ses."

"Ay, ay, sir--no fear about that," was the answer; "the brown-skinned
beggars won't be in a hurry to climb up here; and if they do, we'll
tumble them back again faster than they came."

That their men would prove staunch, the midshipmen had no fear; still it
would be very provoking to see the Arabs embarking the slaves, and not
be able to stop them. It would, however, be the height of madness to
venture down from their post; for the slave-traders, being all well
armed, would, to a certainty, overpower them with numbers, and, however
they might have acted alone, were not likely to abandon their prey when
on the point of receiving payment from the purchasers in the dhows. The
Arabs, who had just approached cautiously, on discovering how small was
their party, looked up at them, making threatening gestures, and
uttering loud shouts and cries. The poor slaves, apparently, could not
understand the matter, and marched on with their heads cast down, many
of them pictures of wretchedness and despair. There were women, some
with infants in their arms, others leading little children by the hand;
a large number appeared to be girls of all ages, who walked together,
with scanty garments, but unencumbered by the loads which were carried
by most of the rest. Then came a gang of boys, many of whom limped
sadly, as their drivers compelled them to move forward at the point of
their spears.

Some few old men were among them, who were tottering under loads too
heavy for their frail limbs to bear; and then came a numerous body of
men, secured two and two by heavy poles, with their necks bolted into
forks, one at either end of the pole. Some trod the earth boldly;
others tottered at every step, trying to exert themselves to avoid prods
from the points of the spears with which their drivers were constantly
threatening them. Such had, too probably, been their mode of journeying
for many weary miles of desert, since they had fallen into the hands of
their persecutors.

"I wonder how many of those poor wretches have sunk down and died on the
road?" observed Tom; "or been knocked on the head by those wretched
Arabs?"

"Faith, it makes one's blood boil!" cried Desmond; "in spite of all
odds, I should like to pounce down upon them, and set the poor negroes
free." The men expressed themselves much in the same strain, and would
very willingly have followed the midshipmen, had they acted according to
their wishes; but both knew t