r me, Harry," said Terence.

"There are four of us," continued Harry, "four of that nation whose
people boast they never will be slaves; besides, there are six others,
who are our fellow-bondsmen. They're not much to look at, but still
they might count for something in a row. Shall we four British tars,
belong to a party of ten, all enslaved by three men, black men at that?"

"That's just what I've been thinking about, for the last hour or two,"
said Terence. "If we don't kill old Golah, and ride off with his
camels, we deserve to pass every day of our lives as we're doing this
one--in slavery."

"Just say the word, when and how," cried Harry. "I'm waiting. There
are seven camels. Let us each take one; but before we go we must eat
and drink the other three. I'm starving."

"Pitch on a plan, and I'll pitch into it," rejoined Terence. "I'm ready
for anything, from pitch and toss to manslaughter."

"Stay, Master Terence," interrupted the old sailor. "Av coorse ye are
afther wantin' to do somethin', an' thin to think aftherwards why ye did
it. 'Arry, my lad, yer half out o' yer mind. Master Colin be the only
yin o' ye that keeps his seven senses about him. Suppose, all av ye,
that the big chief was dead, an' that his son was not alive, and that
the other nager was a ristin' quietly wid his black heels turned from
the place where the daisies hought to grow, what should we do thin? We
'ave neither chart nor compass. We could'ner mak oot our reckonin'.
Don't ye see, a voyage here is just like one at sea, only it be just the
revarse. When men are starvin' at sea, they want to find land, but when
they are starvin' in the desert they want to find water. The big nager,
our captain, can navigate this sea in safety, we can't. We must let him
take us to some port and then do the best we can to escape from him."

"You are quite right," said Colin, "in thinking that we might be unable
to find our way from one watering-place to another; but it is well for
us to calculate all the chances. After reaching some port, as you call
it, may we not find ourselves in a position more difficult to escape
from; where we will have to contend with a hundred or more of these
negro brutes in place of only three?"

"That's vary likely," answered the sailor, "but they're only men, and we
'ave a chance of beatin' 'em. We may fight with men and conquer 'em,
an' we may fight with water an' conquer that, but when we fight against
no