the distance.

The wind being light, and the current running out, we made but slow
progress; and before we got far up the river the wind again failed us,
and we were compelled to come to an anchor. Had it not been for Mr
Worthy's report, we should have supposed that the ship was not there,
and should probably have stood out to sea again, in the hope of falling
in with her elsewhere. As evening drew on, the hot land-breeze again
blew down the river, which was here of considerable width.

"I shouldn't be surprised if the pirate were to try to give us the slip
after all," observed Mudge. "We must keep a sharp look-out, so that we
may stop her should she make the attempt. I only hope she will, as it
will be more to our advantage to bring her to action under way, than to
have to attack her at anchor, with springs on her cables, and protected
by a fort which, if the fellows have any sense in their heads, they are
sure to throw up."

It was still daylight, and Peter and I were walking the deck, for it was
our watch; indeed, the midshipmen's berth not being the pleasantest
place in the world in that climate, we were seldom in it, except at
meal-times. I have not talked much about the heat, but the air, if not
hotter, was more stifling in that river than we had felt it since we
reached the coast. I was looking towards the nearest shore, off which
we had brought up at the distance of scarcely a cable-length, when I saw
a figure moving amid the trees. I pointed him out to Mudge. Presently,
as he reached the bank, we saw that he was a black man, without a
particle of clothing on. Putting his hand to his mouth, he hailed, and
then waved vehemently, as if to attract our attention. Mudge sent me to
tell Mr Worthy; who at once ordered a boat to be lowered, and directed
Mudge to pull in to the shore, to ascertain what he wanted. The black,
however, turning his head over his shoulder, either saw or heard the
approach of some one he wished to avoid, and plunging into the river,
began to swim towards the ship. Mudge and I had jumped into the boat,
and as we were approaching the shore to pick up the black I saw a dark
fin rise just ahead of us. I told Mudge.

"That's a brute of a shark!" he exclaimed, "and a big fellow too, and
the chances are he has poor Blackie for his supper."

"Not if our voices can drive the monster away," I answered, horrified at
the thought of witnessing the destruction of a fellow-creature. "Shout