urban. "When I left you I watched, I who can see in the dark, and in a
little while I saw the guard come down the steps and sit by the edge 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 them; then I guessed that he
was alone, for else he would have called to his companion for fire. Now
he grew 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 down swiftly and stamp him into the mud, you who are half a
fish and can swim as no other man can swim. Do it at once, Otter, before
the light comes and men can see the drawbridge move.'

"Well, and so I did it, Baas. _Wow!_ I trod him deep into the mire, I
trampled him as an ox tramples corn upon a threshing-floor. Never
will he come up again. After that I rose and ran into the guard-house,
fearing lest there might be another whom I must silence also, for when I
was a slave two always kept watch. But the place was empty, so I let
the bridge down. Ah! I remembered how it worked. And that is the tale,
Baas."

"A great tale, Otter, but it is not finished yet. Now let us to the
slaves. Come, take the light and lead the way. Here we are safe, is it
not so?"

"Here, Baas, we are safe, for none can reach us except by storm, and
yonder is the big gun 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 something, White Man," said Soa, speaking 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 who were carried away, if we can
find them yonder."

"Good," said Leonard.

A path ran along the top of the embankment to the platform on which the
gun was mounted. It was a six-pounder muzzle-loader. Leonard unhooked
the rammer and ran it down the muzzle.

"She is loaded," he said; "now let us swing her round."

They did so easily enough, bringing the muzzle down upon the Nest camp;
then they entered the little hut which stood alongside. Piled up in