"And noo," began Sandy, "the question arises, what comes next?"
"Yes, how are we to reach some point where we can communicate with our friends?" asked Jack.
The man hesitated. Then, as if an idea had suddenly occurred to him, he spoke:
"There's a small steamer that rounds the islands regularly. She'll touch in here this evening. Tell you what you do—give me another dollar each, and I'll let you sleep upstairs in a room I have till it's time for you to catch the boat."
This answer seemed straightforward enough. At all events, Jack and Sandy felt so sleepy after their meal that they were ready to accept it without much hesitancy. Two more dollars were passed over, and then the man conducted them to a stairway at one side of the room. He mounted it, mumbling to himself all the while; but by this time the lads had come to the conclusion that the fellow was a sort of harmless eccentric, and did not pay much attention to his manner.
Up and up they climbed, circling the tower several times, it seemed, till they arrived at a small door opening off the staircase. The man opened this, and showed them into a room. It contained a rough bed and some scanty furniture. It had one window high up in the wall—too high for the lads to see out; but it was well-lighted and ventilated—the latter for the excellent reason that the window was always open. It was not glazed.
"There, I reckon you can make out there, all right," said the man.
As he prepared to leave the room, Jack reminded him of his promise to awaken them in time for the inter-island boat, in case they overslept.
"Don't worry," said the man, with more of a friendly air than he had yet assumed, "I'll take good care of you."
There was a sinister intonation in the way that he said this last which did not escape Jack's quick ear. But it was too late to worry now. If the man meant them harm, they were fairly in his power; and the only thing to do was not to let him see that they suspected him.