tening to the buzz
of voices, that seemed now to arise on every hand.

From where we stood we could see a group of the savages standing not
thirty yards from us, their presence being first made plain by their
eager talking, and I pressed the doctor's arm and pointed.

"Yes," he whispered; "but we are in the shadow."

From huts to right and left we could hear talking, but that in front of
us was silent, and I began wondering whether it was the one that had
been my prison. But it was impossible to tell, everything seemed so
different in the faint light cast by the stars. I could not even make
out the tree where Jimmy had been tied.

All at once a sensation as of panic seized me, for the group of blacks
set up a loud shout, and came running towards where we were.

I was sure they saw us, and with a word of warning to the doctor I
turned and should have fled but for two hands that were laid upon my
shoulders, pressing me down, the doctor crouching likewise.

At first I thought it was Jimmy, but turning my head I found that it was
Ti-hi, whose hand now moved from my shoulder to my lips.

I drew a breath full of relief the next moment, for in place of dashing
down upon us the blacks rushed into the hut behind which we were
standing, crowding it; and there was nothing now but a wall of dried and
interwoven palm leaves between us and our fierce enemies.

Here a loud altercation seemed to ensue, angry voices being heard; and
several times over I thought there was going to be a fight. I could not
comprehend a word, but the tones of voice were unmistakably those of
angry men, and it was easy to tell when one left off and another began.

We dared not stir, for now it seemed to be so light that if we moved
from the shadow of the hut we should be seen, while the fact of one of
us stepping upon a dead twig and making it snap would be enough to bring
half the village upon us, at a time when we wanted to employ strategy
and not force.

The burst of talking in the hut ended all at once, and there was a dead
silence, as if those within were listening intently.

We held our breath and listened too, trembling with excitement, for all
at once we heard a voice utter a few words, and then there was a faint
sound of rustling, with the cracking noise made by a joint, as if some
one had risen to a standing position.

Were the savages coming round to our side and about to leap upon us?
Perhaps they were even then stealing from both