How anxiously we watched the progress of darkness over sky and
water! Night alone could save us! The dark form of the lugger
could be seen nearer and nearer, her sails hoisted and oars flying in
eager pursuit. It may be regarded as surprising that a small whale
boat, scarcely visible to them, should have been deemed an object
worthy of pursuit; but when the rigid character of the blockade is
taken into consideration, in reference to which every object upon the
river was taken notice of, this surprise will be removed. Lobo would
have stopped a carrier-pigeon if he could have done so!

Slowly, oh! how slowly the darkness came on! The masts of the
lugger faded fast from view, and then gradually the dark mass of her
hull was blended with the haze of night. When, at length, she was
no longer visible, our hearts beat freer; yet each instant we watched
for the flash which should send another shot after us.

`Now that she can no longer see us,' said Radsworth, who had the
helm, `suppose we tack and stand towards the shore, so as to reach it
higher up. They will probably keep straight on this way, and by tacking
and running in shore we shall be likely to get them off the scent.'

This suggestion was unanimously approved of, and the next minute
we had put the helm hard up, and were running for the shore, which
was about seven miles distant. We were as silent as possible; not a
word was spoken above a whisper. Our little skiff pranced on like a
well-trained steed, dashing from her prow the foaming waters. We
kept up the river obliquely towards the land, so as to give the lugger as
wide a berth as possible. After we had run on this course about ten

[figure description] Page 060.[end figure description]

minutes, closely scanning the darkness to windward to see if we
could discern our enemy, we were startled by a flash not a quarter
of a mile abeam of us, which showed us for an instant all the proportions
of the gun-boat. To our great joy we saw that she was standing
straight upon our former course, and firing in the direction she supposed
we were.

`She will run her nose against the south shore if she keeps on long
enough,' said Fairfax. `What an escape we have made!—boys, fortune
favors us, there is no mistake!'

The report of the gun sounded like closely exploding thunder to
our ears, she was so near us; but it did not alarm us—we saw that we
had eluded her by our ruse, and that so long as she kept on that tack
and we on ours we could laugh at her. Each moment the space
between us was widening, and when, fifteen minutes afterwards, she
fired again, we could but just detect the distant, dull report, at least
three miles off.

There was cause for mutual congratulations at defeating her, and
we expressed our satisfaction in very exulting words. We did not,
however, intermit our vigilance; we knew that we had a dangerous
enemy in our neighborhood, and that, though darkness now befriended
us, daylight might reveal us to them, or to some other.

`She will be sure to tack before she runs on another hour,' said
Bedrick; `and then we shall run a chance of falling in with her.—
Suppose we pull about now dead before the wind, and stick her nose
up river? We shall be able to run her out of sight by daylight.'

This suggestion was adopted, and just as we came within sight of
the dark line of the shore, we cast the sheet free and sailed merrily
along parallel with the coast.

`There goes another gun,' cried Radsworth, who was looking in
the direction of the lugger's course; `but the flash is as faint as the
report.'

`She is full six miles off,' answered Fairfax; `we have fully done
her brown!'

`Don't be too sauguine,' said Bedrick; `we may find two for this
one before we go far up the river.'

`It is our determination to fight to the last, is it not, boys?' said I.

`Yes!' was the unanimous reply, `we will not be taken alive!'

And in this purpose we were all thoroughly determined. Our situation
was each moment one of the most imminent peril, yet we kept
up good spirits and firm courage, and had but one heart and one mind.
I have no doubt that if the lugger had come up with us, we should
have fought to desperation before yielding. We were well armed, and
like most youths, perfectly fearless;—yet, as the reader will have noticed,
our reckless daring was tempered by prudence and discretion.

At length we could neither see nor hear any thing more of the lugger,
and having taken a tin cup of champagne all round—for we had
nothing else to drink save ale and the rum-water—we set the watch
for the night. Fairfax and I had the first `watch below,' and coiling
ourselves up between the thwarts, we were soon oblivious.

[figure description] Page 061.[end figure description]

I had slept about three hours when I was awakend by Bedrick calling,
in a hushed tone,—

`Fellows, up quickly!'

`What is it?' I cried, grasping my cutlass and gazing round.

To my surprise I found we were lying becalmed within a hundred
yards of the shore, which hung its dark shadow over us. We seemed
to be in a small cave, for land was all around us except on one side.

`Where are we? What place is this?' asked Fairfax and I in surprise.

`The wind went down an hour ago, and we had to take to the oars,'
answered Radsworth; `and coming up with a point of land which jutted
far out into the river, we found this cave and pulled into it to rest,
and dropped the keeleg. We thought we wouldn't call you till your
four hours were out.'

`And not now,' chimed in Bedrick, `but we have been listening the
last quarter of an hour to the most infernal howls from the shore that
mortal ever heard. They have been growing louder and nearer, till
just as I waked you we were saluted by a yell from the beach as if
we had been hailed by a hyena. There it is again!'

And there it was, sure enough! Such a howl—so wild, so fierce
and fiendish—never saluted my ears. My blood ran cold in my veins.

`What under heavens can it be?' cried Fairfax in amazement.

`That is more than I know,' answered Bedrick. `Hear that again!'

