nough to excite any one's appetite, and as a good-sized piece was
handed to each by their captors--

"Don't mean to kill us yet, Mr Jack," said Ned merrily. "Hope they
don't mean any of that nonsense later on."

But Jack was too weary and low-spirited to reply to his companion's
jokes, and he lay back after a time, watching the soft glow over the
volcano far above their heads, then the brilliant stars, which looked
larger than at home, and glided suddenly into a deep sleep, from which
he was awakened by a rough prod from the butt end of a spear.

The lad flushed angrily, but tried to curb his resentment, and turned
away as he rose, to find Ned standing watching him in the early morning
light.

"Never mind, Mr Jack," he said softly. "It's hard to bear; but this
isn't the time to show fight. That black brute kicked me to wake me,
and it made me as savage as a bear. If he'd had boots on I should have
hit him, I know I should, I couldn't have helped it even if he'd killed
me for it; but then you see he hadn't boots on, though the sole of his
foot's almost like hoof."

"They're going on directly, Ned."

"Are they, sir? Well, I must have a drink of water first."

He took a step toward the pool; but a spear was presented at his breast,
and it was not until Jack had made a sign of drinking that they were
allowed to bend down over it.

Directly after they started back up the side gorge to where it joined
the greater, and then began to descend again by what proved to be a very
precipitous but direct way down toward the sea, water soon after making
its appearance in a mere thread, which suddenly leaped down from a crack
in the side and found its way to the bottom: while as they were hurried
on by their more nimble captors, the stream kept on increasing in volume
by the help of the many tiny tributaries which joined it.

Under different auspices the walk would have been glorious. Sir John
and the doctor would have found it one grand preserve for birds and
insects; but the prisoners had hard work to keep up with their
sure-footed captors, and any hesitation on arriving at a difficult bit
of the descent was looked upon as an attempt to escape.

The blacks were evidently quite at home in this one of the many ravines
which carried the water condensed upon the mountain down to the sea, and
consequently made pretty good speed; but this came hard upon their
prisoners, who occupied so much time in descending the worst part