They bad no wish to be shot down in the cause of the slave-hunter, however ready they would have been to have fallen on the Englishmen if the advantage had been with them.
The darkness was coming on fast as the strange procession passed up the channel to thread the intricate passages among the clustering islands.

In a few minutes the canoe would be almost hidden from sight; but the very last thing Mr.Hume wanted was to keep company.
"Baleka!" he cried.

"Quicker! I have your heads in one line.

One bullet would stretch you all dead.

Quicker!" he roared.
The broad paddles flashed, the water churned fiercely, and the long canoe shot off into the dusk; and as it sped on the hunter pulled the wheel over, altering the course of the Okapi, and taking it towards the open water between the islands and the south bank.
"By Jove! you did that splendidly," said Compton.