A few days more, and no doubt the survivors of the “Pilgrim” would see the termination of their miseries.  Self-sacrifice had been shared in by all, and if the young novice would not claim the greater part of it, Mrs. Weldon would demand its recognition for him.

But on the 18th of July, during the night, an incident took place which compromised the safety of the party.  Toward three o’clock in the morning a distant noise, still very low, was heard in the west.  Dick Sand, very anxious, wished to know what caused it.  While Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and Cousin Benedict slept in the bottom of the boat, he called Hercules to the front, and told him to listen with the greatest attention.  The night was calm.  Not a breeze stirred the atmosphere.

“It is the noise of the sea,” said Hercules, whose eyes shone with joy.

“No,” replied Dick Sand, holding down his head.

“What is it then?” asked Hercules.

“Wait until day; but we must watch with the greatest care.”

At this answer, Hercules returned to his post.

Dick Sand stood in front, listening all the time.  The noise increased. 
It was soon like distant roaring.

Day broke almost without dawn.  About half a mile down the river, just above the water, a sort of cloud floated in the atmosphere.  But it was not a mass of vapor, and this became only too evident, when, under the first solar rays, which broke in piercing it, a beautiful rainbow spread from one bank to the other.

“To the shore!” cried Dick Sand, whose voice awoke Mrs. Weldon.  “It is a cataract!  Those clouds are spray!  To the shore, Hercules!”

Dick Sand was not mistaken.  Before them, the bed of the river broke in a descent of more than a hundred feet, and the waters rushed down with superb but irresistible impetuosity.  Another half mile, and the boat would have been engulfed in the abyss.

CHAPTER XIX.

S. V.

With a vigorous plow of the oar, Hercules had pushed toward the left bank.  Besides, the current was not more rapid in that place, and the bed of the river kept its normal declivity to the falls.  As has been said, it was the sudden sinking of the ground, and the attraction was only felt three or four hundred feet above the cataract.

On the left bank were large and very thick trees.  No light penetrated their impenetrable curtain.  It was not without terror that Dick Sand looked at this territory, inhabited by the cannibals of the Lower Congo, which he must now cross, because the boat could no longer follow the stream.  He could not dream of carrying it below the falls.  It was a terrible blow for these poor people, on the eve perhaps of reaching the Portuguese villages at its mouth.  They were well aided, however.  Would not Heaven come to their assistance?

The boat soon reached the left bank of the river.  As it drew near, Dingo gave strange marks of impatience and grief at the same time.