grown fine and dall,
and, and--ah, yes, sdoud, you call him; yes, when he is sdoud, then he
will be one gread, fine man. And he is brave! Yes, I see zad with half
one eye, for a brave man knows when he meeds one of ze same."

"Quite so, Meinheer," answered Mr Pepson, dryly. "Which reminds me.
Dick says that you fired in the nick of time, and turned the tide of the
battle. It was a good shot. You did well, and Johnnie also, to bring
up the launch just then. But stand aside a little and give me the
glass. Hah! Looks nasty, doesn't it, Dick," he went on, as the wound
on his scalp was exposed, and he noticed our hero wince and turn a
little pale at the sight. "Come, come! Looks are the worst part of it.
Bathe the wound and cover it again. An Irishman would not give it a
second thought. I haven't even a headache."

He rose to his feet when the dressing was completed, and walked up and
down the deck, looking perhaps a little more sallow than usual. But his
spirits were not in the least damped or downcast. Indeed, his two
companions had yet to learn that their leader was, in his quiet way, a
remarkable man. As hard as nails, as Dick had already observed, cool
and courageous, and possessed of a dogged nature which defied the utmost
fatigue, which laughed, or rather smiled only, at danger, and which made
light of any wound. Meanwhile, Dick and Johnnie were engaged at the
furnace door, and presently the aroma of coffee came to the nostrils of
the leader and the Dutchman, causing the latter to turn an eager and
expectant gaze in that direction.

"By Jobe!" he cried, "bud zad is a scend zad is goat, yes, ver goot.
Whad shall we ead zis day?"

His question was answered almost at once, for Johnnie came along the
deck bearing a steaming dish, Dick following with the coffee and
biscuit. The newspaper was again spread on the roof of the cabin, and
all set to work with eagerness.

"And now for future movements. We are a day's journey from the mouth of
the river, and three from the mine," said Mr Pepson. "The question is
whether we should push on alone as we are, or whether we should return.
There is no doubt that all our Fanti men were in league with these
robbers, and left us at the first opportunity."

"And would do the same again," Dick ventured. "If we returned for a
second crew, who is to guarantee that they will not behave in a similar
manner?"

"That is the very point. We should run that danger. What