e him an extremely wild and dishevelled
appearance. I must say that when his hasty toilet was completed he
seemed to me the most horrible-looking demon I had ever conceived of.
He next poured out nearly a whole flask of gunpowder on a ledge of rock,
the edge of which was visible from the entrance to the cave, while the
rock itself concealed him from view. Last of all, he took up the three
cones of moistened gunpowder which the reader will remember he had made
before we left the cave to attack the village. One of these he placed
among the grass and branches on his head, the other two he held in his
hands.

"Now, boys," he said, when all was ready, "all I have to ask of you is
that you will stand by with matches, and when I give the word light the
points of those three cones of gunpowder simultaneously and instantly,
and leave me to finish the remainder of my part. Of course you will be
prepared to back me up with your rifles if need be, but keep well out of
sight at first."

We now saw the drift of our eccentric friend's intention, but for my
part I felt little confidence in his success. The plan seemed
altogether too wild and absurd. But our danger was imminent. No way of
escape seemed possible, and it is wonderful how readily men will grasp
at anything in the shape of a ruse or stratagem, no matter how silly or
wild, that affords the most distant chance of escape from danger. Jack,
too, I could see from the look of his face, put little faith in the
plan; and I observed an expression on the countenance of our negro guide
which seemed to indicate that his respect for Peterkin's wisdom was on
the wane.

We had not to wait long. The doctor, with several torch-bearers,
suddenly darted in with a shout, followed closely by the warriors, who
yelled furiously, in order, no doubt, to keep up their courage.

Alarmed by such an unusual hubbub in their usually quiet domain, the
bats came swooping from their holes in the walls by hundreds, and the
torches were extinguished almost instantly. The savages who were near
the entrance drew back in haste; those who had entered stood rooted to
the spot in terror.

"Now!" whispered Peterkin eagerly.

We struck our lights at once and applied them to the points of the
gunpowder cones, which instantly began to spout forth a shower of sparks
with great violence. Peterkin darted out from behind the rock with a
yell so appalling that we ourselves were startled by it, having
forg