result, followed by the rush of feet of those
who had been creeping up through the trees; and then above the crackling
and breaking of leaf and twig, arose a furious yell and the groaning of
human beings in intense pain.

"How horrible it sounds!" said Murray, as the thudding of ramrods arose.

"Does it, sir?" grunted Tom May. "Oh, I dunno, sir. Sounds to me
black. Dessay it would ha' seemed to me horrid if it had been white.
There, sir; Mr Anderson don't seem to think bad on it," growled the
man.

For at that moment the chief officer hurried up to where they stood,
uttering a few quick enquiries and listening to the results.

"No one hurt then?" he said, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That's good,
Mr Murray. Oh, by the way, Thomas May, I shall want a word or two with
you when this business is over. Mr Murray, you will bring up the rear.
Keep together, and follow me as silently as you can. Mr Murray, the
blacks are well together now, following the planter's man, and we have
to follow him, for I have to depend upon him to lead us back. I need
not say that you must keep your ears well open, for in spite of the
checks we have given them the enemy may come on again."

"The first luff don't seem to think it's very horrible, Mr Murray,
sir," whispered the big sailor, as he trudged as silently as he could
beside his companion of the rear-guard.

"No, Tom," replied the middy; "but this fighting in the dark is very
horrible all the same."

"Well, I dunno, sir. 'Tarn't nice, of course; but 'tarn't our fault,
and wherever we've left one o' them black or white slaver chaps a bit
sore on the nat'ral deck yonder you may say as he desarves all he's
got."

Murray made no reply, for he had stopped short for a few moments to
listen; and finding this, the big sailor followed his example.

"Hear 'em coming, sir?"

"No, Tom; I thought I did, but all seems quite still again. Here, I
wish you'd listen. I don't know how it is, but you seem to hear much
more plainly than I can."

Tom chuckled.

"Well, what is there to laugh at in what I said?"

"Oh, I dunno, sir, on'y it sounded rum to me."

"What did, sir?"

"You saying you couldn't hear so plain as I can."

"Well, what is there rum, as you call it, in that?"

"Nowt, sir, only the reason why. I can hear sharp as sharp, sir,
because I was always getting my ears boxed when I was a boy. I was sent
to what they call a Dame school, and I s'pose I was a very tireso