t. They were all
undoubtedly dead, and a glance satisfied him of that fact. At once he
went on towards the bush, which at this point receded somewhat from the
river, and presently something attracted his eye. It was a path leading
into the forest, a path freshly broken and trodden, the one, no doubt,
by which the robbers had fled.

"Leave it," shouted Mr Pepson. "You would be in the middle of the
jungle, where all is dark, and we could not help you. Come back. We
have learned all that we desired. There are five killed here, and one
whom you shot in the first boat. But one moment. Do any of these
fellows belong to our runaway crew?"

Dick retraced his steps slowly, and reluctantly looked at the bodies
again. There was not the slightest doubt that they were the very men
who had come from Elmina--all, in fact, save one, whose face was
strange.

"Then James Langdon had others with him," thought Dick. "Somehow, I
don't know why, I feel misgivings about that man. His memory haunts me.
What if he attacked us again!"

What if our hero had known that the ruffian whose name he mentioned was
at that very moment within little more than a stone's-throw! That James
Langdon had come down to the river-bank that morning, having left his
lair in the forest just as the launch steamed away from her anchorage of
the previous night! That he had watched with the eagerness and stealth
of a fox, and had rubbed his hands with delight as he saw the son of the
master he had robbed drop into the water! For this half-caste forgot
that he himself was to blame for the existence which he now led, for the
discomforts which he had now to put up with. He placed all the blame on
Dick's shoulders.

"There he is!" he growled, as Dick waded towards the shore. "But for
his coming to the coast I should have been able to remain there, still
unsuspected, and there, living in a good house, I could still have done
this work for King Koffee. And I could have gained riches more quickly.
But we shall see. Ah! he is ashore. If he steps nearer I will shoot
him like a bird."

He crouched in the underwood, while his hand went to the pouch at his
waist. A growl of anger and disgust escaped him, for the revolver which
he had carried was not there. He had no weapon but a large
sheath-knife, which he carried at his hip.

"It will do as well, and it is silent," he said to himself. "He is
coming. The young fool will walk into the trap, and this