"Well, what is it? Good morning," says George, as cheerfully as anything, and waking up at once, as wide awake as possible, like a bird.
"Oh, only that all our provisions are gone in the night, and that dirty black thief, Tom, with them."
"Nonsense!"
But so it is. It is only too plain, for when they all three—for Murri has joined them, looking the picture of fright, and thinking that he will be punished for Prince Tom's fault—come to examine the remaining part of the two spare horses' loads they find very little remaining. It is principally flour that Tom has taken, the very thing of all others that they chiefly require; he has left them one bag of it, one parcel of rice, all the tea and some sugar, and some tins of American salmon. All the things that they might manage to do without he has generously left behind, and those to which they trusted for their stay in the mountains he has taken!
Murri was most anxious that they should follow Tom; he said that it would be quite easy for him to track him, and that they would in all probability catch him in the course of the day.
"Mine can mil-mil" (I can see) "where him go. You soon cotch along o' black fellow. Um yarroman go slow, plenty much heavy on um back. Missa Law chewt him with umriple" (rifle); "Prince Tom fall dead bong;" and here Murri slapped his naked thigh and laughed with delight at the thought.
"We can't do that," said George, "it would only be wasting time, for he has a four hours' start of us, and would take good care we didn't come up with him."
"We must go back, of course," said Alec, with a hard tone in his voice which told how much it cost him to say the words.
"Go back! not we indeed," said George, laying his arm about his brother's shoulders, and looking at him with such a cheering smile on his winsome face as would have inspirited the most desponding.
"It is not for myself, lad, but for you. I would go on if I hadn't a crumb of bread or an ounce of flour," said he, with his old determination; "but I promised mother that I would look after you, and I will."