At a slight diminution in the uproar Errington guessed that the explanations, whatever they were, were over, and that the men were being taken into the boat. With a stroke of the paddle he brought the nose of his boat to the edge of the reed-bed, where, by stretching forward, he could see what was going on. There were eight men in the boat; two were still on the bank, waiting until room was made for them. Errington smiled: the boat thus overloaded would not be difficult to outdistance. The last man was stepping into the boat. The moment had come. Whispering to Lo San to make as much noise with his paddle as possible, he gave the word to go. The two paddles struck the water together with a loud splash, and the boat shot ahead in full view of the Chinamen, making directly for the main channel leading to the river. Terrific yells escaped the pursuers when they saw their boat dashing away from them with a white man on board. Errington had little doubt that his stratagem had succeeded. The passage wound so frequently, and the reeds grew so high, that it was impossible to see whether the Chinamen were actually in pursuit unless he waited for them. He stopped paddling at a spot where about ten yards of the waterway was visible behind, In a minute or two the nose of the pursuing boat emerged from behind the reeds. Instantly Errington started again, and was out of sight in five seconds. The Chinamen broke into fierce yells when they saw him; one of them snapped a rifle, but the shot only disturbed the water-fowl. Errington wondered with a little anxiety whether a third boat was in the swamp ahead of him, or would be lowered from the gunboat at the sound of the shot; but the only course possible at present was to go straight ahead. He had seen by the sluggish movement of the pursuing boat, and its depth in the water, that he would be an easy winner in the race. Thus the chase went on down the winding channel. Every now and then Errington slackened his pace, so that the pursuers might have a glimpse of him--not long enough to take aim--and be drawn farther and farther from Burroughs. They were so intent on recovering their boat that they had apparently forgotten the hydroplane and the other members of its crew.