vertical, and with hands outstretched I slipped through
the air, cleaving it like a flying arrow. Just before I struck the
water a perfect shower of javelins fell all about. My enemies bad
rushed to the brink and hurled their weapons after me. By a miracle I
was untouched.

In the final instant I saw that I had cleared the rocks and was going
to strike the water fairly. Then I was in and plumbing the depths. I
suppose I didn't really go very far down, but it seemed to me that I
should never stop. When at last I dared curve my hands upward and
divert my progress toward the sur-face, I thought that I should explode
for air before I ever saw the sun again except through a swirl of
water. But at last my bead popped above the waves, and I filled my
lungs with air.

Before me was the boat, from which Juag and Dian were clambering. I
couldn't understand why they were deserting it now, when we were about
to set out for the mainland in it; but when I reached its side I
under-stood. Two heavy javelins, missing Dian and Juag by but a hair's
breadth, had sunk deep into the bottom of the dugout in a straight line
with the grain of the wood, and split her almost in two from stem to
stern. She was useless.

Juag was leaning over a near-by rock, his hand out-stretched to aid me
in clambering to his side; nor did I lose any time in availing myself
of his proffered assistance. An occasional javelin was still dropping
perilously close to us, so we hastened to draw as close as possible to
the cliffside, where we were comparatively safe from the missiles.

Here we held a brief conference, in which it was decided that our only
hope now lay in making for the opposite end of the island as quickly as
we could, and utilizing the boat that I had hidden there, to continue
our journey to the mainland.

Gathering up three of the least damaged javelins that had fallen about
us, we set out upon our journey, keeping well toward the south side of
the island, which Juag said was less frequented by the Hoojans than the
central portion where the river ran. I think that this ruse must have
thrown our pursuers off our track, since we saw nothing of them nor
heard any sound of pursuit during the greater portion of our march the
length of the island.

But the way Juag had chosen was rough and round-about, so that we
consumed one or two more marches in covering the distance than if we
had followed the river. This it was which proved our und