been heard on the shore in such a din."

Ordering the bodies of the two seamen to be thrown overboard, Selak, the
most courageous, entered the cabin, took a couple of muskets from the
rack, and some powder and ball from the mate's berth, and returning to
his followers, bade them bring the boat alongside.

"Throw the woman after them," he cried to Nakoda, as the boat pushed off
into the darkness, just as the hissing rain began. "We shall return ere
it is dawn."

Nakoda would have sprung over the side after the boat, but he feared the
sharks even more than Selak's kriss; so running for'ard, he crept into
his bunk and lay there, too terrified to move.

* * * * *

Mallet and Corwell, with the natives, worked hard till near sunset, and
then ceased.

"There's nearly five ounces in that lot, Mallet," said the captain,
pointing to two buckets of wash-dirt. "Let us have a bathe, and then get
something to eat before it is too dark."

"The natives say we ought to get back to the house, sir, instead of
sleeping here tonight. They say a heavy storm is coming on, and we'll be
washed out of the camp."

"Very well, Mallet I don't want to stay here, I can assure you. Tell
them to hurry up, then. Get the shovels and other gear, and let us start
as quickly as possible. It will take us a good three hours to get back
to the house."

By sunset they started, walking in single file along the narrow,
dangerous mountain-path, a false step on which meant a fall of hundreds
of feet.

Half-way down, the storm overtook them, but guided by the surefooted
natives they pressed steadily on, gained the level ground, and at last
reached the house about ten o'clock.

"Now that we have come so far we might as well go on board and give
my wife a surprise," said Corwell to Mallet. "Look, the rain is taking
off."

"Not for long, sir. But if we start at once we may get aboard afore it
starts again."

Two willing natives, wet and shivering as they were, quickly baled out
a canoe, and in a few minutes they were off, paddling down towards the
sea. But scarce had they gone a few hundred yards when another sudden
downpour of rain blotted out everything around them. But the natives
paddled steadily on amid the deafening roar; the river was wide, and
there was no danger of striking anything harder than the hanging branch
of a tree or the soft banks.

"I thought I heard voices just now," shouted Mallet.

"Natives been out fishing," replied Corwell