ay and
Titely?"

"Tom May is with us, my lad."

"Hurt, sir?"

"Here, answer for yourself, my lad," cried the lieutenant.

"Hurt, sir? Yes, sir; pretty tidy, sir," growled the big sailor. "One
of them slavers fetched me a crack on the head as knocked all the sense
out on it; but I shall get a chance at 'em again one o' these times.
But is it really you, Mr Murray, here and all right, sir?"

"It's your turn to answer, Mr Murray," replied the chief officer.

"Yes, sir; and yes, Tom May; I've got back safely. Where's Titely?"

"In the plantation house, sir--in hospital--sick bay, sir; doing pretty
tidy. But they're coming on again, I think, sir, and we've them two
blacks with us, sir. Where shall we put them?"

"They're not prisoners, sir," cried Murray. "They're friends, and have
helped us to escape."

"Do you think we can trust them?" asked the lieutenant.

"Trust them, sir? Yes, and they'll fight for us to the end."

"You answer for them, my lad?"

"Yes, sir," cried Murray. "They're staunch enough."

"Here they come, sir!" cried Tom May.

For with a fierce yelling mingled with an imitation of the hearty
cheering of a body of seamen, a strong party dashed up to the hastily
barricaded entrance, and sent a volley crashing through the panels of
the door and the window.

"You were ready for that, my lads?" cried the lieutenant. "No one
hurt?"

"Nay, sir; we're used to that bit o' business," growled the big sailor.

"Then give it them back, my lads."

The words had hardly passed the officer's lips before a dozen muskets
bellowed out their reply, lighting up so many roughly-made portholes,
and as the volley was responded to by a fiercer yelling than before,
mingled with the hurried footsteps of the repulsed attacking party,
Murray turned in the darkness to his leader.

"I can't understand it, sir," he said. "I thought Caesar, the black,
was retreating with us to the cottage by the lagoon."

"No, no, my lad; this is the plantation house where we came first. I
only wish we could have reached the cottage by the water-side. We
should have had help from the captain before now if we could have got
there."

"Then we are right in the middle of the cane fields, sir?"

"Yes, Murray, and very glad I was to come upon it, for it has been
strong enough to hold. Here: your black fellow who guided the
expedition--where is he?"

"Here somewhere, sir."

"Ask him then if he can lead us by some path to