XII
WAYS OF THE WILDERNESS
Rob awoke with a sudden jerk. A slight sound had disturbed him. He gazed steadily at the figure of the Aleut in the faint light of the embers. The latter was lying quite motionless, but something caused Rob to feel suspicious. He put out a hand and awakened his two companions, who sat up, rubbing their eyes sleepily.
“What’s the matter?” asked Jesse. “Where are we, and what sort of a place is this? My! I was dreaming, and I thought I was back home in bed.”
“John,” said Rob, “crawl over and look at that fellow’s fastenings. I thought I heard him move. Don’t be afraid. I’ll keep him covered with the rifle. Build up the fire a little.”
John complied, presently stooping down to examine the cord with which the Aleut had been confined. He gave an exclamation. “Why, he’s loose! He’s gnawed the hide clean in two with his teeth. He could have got away any time he liked.”
Rob admitted his fault. “The truth is,” said he, “I was very sleepy, and I must have dozed off. But now, what shall we do? Here we’ve got this man, and he evidently doesn’t intend to stay a minute longer than he can help. Whether he would hurt us or not is something we can’t tell; but we don’t dare take the chance.”
“It’ll be a great deal of trouble to watch him this way all the time,” suggested John.