“There’s a youngster, too, I noticed to-day, when I fired at them.”
“Very likely they’ll get far enough away not to trouble us any more. It looked to me as though the darkey had brought them back to take a look at the lake and island, seeing which, they were satisfied and went back.”
“I hope so, for it’s too bad——”
At this juncture, the man thrust his pole into the water, and applied his strength to it, as a consequence of which, his words came so mutilated through his closed teeth as to be unintelligible to the intensely interested person on the other side.
All at once, Inwood felt his feet touch the bottom, and, turning his head, saw that they were within a hundred yards of the shore. Whether they intended anchoring a short distance from the land, or to lie against it, was unknown to him, although he surmised the latter, as the depth remained the same, and they still used their poles with the same resolve as at first.
If Inwood was right in his conjectures on this point, he saw that he must evacuate his position to escape being jammed between it and the rock.
Moving carefully along the edge of the raft, he made his way around the end, when he became aware of another fact which could not fail to give him uneasiness. The moon was rising, and as soon as it came above the wood or mountain, could scarcely fail to reveal him; but, as a few moments later they would be along the shore, he conjectured that if the worst came to worst, he could dart into the wood and take his chances of escape.
Shortly after, the Enchanted Island lightly touched the shore, and immediately, to the delight of Inwood, the three men whom he had noticed, sprang off and disappeared with rather a remarkable abruptness—so singular indeed that he believed they intended to return, and he therefore maintained his position until this point was settled.
Fifteen or twenty minutes passing away, and bringing no sight nor sound of them, he hesitated a moment, and then concluded to clamber upon the island and satisfy himself, so far as possible, regarding it. Still a vague sense or danger restrained him. It did not seem improbable that a sentinel was stationed upon this curious piece of workmanship, although if such were the case, he took particular good care to keep quiet and unobserved.
To satisfy himself, Inwood, with his hands drew himself twice entirely around the island. This gave him an accurate idea of its size, and showed him that its base was wood. He saw nothing suspicious, although a dozen men could have been effectually concealed in the dense shrubbery.