"He has good reason to be in a hurry," exclaimed Gerald. "See, there on the top of the hill are a whole host of black fellows, and now they are running down towards the sand. I suspect that they are in chase of him, and if he does not make haste they will catch him, too." While Gerald was speaking, a number of negroes, armed with spears headed with long blades used for cutting the canes, and with axes and other rudely formed weapons, were seen scampering down the hill. They possessed apparently no firearms, however, or the fugitive's chance of escape would have been very small. He made his way along the rough rocks, leaping across the fractures in his course, and often passing spots on which he would scarcely have ventured had not a foe been at his heels. The blacks in their eagerness to catch him scarcely took notice of the boat, though had they done so they might have suspected that her crew possessed firearms, with which they could be reached. They were scarcely more than a hundred yards off, when the boat got up to the ledge of rock, and the white man, springing forward, aided by the bowman, leaped on board and was passed along by the crew to the stern-sheets. The lieutenant immediately ordered the boat to be backed off, and her head being turned in the direction of the ship, the crew once more gave way. The blacks, meantime, finding that their expected victim had escaped, gave vent to their feelings of anger in shouts and cries. A few also, who had been in the rear, now appearing armed with muskets, had the audacity to fire at the boat, but happily the bullets fell short of her, and she was soon entirely beyond their range. "Where do you come from? What has happened?" asked the lieutenant, as the stranger sank down by his side. "I was hiding from the rebel slaves in the wood up in the hill, when I saw the ship out there, and came down in the hopes that the commander would land some of his crew and send them to the assistance of a white family, friends of mine, whose house is surrounded by savages who are threatening their destruction," answered the latter. "There is no time to be lost, for they were fearfully beset, and have neither food nor water remaining, while nearly all their ammunition is, I fear, expended." "Who are they?" asked Norman Foley, in an evident tone of agitation. "A Mr Twigg and his family, with whom Mr Ferris, an Irish gentleman, and his daughter are staying. There are several other white people in the house," was the answer. "Mr and Miss Ferris in danger!" ejaculated the lieutenant and Gerald in the same breath. "How far off is the house? Can we soon reach it?" inquired the former. "Twelve or fourteen miles to the westward from here," answered the stranger. "I should think with this breeze you might get off it in less than a couple of hours."