with ill-concealed impatience, gloating over each turn of the dice. Each noted down his gains.

At length, after a run of ill-luck, the Scotchman's impatience culminated in a hoarse cry of disappointment, and throwing down the dice-box, he rose, went to a side-table, and helped himself to spirits. The Portuguese sat with his legs stretched out before him, slowly adding up what he had won. Suddenly M'Gibbon returned to the table. "Again," he cried, in Portuguese, and pushed the box over to his opponent, who nodded, and began to play. Nothing was now heard for a long time but the almost continual rattle of the dice. At last the Portuguese, in his turn, threw down the box, and taking up a piece of paper, added some figures to it hastily, and threw it over to M'Gibbon, whose face paled.

"Fifteen hundred mil reis !'' he murmured to himself in English.

"E verdade (it is true), said the Portuguese.

James started. Fifteen hundred mil reis in the Portuguese currency of the coast was over £300 sterling; and where had M'Gibbon such a sum? Yet, as the two talked, he gathered that there had been many payments to account in goods. After a while the play recommenced, the Portuguese taking the whole matter lightly, and seasoning the course of the dice with reflections in his own language. And he could afford to do so; for fortune that night went over to his side so completely, and remained there so long, that the debt mounted up and up, until, for the second time, he refused to play on, though M'Gibbon, fairly exasperated with his ill-luck, challenged him to do so, and ended by throwing it in his teeth that he would not play because he was afraid of not being paid.

Contas de perto e amigos de longe" (short reckonings make long friends), replied Chaves, coolly.

How much is it now?" asked M'Gibbon, grinding his teeth.

ready to risk his credit and very means of existence on the turn of the dice. Well, if he were willing, he should not be disappointed. And with renewed interest Chaves began to play. In less than ten minutes M'Gibbon was without house or home, and at last seemed to realize his foolhardiness-for he put his hands to his head, and did not speak.

"Quem tem quatro e gasta cinco, não ha mister bolsa nem bolsinho" (he that hath four and spends five, hath no need of a purse), soliloquized the Portuguese, tauntingly.

Once more!" shouted M'Gibbon furiously, and seized the dice.

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The Portuguese laughed. Your grace," he said, in his own language, "forgets that you have no house, and that you are as yet indebted to your humble servant to the extent of four thousand mil reis-enormous-to pay which you have nothing-nothing. Stop," he added suddenly; and fixing his eyes on his opponent as if to observe his state closely-" yes, you have one thing"-and as he leaned over the table to whisper, his eyes fairly sparkled, and he lost his cool manner; you have one thing-a sua irmã' (your sister).

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James started to his feet; and if the Portuguese had not been engrossed by the thought of what he said, he would have surely heard the noise the listener made.

It

Not that the lad had understood at once all that the scoundrel meant. was only as, sinking down again, he stared with fixed eyes through a chink between the rattans, and listened, that he comprehended the scoundrel's idea of playing M'Gibbon for the possession of Margaret.

That the brother did not at once take the brute by the throat astounded James; that he should hesitate even for a second was inexplicable to the lad; and he was about to rise and rush forth to denounce the villain himself when M'Gibbon began to speak. What he said James could not well catch, he spoke so low; but the interval gave the lad time to reflect that his best policy, for Margaret's sake, at present was silence; so he lay still, strained every nerve, and listened again.

You do not know what she will say or do," at length spoke the Portuguese,

in reply to the trader; and your grace forgets you have no place for her. Mal via ao fuso quando a barba não anda em cima" (alas for the spindle when the beard is not over it)! She will be better off with me than without me;" and he laughed.

James bit his tongue to keep himself quiet. The savage beast! to speak so of Margaret-his Margaret! He listened again.

But the voice of the Portuguese sank to a whisper; and after some time, the lad, to his utter dismay, saw the two men deliberately set themselves to play. And now again the dice rattled in the box, as the bearded scoundrels bent over the table to watch their course, by the yellow light of the smoking wick, which left all but the space about them in deep shadows. At last the Portuguese rose with a triumphant smile.

