Friends are by." Then the hulking and savage figure walked away, and Paul knew enough to take no apparent notice, but to continue on as if that welcome voice Had not come out of the darkness.

Yet a thousand little pulses within him were throbbing, throbbing with joy and hope.
But whose was the voice?
In his excitement he had not noticed the tone except to note that it was a white man's.

He glanced back and saw the hulking form near the outskirts of the village, but the light was too dim to disclose anything.

Henry?
No, it was not Henry's figure.

Then who was it?
A friend, that was certain, and he had said that other friends were by.
Paul walked with a light step to his prison hut, sedulously seeking to hide the exultation in his face.