“We have got to get out of here somehow,” Mr. Jenkins said, after a long pause. “They may not intend to do us any harm, but we won’t take the risk, if it can be avoided. Toward morning I’m going to make one more effort to find out how many are on guard at the entrance. If we could only get hold of our revolvers! I know who has them, and it is certain he isn’t with the mummers, therefore he must be outside.”
“With his eyes wide open, to prevent you either from escaping, or trying to get your own again.”
“We will see about that. We won’t make any move until nearly morning, therefore it’s a good idea to get some sleep, if possible. Lie down, and I’ll call you before daybreak.”
The conditions were not favorable for slumber, but yet the boys were so tired that in a very short time both were sleeping quietly, and the mate, seated near the entrance to the excavation, was keeping strict watch, with apparently not the slightest idea of closing his eyes.
He could hear the discordant chant from the inner cave, now rising high, and again dying away until it was lost in the distance, and this was continued so long that, despite his will, the unconsciousness of sleep came upon him.
CHAPTER XV.
A DISCOVERY.
While Mr. Jenkins slept, the fantastical worship in the inner cave was brought to a close; the party separated, each man going in a different direction across the island, as if to ascertain the general condition of affairs, and before they were reunited, the sun had risen.
The wind continued from the same quarter with unabated fury, and one needed only to see the trees bending before the blast to understand that the Day Dream could not come to an anchorage near that portion of the coast for some time to come.
The prisoners were not disturbed until nearly two hours after daybreak, and then the mate was brought to his feet very suddenly by a vicious kick from a burly negro, who had evidently been selected to act the part of guard.