`The scream was repeated, followed by a crackling in the bushes
and a splash in the water, as if a horse had plunged in. Then came
the dashing noise of swimming, as if some huge animal was making
his way towards us. I sprang to the locker and took out four or five
pistols and handed them to my companions. Our sabres were also
taken in hand, and thus armed we stood awaiting the coming of the
foe. I believed it to be a wild horse, but Fairfax was very positive it
was a panther or hyena. We stood awaiting him calmly; I remembered
then having read of a traveller in India whose boat had been attacked
by a tiger and overset; I thought we might have some such
enemy, and cautioned my friends. Nearer and nearer came the monster;
the splashing of his passage was tremendous. We could hear
his heavy panting, and then two glaring balls of fire emerged from the
darkness.

`It is a panther,' I cried. `When he comes within ten feet of us
let us fire!'

Coolly and firmly we awaited his approach. We would gladly have
taken to our oars and pulled out of his way—for his visit was by no
means welcome—but this course was from the first too late, as he
swam very rapidly, giving us no time to do more than seize our arms
and prepare to defend our boat as well as we could.

When about ten feet from us we made out his head and shoulders
and white breast with distinctness; his eyes seemed to emit a phos-phorescent
fire. By one impulse, with the eager cry, `Now let him,
have it!' we discharged our pistols at his head.

The report of five pistols (for Bedrick blazed away with two,) and
the smoke for a moment confused us. No cry or sound of pain

[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]

followed the furious volley, and not seeing him when we looked we believed
we had finished the monster, and that he had sunk lifeless without
a struggle. But our respite was but brief. A splash and an excrutiating
yell, like the screaming of a gigantic file, heard behind us,
told us that the fight had but just began. He had dived at the flash of
our pistols, and risen on the other side of the boat, and within six feet
of it. Before we could recover fully from our astonishment, he had
floundered towards the boat and flung his huge paw over the gunwale.
The weight of his huge bulk at once caused the boat to begin to take
in water, while we shouted to each other to keep on the upper side.
We were not idle withal: Radsworth and I seized our cutlasses, and
at the same moment brought them down upon the monster's paw with
all our strength. He opened his tremendous jaws, showing double
rows of glittering sharp teeth, and from the cavernous depths of his
throat there issued a sound that has no likeness on earth save to itself,—
a compound of a locomotive whistle, the bellowing of a mad bull,
and the letting off steam from the escape-pipe of a high-pressure engine.
Perhaps what is called an `Arkansaw yell' might come near to
it. The paw was pulled back bleeding and dangling by the tendrons,
and the panther, thinking he had enough of our quality, turned away
and began paddling for the shore, every two or three seconds on his
retreat uttering a sharp cry of pain.

We did not fire after him, for we felt no disposition to goad a discomfited
foe, and were glad enough to get rid of him on his own terms.
We listened until he reached the shore, and heard him for some time
afterwards cracking the dry brush as he limped over it, ever and anon
lifting up his voice in a shrill cry of suffering. We could not but feel
pity for the poor fellow, who had doubtless been attracted by the smell
of our larder, and had paid us a visit to take a cold bite. The animal
was doubtless one of the Paraguay panthers, a very fierce and courageous
animal, and formidable to the Quacho hunters, whom he sometimes
overthrows, horse and rider.

We felt thankful for our escape, and consulting upon our situation
and prospects we finally came to the conclusion—especially as we
heard a good deal of stir upon the shore, as if a new attack was contemplated
by the panther's kindred—that it would be best to pull up
the river without waiting for a wind, and keeping at least half a mile
from the shore. We were apprehensive too that the firing of our pistols
might bring upon us enemies quite as dangerous as the panther,
either from passing cruisers or parties of Quachos upon the land.

So we hoisted in our keeleg, and taking our oars pulled out of the
cove and so up along the shore. The stars shone brightly, the air was
pure and soft, and the river perfectly smooth. We pulled on till past
midnight, when the wind began to blow gently from the land, and we
spread our sail to it gladly, for we were no friends to rowing. We had
hardly got our sail set, and taken our seats astern began to talk over
the affair we had had with the panther, and to promise that we would
serve in the same way any of the Portuguese that should dare to board
us, (the considerate reader must allow something for the boastings of
youths under nineteen!) when we were all taken by surprise by

[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]

discovering a large vessel within a cable's length of us to leeward. She
was so near that we all discovered her at the same moment, and should
have done so much sooner but for the intervention of our sail.

Not a word was uttered; the sheet was cast loose; we sprung to
the mast and unshipping it dropped it flat into the boat, and then threw
ourselves at length upon our backs, so as to show as little surface above
the water as possible. Our eyes, however, were at liberty. The vessel
was a large gun-brig under top-gallant sails, and standing down the
river. She passed us within pistol shot without seeing us, and soon
disappeared in the distance and darkness. We let her get well out of
sight before we sat up. We then took two or three long breathes
a-piece, and began to consult what was best to be done, for the river
seemed full of enemies; for a Brazilian we knew she must be, as no
Patriot vessel would trust herself alone so far down the river. Two
of us were for running under sail, and two for rowing. At length we
cast lots, and the lot fell in favor of wind against arms. So we up
mast, sheeted home, and let her go again, the wind blowing us along
about five knots. In this manner we hugged the shore till day began
to dawn, keeping about half a mile from it, and occasionally serenaded
with a howl from a ravine or wood. With the dawn of day our vigilance
and weariness increased; and when the full light of the morning
showed us a schooner and a barque outside of us, and a sloop-of-war
of twenty guns (for we could count them with the glass, as well as see
the Brazilian flag flying.) four miles ahead, we began to think that
`darkness was better than light,'
though we would not admit our deeds
to be `evil.'