Several times my fingers had played about the knife I had in my pocket, and I had longed to bore holes in the cabin-door so as to watch the sentries; but of course I was checked by the knowledge that by making a hole through which I could watch them I was providing one by which they could watch us.
The cabins on either side of the saloon were only so many portions of the ship boarded off, and provided with doors, so that a couple of carpenters would have had little difficulty in clearing away the partition and making one long opening, but we had no tools, and the slightest noise would have drawn attention to our acts; and these ideas would, we knew, govern our actions in all we did.
Our idea was of course to get a board out between the doctor’s cabin and Mr Preddle’s, and if possible one at the darkest portion of the place close up to the ship’s side; but examine as we would, there did not appear to be one that it would be possible to move, try how we would.
“It seems to be a very hopeless case, Dale,” said my companion at last with a sigh, “unless we patiently cut a way through with your knife; one cutting, while the other keeps on throwing the chips out of the window so that they cannot be seen.”
“But we shall make a big hole,” I objected, “and the first time that Jarette comes in he will see it, and put us somewhere else.”
“Of course. It looks very hopeless, my lad.”
“You see we want holes, sir, so that we could take out one board from top to bottom quite whole, and put it back just as it was.”
“Yes; but how are we to do that without tools?”
“I thought doctors always had a lot of tools,” I said; “knives and saws and choppers for operations.”
“Ah!” he ejaculated. “My head has not come right yet after that injury. Why, look here, lad!”