it can't be, doctor, can it?" asked Frank. "I am sure I should be
glad enough to think we were near any inhabit