And he went off, quietly, walking easily, so that the noise of his footsteps would not reach those on the beach below.
From the beach the voices of the girls rose faintly. Words could not be distinguished, but Bessie and Dolly could both guess that their prolonged absence must be beginning to give Miss Eleanor and the others some uneasiness.
They were trapped, however, although they were in no real danger. The men who had been left on guard were between them and the path; they could not possibly pass them without arousing them, and they did not care to take the chance of making a wild dash for freedom unless it became absolutely necessary.
Bessie weighed the chances. It seemed likely to her that she and Dolly, taking the two men by surprise, could slip by them and reach the beach safely. But if they did that, the men would know that their plans were known, and that their talk had been overheard, and that would be to throw away half of the advantage they had gained. It would be better a thousand times, Bessie felt, to wait, and take the faint chance that both men might go to sleep together, and so give them the chance to escape unseen.
For some minutes the silence was unbroken save for the faint murmur of the voices from the beach. Then Larry spoke to his companion.
“Say, Tim, don’t think much of this game, do you?” he said.
“Sure don’t!” grunted Tim. “Just like Jeff, though. Takes the easy lay himself and don’t care what he puts up to us.”
“Got any money?”
“About five dollars. Why? Want to borrow it? Just as soon you had it as me! Can’t spend it here, anyhow.”
“No. Wouldn’t do me any good. Got lots of my own out on the yacht.”