on me that I had
just escaped from prison, and was going home.

"Not sorry you got up so soon, are you, sir?" said Morgan, smiling, as
he saw how eager and excited I had grown.

"Sorry? No," I cried. "Here, you two, are you tired? Morgan and I
will row."

"No, no," said Hannibal, showing his white teeth. "We row Mass' George
boat all away."

"Look, Mass' George," cried Pomp, as there was a scuffle, a splash, and
a good-sized alligator startled by our coming hurried into the river.
"You like shoot um?"

"No, no. Let's get right away home first."

"All the same, sir, we'll load the guns," said Morgan. "I don't think
we shall want to use 'em, but there's a few marks about this boat to
show that sometimes it is necessary."

He pointed laughingly to the holes left where the arrows stuck in the
sides and thwarts.

"I broke out an arrow-head this morning," he said; and he picked it up
from where it lay.

Pomp watched us eagerly as we charged all three pieces, and laid them
down in the stern, after which I sat thoroughly enjoying the scene,
which was all as fresh to me as if I had never been there before. But
at the same time, as we went on, I recognised the different spots where
the Indians had made their stand to harass us during our memorable
escape down the river, notably at the wooded point we passed round just
before reaching the mouth of our stream, and leaving the main river
behind.

Then, as the space contracted and the banks seemed to draw gradually
closer together, we soon began to get into more familiar parts, and at
last the higher trees and points and bends were all memorable, known as
they were to Pomp and myself in connection with fishing excursions or
hunts for squirrel or nest.

The stream here ran swiftly, and swirled round some of the bends, at
times well open, at others so close did the forest come that we seemed
to be going along between two huge walls of verdure; and I don't know
whether they would have noticed it, but just before we turned into our
lesser river, something induced me to begin talking rather rapidly to
both Pomp and Hannibal, for we were passing the place where the slaver
had lain, and as we came by, it seemed to me that the poor fellows must
begin thinking of the horrors of that day when we brought them up in
that very boat, one dying, the other as wild as any savage creature of
the forest.

"Here we are at last," I cried, as we came close up to the cut-down
trees