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_ As Van attempted to rise to his feet again, the mate
‘caittidned -him ‘to lie‘ still, and’ Gregory, who’ had*already
-sought seclusion behind the thwarts, seconded the motion.
“Tay low,” ‘said the sailor; in a-whisper. “We'll make.
sicewt .
’em believe we‘are dead.”
~“That’s our only “show,” added the mate. “TE they.
leave us alone fora few minutes we'll drift out of range;
ther tide is runnin’ out like a race horse ”
“But Doe Clancy and his villainous allies were not-yet
» “satisfied. ‘A minute or so ‘later our friends: heard the
creaking ‘of oars in-the rowlocks, and peering over the
thwart, he beheld the murderer of his uncle, and the white
men he had seen on the shore, rowing toward them with
all their might. ; pe Vos
He quickly told his two companions what he saw.
“We've got ter fight it out,” observed the mate, grimly.
“Git that barrel of hard tack an’ ther bag of salt together ;
-we'll git behind ’em an’ commence it right away afore
‘they -git any closer.” a ey NE iss
Van and Gregory followed the mate’s advice, and a
minute later they opened fire upon those in the approach-
_ ing: boat. .
Of course their shots were returned, but the bullets
‘could not penetrate the barrel and sack’ of salt, and the
three remained unharmed. ar
» Van had the satisfaction of seeing two of the men in
the pursuing boat fall under the fire made by: himself and
companions, oe oo Spe ata
But Doc Clancy, though continually exposed, had not
_been hit. © oa oP flee
Though the villain seemed to bear a charmed life, he
concluded to proceed a little more cautiously. 9 ~~
He gave orders to i
the men to make'a circle and row
arotind so as to get on the other side of the boat.
When Van saw this he began to grow very uneasy.
‘Our three friends were truly in‘a bad box. If they at-.
tempted to row the boat so as to get away from Clancy
and -his crowd, they would surely be shot: down; and if
they remained quietly where they were it would only be
a question of time:before they would be wiped out. -
‘take they were astonished to’ hear a number of ‘rifle
shots up the river. ar SC
_ .They lifted their heads ‘quickly and glanced: at those
who were purstting them.) 0
~ Doe Clancy and his gang w
with all their might. we
-,.And no wonder!
rapidly rowed by half a dozen stalwart blacks.
In the bow was a.small swivel cannon, the muzzle of
which pointed at the miscreants in the boat in a threaten-
ing manner. .
re*making for the shore
_ Standing upright in the boat were three white men, ©
_ who. were armed to the teeth. | _
“Hurrah!” yelled Van, waving his hat.
in time, friends.”
‘An answering cheer came from the boat,
-friends-breathed a sigh of relief. .
As soon 2s Doc Clancy reached the shore he sprang
“You-are just
and our
into the tall reeds and disappeared, followed by his four
. Surviving allies. mS :
Five minutes more and the approaching boat reached
our friends. |
cr
t
BRAVE AND.BOLD.
‘the boat up the stream with long, steady strokes.
Before they had time ‘to decide’ upon what action to»: 1 : ne
1 e took a strong notion to him, and as he was one of: those -
‘blunt kind of fellows, he was not'long in- telling -him so.
for down the river a boat was being . -§ ;
“flowers of many hues, trailing vines, broad-leafed: and
~, Ona little knoll in the midst of these surroundings
7
. 2
“Van explained who he and his companions were in a
very few words. 282) 0 2 tee
~The three men who had come:to their. rescue at such
an opportune moment shook hands with them in a.cordial
manner, and made the drifting boat fast.to their. own..
“Now,” said the younger of.the strangers, who was not
over twenty-three years of age, “‘since you have told us © |f
‘who you are; ‘I'll tell you who and what’ we are. We,
are three Englishmen, who have come to this continent to
make explorations and endeavor to find some wonderful
spot where.the foot-of civilized man has never trod... My
name is Jack Howard; this: gentleman on my right: is
Prof. Drearland, who intends to write a book on what we
discover; and. the other -gentleman -is Dr. Pestle, who
came with us to keep us-in good health by aid of the
large stock of medicines and. hard-earned experience he
has with him.” oe
~ “Tam sure we are very glad to meet you all,” returned
Van, with a tone of deep sincerity. “But who are those
men‘ who attacked us? One of them.we. know, but the ~
others are strangers.” , ,
“They are six men-whom we hired to accompany-us on
our trip. Yesterday morning they struck for more wages,
and because their: demand was refused they attempted to
kill us and take our outfit from us.’: We got the best of it,
however, and they took to the forest and left-us. . This
morning we heard rifle shots down the river, and thought
“we would come down and see what was in the wind.”
“Tf there was six of ‘em. when. they left. you, there are
only four now,” remarked Lank Edwards, in a-grim man-
ner. Two of ther villains have turned up their toes.”
“Yes,” put in Van; “but they have got Doc Clancy with
them, and he is a match for any two ordinary men, as far
as wickedness goes.” : a
- “Suppose you go up to our camp with us?” said Jack
Howard, after a. pause. et yth ts -
“Certainly,” returned our hero. “We have got. no
other place to go just at present.”.
Howard gave the word, and the blacks began rowing
y
Though Van was some years his junior, Jack Howard
“Tt is mutual, I assure you,” returned our:hero: and the
two from that. moment became-inseparable friends.
About a mile up the river the boats came to a stop
on the left bank. my . *
It was a very picturesque. spot. The gorgeous African
giant cacti could’ be seen on every hand. ©
the camp of the English explorers.
Two tents were pitched in the background, which | 5
served to keep off the dew while the men slept.
The negroes, who had been hired in place of the vil-
lainous whites, slept on the ground, close to burning
fires, without any covering over them,.unless it rained,
and in that case Jack Howard told them. they could haul
the boat up and crawl under it.
After Van Vincent had announced his intention of hunt-
“ing down Doc Clancy until he had been caught, Jack
Howard offered to go in with him in the enterprise if he
and his two companions would join the exploring party.
’
was —