ee.

We made good time to within a few miles of the shore. Then the wind
died suddenly out. We were all of us keyed up to such a pitch of
anticipation that the blow was doubly hard to bear. And it was a blow,
too, since we could not tell in what quarter the wind might rise again;
but Juag and I set to work to paddle the remaining distance.

Almost immediately the wind rose again from precisely the opposite
direction from which it had formerly blown, so that it was mighty hard
work making progress against it. Next it veered again so that we had
to turn and run with it parallel to the coast to keep from being
swamped in the trough of the seas.

And while we were suffering all these disappointments Hooja's fleet
appeared in the distance!

They evidently had gone far to the left of our course, for they were
now almost behind us as we ran parallel to the coast; but we were not
much afraid of being overtaken in the wind that was blowing. The gale
kept on increasing, but it was fitful, swooping down upon us in great
gusts and then going almost calm for an instant. It was after one of
these momentary calms that the catastrophe occurred. Our sail hung
limp and our momentum decreased when of a sudden a particularly vicious
squall caught us. Before I could cut the sheets the mast had snapped
at the thwart in which it was stepped.

The worst had happened; Juag and I seized paddles and kept the canoe
with the wind; but that squall was the parting shot of the gale, which
died out immediately after, leaving us free to make for the shore,
which we lost no time in attempting. But Hooja had drawn closer in
toward shore than we, so it looked as if he might head us off before we
could land. However, we did our best to distance him, Dian taking a
paddle with us.

We were in a fair way to succeed when there appeared, pouring from
among the trees beyond the beach, a horde of yelling, painted savages,
brandishing all sorts of devilish-looking primitive weapons. So
menacing was their attitude that we realized at once the folly of
attempting to land among them.

Hooja was drawing closer to us. There was no wind. We could not hope
to outpaddle him. And with our sail gone, no wind would help us,
though, as if in derision at our plight, a steady breeze was now
blowing. But we had no intention of sitting idle while our fate
overtook us, so we bent to our paddles and, keeping parallel with the
coast, did our best to pull away