Then came a struggle short and sharp, and a knife flashed.

Before Otter could get back to his side it was done--so swiftly and so silently that none of the band had wakened, though one or two of them stirred and muttered in their heavy sleep.
Leonard sprang up unhurt, and together they ran, rather than walked, back to the spot where they had left Soa.
She was watching for them, and pointing to Leonard's coat, asked "How many ?" "One," answered Otter.
"I would it had been all," Soa muttered fiercely, "but you are only two." "Quick," said Leonard, "into the canoe with you.

They will be after us presently." In another minute they had pushed off and were clear of the island, which was not more than a quarter of a mile long.

They paddled across the river, which at this spot ran rapidly and had a width of some eight hundred yards, so as to hide in the shadow of the opposite bank.
When they reached it Otter rested on his paddles and gave vent to a suppressed chuckle, which was his nearest approach to laughter.
"Why do you laugh, Black One ?" asked Soa.
"Look yonder," he answered, and he pointed to some specks on the surface of the river which were fast vanishing in the distance.

"Yonder go the boats of the slave-dealers, and in them are their arms and food.