The old darky shook his head, but made no reply. He was without hope, and could do no more than clutch the charm which was covered by his shirt; but even his faith in this seemed to have been shaken by the news that the main body of the enemy had returned to the island.
Jenkins waited a few seconds for some one to speak, and, as all remained silent, he said, in a thoughtful tone:
“It stands to reason we’ve only got to hold our own a few days at the outside, for the captain is bound to be back before long, and then all the trouble will be at an end. It is now so near night that I reckon we can count on bein’ left alone till mornin’, an’, with so much time before us, we ought to be able to make considerable headway takin’ care of ourselves. The first thing is to find a hidin’-place, an’ Andy knows more about this island than any one else, so he must attend to that portion of the work.”
“It can’t be did,” the old fellow said, in a whisper. “Dem brack debbils done gone know ebbry spot on dis yere islan’ whar a skeeter could poke his nose, an’ dey’s boun’ to hab us out ’fore ter-morrer mornin’.”
“That remains to be seen,” Gil replied. “It is certain they’ll get hold of us if we sit here doing nothing, but it must be possible to hide during the short time father will be gone.”
“You are right, Gil, an’ if we don’t lose our pluck, things is sure to come out all right,” Jenkins said, approvingly. “It won’t do to trust to the shelter of the trees, for those fellows can track us down; so I go in for hittin’ on some spot where we can hold out against them till the captain comes.”
“Yes, but where’ll we find such a place?” Nelse asked.
“That is what we must hunt for, an’ there’s no time to lose, because it’ll soon be too dark to travel around much.”
Jenkins looked toward Andy as he spoke, but the old darky did not so much as move an eyelid. He acted as if all hope had fled, and he was trying to resign himself to the inevitable.
“I should think it would be a good idea to hunt around for food before we go into hiding,” Nelse said, after a pause. “We may be obliged to keep under cover quite a while, and, according to the experience I have had on this island, it isn’t always convenient to go whenever a fellow feels so disposed.”