CHAPTER X.
Once more out under the blue-black vault of heaven, with its myriads of twinkling stars, the voyagers resumed their westward journey.
Whispered farewells of new but sincere friends lingered in their ears.

Now the great looming bulk of the fort above them faded into the obscure darkness, leaving a feeling as if a protector had gone--perhaps forever.

Admonished to absolute silence by the stern guides, who seemed indeed to have embarked upon a dark and deadly mission, the voyagers lay back in the canoes and thought and listened.

The water eddied with soft gurgles in the wake of the racing canoes; but that musical sound was all they heard.

The paddles might have been shadows, for all the splash they made; they cut the water swiftly and noiselessly.