"On second thoughts I think you had better go after the first lot at once. Everything depends on their keeping under cover until I arrive with the raft, and you know how rash they are. Go and keep an eye on them. I’ll see to the unloading here and send the men after you." Accordingly John hurried in the track of the ivory-carriers, whom he overtook by the time they reached the head of the rapids. Leading them carefully through the wood, where they would be invisible to any of the enemy who might be moving along on the other side of the river, he came opposite to the point where the rapids entered the pool. There he ordered them to set down their loads, and sent Bill back to guide the second party over the same course. Ferrier had resolved not to begin his adventurous voyage until all the men were gathered under John at the head of the pool. The actual passage of the rapids would take but a minute or two, and the time necessary for reloading the first raft would be halved if the whole party were employed in the work. The second convoy having arrived, John left them safely under cover while he retraced his steps for a short distance to a spot where he could witness his friend’s performance. He held his breath and felt his skin creep as the raft came into view, shooting down at a furious rate to what appeared certain destruction. Ferrier had removed the upper part of the framework, and stood with pole in hand, bending low, his whole attention fixed on his task. Now he prodded to the right, now to the left: at one moment the raft swerved, having evidently scraped a rock, and he almost lost his balance; but recovering himself instantly, he dexterously slipped his pole over in the direction to which the raft had been driven, and came again into mid-current. John feared lest he should be carried far into the pool, beyond the spot where the loads were laid; but when the raft came into smooth water, and its momentum was checked, Ferrier flung a rope to the shore, and the craft, uninjured except for some chips at the edges, was hauled in. "Splendid!" said John. "It would be a stunning sport if----"