ion to some water-flower or to a great fish
darting from the oars, and he would answer by a word or nod. His heart
was wroth with the girl, as Otter would have said; he wondered why
she had come with him--because she was tired of the priest perhaps. He
wished her away, and yet he would have been sorry enough had she gone.

For her part Juanna desired to make him speak, and did not know how to
break through his moody silence. Suddenly she leaned back in the boat
and began to sing in a rich contralto voice that moved him. He had never
heard her sing before, had never heard any good singing for many years
indeed, and he was fond of singing. The song she sang was a Portuguese
love-song, very tender and passionate, addressed by a bereaved lover to
his dead mistress, and she put much expression into it. Presently she
ceased, and he noticed that her beautiful eyes were full of tears. So
she could feel!

"That is too sad," she said with a little laugh, and then burst into
a Kaffir boat-song, of which the Settlement natives, joyous in the
prospect of once more seeing their home, took up the chorus gleefully.
Presently she wearied of the boat-chant. "I am tiring you," she said; "I
dare say that you do not care for singing."

"On the contrary, Miss Rodd, I am very fond of it. Your voice is good,
if you will allow me to say so, and it has been trained. I do not
quite understand how you can have had the opportunity to learn so many
things--music, for instance."

"I suppose, Mr. Outram, you think that I should be a sort of savage by
rights; but as a matter of fact, although we have lived on the Zambesi,
I have had some chances. There is always a certain amount of trade on
the river, by means of which we often obtain books and other things, and
are brought into occasional contact with European merchants, travellers,
and missionaries. Then my father is a gently born and well-educated man,
though circumstances have caused him to spend his life in these wild
places. He was a scholar in his day and he has taught me a good deal,
and I have picked up more by reading. Also, for nearly three years I was
at a good school in Durban and did my best to improve myself there. I
did not wish to grow up wild because I lived among wild people."

"Indeed, that explains the miracle. And do you like living among
savages?"

"I have liked it well enough hitherto, but this last adventure has
sickened me. Oh! it was dreadful. Had I not been very strong