plum, and, as Jack ran through these, he lost sight, for a few
moments, of the bridge and the busy dacoit. He burst through them with
a straight, open run before him of seventy yards to the bridge head.
His heart beat thick and fast as he flew across the open. The blows of
the _dah_ had ceased. Had the bridge gone or not? A little clump of
water-grasses on the bank hid the bridge from him, but the silence was
terribly ominous. He thought he saw a blue kilt disappearing among the
trees, but he did not stay to intercept it. He shot up to the edge of
the stream, and saw a horrible space of blank water between bank and
bank. The bridge was swinging slowly towards the other side. Held fast
there, the current was thrusting the slight structure across the
stream. The dacoits had succeeded in their plan.

Jack stood still and looked round for their enemies. There was no sign
of a Kachin to be seen. One had dropped into the river, and the
current had certainly carried him away; the others had escaped into
the jungle which grew thickly within a short distance of the bridge
head.

"By Jingo!" cried Jim Dent blankly, as he ran up. "The bridge has
gone. We're in a pretty fix."

"Gone," echoed Buck. "They've cut us off after all. Boys, we're in a
tight place."

"Bridge gone!" cried Me Dain. "Bridge gone! What shall we do? Sahibs,
oh, what shall we do?"

Jack looked from one to the other in some surprise at hearing this
outburst of deep anxiety.

"It isn't very wide," he cried. "Why on earth can't we swim over? That
would be simple enough."

"Ay, ay," said Jim Dent. "Easy enough if we were sure of getting to
the other side, but we're not. All these rivers swarm with alligators,
big, savage brutes that would pull a man under as easy as if he were a
dog."

Jack's looks were now as blank as the others. This put a very
different face on crossing the river, and he gazed on the dark, swift
stream with horror. In those gloomy depths lurked huge, dreadful
reptiles whose vast jaws would drag a swimmer down to a frightful
death.

"It's not a short journey across this creek, d'ye see," said Buck.
"The stream's so fast that a swimmer would be swept down full a
hundred yards in crossing from bank to bank, and in that time it would
give an alligator plenty of chance to lay hold of him."

"We can't cross here, sahibs," put in Me Dain. "Stream too swift, too
strong. The bridge is here because the river at this place is very
narrow, but