eep her a few yards out from the bank and wait for me. Hurry up;
here they come."

Thus exhorted, Mark and Osterberg ran on without further demur, and
Helmar followed them until he reached the edge of the camping-ground.
Here he seized the bough from which he had broken his club, and
flung it across the pathway, and stood waiting the approach of the
brigands.

In a moment the leader came up, and, seeing the resolute Helmar
awaiting him on the other side of the barrier, he paused. It was
only momentary, however, and as the rest of the gipsies joined him,
the whole party, now six in number, rushed at the solitary defender.

In that momentary pause, however, Helmar had heard the crunching
sound of the boat sliding into the water, followed by the welcome
shout of "all right" from his friends. He intended to hold the men
at bay for just a few moments longer, so as to give his companions
time to get well into the stream. The charge of the gipsies in a
body was evidently intended to overwhelm him by numbers. As the
leader made an attempt to get over the bough, Helmar swung his heavy
club at him, and the fellow fell back. Then, seeing another clear
his obstruction to his right, and not having time to defend himself
from his attack, he flung his trusty weapon at him and, turning, ran
towards the river. Without pausing to see if he was pursued, he
plunged headlong into the river, and struck out from the shore.

Everything had worked beautifully. As he came to the surface and
looked round, he saw the boat at a safe distance from the shore, and
he swam quickly towards it. Reaching it his companions quickly
hauled him aboard, and, looking towards the bank, he saw the
brigands standing at the water's edge wildly gesticulating and
shouting execrations at the top of their voices.

"They seem pretty wild," ventured Osterberg, as the boat quickly
widened the distance from the shore, "you just came in the nick of
time, George; I believe they intended killing us."

"Yes, you fellows should have waited, instead of rushing off as you
did to see who they were. Confound it, I've lost my coat, to say
nothing of cooking utensils; however, it's all over now. We've had a
lucky escape; I hope it'll be a lesson."

They quickly set sail, and decided to keep on their way all that
night rather than risk such another encounter. Mark said little
about it, except to bemoan the fact that they would in future have
to sleep in the boat, a proceeding