We dared not stir, for now it seemed to be so light that if we moved from the shadow of the hut we should be seen, while the fact of one of us stepping upon a dead twig and making it snap would be enough to bring half the village upon us, at a time when we wanted to employ strategy and not force.
The burst of talking in the hut ended all at once, and there was a dead silence, as if those within were listening intently.
We held our breath and listened too, trembling with excitement, for all at once we heard a voice utter a few words, and then there was a faint sound of rustling, with the cracking noise made by a joint, as if some one had risen to a standing position.
Were the savages coming round to our side and about to leap upon us? Perhaps they were even then stealing from both ends; and my heart in the terrible excitement kept on a heavy dull throb, which seemed to beat right up into my throat.
The moments passed away, though, and at last I began to breathe more freely. It was evident that the savages had quitted the hut.
In this belief I laid my hand upon the doctor’s arm, and was about to speak, when close by us, as it seemed, but really from within the wall of the hut, there came the low muttering of a voice, and I knew that some one had been left behind.
The doctor pressed my hand, and I shivered as I felt how narrow an escape we had had.
We wanted, of course, to move, but it seemed impossible, and so we stayed, waiting to see if the black had made any discovery.
After what seemed to me an interminable time I heard a slight rustling sound, and almost at the same moment there was a hand upon my arm, and directly after a warm pair of lips upon my ear:
“Jimmy no find um fader yet! Take um out o’ place place! Put um somewhere; no know tell!”