short distance to the north. Then came a faint groan or two of the oars
in their locks, but that was all. We could see nothing, hear no other
sound, but all the same we could tell that a large boat of some kind was
being pulled in the same direction as that which we had taken.

"Men going out to the junks," I said to myself, and my heart beat
heavily, so that I could feel it go _throb throb_ against my ribs. I
knew that was what must be the case, and that the men would be savage,
reckless desperadoes, who would have tried to run us down if they had
known of our being there.

But they were as much in the dark as we, and I could hear them pass on,
and I knew that we must have been going in the right direction for the
junk. Then I had clear proof, for all at once there was a low, wailing,
querulous cry, which sent a chill through me, it sounded so wild and
strange.

"Only a sea-bird--some kind of gull," I said to myself; and then I knew
that it was a hail, for a short way to the southwards a little dull star
of light suddenly shone out behind us, for the boat had of course been
turned.

There was the answer to the signal, and there of course lay the junk,
which in another five minutes we should have reached.

Mr Brooke pressed my arm, and we all sat listening to the beating of
the oars, slow and regular as if the rowers had been a crew of our
well-trained Jacks. Then the beat ceased, there was a faint rattling
noise, which I know must have been caused by a rope, then a dull
grinding sound as of a boat rubbing against the side of a vessel, and
lastly a few indescribable sounds which might have been caused by men
climbing up into the junk, but of that I could not be sure.

Once more silence, and I wondered what next.

Mr Brooke's hand upon mine answered my wonderings. He pressed it and
the tiller together, the boat's sail filled gently once more, and we
resumed our course, but the direction of the boat was changed more to
the north-eastward. We were easing off to port so as to get well to the
left of the junks, and for some distance we ran like this; then the hand
touched mine again, and the rudder was pressed till we were gliding
southward again, but we had not gone far when Ching uttered a low
warning, and I just had time to shift the helm and send the boat gliding
round astern of a large junk, which loomed up above us like ebony, as we
were going dead for it, and if we had struck, our fragile bamboo boat