The boys were about to raise the cry of victory, but checked the shout upon their very lips; for darting behind a rock they espied a canoe paddled by a tall and muscular savage, who now stood up in his skiff and appeared to be examining us attentively. Seeing that we were standing toward him, the swarthy native seized his paddle and again darted behind a rock. An awful thought now took possession of me. There must be a tribe of blacks lurking on these shores, and Fritz must have fallen into their hands. We, however, I determined, should not be easily taken; and our guns were loaded and run out. Presently a dusky face appeared, peeping at us from a lofty rock; it vanished, and we saw another peeping at us from lower down. Then, again, the skiff put out as though to make a further reconnoiter. All, even Jack, looked anxious, and glanced at me for orders. "Hoist a white flag," said I, "and hand me the speaking trumpet." I seized the instrument and uttered such peaceable words in the Malay language as I could recall; neither the flag nor my words seemed to produce any effect, and the savage was about to return to the shore. Jack hereupon lost patience, and in his turn took up the trumpet. "Come here, you black son of a gun," he exclaimed. "Come on board and make friends, or we'll blow you and your--" "Stop! stop! you foolish boy," I said; "you will but alarm the man, with your wild words and gestures." "No! but see," he cried, "he is paddling toward us!" And sure enough the canoe was rapidly approaching. Presently a cry from Franz alarmed me. "Look! look!" he shrieked, "the villain is in Fritz's cajack. I can see the walrus head." Ernest alone remained unmoved. He took the speaking trumpet: "Fritz, ahoy!" he shouted; "welcome, old fellow!" The words were scarcely out of his mouth when I, too, recognized the well-known face beneath its dusky disguise. In another minute the brave boy was on board, and in spite of his blackened face was kissed and welcomed heartily. He was now assailed with a storm of questions from all sides: "Where had he been?" "What had kept him so long, and why had he turned blackamoor?" "The last question," replied he, with a smile, "is the only one I will now answer; the others shall be explained when I give a full account of my adventures. Hearing guns fired, my mind was instantly filled with ideas of Malay pirates, for I never dreamed that you could be here in the yacht, so I disguised myself as you now see me, and came forth to reconnoiter. When you addressed me in Malay you only added to my terror, for it left not a doubt in my mind that you were pirates." Having in our turn described to him our adventure with the cachalot whale, I asked him if he knew of a suitable spot for the anchorage of the yacht.