y on the stagnant water
just as a dark, shapeless mass crept out of a bunch of reeds and struck
the canoe with a gentle thud.

CHAPTER XX.

SAVED.

Darkness, black as night, floated over Walter's reeling brain;
darkness, pierced by a thousand gleaming, twinkling lights, brilliant
as stars, then came a void and nothingness. Slowly at last he felt
himself struggling up out of the void, battling, fighting for
consciousness, then came a delicious sort of languor. If this was
dying, it was very pleasant. Forms seemed to be flitting before his
half-opened eyelids and the hum of voices seemed to float in his ears.
One voice irritated him greatly; it was faintly familiar in its loud
joyousness. What was it saying?

"Golly, Massa Captain, bless de Lawd, he ain't dead."

Another voice responded, "No, thank God, he's goin' to live, Chris.
Bear a hand and we'll get him into the wigwam."

There was a sensation of being home through the air, and Walter
surrendered to the delicious languor,--and slept.

When he opened his eyes again an ebony face was bending over him and
Chris' voice demanded, "Golly, don't you know me, Massa Walt?"

"It's Chris," Walter said, smiling feebly, and the little darky danced
about in joy.

Walter raised his head with an effort and looked about him. He was
lying on a bed of soft moss with a pillow of blankets under his head.
He seemed to be surrounded by walls of bark which met in a point far
above his head; opposite him lay another figure on a bed similar to his
own.

"Where am I, and how did I get here?" he demanded confusedly, "the last
I remember was being in the canoe a few minutes ago and everything
getting dark before me."

"A few minutes ago," cried Chris, excitedly. "Why, it's dun been two
days since Massa Captain come on you when he was paddlin' around the
lake. You was layin' in the bottom of the canoe like you was dead."

"Two days," exclaimed Walter in astonishment; then, with a sudden note
of dread in his voice, he cried, "Charley!"

"He's gettin' along pretty well," said the little darky cheerfully,
"he's lyin' right across from you thar. Now you jus' keep still an'
doan' talk no more," he commanded. "Massa Captain out fixing up some
soup. Reckon he'll let you talk some more after you drink it."

The captain soon appeared with a gourd full of steaming liquid. He was
overjoyed at finding Walter conscious, but firmly insisted that he
should remain quiet, and