pursue, even if it's right out to sea."

"But the captain--the _Seafowl_? We must report what has happened."

"I will, of course, in passing. You, if you come up first, need only
say that there is a nest of slavers up the river, and that I have had a
sharp fight. If the captain has seen the lugger, tell him it is full of
a gang of scoundrels who have fired upon us, and that the vessel ought
to be sunk."

"You had better tell him all this yourself, Anderson," said the second
lieutenant, in a whisper that the men could not hear, "and I wouldn't
say a word about my missing the lugger on the way, for he's in a
towering rage, and will only be too glad to drop on to me for what I
really could not help."

"No, I suppose not," said the first lieutenant good-humouredly; "but you
might take your share of his ill-humour."

"But it is all on account of your being so long away."

"Well, that was not my fault, man. We've had a rough time of it; but be
off sharply, and as to the missing business, follow and catch the
scoundrels, and I won't say a word."

"Oh, I say, Anderson!" protested the second lieutenant.

"Well, there, be off and I'll see." The second cutter's sails were
sheeted home, and she glided off without more being said, while at
little more than half the rate the first cutter went on under oars, but
well helped by the current; and they had not gone far down the winding
river before the silence of the cane brake was broken by a dull report
which made the two middies half rise from their seats by their leader.

"That means the _Seafowl_ firing at the lugger to heave to, sir," said
Murray.

"May you be right, my lad," replied Mr Anderson. "Step the masts, my
lads, and hoist sail."

The orders were obeyed, and sometimes catching the light breeze and at
others helped by the sturdy pulling at the oars, the cutter sped on, her
occupants hearing shots fired from time to time, and reading clearly
enough that the occupants of the lugger, if it was she who was being
summoned to heave to, had not obeyed, but were racing on and trying to
make their escape.

This grew more and more certain as the time glided on, and Roberts went
so far as to assert that he could tell the difference between the
unshotted and the shotted guns which followed.

Then, to the delight of the two lads, the firing ceased, and as they sat
anxious and excited, they compared notes and passed opinions, while the
lieutenant sat sombre and silen