Should he wake up Sim?
No; if he did, he would have to leave him on duty, when he would go to sleep again, and something horrible might happen.
What was to happen? he asked himself.
That, he could not say; but on one thing he determined at once, and that was, to take Private Sim’s place and to keep guard.
But then Sim’s lapse of duty would be found out, and he would be severely punished.
Richly he deserved it; but perhaps a severe taking to task might suffice to awaken him to a sense of his duty; and therefore Gray felt that he would be lenient, and not betray him, though it was horrible to think that the lives of all on the island might be betrayed to death by the neglect of such a fellow as this.
Private Gray was a man of quick decision, and his mind was made up at once. He would keep on duty till it was time for the guard to be changed, and then he would wake up Sim, and see that a responsible man took his place.
“The lazy, untrustworthy scoundrel!” he muttered, as he shouldered the rifle and walked up and down for a few minutes along the sentry’s post. But matters were not to be ordered as he intended, for he had not been on duty very long before he heard a sound from the river that made him start and listen attentively.
“Nothing!” he said to himself after a few seconds’ attention; and he once more resumed his slow march up and down, the motion seeming to calm him, for when standing still his thoughts tortured him.
“There it is again,” he said to himself suddenly. “It is a boat of some kind.”