By G-, you shall not have her!" cried M'Gibbon, with compunction in his voice, and also rising. But the Portuguese looked at him; and there was a devilry in his look which showed that he meant the chance of the dice to be kept.

"Once more," groaned M'Gibbon, sitting down. "I will work any debt out-every real of it-I will."

You will give me your sister," replied the Portuguese. "Moreover, I will be liberal. You shall have five hundred in cash for yourself, provided you leave Donde for good," he added quickly and decidedly.

M'Gibbon's eyes glistened; the allabsorbing spirit of the gambler was strong within him.

But, went on the Portuguese, "the sailor must be got rid of.

Must he ground out James between his teeth; and then he grew cold at heart as he heard the details of a plan dastardly in its cool brutality.

"Then you will acquaint the Senhora Margarida with the regard of your humble servant," concluded Chaves.

And if-if she does not-does not consent?" stammered M'Gibbon, glancing nervously at him, and stopping short.

"What have you to do with that?'' returned Chaves, quickly. "She is not yours. Come, if you will leave Donde at once you shall have a thousand mil

reis. I have five hundred by me," and he made a move to leave the room.

M'Gibbon did not stop him, and he went away. When he had gone, the ex-trader rose and walked unsteadily toward the edge of the veranda, where James was; and the lad had only just time to glide away into the darkness before the man put aside the blind and stood looking out into the night until the Portuguese returned, when he once more sat down.

The blind remained on one side, and James did not dare to venture near the little stream of light that shone on the ground; and he waited where he was until he saw the lamp burn low, flicker, and then go out, when he ventured to creep up to the veranda again. He saw in the darkness that M'Gibbon was lying sound asleep in a canvas chair, but that otherwise the room appeared to be empty.

Suddenly the voice of the Portuguese sounded, and James saw him bend over the sleeping man.

46

Do coiro lhe sahem as correias" (the thongs come out of his own skin), he muttered, as he looked at him; and then he turned, and James heard his footsteps as he went into the inner part of the house.

He

It was now near morning, and the lad got away as quickly as possible, his thoughts full of alarm and rage. came to the spot where the slave was chained, and turned to look at him; the man was dead.

All was quiet at the factory when he got back to it. Margaret was apparently asleep, and the two guards were watchful. But, exhausted though he was by the excitement he had gone through, James could not rest. His mind was torn by doubt, and he paced up and down the veranda for the remainder of the night.

That instant flight was necessary for Margaret's safety was distinct and clear to him. But how, and in what direction? Even if she could get clear away, the stations along the coast belonged to Portuguese, who would be certain to favor their countryman Chaves.

M'Gibbon did not return until late on the next day, and went straight to his own part of the house. Of this James was glad, for by that time he had made up his mind to a course of action,

and he sought Margaret. He told her what he had been a witness of on the previous night as softly as possible, and tried to soothe her agitation and alarm as she heard it; but in vain. She appealed wildly to him to save her, and cast herself at his feet in an agony of apprehension. Fearful of discovery, he hushed her cries and raised her tenderly -this coarse lad-and told her of his plan of escape to Kabooka, if she would trust herself with him. Or would she risk an appeal to her brother's better nature? For reply, she clung the closer to James, and he then and there bade her be ready at a moment's notice. It shall not cost you a thought," he cried, "if you can only bear up against the fatigue." And then he gently thrust her into her room, as he heard the trader call loudly for him.

informing him, privately and in confidence, that he had sold the factory and its contents to the Portuguese, and was preparing to leave the place shortly with. his sister, which was the reason why James had to go.

James made no remark, but swallowed his liquor, and said he would go and look out the boat-boys, and give them their rations, so that they might be able to start when wanted.

M'Gibbon consented to this, and the two men parted on good terms, James longing in his heart to tell his late master what a dastardly coward he was.

