of death presented
themselves to my imagination as I lay at the bottom of the canoe,
listening to the swirl of the hurrying waters which ran whither
we knew not. One only other sound could I hear, and that was
Alphonse's intermittent howl of terror coming from the centre
of the canoe, and even that seemed faint and unnatural. Indeed,
the whole thing overpowered my brain, and I began to believe
that I was the victim of some ghastly spirit-shaking nightmare.

CHAPTER X
THE ROSE OF FIRE

On we flew, drawn by the mighty current, till at last I noticed
that the sound of the water was not half so deafening as it had
been, and concluded that this must be because there was more
room for the echoes to disperse in. I could now hear Alphonse's
howls much more distinctly; they were made up of the oddest mixture
of invocations to the Supreme Power and the name of his beloved
Annette that it is possible to conceive; and, in short, though
their evident earnestness saved them from profanity, were, to
say the least, very remarkable. Taking up a paddle I managed
to drive it into his ribs, whereon he, thinking that the end
had come, howled louder than ever. Then I slowly and cautiously
raised myself on my knees and stretched my hand upwards, but
could touch no roof. Next I took the paddle and lifted it above
my head as high as I could, but with the same result. I also
thrust it out laterally to the right and left, but could touch
nothing except water. Then I bethought me that there was in
the boat, amongst our other remaining possessions, a bull's-eye
lantern and a tin of oil. I groped about and found it, and having
a match on me carefully lit it, and as soon as the flame had
got a hold of the wick I turned it on down the boat. As it happened,
the first thing the light lit on was the white and scared face
of Alphonse, who, thinking that it was all over at last, and
that he was witnessing a preliminary celestial phenomenon, gave
a terrific yell and was with difficulty reassured with the paddle.
As for the other three, Good was lying on the flat of his back,
his eyeglass still fixed in his eye, and gazing blankly into
the upper darkness. Sir Henry had his head resting on the thwarts
of the canoe, and with his hand was trying to test the speed
of the water. But when the beam of light fell upon old Umslopogaas
I could really have laughed. I think I have said that we had
put a roast quarter of water-buck into the ca