Congratulating himself on his good fortune, our hero moved stealthily forward and gained a small grove of guava-trees, where for a few moments he paused. Then, making a sudden resolve, he ran swiftly away and disappeared over the brow of a hill in the direction of the river. Not ten minutes after this the guards entered the hut and instantly saw that their prey had escaped. Fearful of the fate that awaited them when Sooltan Shah learnt the news of the flight of the captive, the warriors, six in number, hurriedly set off in pursuit of the fugitive, having agreed among themselves that no alarm should be given unless the chase proved a futile one. * * * * * In spite of the complete victory they had achieved, ending in the death of Sooltan and the surrender of his warriors, the seamen and marines returned to the mouth of the Joo-joo river with heavy hearts. The corpse of Jack Villiers had not been discovered, in spite of the most strenuous search, but every member of the force believed him to have been most foully murdered. More especially was young Thring downcast and broken-spirited, for the bonds of friendship had been very strong between the two boys. There was one subject for congratulation, and that was that the gunnery lieutenant, who had been struck down by the African chief's bullet, was likely to recover from the wound in the thigh which he had received. The "Forte's" boats had been left at anchor in the river under command of the boatswain, with orders to await events. When the naval brigade hove in sight, the flotilla moved in to facilitate the operation of embarking the men, many of whom were more or less badly wounded. [Illustration: (Jack with canoe)] Is it possible to understand young Thring's astonishment and joy when, to his utter amazement, he saw, standing beside the boatswain in the stern-sheets of the launch, and energetically waving a turban over his head, his dearly-loved chum and messmate, Jack Villiers? What a resounding cheer went up from the whole throng of seamen and marines, who, breaking loose from all the bonds of discipline, rushed down to the river's brink, frantically throwing their caps up in the air, and generally behaving like a lot of schoolboys to whom an extra week's holidays had just been granted! In another moment Thring was wringing his friend's hand as if he was particularly anxious to dislocate the fingers, and both boys began to chatter like excited magpies. "Yes, yes, and after you got clear of the village, and you found you were being hunted down by the sentries, what happened then?" demanded Thring, with breathless interest.