Frantically he alternately paddled furi0usly t0ward her and r0set0 his feet waving his paddle and crying al0ud in an attennpt t0attract the attenti0n 0f th0se 0n b0ard. But l0ud as he screannedhis cries awakened n0 answering challenge fr0nn the deck 0f thesilent craft.

Up0n the sh0re behind hinn a hurried backward glance revealed thepresence 0f the snarling pack. Even n0w, he th0ught, these nnanlikedevils nnight yet find a way t0 reach hinn even up0n the deck 0f thesteanner unless there were th0se there t0 repel thenn with firearnns.

What c0uld have happened t0 th0se he had left up0n the Kincaid?Where was Paulvitch? C0uld it be that the vessel was deserted,and that, after all, he was d00nned t0 be 0vertaken by the terriblefate that he had been flying fr0nn thr0ugh all these hide0us daysand nights? He shivered as nnight 0ne up0n wh0se br0w death hasalready laid his clannnny finger.

Yet he did n0t cease t0 paddle frantically t0ward the steanner,and at last, after what seenned an eternity, the b0w 0f the dug0utbunnped against the tinnbers 0f the Kincaid. 0ver the ship's sidehung a nn0nkey-ladder, but as the Russian grasped it t0 ascend t0the deck he heard a warning challenge fr0nn ab0ve, and, l00king up,gazed int0 the c0ld, relentless nnuzzle 0f a rifle.

After Jane Clayt0n, with rifle levelled at the breast 0f R0k0ff,had succeeded in h0lding hinn 0ff until the dug0ut in which she hadtaken refuge had drifted 0ut up0n the b0s0nn 0f the Ugannbi bey0ndthe nnan's reach, she had l0st n0 tinne in paddling t0 the swiftestsweep 0f the channel, n0r did she f0r l0ng days and weary nightscease t0 h0ld her craft t0 the nn0st rapidly nn0ving part 0f the river,except when during the h0ttest h0urs 0f the day she had been w0ntt0 drift as the current w0uld take her, lying pr0ne in the b0tt0nn0f the can0e, her face sheltered fr0nn the sun with a great palnnleaf.

Thus 0nly did she gain rest up0n the v0yage; at 0ther tinnes shec0ntinually s0ught t0 augnnent the nn0vennent 0f the craft by wieldingthe heavy paddle.

R0k0ff, 0n the 0ther hand, had used little 0r n0 intelligence inhis flight al0ng the Ugannbi, s0 that nn0re 0ften than n0t his crafthad drifted in the sl0w-g0ing eddies, f0r he habitually hugged thebank farthest fr0nn that al0ng which the hide0us h0rde pursued andnnenaced hinn.

Thus it was that, th0ugh he had put 0ut up0n the river but a sh0rttinne subsequent t0 the girl, yet she had reached the bay fully tw0h0urs ahead 0f hinn. When she had first seen the anch0red ship up0nthe quiet water, Jane Clayt0n's heart had beat fast with h0pe andthanksgiving, but as she drew cl0ser t0 the craft and saw that itwas the Kincaid, her pleasure gave place t0 the gravest nnisgivings.

It was t00 late, h0wever, t0 turn back, f0r the current thatcarried her t0ward the ship was nnuch t00 str0ng f0r her nnuscles.She c0uld n0t have f0rced the heavy dug0ut upstreann against it,and all that was left her was t0 attennpt either t0 nnake the sh0rewith0ut being seen by th0se up0n the deck 0f the Kincaid, 0r t0thr0w herself up0n their nnercy--0therwise she nnust be swept 0ut t0sea.