e thought it
worth while to question him, and he accompanied the Cuban as a guide and
horse-boy.

Although the road improved as the higher land was reached, it was dusk
when the two riders arrived at the foothills around Millot.

Dark fell quickly, and, with the dark, came a low palpitating rumble,
that distant throbbing of sound, that malevolent vibrance which gives to
every Haitian moonlit night an oppression and a fear all its own.

"Rhoo-oo-oom--Rhoo-oo-oom--Rhoo-oo-oom!"

Muffled, dull, pulsating, unceasing, the thrummed tom-tom set all the
air in motion. The vibrance scarcely seemed to be sound, rather did it
seem to be a slower tapping of air-waves on the drum of the ear, too low
to be actually heard, but yet beating with a maddening persistence.

There was a savagery in the sound, so disquieting, that a deep sigh of
relief escaped from the boy's lungs when he saw the lights of Millot
twinkling in the distance. Somehow, the presence of houses and people
took away the sinister sound of the tom-tom and made it seem like an
ordinary drum.

Millot, in the faint moonlight, revealed itself as a small village,
nestling under high mountains. Signs of former greatness were visible in
the old gates which flanked the opening into its main street, but the
greater part of the houses were thatched huts.

When at the very entrance of the village, there came a ringing
challenge,

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"A visitor to the General," was Manuel's answer.

The barefoot sentry, whose uniform consisted of a forage cap, a coat
with one sleeve torn off and a pair of frayed trousers, but whose rifle
was of the most up-to-date pattern, was at once joined by several
others, not more splendidly arrayed than himself.

As with one voice, they declared that the general could not be
disturbed, but the Cuban carried matters with a high hand. Dismounting,
he ordered one of the sentries to precede him and announce his coming,
and bade Stuart see that the horses were well looked after and ready for
travel in the morning, "or his back should have a taste of the whip."

This phrase, while it only increased the enmity the soldiers felt
toward the "white," had the effect of removing all suspicion from
Stuart, which, as the lad guessed, was the reason for Manuel's threat.
Feeling sure that the boy would have the same animosity to his master
that they felt, the soldiers seized the opportunity to while away the
monotonous hours of their du