d that they had between four and five hours' start of him. He
had been delayed on the trail by his pack-horses. The speed he was
making under sail was not much better than he could have paddled, but it
enabled him to take things easy for a while.

Swan Lake is about thirty miles long. Fully ten miles of it was visible
from the start. It is shaped roughly like three uneven links of a chain,
and in width it varies from half a mile to perhaps five miles. It seems
vaster than it is on account of its low shores which stretch back, flat
and reedy, for miles. Here dwelt the great flocks of wild geese or
"wavies" that gave both lake and river their names.

As he got out into the lake the wind gradually strengthened behind him,
and his canoe was blown hither and yon like an inflated skin on the
water. She had no keel, she took no grip of the water, and much of the
goodly aid of the wind was vainly measured against the strength of
Stonor's arms as he laboured to keep her before it. When he did get the
wind full in his top-heavy sail it blew him almost bodily under. Stonor
welcomed the struggle. He was now making much better time than he could
have hoped for by his paddle. He grimly carried on.

In order to accommodate the two women and their necessary outfit, Stonor
supposed that Imbrie must have taken one of the dug-outs. He did not
believe that any of the Kakisas had accompanied the fugitive. The
prospect of a long journey would appal them. And Stonor was pretty sure
that Mary was not over-working herself at the paddle, so that it was not
too much to hope that he was catching up on them at this rate. Thinking
of their outfit, Stonor wondered how Imbrie would feed Clare; the
ordinary fare of the Kakisas would be a cruel hardship on her. Such are
the things one worries about in the face of much more dreadful dangers.

It had been nearly six o'clock before Stonor left Myengeen's village,
and the sun went down while he was still far from the head of the lake.
He surveyed the flat shores somewhat anxiously. Nowhere, as far as he
could see, was there any promising landing-place. In the end he decided
to sail on through the night. As darkness gathered he took his bearings
from the stars. With the going-down of the sun the wind moderated, but
it still held fair and strong enough to give him good steerage-way.
After an hour or two the shores began to close around him. He could not
find the outlet of the river in the dark, so he drove