Fantis, and took every opportunity of attacking them.

At Dick's call they poured a volley into space, and looked round for
more orders.

"That will do very well for to-day. We will practise again every day,
and I want to see that the men at the top of the shaft shout the alarm
to their friends below and wait to haul them up. There must be no
desertion of comrades."

Dick was as good as his word, too. The following morning, when he had
carefully inspected the surroundings, and had seen that the miners were
busily at work, he caused Johnnie to sound the alarm again, and stood in
the neighbourhood of the shafts till all the men were up. Then the
proceedings of the previous evening were repeated.

"That part of our precautions is arranged," he said to himself, as he
smoked a meditative pipe. "Now I must look to another matter. Johnnie
and I must take it in turns to go abroad into the forest."

It was a wise precaution, and from that day, turn and turn about, he or
the native stoker, as soon as breakfast was ended, and while the day was
still cool, would take a rifle and stalk away towards the forest.
Sometimes they would go towards the river, to see that no one had
tampered with the launch, and at others they would make in the opposite
direction. But whichever road they followed, they were careful not to
penetrate too deeply into the jungle, and to take their bearings before
entering the bush.

"We might get lost," said Dick, "and besides, it is really laborious
work cutting a path, however narrow. The main thing is to circle all
around the mine, looking for traces of a possible enemy, and, of course,
shooting any game we may come upon, for fresh meat is a luxury."

One day, a week later, when our hero was out on his tramp, and had
proceeded a couple of miles from the mine, he suddenly came to a halt,
and stood there listening intently, for a sound had come to his ear.

"The tom-tom!" he exclaimed. "I feel sure, and from the direction of
the stockade. Can the place be attacked?"

The thought threw him into a fever of apprehension, for supposing an
enemy had appeared, and his men were within the stockade, what would
happen to them without their leader? They were excellent fellows, but
Dick had come to know that, without some one to direct them, they were
useless.

"They would be all right for an hour or two if not pressed," he said.
"But if they were rushed by a strong force--well, it would go hard wi