, but the excitement had given him his strength for the moment, and
he declared himself perfectly capable of walking without assistance.

"Go on as quietly as you can," Mr. Atherton said. "I will keep a bit
behind first. They may possibly have put somebody on the watch on this
side of the house, although I do not expect they have. They have been
taken too much by surprise themselves."

The little party went on quietly and noiselessly about three hundred
yards, and then Mr. Atherton joined them. Wilfrid was breathing heavily
and leaning against a tree.

"Now jump up upon my back, Wilfrid," Mr. Atherton said; "your weight
will not make much difference to me one way or the other. That is right;
lend him a hand, Sampson, and get him on to my shoulders. It will be
easier for both of us, for I have got no hips for his knees to catch
hold of. That is right. Now if you will take my gun we shall get along
merrily."

They walked fast for about two miles. Wilfrid several times offered to
get down, saying that he could walk again for a bit, but Mr. Atherton
would not hear of it. At the end of two miles they reached the spot
where the country was covered with low scrub.

"We are pretty safe now," Mr. Atherton said, "we can turn off from the
track and take to the scrub for shelter, and there will be little chance
of their finding us. Now, Wilfrid, I will set you down for a bit. This
is fine exercise for me, and if I were to carry you a few miles every
day I should fine down wonderfully. Ah! the others have come up;" he
broke off as the sound of a native yell sounded on the still night air,
and looking round they saw a bright light rising in the direction from
which they had come.

"They have set fire to the house," the settler said; "there goes the
result of six years' work. However, I need not grumble over that, now
that we have saved our lives."

"We had best be moving on," Mr. Atherton said. "No doubt they opened a
heavy fire before they set fire to the shingles with their brands, but
the fact that we did not return their fire must have roused their
suspicions, and by this time they must have woke up to the fact that we
have escaped. They will hunt about for a bit, no doubt, round the house,
and may send a few men some distance along the tracks, but they will
know there is very little chance of catching us until daylight. Now,
Sampson, let us join arms, your right and my left. Wilfrid can sit on
them and put his arms round