uld do so with safety.

"I am an Englishman--I was captured by Bandoola, at Ramoo, and sent
a prisoner to Ava. I have escaped, and want to make my way down to
Rangoon; but I heard that orders had been sent along the river to
arrest me, and I do not, at present, know how to make my way down."

"Come with me," the man said. "I have friends in the forest, some
distance from here. They will receive you gladly, when I tell them
what you have done for me; and you will be safe until you choose to
go. We are outlaws but, at present, we are masters of the forest.
The government has its hands full, and there is no fear of their
disturbing us."

Stanley thought over the matter, for a minute or two. Doubtless it
was a robber band that he was asked to join, but the offer seemed
to promise safety, for a time.

"I agree," he said, "so that you do not ask me to take part in any
deeds of violence."

"About that, you shall do as you like," the man said; "but I can
tell you that we make good hauls, sometimes. Our difficulty is not
to capture booty, but to dispose of it.

"Have you a turban? For that helmet of yours is out of place, in
the woods. The rest of your dress has nothing peculiar about it,
and would attract no attention."

"I have a turban. I have been, lately, in the dress of a peasant.
The cloth I wore lies fifty yards away; I dropped it as I ran. It
will be useful to cover me at night, if for nothing else."

Stanley exchanged the helmet for the turban that he had before
worn, and fetched the cloth.

"Will you bury your companion?" he said.

"It would be useless. He will sleep above ground, as well as below
and, if we are to reach my comrades tonight, it is time for us to
be moving."

They at once set out. After five hours' walking, they came upon the
river Myitnge, the tributary that falls into the Irrawaddy at Ava.
It was some four hundred yards across. The Burman walked along its
banks for a short distance, and then pulled from a clump of bushes
a small boat, that was just capable of carrying two. He put it in
the water. They took their seats, and paddled across to the other
side; where he carefully concealed it, as before.

"That is our ferry boat," he said. "It is not often used, for our
headquarters are in the great forest we shall presently come to;
but it is as well when, occasionally, parties are sent out to hunt
us, to have the means of crossing to the other side."

Another two hours' walking, throug