Getting up actively enough, for he fancied he heard a sound, he climbed to the hole once more, and found he was right, for the Malay sentry was returning, shouldering a fresh spear.
“Now, where did he get that?” thought the lad. “It’s wonderful to me how quiet everything is here. There must be houses, or huts, or something, and a fairish lot of men; and, of course, there’s helephant-sheds. Only where are they? Jungle, jungle, jungle, without so much as a squint of anything else. Wonder what Mister Archie thinks about it.”
The lad dropped down again, after noticing that the sentry was now leaning on his spear, scanning the roof once more; but as Peter stood listening and laughing to himself, he muttered:
“He must have thought it was a big monkey!” and he mentally pictured what had passed in the night, when a smart tap caught his ear which sounded as if the shaft of the spear had been brought down with a rap upon the ground. This was followed by a step or two.
“Coming here,” thought the lad, and he stepped quickly over the leaves, to throw himself down close to Archie as if he were asleep, but keeping one half-closed eye fully observant of all that passed.
The sunlight was streaming in through the sides of the building in several places, and the watcher was conscious of the movements of the man by his shadow crossing first one and then another of these openings, one of which he directly after darkened.
“Don’t you stir, Mister Archie,” he whispered. “Sentry’s squinting through one of the holes.”
There was no reply, and Peter watched till the light struck in again through the darkened hole. This was followed by footsteps.
“You see him, didn’t you, sir?” said Peter, turning in his fellow-prisoner’s direction.—“Look at that, now! I was shamming sleep, but, my word! he’s off again, sound as a church; and that means he’s getting well. I feel better too after that bread and water. Now then, some of that fruit.”
He went gently to the basket, which held a still ample supply.