s close as you can to his heels if you have to chase
him, till he hauls down his flag!" exclaimed Jack, vigorously plying his
paddle. "What do you say, Mr Crawford?"

I heartily agreed with him. The thought of what would be the fate of my
young relatives would have nerved my arm for even greater exertions than
we were called on to make. We still, therefore, continued paddling, in
spite of our fatigue, with might and main, anxious to put as many
leagues as possible between ourselves and our enemies before we stopped.
The sun set in a glorious glow of ruddy light on our right, shedding a
hue over the tops of some lofty hills which appeared on the opposite
bank. The stream increased in rapidity; but still, as far as we could
see, was free from danger. There was yet sufficient light from the sky,
though it could not be called twilight, to enable us to continue our
course.

"If the navigation is as open as at present, we will continue on for
another hour," shouted Stanley. "We shall then be safe from the
savages, and may have a quiet rest, I hope, after our day's work."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered Jack from our canoe. "We have not worn our arms
off yet; though, if you don't mind stopping, maybe the ladies would like
a bit of pigeon and a bite of plantain."

"Oh, no, no," exclaimed Kate. "Do not stop for our sakes, if you are
not tired. We feel no hunger, and would rather not delay a moment till
you think it safe."

We accordingly paddled on. By degrees the glow faded from the sky, and
darkness settled down over the landscape. Still Stanley continued
leading. Presently I saw on our left a silvery arch rising over the
hills. It increased rapidly, and soon the full moon rose in the sky,
shedding its light over the waters.

"We do not get sight of such a moon as that in old England," cried out
Leo from the other canoe. "It is often there more like a patch of red
putty stuck on to a wall; but see! this looks like a mighty globe of
pure fire floating in the heavens." So indeed it did.

"Do not be disparaging our good old English moons," cried out Natty.
"You forget the harvest moon; and, though it is not quite like this, it
is a very beautiful object to gaze at, and useful to those who have to
carry home the full-loaded waggons of corn."

Our spirits were rising as we felt we were escaping from the danger we
had encountered. I hoped, too, our hearts were grateful. The bright
light of the moon now enabled us