th her bows up-stream,
and slipped along. Looking back, they saw the fire spring up at the
appointed landing-place, and, listening intently, they caught the
crackling of the burning wood.

"They move," said Muata.

The others bent their heads, and presently they too heard the sound
that had reached the keener sense of the warrior--a rhythmical beat
and hum made by many paddles as the man-hunters, who had hidden
behind the island, were dashing forward in hot haste to catch the
Okapi, which they expected would be landing its crew. But the Okapi
slipped on, and had a very good lead when Hassan and his slave-
hunters set up a terrific outcry on finding that once more they had
been tricked. They made right across in a long beat for the north
bank, then working the screw in turns, with the great lamp at the
bows to scare off the hippos, they made good progress till sunrise.
For five days thereafter they kept steadily on their way, meeting
with no adventure, and keeping out in mid-river to avoid the
attention of the villagers. When, at intervals, they did land to buy
goats'-milk, bananas, and manioc, they took precautions to approach
clearings where there were only a few huts.

CHAPTER XII

THE MAN-EATERS

On the fifth day they turned from the mighty Congo into a tributary
that threaded the dark mysterious forest, whose depths had never
been trodden yet by white men, whose dark retreats and sombre
avenues, into which no ray of sunlight struggled, were the haunt of
the gorilla, of pigmies, and of cannibals, dreaded most of all.
After the broad Congo this was a mere thread, no more than a few
hundred yards across, a gloomy opening in the gloomy woods that
marched right down to its shores; that sent out huge branches in a
leafy roof over the water near the banks, making dark retreats, in
which lurked watchful crocodiles. The stir and bustle of the great
river found no echo in this silent byway. Nowhere was there any
trace of man. The forest seemed impenetrable, beyond all his puny
efforts to make a footing.

There seemed no room enough for a man to set his foot, so close was
the foliage from the ground to the topmost bough of the tallest
tree. Mile after mile they went on, without a sign of life, then
from the shore an arrow whistled, pierced the awning, and rang on
the metal deck.

Compton put the wheel over, and the Okapi slid away from that
dangerous screen. Then they slowed up and looked, but there was no
so