the sound of voices could be heard. The boat's head was now turned out
somewhat farther into the stream, so as to be out of sight of anyone
who might by chance come down late to draw water. After rowing a hundred
yards they could dimly make out the outline of a white house. There
was a break just in the center, and the outline of a tree could be seen
above the roof. Dick leant forward and again touched the lieutenant.

"That must be the house, sir," he whispered.

Mr. Ferguson nodded without speaking; and after the boat had gone
another hundred yards, the line of forest could again be seen, and
the boat was rowed into the bank, and two minutes later shot through a
narrow channel and entered a creek some forty yards wide.

"Now you can give way again, lads."

An hour's paddling in a sampan would mean about three miles, and after
twenty minutes' sharp rowing, the men were ordered to row easy again,
and the lieutenant and Dick kept an anxious lookout ahead. The creek was
here little more than fifty yards across, and, accustomed as their eyes
were to darkness, they presently saw that it widened out suddenly. The
word was passed down for the men to paddle easily, and in two minutes
the pool opened before them. They could not make out the prahus, lying
as they did against the shadow of the trees on the farther side, but
they could see a number of lights, apparently from swinging lanterns,
and hear a loud murmur of voices.

"Easy all," the lieutenant ordered now; "back her very quietly; now pull
bow."

Noiselessly the boat was brought round, and its head directed to the
right hand bank. They had passed a sharp bend nearly half a mile back,
and the lieutenant said, "Look out for a landing place at the deepest
point of the curve, Harris."

"Aye, aye, sir!" the coxswain said, standing up. A minute later he
brought the boat alongside, at a point which was free from bushes, and
where the bank was but two feet above the water's edge.

CHAPTER VII.

"Now, Mr. Balderson, take Harper and Winthorpe, and make your way
through the jungle as noiselessly as possible. It is probable that the
path runs within fifty yards of this point, possibly it is only half a
dozen. When you have found it, send Winthorpe back to me with the news.
Take that long coil of thin rope that is in the bow, and pay it out as
you go along. You might get lost even within two yards of the stream,
and it would be dangerous to call or whistle. It will e