d not yet passed that way. The moon had
just risen in the sky, and was shedding a silvery light across the lake,
by which we were enabled to see to the other extremity. We watched,
fearing that some of the warriors of the enemy might have collected and
set out in pursuit, and Blount began to regret having parted from his
friends. My young sister was sadly worn and fatigued by the terror she
had undergone, and was unable to proceed on foot; so Blount and I
employed our time in manufacturing a sort of litter, on which she might
be carried on the journey. She seemed much grieved at the death of the
old chief and his wife, who had treated her kindly, and won her
easily-gained affections. Blount and I were just completing our work
when Eva called to us. She was seated on a rock close to the lake.

"I have been listening, and I am certain I hear the splash of paddles on
the water," she said; "and see, are not these some black spots just
under the moonbeams at the other end of the lake?"

We, too, were soon certainly convinced that she was right. "I see how
matters stand," said Blount; "a war party have collected and embarked,
to cross the lake and lie in ambush for my friends on their retreat.
They have been so quick about it that there can only be a few of them,
but they would do some mischief. It is fortunate that we came across
the water. We must now try to find our friends to give them warning."

I agreed with him; and placing Eva on the litter to carry her between
us, in spite of her assurance that she could walk very well, we were
about to set forward, when Blount recollected that the canoe would
betray us. It had fortunately not drifted away from the shore; so
hauling it up, we hid it among the bushes, and trusted that our pursuers
would not land at that very spot. We proceeded in a direction so as to
intersect the line of march of the Dyaks, Blount carefully listening for
their approach.

"We must not go farther," he observed, "or they may pass us;" so we put
down our light burden, and sat down by her side. The moonbeams here and
there struggled through the thick foliage of the trees, but in most
places it was very dark; and we could only depend on our sense of
hearing, though the moon enabled us to steer our course. Near us was an
open glade, and, for a minute perhaps, neither had been looking towards
it, when by chance turning our heads, it appeared as if by magic filled
with human beings. The moon