Part 14 (1/2)

”Co,” whispered Leonard to his companion; ”that hero Otter has drowned the sentry and won the bridge Stop, pick up his clothes and arms”

At that moment Otter himself arrived ”Quick,” he said, ”coe is down Give ht, here they are,” answered Leonard, and in anotheron the parapet of the slave-cauard-house, Baas; the windlass is there, but noin the place Otter seized the handle of the windlass and began to wind He was naked, and it was a wonderful sight to see the e but dwarfish frae

Presently it was up, and, leaning on the handle of the wheel, Otter chuckled aloud

”Noe are safe for a tiive ly”

”Tell us the tale, Otter”

”It is short, Baas,” the dwarf replied, as he put on his robe and turban ”When I left you I watched, I who can see in the dark, and in a little while I saw the guard coe of the water He was sleepy, for he yawned and lit a roll of paper to smoke it Presently it went out, and he had no more matches He looked up to the house there, but was too lazy to fetch theuessed that he was alone, for else he would have called to his corew sleepier, and I said to myself, 'Otter, Otter, how can you kill this man silently? You must not shoot, because of the noise; and if you throw a knife or a spear, you may miss, or wound him only' And my snake spoke in my heart and answered, 'Otter, Otter, dive, seize his feet, and drag him doiftly and stamp him into the mud, you who are half a fish and can swim as no other ht coe move'

”Well, and so I did it, Baas _Wow!_ I trod him deep into the mire, I tra-floor Never will he couard-house, fearing lest there ht be another whom I must silence also, for when I was a slave tays kept watch But the place was ee down Ah! I remereat tale, Otter, but it is not finished yet Now let us to the slaves Coht and lead the way Here we are safe, is it not so?”

”Here, Baas, we are safe, for none can reach us except by storun which turns upon itself Let us twist the gun round first, so that, if need be, we can fire into the camp”

”I don't know much of cannon,” said Leonard doubtfully

”But I know so for the first time ”Mavoom, my master, has a small one up at the Settlement, and often I have helped to fire it for practice and as a signal to boats on the river, and so have many of the men ere carried away, if we can find the the top of the eun was mounted It was a six-pounder muzzle-loader Leonard unhooked the rammer and ran it down theher round”

They did so easily enough, bringing the muzzle down upon the Nest caside Piled up in it, in case of erape-shot and powder

”Lots of ammunition, if we should want to use it,” said Leonard ”It never occurred to those gentleun can shoot tays And now, Otter, lead us to the slaves, quick”

”This way, Baas, but first we uard-hut, I suppose”

So they crept back to the hut, holding their heads as low as possible, for the light was increasing, although the moon was not yet up, and they feared lest they should be seen against the sky-line Here they found boxes containing nippers, chisels, and other instruments such as are used to undo the irons upon slaves Also they found the keys of the padlocks that locked the iron bars to which the captives were tethered

Taking a lantern with the as before in the hut, lest its absence should excite suspicion, they passed through two strong gates and down the steps on the further side of the embankh erection supported on posts, but without sides

They entered the shed, Otter leading the ith the lantern In the middle of it was a path, and on either side of this path ran the long bars to which the captives were fastened in a double row Perhaps there ht have been two hundred and fifty of thehts and scenes were such as need not be described Of the round, et their sorrows in sleep; but the most part of them were awake, and the sound ofof trees in the wind

When they saw the light the slaves ceased s that await the whip, for they thought that this was a visit from their captors Some of the pity, but these were the exceptions; the most of them had abandoned hope and were sunk in dull despair It was pitiful to see the glance of their terror-filled eyes and the answering quiver of their wealed frames whenever an arm was lifted or a suddenthe faces of the slaves

”Do you see any of Mavoom's people?” asked Leonard anxiously

”Not here, White Man; let us go to the next shed, unless you want to loose these”