Then he saw a ball of smoke.
"She is firing!" he yelled.
Compton never took his eyes off the little cluster of reeds ahead that marked the first of the thousand islands.
"Keep her going!" he shouted.
Mr.Hume smiled grimly, for he was doing the work of two men.
"They are loading the gun!" cried Venning.

"Oh, if I only could help!" He buttoned and unbuttoned his coat, then picked up the sculls, and fell to rowing with fierce energy.

"The smoke!" he cried.

Then, a moment later, "What's that noise ?" as a menacing sound with a shrieking whistle to it smote on his ears.
There was no need for an answer.

The shot struck the water about a hundred yards short, and skipped by, wide of the Okapi, but still too near to be pleasant.
"Keep on!" shouted Compton, fiercely.
The levers clanked furiously, and Venning, who had suspended his sculling under the menace of the shot, tugged again at his work.
The steam-whistle of the launch sounded a series of sharp, jerky calls, followed by the firing of a Mauser bullet.