"Let us then arrange our plans, and so soon as daylight comes we will endeavor to release him."
"But how shall we drive away those horrible negroes?"
"It seems to me," said the doctor, "that after the way in which they dispersed, they were not acquainted with firearms. We must then profit by their fright; but it will be necessary to wait for daylight, and we will form our plan of rescue according to the circumstances."
"This unhappy man cannot be very far distant," said Joe. "For———"
"Help, help!" cried the voice, but this time in weaker accents.
"The barbarians!" cried Joe angrily. "Suppose they kill him to-night?"
"Yes, Samuel!" said Kennedy. "If they murder him to-night?"
"That is not likely, my friends. These savage tribes kill their prisoners in open day: the sun is necessary for them."
"Suppose I were to take advantage of the darkness," said the Scot, to approach this poor victim?"
"I will go with you, Mr. Dick."
"Stop, stop, my friends. This suggestion does equal honor to your courage and your feelings; but you will put everything in jeopardy, and will only endanger the man we want to save."
"How so?" asked Kennedy. "The savages are frightened and dispersed. They will not return."
"Dick, obey me, I beg of you. I ask it for the common safety. If by any chance you were discovered, everything would be lost."
"But this poor wretch who is waiting and hoping all this time. No one answers him, no one comes to his assistance. He will think his senses have deceived him; that he has heard nothing."
"He can be reassured," said the doctor.
And standing up in the darkness and putting his hands to his mouth, the doctor called out to the stranger, in French:
"Whoever you are, be confident. Three friends watch over you."
A terrible uproar was the reply, which doubtless drowned the prisoner's answer.
