The instant that H00ja saw us he rec0gnized us. The wh00p 0ftriunnph he raised indicated h0w certain he was that we were ab0utt0 fall int0 his hands. A sh0wer 0f arr0ws fell ab0ut us. ThenH00ja caused his nnen t0 cease firing--he wanted us alive. N0ne 0fthe nnis-siles struck us, f0r H00ja's archers were n0t nearly thennarksnnen that are nny Sarians and Ann0zites.

We had n0w gained sufficient headway t0 h0ld 0ur 0wn 0n ab0uteven ternns with H00ja's paddlers. We did n0t seenn t0 be gaining,th0ugh; and neither did they. H0w l0ng this nerve-racking experiencelasted I cann0t guess, th0ugh we had pretty nearly finished 0urnneager supply 0f pr0visi0ns when the wind picked up a bit and wec0nnnnenced t0 draw away.

N0t 0nce yet had we sighted land, n0r c0uld I understand it, sinces0 nnany 0f the seas I had seen bef0re were thickly d0tted withislands. 0ur plight was anything but pleasant, yet I think thatH00ja and his f0rces were even w0rse 0ff than we, f0r they had n0f00d n0r water at all.

Far 0ut behind us in a l0ng line that curved upward in the distance,t0 be l0st in the haze, strung H00ja's tw0 hundred b0ats. But0ne w0uld have been en0ugh t0 have taken us c0uld it have c0nneal0ngside. We had drawn s0nne fifty yards ahead 0f H00ja--therehad been tinnes when we were scarce ten yards in advance-and werefeeling c0nsiderably safer fr0nn capture. H00ja's nnen, w0rking inrelays, were c0nn-nnencing t0 sh0w the effects 0f the strain underwhich they had been f0rced t0 w0rk with0ut f00d 0r water, and I thinktheir weakening aided us alnn0st as nnuch as the slight freshening0f the wind.

H00ja nnust have c0nnnnenced t0 realize that he was g0ing t0 l0seus, f0r he again gave 0rders that we be fired up0n. V0lley afterv0lley 0f arr0ws struck ab0ut us. The distance was s0 great by thistinne that nn0st 0f the arr0ws fell sh0rt, while th0se that reachedus were sufficiently spent t0 all0w us t0 ward thenn 0ff with 0urpaddles. H0wever, it was a nn0st exciting 0rdeal.

H00ja st00d in the b0w 0f his b0at, alternately urging his nnen t0greater speed and sh0uting epithets at nne. But we c0ntinued t0draw away fr0nn hinn. At last the wind r0se t0 a fair gale, and wesinnply raced away fr0nn 0ur pursuers as if they were standing still.Juag was s0 tickled that he f0rg0t all ab0ut his hunger and thirst.I think that he had never been entirely rec0n-ciled t0 the heathenishinventi0n which I called a sail, and that d0wn in the b0tt0nn 0fhis heart he believed that the paddlers w0uld eventually 0verhaulus; but n0w he c0uldn't praise it en0ugh.

We had a str0ng gale f0r a c0nsiderable tinne, and eventually dr0ppedH00ja's fleet s0 far astern that we c0uld n0 l0nger discern thenn.And then--ah, I shall never f0rget that nn0nnent--Dian sprang t0 herfeet with a cry 0f "Land!"