The journey from Donde to Kabooka, usually necessitated the use of both boat and hammock; the boat for the first part, where it was difficult to go by land on account of the bad character of the natives, who were treacherous; and the hammock for the second part, some sixty miles from a solitary station, inhabited by a Portuguese, where bearers could be procured. James would fain have gone altogether by land for the sake of the increased speed; but he hesitated, for Margaret's safety, to take the risk. Moreover, it would be easier to get her away in a boat with him unperceived; and he trusted to the start he might have before her absence should be discovered, to reach his old factory in safety. He quietly summoned the head boatboy, José, and bade him have his crew in readiness that night, and the heavy surf-boat hauled close down to the water's edge, with mast stepped and sail bent; and to insure his orders being carried out, he gave him a piece of cloth for each of his boys, and several yards of saved list for himself, the last there was in the factory. He then stowed away in the boat's locker with his own hands a little meat, some loaves of bread, a breaker of water, and a small keg of rum for the boys. While he was doing this they came trooping down to the beach; and he gathered from their talk, and the alertness with which they got the boat ready, that they were as glad to leave Donde as himself. This, although they were not natives of the place, was strange; and he questioned José, who suddenly became cautious, and would not say more than that the captain, "Jimmy Jim"--the name James went by-did well to go away.

"Why?" asked James.

José shrugged his shoulders, and a light came into his black eyes, but he only grumbled, "Despacha, despacha, Senhor." And with this answer James, though puzzled, had to be content. was so far lucky that the men were willing to go.

It

All the following day M'Gibbon did not stir out of the factory, much to James's dismay, who apprehended a visit from the Portuguese and what his sharp eyes might discover. But as the hours wore on nobody came, and after his dinner the trader drew his chair close up to a table, put thereon spirits and water, and then proceeded to smoke in silence. He had not seen Margaret that day, nor had he once asked for her. In this way he sat for some hours by himself, during which James kept a discreet watch upon him from outside the door of the room, turning in his walk along the veranda so as to be able to eye him through the trellis-work of the upper part of the room without exciting his suspicion.

But M'Gibbon had none, and toward midnight his bushy red beard sank on his breast, the pipe he had been smoking dropped from his hand, and he sank backward in his chair asleep. After gazing at him for some minutes to make sure of him, James judged that now the time for flight had arrived. Before another sin had set it might be too late. Therefore he went softly along to Margaret's room and tapped gently at her door. She was ready, and opened it at once; and though she was pale and distressed with waiting, James was glad to feel that there was that in her manner, as she put her hand in his, which betokened her resolution. He took the pillows and blankets from her bed and then hurried her down to the beach. José and his crew at a signal followed swiftly from the hut in which they lived, the impassive negroes luckily not taking any particular notice of the white woman, to whose presence they had become accustomed. Indeed they were too eager to be off.

Of late the trader had sent away most of the factory servants, so there was no watch kept, and no onlooker saw the boat launched into the water that lapped upon the beach. James wished the

moonlight had not been so brilliant, but the late storm had cleared the sky.

He arranged the pillows in the narrow stern of the boat, and then, taking Margaret in his arms, carried her through the water. The boys then put their shoulder to the craft, and in a few seconds she floated, and jumping into her they gave way, silently at James's warning, but with a will, stimulated by his encouraging promises.

Indeed, so smartly did the heavy boat start forward under their strokes, that in a quarter of an hour she was well into the neck of water that formed the opening into the sea, and James, looking back, could see no sign of life or movement upon the beach. So far he had been lucky, and had no need of the rifle concealed be neath the blankets. Lifting the latter, he folded them tenderly round his companion, and she looked up into his face and thanked him sweetly-by which he was more than satisfied. And now the boat, leaving the shelter of the bay, began to feel the huge masses of sea as they passed beneath her, and shortly the roaring of the surf along the open shore of the coast was heard, and the whitecrested waves were seen tumbling and bursting on the beach. But the boat's head was turned seaward, and having gained a sufficient offing, the lug-sail was set to a favorable breeze, as against a strong current running to the north. For the rest of the night the boat made fair way, rolling to the send of the waves but just at the first break of day, without the slightest warning, the mast snapped by the thwart. James roused the sleeping boys, cleared the wreck, and did his best to splice the mast, but it had broken too short off to admit of a repair that would stand the pressure of the sail, so the boys unshipped it, and took to their oars, pulling a long slow stroke hour after hour until well toward noon, when the sun, being most powerful, they laid in their oars and ate greedily of the cassada meal and ground nuts with which they had furnished themselves, washed down with a little water. James would fain have seen them eat something more substantial, for with the fall of the mast he had to depend entirely upon them for the further progress of the boat.

