iser had called in at a station some fifty
miles farther up the coast, and reported that she had been in chase of a
large slave barque--that she had lost sight of the latter out at sea,
but was still in search of her, and expected to find her to the south--
that the cruiser only stopped at the above-mentioned port to take in
water, and, as soon as that was accomplished, she should come down the
coast and search every nook and inlet to find the slaver.

Most of this information had been given confidentially to the chief
factor of the port, an Englishman, whose business lay in palm-oil,
ground-nuts, ivory, and other African products, and who was not supposed
to have any connection whatever with the slave-trade. On the contrary,
he was one of those who lent his aid to its suppression: giving every
assistance to the slave-cruisers, and being on terms of friendship and
intimacy with their commanders.

But for all that, this comfortable John Bull was suspected--not by the
aforesaid commanders, however--of having very amicable relations with
his majesty King Dingo Bingo--so amicable that there were those who
hinted at a sort of partnership existing between them!

Be that as it may, it is certain that the Englishman had sent the three
Kroomen to warn King Dingo Bingo of his danger--for there was no secret
made of this fact on board the _Pandora_. The Kroomen had ventured
round the coast in a small sail-boat, and entered by the mouth of the
river, having performed most part of the dangerous voyage in the night.

Their report, as I have said, produced consternation on all hands.
There could be no doubt that the cruiser was the cutter that had chased
us; and knowing that the slaver had gone southward after giving her the
slip, she would take that direction to look out for her, and would be
certain to explore every inch of the coast in her cruise. Of course the
river would not be likely to escape her observation, and if she should
there find the _Pandora_, it would be all up with the slaver. Probably
enough, the cruiser may have picked up a pilot, who knew all about King
Dingo Bingo and his slave-factory. If so, it would not be long before
she would be down upon us. She might be looked for every minute!

No wonder, then, that the report of the Kroomen carried consternation
with it.

As for the "king," he was far less terrified than the "captain." His
villainous majesty had far less to fear from a visit of the cruiser.