Part 15 (1/2)

”As soon as you are ready,” answered Otter ”You will not come easily to the back of them Farewell, my children, and if you dare to fail, pray that you ain”

”_Ou!_ We have seen it once, is that not enough?” answered the spokese nose onder not untouched by fear

Twoswiftly down the dike, taking their chance of the alligators

”Drop the bridge,” said Leonard; ”we must start”

Otter lowered it, at the sa its mechanism, which was very simple, to Soa, Peter, and soood-bye,” said Leonard ”Loose all the men you can, and keep a keen look-out, so as to be ready to lower the bridge if you should see us or yourtowards it If we should not come by dawn, be ready also, for then we shall probably be dead, or prisoners, and you must act for yourself”

”I hear you, Lord,” answered Soa, ”and I say that you are a brave man

Whether you win or lose, the red stone is well earned already”

Another e, which was instantly hoisted again, Leonard and Otter avoided observation by creeping back towards the water-gate as they had co froate, then walked leisurely across the open space, a distance of fifty paces or more, to the thatched hut where the sale of slaves was carried on

There was nobody in this hut, but looking between the posts upon which it was supported, they could see by the light of the reat and uproarious concourse of people was gathered beyond in front of the verandah of the Nest itself

”Coentry

Watch me closely, do what I do, keep your weapons ready, and if it coht like a fiend Above all, don't be taken prisoner”

Leonard spoke calmly, but his heart was in his mouth, and his sensations were such as must have been known to Daniel when he went into the lions'

den, for, as in the case of the prophet, he felt that nothing short of a special Providence could save them They were round the shed now, and i of desperadoes--Portuguese, Arabs, bastards, and black men of various tribes--such as Leonard had never seen in all his experience

Villainy and greed ritten on every countenance; it was a crew of human demons, and an extensive one These wretches,towards the verandah of the Nest On the steps of this verandah, surrounded by a choice group of co who as the Do whisper of ”See! The Yellow Devil!”

This relory that night, at the apex and, though he knew it not, the conclusion of his long career of infamy He was old, perhaps seventy, his hair hite and venerable-looking, and his person obese His black eyes were sht, and they had the peculiarity of avoiding the face of any person hom he chanced to be in conversation, at least when that person was looking his way Their glance passed over him, under hiested, the colouring of Pereira's flesh was yellow, and the loose skin hung in huge wrinkles upon his cheeks His e and coarse, and his fat hands twitched and grasped continually, as though with a desire of clutching eously dressed, and, like his companions, somewhat in liquor

Such was the outward appearance of Pereira, the fountain-head of the slave-trade on this part of the coast, as believed in his day to be the very worst man in Africa, a pre-eminence to which few can hope to attain Until his face had been seen, sta and unuess to what depths humanity can sink Some indeed have declared that to see him was to understand the Evil One and all his works

CHAPTER XII

A CHOICE LOT

At the moment of Leonard's and Otter's introduction to his society, the Yellow Devil was about to make a speech, and all eyes were fixed on him so intently that none saw or heard the pair approach

”Now, my friends, make a path, if you please,” said Leonard in a loud voice and speaking in Portuguese ”I wish to pay my respects to your chief”

A dozen men wheeled round at once

”Who are you?” they cried, seeing a stranger