“I don’t say that, sir, because we shall see some, I daresay; but they’ll perhaps be friendly.”
“You are not sure?”
“Well, no, sir. There, the sun’s dipping down; it will be heavy darkness directly in this fog, and what we want is a good night’s rest, ready for a long, hard day’s work to-morrow.”
It was Brazier’s turn to keep watch half the night, and at about twelve, as nearly as they could tell, Rob rose to take his place.
“Nothing to report,” said Brazier. “The same noises from the forest, the same splashings from the river, the Indians sleeping as heavily as usual. There, keep your watch; I wish I had it, for you will see the day break that is to take us to the place which I have been longing to see for years.”
Saying “good-night,” Brazier went into the shelter, and Rob commenced his solitary watch, with his brain busily inventing all kinds of dangers arising from the darkness—some horrible wild creature dropping down from the tree, or a huge serpent, which had crawled down the branch, twining its way along the mooring rope and coming over the bows past the Indian boatmen. Then he began to think of them, and how helpless he would be if they planned to attack him, when, after mastering him, which he felt they could easily do, he mentally arranged that they would creep to the covered-in part of the boat and slay Brazier and Giovanni.
“Poor Joe!” he said to himself. “I was beginning to like him, though he was not English, and— Oh, Joe, how you startled me!”
For a hand had been laid upon his shoulder as he sat watching the dark part where the Indians lay, and he started round to find that Giovanni had joined him.
“I did not mean to frighten you,” said the lad, in his quiet, subdued way. “Mr Brazier woke me coming in to sleep, and I thought you would be alone, and that I could come and talk to you about our journey to-morrow.”
“I’m glad you’ve come, but it would be too bad to let you stop. There, stay a quarter of an hour, and then be off back to bed—such as it is,” he added, with a laugh.