Whereupon he lay down upon his side, and almost immediately fell sound asleep.
And for a long time I watched him slumbering, and wondered greatly upon the strange complexity of the man's character. He was polished and refined, and something of a scholar, too, if there was real learning behind his tags of Latin. He was also not without humanity and a sense of justice; else I had now been dead for a whole day and night--and that I was still alive I was profoundly grateful. And still, he was a villain, as cold-blooded as Amos himself, and more dangerous in the sense that he was saner.
These were the thoughts that carried me far into the night. Trust was again on sentry; and as I watched the man, I observed that he was nodding by the fire. Plainly, he was three parts asleep. Were my hands not bound behind my back, it would be a simple matter to escape. And as this thought came into my head--lo and behold!--I was free!
Someone had approached quite silently from behind me, from the direction of the thickets. In a trice, a sharp knife had cut my bonds. And--as I have stated--I was free.
[CHAPTER XXIII--HOW AMOS GAINED POSSESSION OF THE MAP]
The thing was done so swiftly that I had no time even to look round. I sat regarding the burly figure of Joshua Trust, very definitely outlined before the red glow of the fire; and I know that the man never suspected for a moment what had happened.
Someone whispered in my ear:
"Keep an eye on Trust. Draw back into the thickets as silently as you can. There you will find me waiting for you."
I had no need to look at him. I knew the voice of John Bannister, even though he did no more than whisper. I was resolved to carry out his instructions to the word.
Bannister withdrew. I neither heard nor saw him go, but I felt instinctively that he was no longer at my back.