rhaps it would be better for us not to separate, Dick," added Mrs.
Weldon, as if urged by some presentiment.

"No--let me go alone," replied Dick Sand. "I must act for the security
of all. Before one hour I shall be back. Watch well, Hercules."

On this reply the boat, unfastened, carried Dick Sand to the other
side of the Zaire.

Mrs. Weldon and Hercules, lying in the papyrus thickets, followed him
with their eyes.

Dick Sand soon reached the middle of the stream. The current, without
being very strong, was a little accentuated there by the attraction of
the falls. Four hundred feet below, the imposing roaring of the waters
filled the space, and some spray, carried by the western wind, reached
the young novice. He shuddered at the thought that the boat, if it had
been less carefully watched during the last night, would have been
lost over those cataracts, that would only have restored dead bodies.
But that was no longer to be feared, and, at that moment, the oar
skilfully handled sufficed to maintain it in a direction a little
oblique to the current.

A quarter of an hour after, Dick Sand had reached the opposite shore,
and was preparing to spring on the bank.

At that moment cries were heard, and ten natives rushed on the mass of
plants that still hid the boat.

They were the cannibals from the lake village. For eight days they had
followed the right bank of the river. Under that thatch, which
was torn by the stakes of their village, they had discovered the
fugitives, that is to say, a sure prey for them, because the barrier
of the falls would sooner or later oblige those unfortunate ones to
land on one or the other side of the river.

Dick Sand saw that he was lost, but he asked himself if the sacrifice
of his life might not save his companions. Master of himself, standing
in the front of the boat, his gun pointed, he held the cannibals in
check.

Meanwhile, they snatched away the thatch, under which they expected
to find other victims. When they saw that the young novice alone
had fallen into their hands, they betrayed their disappointment by
frightful cries. A boy of fifteen among ten!

But, then, one of those natives stood up, his arm stretched toward the
left bank, and pointed to Mrs. Weldon and her companions, who, having
seen all and not knowing what to do, had just climbed up the bank!

Dick Sand, not even dreaming of himself, waited for an inspiration
from Heaven that might save them.

The boa