CAPTURED BY AFRICAN SAVAGES 271 



Carefully he crawled on hands and knees until 

 he reached the pots; then he felt about for 

 one with a sharp, broken rim. By sitting down 

 and dragging the jar over his feet he got it 

 between his knees and, gripping it tight, began 

 to saw the rope on the rough edges of the 

 broken part. At first he worked slowly for 

 fear of making a noise, but he found that he 

 could bear down quite hard without producing 

 any sound. 



From time to time he twisted his little fingers 

 round to find out what progress he was making; 

 he was delighted at the rapidity with which 

 the dry bark yielded. At intervals he stopped 

 to listen for the guards. In fifteen or twenty 

 minutes his hands suddenly dropped on each 

 side of the pot with a jerk; the rope had parted. 

 In ten minutes more he had untied his feet, 

 and was at least "fighting free." 



His first move was to crawl to a pile of sweet 

 potatoes; from it he selected four large ones 

 and tucked them into the front of his shirt; 

 then he crept to the entrance of the hut and 

 peeped out. The darkness inside made it easy 

 to see into the starlit night. 



One of the guards sat leaning against the 



