Suddenly a shout was heard. A voice was raised in angry protest. And the words were English.
“I’ll not go! I’ll not submit to this any longer! Where is your head man? What does he mean by taking us away from where we were fairly comfortable, and sending us somewhere else? What does it mean?”
For a moment Tom and the captain stood as if paralyzed. Then a woman’s sob was heard.
“White men! White men, by Jove!” cried the captain.
“My father!” shouted Tom. “That’s my father’s voice! I’d know it anywhere! He’s here! I’ve found him! Dad! Mother! I’ve come to rescue you! I’m here! We’re coming!”
Tom sprang toward the knot of natives, Captain Mosher at his side. For a moment the blacks resisted. Tom fired into the air, and the captain did likewise. With yells of fear the natives fled, and there, in the fast-gathering dusk, in front of the hut next to that of Walla, stood a little group of white castaways—Tom’s father and mother among them!
[CHAPTER XXV]
HOMEWARD BOUND—CONCLUSION
For a moment Tom hardly knew what to think. He had heard the voice of white persons, he had seen them when the natives fled at the shots, and yet he could not believe that at last he had found his parents.