en the last boat-load of slaves was despatched from my
_barracoon_, he lifted his anchor and floated down the stream till he
got beyond the furthest breakers. Here, with sails loosely furled, and
every thing ready for instant departure, he again laid to, awaiting
the royal _bonne-bouche_.

In the mean time, I hurried Beeljie with her friends and Fullah jailer
to the beach, so that when the slaver threw his sails aback and
brought his vessel to the wind, I lost not a moment in putting the
girl in a canoe, with five Kroomen to carry her through the boiling
surf.

"Allah be praised!" sighed the Fullah, as the boat shot ahead into the
sea; while the girls of the harem fell on the sand with wails of
sorrow. The Kroomen, with their usual skill, drove the buoyant skiff
swiftly towards the slaver; but, as they approached the breakers south
of the bar, a heavy roller struck it on the side, and instantly, its
freight was struggling in the surge.

In a twinkling, the Fullah was on the earth, his face buried in the
sand; the girls screamed and tore their garments; Ali-Ninpha's wife
clung to me with the grasp of despair; while I, stamping with rage,
cursed the barbarity of the maiden's parent, whose sentence had
brought her to this wretched fate.

I kicked the howling hypocrite beneath me, and bade him hasten with
the news to Timbo, and tell the wicked patriarch that the Prophet
himself had destroyed the life of his wretched child, sooner than
suffer her to become a Christian's slave.

The Spanish vessel was under full sail, sweeping rapidly out to sea,
and the Kroomen swam ashore without their boat, as the grieving group
slowly and sadly retraced their way along the river's bank to Kambia.

[Illustration: THE SHIPPING OF BEELJIE.]

There was wailing that night in the village, and there was wailing in
Timbo when the Fullah returned with the tragic story. In fact, such
was the distracted excitement both on the sea-shore and in the
settlement, that none of my companions had eyes to observe an episode
of the drama which had been played that evening without rehearsal.

Every body who has been on the coast of Africa, or read of its people,
knows that Kroomen are altogether unaware of any difference between a
smooth river and the angriest wave. They would as willingly be upset
in the surf as stumble against a rock. I took advantage of this
amphibious nature, to station a light canoe immediately on the edge of
the breakers, and t