He

served them out a cupful of rum apiece, and they fell to work again, singing cheerily, as they rowed, a song led by José.

But as the afternoon drew to a close, the vigor of their strokes, instead of increasing with the cooler air, died away, and James, distressed himself, could not help them. For the heat out on the smooth rollers, at first without shade, and latterly without a breath of wind, had been almost unendurable, and even Margaret, though she had been sheltered by the sail, which James had spread over the stern of the boat, lay pale and exhausted. Suddenly José cried, "Olha, Senhor!" and pointed to the northwest, where, far away in the sky, and just above the horizon as yet, stretched a long line of dense black clouds.

It was a tornado, or rain-storm, coming toward them, and at any rate would give them relief; so they waited for it, the boat dipping its bows to the loud swell of the sea. On it came, increasing in size and obscuring the half of the heavens with an inky lining, and dotting the surface of the sea with little splashes of white foam, which were instantly beaten down by sheets of hissing rain. Rapidly it caught up to the boat, and for nearly half an hour nothing could be seen overhead and all around but the great black cloud and the white tops of the waves breaking before its steady rushing wind. Then the storm passed over to the southeast, having cooled the air and refreshed the crew, who resumed their oars.

Toward the night, which was cloudy, they edged the boat near the low barren shore of the part of the coast they were off, until the sandy beach, with the great rolling breakers, could again be seen. Then they cast a large stone, fastened to a rope, into the sea, which brought the boat's head to the rollers, and she rode at ease. James did not hinder them, for he thought the position of the boat secure enough, and the men were so utterly done up that they could row no more.

Indeed, once anchored, they stretched themselves along the bottom of the boat and along the thwarts, and became oblivious, wrapped in that deep sleep common to negroes. Toward midnight James, wearied, also fell asleep. How

NEW SERIES.-VOL. XXXVII., No. I

long he slept he knew not; but he suddenly became conscious that he heard Margaret's voice, which made him broad awake at once. He looked over the side of the boat, and his eyes encountered a sight that made his heart stand still. By the light allowed by the clouds he saw that they were surrounded on both sides by breakers-great curling masses of water, whose crests shone phosphorescent and pale, and whose sides were moving sea-caverns, until they suddenly toppled over and dissolved. in long lines of white surf. A kalemma, or sudden rise of the surf, had taken place with the wind, and the boat had drifted into too shallow water. It was a mere chance that right ahead of it there was more depth than on both sides; so that, while all around was white water, ahead the rollers as yet passed by it unbroken.

James perceived that the safety of the boat was a matter of moments, and, holding on to the gunwale of the pitching craft, crept forward and roused the crew, who leisurely took up the stone and pulled ahead; and so sound asleep had they been, that it was not until a line of foam rose high right before them, and a roller trembled for a moment, and then burst, nearly swamping the boat, that they seemed to realize their danger, and gave way with all their strength.

But so soon as they were out of the peril, and into deeper water, they shipped their oars, and prepared to let down the stone again. He was powerless to prevent them, but he resolved that the boat should not be allowed to drift again for want of watching, and when she was baled dry he sat up in the stern-sheets with one arm supporting Margaret. She had borne up bravely so far, but the last shock had been sudden; and when she chanced to look back at the wild seething sea behind her, which she had just escaped from, her heart failed her.

So the second night passed, and daylight, most welcome, broke again, when James set the crew to work, which warmed their stiffened limbs. He had hoped to make Cobra Grande, the point of the coast for which he aimed, and where he trusted to procure hammocks and bearers for the land journey before

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