“What do you mean?”
“Why, this, sir; suppose we put our ’elmets on the tops o’ two stones just as it’s getting dark.”
“Well, go on,” said Bracy impatiently.
“Then we keep our eyes upon our gentlemen to see whether they come in nigh enough first so as to give us a shot, and if they don’t we wait till it’s dark enough.”
“And then go on as fast as we can, and without our helmets, to be exposed to the sun by day, the cold wind and snow by night, if we were not overtaken and finished. Bah, my lad! that will not do.”
“No, sir; but that ain’t the way my story goes,” said Gedge, grinning.
“Let’s have your way, then,” said Bracy impatiently, as he scanned the enemy in the distance with his glass.
“I mean this, sir. We puts our ’elmets as ’fore-said on the rocks, watches till it’s quite dark, and then, instead o’ doubling off on our journey, we just creeps away to right or left, say a hundred yards, and then lies down.”
“Yes?”
“Bimeby, one by one, my gentlemen comes creeping up with their long knives, ready to cut us up in the dark, supposing that we’re there on the watch. Dessay dozen of ’em would come, front, right, left, and rear; and then, after they’ve surrounded our ’elmets, they goes right in for us, and slashes them instead of us. Next minute there’s a reg’lar hoo-roar, and most likely, if we’re lucky, they’ve chopped one; another awful. But whether they have or not, they’ve found out we’re not there, and that they’ve been done; and on they goes in a passion right away, hoping to catch up to us again in the morning to carry on the same game of following us and giving us no rest till we’re quite done, and the job to finish us is as easy as that.”