AN ESCAPE IN THE DARK 



game of bluff ; there was no moon, and I hoped to succeed 

 without much difficulty. 



We were camped on the banks of the Kibi. One or 

 two of the natives hung around the camp until sunset, and 

 then retired to the village. Although there was nothing 

 to warrant any festivities, as far as I knew, they made an 

 unearthly din with their singing and drum-beating ; 

 their voices were every now and then borne on the breeze 

 in increased volume to our ears, making me think at times 

 that they must be coming nearer to us ; but with the lull 

 of the wind the sounds became faint again. At what I 

 judged to be nine o'clock, Juma led the way through tall 

 grass to the riverside ; the village lay half a mile down 

 stream, and we crept along the bank in the opposite 

 direction until we came to a path that led down to a ford. 

 Cautiously we passed between the grass and bushes and 

 lowered ourselves down the bank into the black and oily 

 looking waters, and steadily waded across stream to the 

 east bank ; the very fact of having put the river between 

 them and ourselves gave me a feeling of safety ; but it 

 was not long lived, for close by a dog yelped and the alarm 

 was soon taken up by others. Bending down I could 

 make out the roofs of huts standing out against the sky, 

 only just the tops appearing above the tall grass ; but I 

 could see that we were in a critical position. Getting the 

 he of the village we set out in a different direction, and 

 soon struck a path which, from the position of the 

 Southern Cross, seemed to lead due east. As we passed 

 silently through the plantations and matamma fields, 

 I was momentarily expecting to hear the sound of pursuit. 

 The dogs continued to bark and howl as we pushed on 

 end gradually accelerated our pace. The people must 

 have been sleeping like logs, or must have thought the 

 dogs were disturbed by some prowling animal. 



For hours we continued the journey, occasionally 

 snatching a few minutes' rest in some glade or other. At 



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