the path runs within fifty yards of this point, possibly it is only
half a dozen. When you have found it, send Winthorpe back to me
with the news. Take that long coil of thin rope that is in the bow,
and pay it out as you go along. You might get lost even within two
yards of the stream, and it would be dangerous to call or whistle.
It will enable me to join you. Leave your muskets behind, lads; they
would only be in the way in the jungle, and you have your pistols
and cutlasses. You take the lantern, Winthorpe, and Harper, do you
take the rope. Fasten one end to the thwart before you start, or,
without knowing it, you might drag it after you."

Dick led the way, the others following close behind, but as soon
as they were among the trees, he was obliged to take the lantern,
for the darkness was so intense that he could not see an inch before
him and would have been torn to pieces by the thorny creepers had
he tried to penetrate without a light.

As it was, he received several nasty scratches, and could hear
muttered exclamations from the men behind him. Creeping under some
of the rattans, making detours to avoid others, and cutting some of
the smaller ones in two with his cutlass, he made his way forward,
and was delighted indeed when, after proceeding some twenty yards,
he came upon the edge of what looked like a ditch, but which was,
he knew, the native path.

"Here we are, lads," he exclaimed in a low tone; "thank goodness
we have not had to go farther."

"So say I, sir," one of the men grumbled; "if it had not been for
your lantern I should have been torn to pieces. As it is, I aint