ce,
to me.

Still I could not bring myself, for the sake of saving my own life, to
leave him to be taken by the blacks; for it seemed to me that he would
have but a small chance of escaping from them. I was hesitating, when I
heard a shout from beyond where they were standing, and presently a
number more rushed up, who by their furious gestures, as soon as they
saw us, seemed to threaten our immediate destruction.

"I'll kill the first who comes on," cried Mr Talboys.

They answered with derisive cries, and several of them levelled their
muskets. Mr Talboys and I kept ours pointed at them, sheltering
ourselves as we could behind the trunks of two trees which stood close
together.

Our chance of escaping appeared very small.

While we thus kept the blacks in check, a sound in the rear struck my
ears. It was the tramp of many feet. It became louder and louder. The
blacks, jabbering away as they were to each other, did not apparently
hear it. Mr Talboys did, however, and he knew that it was more
important than ever to refrain from firing. He again shouted to them--

"Do any of you who have just come know where my daughter and young
friend are gone to?"

They didn't reply, but we heard them talking to one another. This
further put off the time. The sound of tramping feet grew louder.

"You make fool ob us, Massa Talboys," at last said one of the blacks,
who, probably from his understanding English, had been chosen as
spokesman.

Gesticulating violently, the whole body now gave vent to loud shouts and
cries, and dashed forward, with the intention of overwhelming us. We
both fired, in the hopes of delaying their advance, and then sprang back
to the shelter of some other trees we had noted behind us. The blacks,
as they rushed on, fired, but their bullets passed high above our heads,
stripping off the bark and branches, which came rattling down upon us.

We had but a small chance of again escaping, should we attempt the same
proceeding; but, as the blacks were within twenty paces of us, a party
of redcoats dashed through the brushwood, one of their leaders being a
small naval officer whom, to my joy, I recognised as Tom Pim. The
blacks saw the soldiers, and, without waiting to encounter the sharp
points of their bayonets, turned, and scampered off as fast as they
could manage to get through the bushes, the speed of most of them being
increased by the bullets poured in on them, while several bit the
gro