“But some one knocked. I swear that. It roused me, I tell you!”
The native rose feebly to his feet and glanced askance at the half-caste.
“It must be as I say,” he ventured. “The sound came from some other hut. In any case, the prisoner is safe.”
He went off to his fire again, muttering beneath his breath, for of late the ruffian who had taken up the cause of the Ashantis had been somewhat curious in his manner. Gathering troubles, perhaps an uneasy conscience, and the ever-present dread of impending punishment, which seemed to come closer and closer in spite of all his efforts, were having their effect. His temper was harsh and easily aroused, he was hard to please, and wore nowadays a haggard look, showing clearly that his sleep was disturbed.
“Dreams! dreams!” growled the sentry, as he took his seat again. “Dreams and the fire-water which he has been drinking. It is said that he and the King sit in the palace of a night, smoking and taking fire-water. No wonder he sees and hears things which do not exist. I have felt the same myself.”
And the same conclusion must have been dawning upon the troubled mind of the rascal standing at his door. He began to wonder whether he had actually heard the knocking, or whether it was another of those dreadful nightmares which had troubled him of late, in which a huge bluejacket, with bristling beard, had stood above him waiting for the word to thrust his cutlass to his heart. He groaned, then stretched his arms and yawned, and turned towards the prisoner’s hut. He walked a few paces in that direction, and, seeming to change his mind and be satisfied with the tale of the sentry, he turned about and entered the hut again. Dick at once stole round to the door, his stool still grasped in his hand.
“I would rather have it like that,” he thought. “He is awake and able to take care of himself. He had a revolver strapped at his belt, and therefore is armed, far better than I am. He shall have a glimpse of me, and then—Well, it is his life or mine, and I have given him warning.”
There was no time to hesitate, and though Dick would have scorned to strike a defenceless man, he had every excuse for making an attack upon this rascal who had so often injured him. He hardened his heart, therefore, and having ascertained that the guard, who had so recently appeared, was seated near the fire some little distance away, and with his back turned in that direction, he slipped up to the door and knocked ever so gently.
“Again! It is a knock! I am not mistaken. Well!”