They made no answer to this remark, and soon we had left the camp behind and reached the bush underneath which Larkin had disappeared. In a low voice I related what I had seen, and Bryonia, who was a master of woodcraft, at once dropped to his knees and vanished into the thicket. I followed closely after him, and Nux brought up the rear. After creeping a few paces through the underbrush Bry grasped my hand and raised me to my feet, and I discovered that we were now in a well-defined but narrow path which allowed us to stand upright.
It was dark as pitch in the grim forest, and we could only feel our way along; but it was not possible for us to get off the path, which had doubtless been cut by Daggett to afford his entrance into the interior of the island, and if our progress was slow those whom we pursued could not proceed at much greater speed themselves; so we crept along, stumbling over roots and tearing our clothes by brushing against the briars on either side, for a period of nearly an hour. Bryonia glided before us as stealthily as a panther, and often I was not certain but that he had left us far behind; but Nux made as much noise as I did, and puffed much harder to get his breath, so I did not fear being abandoned in the black wilderness.
The ground seemed to rise gradually as we penetrated into the wild interior, but the path remained as narrow as at first. Now that my first excitement and indignation had cooled, this midnight pursuit began to look doubtful of result. The robbers knew the way much better than we did, and they were so far ahead of us that we heard no sound of any sort to guide us. More than once I was tempted to abandon the chase, for my folly in undertaking it grew more and more evident; but the two blacks had no thought of turning back, and I was ashamed to call a halt.
Suddenly I ran plump into Bryonia, who grasped my arm as firmly as if it were in a vise, and held me rigid. Nux immediately ran into me, but stopped short at the moment of contact.
“What is it, Bry?” I asked, in a whisper.
“Look!” he answered, and swung me around in front of him. Then, as I peered into the darkness, a faint ray of light became visible. In a moment I perceived that it was growing bigger and brighter, and then I knew what it meant.
“They’ve gone into camp, and lit a fire!” said I, pleased to have overtaken them.
“Dey do’n’ know we’s coming,” chuckled Nux, from behind.
But Bry stood like a statue, holding fast to my shoulders and peering over my head at the enemy. We could now see that the forest was much thinner here than at the point we had entered, and just beyond, in a little hollow where Larkin and his men were encamped, the trees grew quite scattered.
“Our best plan,” said I, after a moment’s thought, “will be to creep up to them and make a sudden attack.”