hey'll not know
themselves. I say, Sambo! we not want to mangy you, old chap," he
added, to the black nearest him, and making significant signs; "we want
to put some honest beef and pork flesh on that carcass of yours and fill
you out, boy; then you dance and sing, and become as merry as a
cricket."

The black certainly did not understand what was said, and probably
misunderstood his pantomimic gestures. One of them, the farthest off
from the men, had been sitting with his head sunk down between his bent
knees, apparently utterly unable to move; turning his head over his
shoulder, he suddenly started up, and, before anyone could seize him,
darted off towards the wood.

"Come back, you silly fellow!" cried Desmond, who, with two of the men,
rose to follow him; but before they had got many paces, a large party of
natives armed with bows, arrows, and spears, accompanied by several of
the Arab crew, rushed out from among the trees, uttering threatening
shouts, as if to intimidate the Englishmen.

"Stand to your arms, my lads," cried Adair; "we must not let those
fellows get near us, or we may be overpowered by numbers." Still the
natives came on, some flourishing their spears, and others preparing
their bows to shoot. Adair lifted his rifle. "Don't any of you fire
till I tell you," he said to his men, while he took aim so as to strike
the ground a few yards in front of the headmost of the party. No one
was hit, but they knew enough of the effect of firearms to be aware that
another bullet might find a billet in one of their bodies. Springing
back, the foremost tumbling the rear-ranks over, they threw themselves
flat on the ground, and began to creep away towards the shelter of the
bush. Adair, shouting to them, pointed to his own rifle and to the
muskets of his men, intimating that if they ventured to advance, they
would have to receive their contents.

The hint, apparently, had the desired effect; for, though the Arabs
seemed to be doing their utmost to induce the blacks to attack the
strangers, they remained carefully hiding themselves among the trees.
As, however, they might at any moment rush forward, the seamen kept
their muskets ready for instant service, with a watchful eye on their
movements. In the meantime, the black who had escaped had joined them.
What account he had given of the white men it was impossible to say.
One thing was certain, that the presence of the natives would prevent
any attempt to