y were by that time drawing near. He glanced over his
shoulder and could make out the dim form of the leading boat, with a
tall figure standing up in the bow, not thirty yards behind.

"Shall we manage it, Moses?" asked Van der Kemp, in that calm steady
voice which seemed to be unchangeable either by anxiety or peril.

"No, massa. Unpossable--widout _dis_!"

The negro drew the revolver from his belt, slewed round, took rapid aim
and fired.

The tall figure in the bow of the boat fell back with a crash and a
hideous yell. Great shouting and confusion followed, and the boat
dropped behind. A few minutes later and the canoe was leaping over the
surges of a shallow rapid. They dashed from eddy to eddy, taking
advantage of every stone that formed a tail of backwater below it, and
gradually worked the light craft upward in a way that the hermit and his
man had learned in the nor'-western rivers of America.

"We are not safe yet," said the former, resting and wiping his brow as
they floated for a few seconds in a calm basin at the head of the
rapid.

"Surely they cannot take a boat up such a place as that!"

"Nay, but they can follow up the banks on foot. However, we will soon
baffle them, for the river winds like a serpent just above this, and by
carrying our canoe across one, two, or three spits of land we will gain
a distance in an hour or so that would cost them nearly a day to ascend
in boats. They know that, and will certainly give up the chase. I think
they have given it up already, but it is well to make sure."

"I wonder why they did not fire at us," remarked Nigel.

"Probably because they felt sure of catching us," returned the hermit,
"and when they recovered from the confusion that Moses threw them into
we were lost to them in darkness, besides being pretty well beyond
range. I hope, Moses, that you aimed low."

"Yes, massa--but it's sca'cely fair when life an' def am in de balance
to expect me to hit 'im on de legs on a dark night. Legs is a bad
targit. Bullet's apt to pass between 'em. Howseber, dat feller won't hop
much for some time to come!"

A couple of hours later, having carried the canoe and baggage across the
spits of land above referred to, and thus put at least half-a-day's
journey between themselves and their foes, they came to a halt for the
night.

"It won't be easy to find a suitable place to camp on," remarked Nigel,
glancing at the bank, where the bushes grew so thick that they overh