was set free."

"Whew!" I whistled. "That is a bit of news well worth knowing--if it
can be relied upon. Do you believe that the fellow is telling the
truth, Cupid?"

"Cartain, Mr Fortescue, sar," answered the Krooboy, with conviction.
"He lib for die now; what he want to tell me lie for? He no want debbil
to come after him and say, `Hi, you M'Pandala, why you tell dem white
men lie about slabe cauffle comin' down to de coas'? You come along wid
me, sar!' No, he not want dat, for cartain."

"When did he tell you this, Cupid?" I demanded.

"'Bout two hour ago," answered Cupid. "He say to me, `Cupid, I lib for
die to-night, and when you come on duty to-morrow you find me gone. So
I want to tell you somet'ing now, before it too late.' And den he tell
me de news, Mr Fortescue, sar, just as I tell it to you, only in de
Eboe language, which I understand, bein' well educate."

"All right," said I. "In that case you had better come with me at once
to the captain, and we will tell him the yarn. The sooner he hears it
the better. Did he tell you where the cauffle was coming from, and
which way?"

"He say," answered Cupid, "dat dem cauffle am comin' down from de Bakota
country, where 'most all de slabe sent from dis place come from; and
dere is only one way for dem to come here, t'rough de bush ober de oder
side ob de water. Den dey bring dem across to de island in dem big
flat-bottom punt dat lay moored up by de top end ob de wharf."

We found the captain in the store with Mr Futtock, the boatswain,
overhauling the various articles salved from the wreck, and as soon as
he had seen all that he desired, and was ready to leave the building, I
got hold of him and repeated the yarn that Cupid had spun to me, the
Krooboy confirming and elaborating my statement from time to time as I
went on, and answering such questions as the skipper put to him. When
at length we had brought the yarn to an end the captain stood for some
minutes wrapped in deep thought, and then said--

"This is a very valuable piece of information that you have managed to
pick up, Cupid: and if it should prove to be well founded I will not
forget that we owe it to you. It is too late now, Mr Fortescue, to do
anything in the matter to-night, for it will be dark in less than half
an hour; but the first thing to-morrow morning you and Cupid here had
better take the dinghy, pull across to the mainland, and endeavour to
find the road by which the c