by the throat, two by two, by
means of a pole six or seven feet long, forked at each end, and closed
by an iron rod. By this means they were forced to march in line, one
behind the other, unable to get away either to the right or to the
left. As an over precaution, a heavy chain was attached to their
waists. They had their arms free, to carry burdens, their feet free to
march, but they could not use them to flee. Thus they were going to
travel hundreds of miles under an overseer's lash. Placed apart,
overcome by the reaction which followed the first moments of their
struggle against the negroes, they no longer made a movement. Why had
they not been able to follow Hercules in his flight? And, meanwhile,
what could they hope for the fugitive? Strong as he was, what would
become of him in that inhospitable country, where hunger, solitude,
savage beasts, natives, all were against him? Would he not soon regret
his companion's fate? They, however, had no pity to expect from the
chiefs of the caravan, Arabs or Portuguese, speaking a language they
could not understand. These chiefs only entered into communication
with their prisoners by menacing looks and gestures.

Dick Sand himself was not coupled with any other slave. He was a white
man, and probably they had not dared to inflict the common treatment
on him. Unarmed, he had his feet and hands free, but a driver watched
him especially. He observed the camp, expecting each moment to see
Negoro or Harris appear. His expectation was in vain. He had no doubt,
however, that those two miserable men had directed the attack against
the ant-hill.

Thus the thought came to him that Mrs. Weldon, little Jack, and Cousin
Benedict had been led away separately by orders from the American or
from the Portuguese. Seeing neither one nor the other, he said to
himself that perhaps the two accomplices even accompanied their
victims. Where were they leading them? What would they do with them?
It was his most cruel care. Dick Sand forgot his own situation to
think only of Mrs. Weldon and hers.

The caravan, camped under the gigantic sycamore, did not count less
than eight hundred persons, say five hundred slaves of both sexes,
two hundred soldiers, porters, marauders, guards, drivers, agents, or
chiefs.

These chiefs were of Arab and Portugese origin. It would be difficult
to imagine the cruelties that these inhuman beings inflicted on their
captives. They struck them without relaxation, and