“Yes, the things were not very tight, only being pegged out like this I could not move an inch.”
Stephen was lying down by his side while he cut the fastenings. He now looked round again.
“There is no one in sight, Tom, but you had better wriggle yourself along until you get to the corner of the hut.”
As soon as they were round the corner they stood up. As they did so, the sailor put his head out through the bushes and waved them a silent cheer. Stephen went first, and as soon as he saw that the street was empty he beckoned to his companion, and they ran across to the other side; a moment later they joined the sailor. The latter gave a grip to Joyce’s hand, and then held out to him a cocoa-nut he had just cut open in readiness. This he seized eagerly and took a long drink.
“I was choking with thirst,” Joyce gasped, as he finished the contents of the nut.
“Take care how you go through the bushes,” the sailor whispered, as he turned and led the way; “everything is so quiet that a rustle might be heard.”
They went along with the greatest caution. Their bare feet fell noiselessly on the spongy soil, but sometimes as they sank into the mud the suck of the air as they drew them out made a sound that startled them. At last they reached the tree where they had left all the cocoa-nuts with the exception of the one that the sailor had brought on. When they stopped, Joyce threw himself down and burst into tears.
“Leave me alone,” he said, as Stephen began to speak to him, “I shall be better directly, but it has been awful. I will [pg 90]tell you about it afterwards. I tried to make up my mind to stand it bravely, and it is the getting out of it when there did not seem to be a chance in the world that has upset me.”
In five minutes he rose again to his feet. “I am ready to go on now,” he said.
“Yes, I think it is time to be moving, sir. As soon as those beggars wake up and find you have gone, they will set out in chase, and the longer start we get the better.”