A woman approached him shyly: he held the mirror up to her; she caught sight of a black smiling face with sharp-filed teeth, and ran away in consternation, screaming that it was a devil. As she stood explaining the marvel to her friends, John threw a flash among them: they covered their eyes, and flew like the wind. Then he turned the glass towards the fort, and began to make tentative flashes. The guards watched him, curiously, stolidly; what was the msungu doing? Again and again he caught the sunbeam, and turned the mirror this way and that. For a long time there was no answer: he feared the signal had not been seen. Still he persevered. The guards had ceased to pay any attention to him. At last he thought he saw a twinkling point of light. Yes: there it was again: Ferrier was flashing back. Then he began to spell out his message-- "Prisoner: large war-party coming towards you. Good luck!" And presently, with much difficulty, for Ferrier’s watchcase was a poor instrument, he read the answer. He could not be sure of it, but it seemed to be-- "Poor old chap! Never say die." CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH--Shooting the Rapids The curiosity of the villagers was lulled after a time, and they went about their usual occupations. The few men left lolled and loafed and played at knuckle-bones: the women went into the fields and returned loaded with vegetables. John found that he was not to be ill-treated; he was given food when the villagers had their meals, and nobody molested him. The guards dozed near by. But when night came it was clear that the men had had orders to watch him strictly. He was bound both hand and foot and taken into the hut, the two men remaining with the evident intention of keeping him company through the night. Before he entered he saw that Bill was not held of so much account. He too was bound, but to all appearance he was left to himself: indeed, the hut assigned to him, half in ruins, was so small that there would scarcely have been room in it for another occupant. John’s discomfort this night sprang less from the insects, to which he had become inured, than from the proximity of his guards. Armed with spears, they did not trouble to keep awake, and he soon had proof that snoring is not, as Ferrier had suggested, an accomplishment only of civilized races. They might have been trumpeters! He lay oppressed in the hot stifling air. Deep silence reigned in the village.