r there was a pause in the conversation, and stole on when the
sound of the voices would prevent them from hearing any noise I might
make. My fear was that they might have with them some Indians who would
be much more likely to discover me than they were. At length a clump of
bushes alone intervened between me and their camp-fire. Carefully
raising my head, I looked through an opening, when I saw four men seated
on the ground, with their rifles by their sides. A short distance off
lay Dio, with his arms bound behind him and secured by a rope to a tree.
Still farther was a rude hut formed of branches, beneath the shelter of
which, I had no doubt, Kathleen and Lily were resting. So far the men
had shown some humanity. To recover the "captives" it was evident that
we must use stratagem rather than force. We could scarcely expect to
overcome four well-armed men, even should we first succeed in setting
Dio at liberty. We might, however, easily shoot two of them, and then
spring upon the other two, but as I felt that we should not be justified
in so doing, I was about to retire and tell Mr Tidey what I had seen
when one of the men started up, exclaiming--

"I saw some one watching us through the bushes."

I was conscious that the glare of the fire had for a moment fallen on my
face. All hope of our surprising them was lost. I heard some one
approaching behind me.

"Whoop!" whispered Mr Tidey; "we will try what effect terror will
produce."

Raising our voices, we imitated, with some effect, the terrific Indian
war-whoop, dropping on the ground as we did so, to avoid a shower of
bullets aimed at us.

"Get hold of the black, and let us be off!" cried one of the men; "we
must not have had our expedition for nothing."

Before we could regain our feet, one of the fellows cut the rope which
held Dio, and, seizing him by the neck, dragged him along across the
glade on the opposite side of which the whole party disappeared, passing
close to the hut in which we guessed that Kathleen and Lily were
confined. Had we before been inclined to fire, we were less willing to
do so now, for fear of wounding either the girls or poor Dio, who was
placed as a shield by the man who was dragging him along. Our first
impulse was to run and rescue the dear ones who had caused us so much
anxiety. They shrieked out, overcome with terror, as they heard us
approaching, until my voice reassured them. By the light of the fire
which strea