"No," shouted Dan, promptly.
The question filled him with hope, for it assured him the slave-hunters had not been near enough even to hear the report of the fowling-pieces when he fired them; or, at least, not near enough to discover who had fired them.
"Didn't ye see him?" asked the pursuers again.
"No."
"Gossifus! Wha—wha—wha—what's de matter?" demanded Cyd, rushing up from the cabin with Quin, both of them having been awakened from their slumbers by the voice of the skipper.
"Silence, Cyd!" said Dan, in a low, decided tone.
"Hush, Cyd!" added Lily, in a whisper. "Don't speak a word."
"Wha—wha—wha——"
"Hush, Cyd!" repeated Lily, who seemed, in the moment of danger, to be endowed with a self-possession at variance with her former timidity.
"Where you bound now?" called the slave-hunter.