John pressed on now even more rapidly. Though he had met with no natives on the way, he could not be sure that some of the fugitives had not outstripped him along another route. For the most part he kept to the river, striking off here and there to avoid wide sweeping curves, as the prisoner indicated. Presently he saw in the distance a bold bluff rising to a hundred feet above the plain, and stretching across the line of march. The fort, said the prisoner, lay a short distance beyond the bluff, which was cut in two by the river. Up the side of the bluff wound a steep pathway, and at the top a look-out was constantly stationed, except at night, when he was withdrawn into the fort. From this high post the plain could be seen for miles. Knowing how keen is the negro’s sight, John called a halt before it was likely that his party had come within the range of vision. The rest of the journey must be performed in the dark. He led the men into the bush at some distance from the river, so that they should not be seen by any one who might pass either to or from the fort. Again he impressed upon them the necessity for silence. At nightfall, refreshed by the rest, they started once more, confident of being able to approach the bluff unobserved. An hour’s march under the pale light of the stars brought them to its foot, and John heard the noise of water rushing swiftly through the gorge. The pathway, said the prisoner, started from a spot very near the river-bank. Even with his directions it proved by no means easy to find in the darkness, and when at last they lit upon it, and John began the ascent, it was scarcely less difficult to keep to the track. Bill fell on his knees and groped along it with his hand, saying when he arose that it had not been made originally by men, but trodden by game descending from the hills to the plain. Coming at length, after a tortuous and toilsome climb, to the summit, John paused to take breath and to look about him. Below on his left he could now see the foaming river racing through the gorge. Beyond, the ground sloped gradually to the plain. There was no sound save that of the swirling water, no sign of the presence of men. He went on, until he came once more to the brink of the river, and a mile further on saw gleaming in the starlight a broad pool, in the midst of which rose a dark mass. This, said the prisoner, was the island and fort, and at the upper end of the pool the river ran down swiftly, but not so swiftly as below.