which, while it cost us a man and him his hand, undoubtedly saved
all the rest of us from massacre. Had it not been for that ghastly
apparition over the side of the boat -- an apparition that I
shall never forget till my dying hour -- the canoe would undoubtedly
have drifted ashore before I realized what had happened, and
this history would never have been written by me.




CHAPTER III
THE MISSION STATION



We made the remains of our rope fast to the other canoe, and
sat waiting for the dawn and congratulating ourselves upon our
merciful escape, which really seemed to result more from the
special favour of Providence than from our own care or prowess.
At last it came, and I have not often been more grateful to
see the light, though so far as my canoe was concerned it revealed
a ghastly sight. There in the bottom of the little boat lay
the unfortunate Askari, the sime, or sword, in his bosom, and
the severed hand gripping the handle. I could not bear the sight,
so hauling up the stone which had served as an anchor to the
other canoe, we made it fast to the murdered man and dropped
him overboard, and down he went to the bottom, leaving nothing
but a train of bubbles behind him. Alas! when our time comes,
most of us like him leave nothing but bubbles behind, to show
that we have been, and the bubbles soon burst. The hand of his