The levers clanked merrily, the little screw lashed up the dark waters.  One reach of the river was very much like another, but the silence and the absence of life which at first had depressed them now gave them comfort, for in this gloomy waterway a strange human being meant a possible enemy.

CHAPTER XVI

ACROSS THE LAGOON

As the night came stealthily creeping over wood and water, sending hosts of birds with loud scoldings to their chosen roosting-places—­ for out of those myriads of trees only certain trees were selected—­ the boat was put in near the right bank.  The levers were muffled, and the “lookout,” with a bill-hook ready to fend off any snag, and a bull’s-eye lantern to shoot a sudden light, took up his position in the bows.  She crept on slowly through the pitch darkness, the crew easing off at times to listen as some loud noise broke the silence—­the plunge of a hippo, the snort of an angry bull, the swirl of a fish, or the cry of an otter from the bank.  In one of these silences a whisper came from the bows.

“Look,” said Venning; and he flashed the bull’s-eye on the bank.

The others, glancing along the streamer of light, saw reflected two bright eyes, a gleaming muzzle, and the tips of curved horns.

“A buffalo,” whispered Mr. Hume.

As the boat drifted slowly past, they watched the bright eyes, and the eyes of the animal followed them.  Out of the intense blackness only those points were visible—­the luminous eyes, the shining muzzle, and the tips of the horns.  The rest was left to the imagination; yet the picture seemed to stand out of a shaggy forest bull, his fore feet on the brink of the water, and his head thrown up.

“What a picture for a flash-light photo!” muttered Venning, longingly.

“What a mark for a shot!” sighed Mr. Hume.  “And red meat would be very welcome."’

As they slipped away the buffalo snorted, crashed into the forest, and battered his way on a course parallel to them to get another view of that mysterious light, for presently they heard his snort again.  A little further on a bull hippo charged at them, but the glare of the light full in his eyes stopped him, and he remained open-mouthed, so that all they saw was a yawning gulf bristling with ivory.  Mr. Hume, who had picked up his Express at the first snort, laid it down again with a laugh.

“Took the fight out of him that time, Venning; but it’s a little risky.”

“Keeps one wide awake, at any rate,” said Compton.

“We’ll continue for an hour or so and then tie up, for we may have a heavy day to-morrow.”

For a couple of miles the boat felt its way through the dark without incident, and then the look-out signalled another discovery.

“Light ahead!”

The Okapi was brought broadside on, so that the crew could have a clear view of the river; and they sat for some time in silence, looking at the strange object—­a tiny but steady glow of fire.