Then the two thieves glared at each other several moments in silence, and finally Phil said, with a mirthless laugh:
"We won't fight till this job is finished. Go an' get the balance of the stuff, an' we'll make a break whenever you are ready; but after one pull up an' back there'll be somebody besides me who'll think it hard work."
Then, in order to heal the breach which had opened between them, Phil produced a suspicious looking black bottle from his pocket, and handed it without comment to his partner.
"Why didn't you bring this out before, an' then, perhaps, the business would 'a' looked different?" Jim growled, as he drank long and deep; "but it won't make any difference about my goin' up the creek."
"That's all right; I'm satisfied."
As the two men began to drink a great hope sprang up in Sam's heart that they would become so stupefied by the liquor that he might make his escape. They had not thought it necessary to replace the bonds which had cost him so much suffering, and at the first signs of unconsciousness he resolved to make one dash for liberty, either by taking to the boat, or attempting to make his way toward the fair grounds on that side of the creek.
There was no such good fortune in store for the prisoner, however. The men drank themselves into the most friendly humor, and then the supply of liquor was exhausted.
After advising Jim not to start until sunset, Phil lay down to sleep, and Sam thought it wise to feign slumber also, lest the wakeful burglar should take it into his head to administer the promised flogging in order to pass the time more agreeably.