" he said, "you must keep your knees pressed against the roll of
blankets in front, and hold on as well as you can with them; but the
principal thing is for you to balance yourself with your body. Don't
sit up stiffly, but as if you were in a chair.

"Now, we will start at a walk. Ibrahim will keep quite close to you,
so as to be able to catch hold of your rein, should there be any
occasion for him to do so."

Then, mounting, he and Surajah rode off at a walk, the others
following a length or two behind them. Dick looked round, from time to
time, and saw that Annie exhibited no signs of nervousness.

"I am quite comfortable," she said, in reply to one of his glances.

When they got into the road again, Dick said:

"We will go at an easy canter now, Annie. If you feel as if you could
not keep on, call out, and we will stop directly; but first come up
between Surajah and myself, and we will take the leading reins, so
that you will have nothing to attend to but holding on."

Two cords had been attached to the bridle, before setting out, and
Surajah and Dick each taking one, they started again, the horses
instinctively breaking into a canter, which was their usual pace.
Annie at first grasped the strap of the rug in front of her, but as
soon as she became accustomed to the motion, she let go. A small rug
had been strapped over the saddle, before she mounted, and this
afforded her a much better hold than she would have had of the
leather; and as the pace of the horse was a gentle one, she found it
much more easy to keep her seat than she had expected. Moreover, the
fact that Dick and Surajah rode close by her side, and would be able
to catch her, at once, if she swayed in the saddle, gave her
confidence.

"It is much better than I thought it would be," she said. "It is quite
a pleasant motion. I will go faster, if you like."

"No, there is no occasion for that," Dick replied. "This is the pace
the horses are most accustomed to, and they will go on longer, at it,
than at any other. There is no fear of pursuit, and we have all day
before us."

After a quarter of a mile's riding, they came to a wood.

"We must turn in here," Dick said. "We are going treasure hunting. We
hid those caskets, that were given us by the ladies, directly after we
got them; and we are going to dig them up now, and take them with us."

They rode at a walk, now, till they came to a very large baobab tree,
growing by the path they were follow