Chapter XXIII.
It would be hard by mere imagination to comprehend the terrors the boys experienced as they crept stealthily along the foot of the cliff. Before reaching the corner, around which they fancied they would come upon another open beach, they stopped many times, listening tremblingly for some sound to warn them of possible danger.
But when they finally reached the corner and had peered around it with the greatest caution, they discovered that it broke into a forest, the straggling trees of which came almost to the water’s edge. Upon discovering that, they looked at each other for a moment, and then sat down, pale and weary, to discuss their further movements.
“What shall we do now?” said Diego.
“I think,” said Juan, “that if I could get a few bananas to eat, and then have a few hours of sleep, I should feel quite strong again, and could go on. Night will be our best time for travelling.”
“Yes,” answered Diego, “and if we but dared to enter the wood yonder, we could get all the bananas we could eat.”
“And hide in some thicket and sleep,” added Juan.