They could now hear certain stealthy sounds, as of some one or something moving within the timber.

"I will wake Mr. Duff," whispered Ralph. "You go back to the boat, Ben. They may see us by the fire."

The sailor returned to his post. The lad soon had the mate awake, listening to his explanation of their uneasiness.

"I will rouse the chief," replied Duff. "You had better rejoin Ben and wait for me there. If some enemy is really prowling around, our first duty, after alarming these people, is to defend our boat."

"Hadn't I better remain with you?" suggested Ralph, with the idea that the greatest danger was in lingering on sh.o.r.e.

"You had better obey orders, lad," returned the mate, not unkindly, however.

Ralph accordingly gathered the bedding in a bundle and stole down to the boat, the bow of which was drawn upon the gravelly bank. Hardly had he reached it when a series of hideous yells issued from the forest on every side, and a rush of unknown forms could be dimly seen making for the huddle of huts near the river.

Other figures of men, women, and children, naked and all but defenseless, emerged from their egg-shaped shelters, some fighting as best they could, others flying, and all apparently surrounded by a band of vociferous demons.

"Ben," called Ralph, "keep the boat with your gun. I must go and see what has become of Mr. Duff."

He sprang ash.o.r.e, but had hardly climbed the bank when the mate appeared rifle in hand, cool and collected.

"They are surprised by some predatory party of savages," said Duff. "I don't think there are much if any firearms on either side, however. I think we had better help our dusky friends, don't you, boys? They've treated us white enough."

This was a.s.sented to, and the three crawled through the tall gra.s.s to the verge of the village, where more of a ma.s.sacre than a battle was now going on.

The villagers were taken at a sad disadvantage, and were surrounded evidently by superior numbers. The red-shirted chief was on the point of being clubbed by one tall savage, while desperately engaged with another. Ralph, seeing this, leveled his gun with a swiftness that came of long practice amid the wilds of his native Hiawa.s.see.

"Well done!" exclaimed the mate, as, after a sharp report, the negro with a club dropped his weapon and hopped away with a ball in his shoulder. "Now, let us spread out ten paces or so apart and advance.

Pump the b.a.l.l.s into 'em, boys, but don't hit our black friends."

"How can we tell which is which when they're all alike as two ha'pence?" growled Ben, but he received no answer, as both Mr. Duff and Ralph were intent on the duty before them.

The crack of the Winchesters soon diverted attention from the villagers to an extent that enabled them to recover somewhat from their panic.

The rapid hail of b.a.l.l.s that hardly ever missed their aim disconcerted the enemy.

The three whites, acting under Duff's orders, kept back in the tall elephant gra.s.s at the edge of the huts; but also within close and deadly range. Some of the blacks had thrown wood on the fires, and the light was now sufficient to enable the raiders to be distinguished clearly by their dress and adornments.

"Don't shoot to kill, if you can help it, lads," called Duff. "Maim 'em and lame 'em if you can. It isn't our quarrel you know, only as we----"

Here further utterance was choked off, as a powerful negro, who had made a detour, leaped upon the unwary mate from behind as he was delivering his merciful order. The knife was uplifted as the mate felt the grip of the man upon his collar, but the blow was not struck.

Ralph's Winchester cracked and the raised arm fell shattered and useless, while the knife dropped from the relaxing fingers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ralph's Winchester cracked and the raised arm fell shattered and useless.]

The attacked villagers, inspirited by the a.s.sistance they were receiving, fought with renewed energy.

In those days repeating breech loaders were much less commonly used than in more recent years. The savages became terror stricken at guns which seemed to be always loaded.

A final and despairing yell gave the signal for retreat, and in a moment or two more, none of the enemy were to be seen, except the dead and wounded left behind.

Our three adventurers were then overwhelmed by the rude but expressive manifestations of thanks on the part of the villagers. The wounded were soon despatched, and it became evident to Duff, who partially understood their practices, that a cannibal feast would be next in order.

The very idea sickened Ralph, though Ben announced that he had no objections to see one "black n.i.g.g.e.r eat up another."

"Well, we have, if you haven't," said Duff, "so, as it is pretty near day and we're loaded, I think we had better be getting back to the ship, Captain's in a hurry to leave the coast anyhow."

But when the natives heard of this determination, they one and all tried to persuade the whites to remain at least until day. The red-shirted chief pleaded almost with tears, in the very few words of English at his command.

"You--me--brothers!" He pointed from Duff to himself. "You--stay.

All--stay. Eat War-i-ka-ri much; eat--heap!"

But when he found that all persuasion was useless, he bade his people fill the yawl with vegetables and such meat as was on hand. He would have butchered another ox, but as the boat would now hold no more, Duff with difficulty made him stop.

As the whites were pushing off he came running down to the landing, bearing on his shoulder a human leg severed from the body at the hip.

"Take!" he shouted, but Ralph made haste to shove the boat off. "Take!"

Seeing that they would not return, he heaved the toothsome delicacy at the lad, who, instead of catching it, knocked it into the river, whereat the chief became highly excited, and evidently somewhat wroth.

The last they saw of him, he and others were trying to recover it by the aid of a pole.

"Isn't it horrible?" said Ralph, feeling nauseated at the idea and the sight. "They seem friendly enough, yet--they eat one another. Pah!"

Duff, at the tiller, laughed. Ben shook his head as he took a fresh quid.

"Many of these coast tribes are cannibals I've heard," commented the mate. "In times of famine they eat the old folks and the girl babies.

Queer world, isn't it?"

By the time the firelight had disappeared, and only the stars afforded a relief to the darkness, the wall of forest on either hand grew vague and indistinct.

Having the current with them, their progress was more rapid than their ascent of the stream, and by the time daylight appeared they were well on their way towards the mouth of the river.

Once, as they were rounding a bend, and were nearer the sh.o.r.e than usual, a deep, harsh, though distant roar met their ears. Ralph and Ben wondered what it was, but the mate replied by one significant word:

"Lions."

"I would like to see one," said Ralph. "But I thought lions were found mostly in Central and Southern Africa. At least so I've read."

"Right you are. But now and then they frequent the Gold Coast. I have heard them in Natal, and down about the diamond regions. Once you hear a wild lion roar, you never forget the sound."

As the sun mounted above the forest, the odorous mists that infest those regions were drawn upward, giving out as the air grew warm a sickening and malarious influence. Vast and gloomy cypress, bay, swamp palm, ironwood, and other tropical woods reared their columnar trunks, from out a dark and noisome undergrowth, to an immense height. In those leafy depths no sun ever shone, and the absence of bird life was noticeably depressing.

"I hardly wonder the captain wants to get away as soon as possible,"

remarked Duff, as they at last neared the narrow point where the river entered the little harbor. "A week in this place and half of us would be down with coast fever."

An exclamation from Ralph, who was in the bow, came next, as the yawl pa.s.sed the last leafy point, and the surface of the anchorage became visible.

"What now?" demanded Duff.