Finally I noticed a black body wriggling its way toward us through the brush like some huge snake, and a moment later Bryonia stood before me.
“I creep close an’ hear what dey say, Mars Sam,” he reported. “Dey goin’ watch all night. I watch, too. Tomorrow maybe we catch ’em. You an’ Nux go sleep.”
I protested at once that I was not sleepy; but Bry led us away from the path to a quiet place where he had found a bank of moss, and here he cautioned us to remain quietly. He himself crept once again toward the camp fire, and a moment later was wholly invisible. Nux whispered to me tales of Bryonia’s skill as a woodsman, wherein it seemed he had excelled in his native land; but they grew monotonous, in time, and before I knew it I had fallen fast asleep on the mossy bank.
CHAPTER X
THE ROCKING-STONE.
When I opened my eyes it was broad daylight, and at first I could not remember where I was. But as I sat up I saw before me Nux and Bryonia, seated calmly side by side, with the wilderness all around me and the distant voices of the robbers echoing faintly in my ears. The sun was up, for I could see it glinting through the trees; so, as a recollection of my surroundings came back to me, I asked Bry what was going on.
He said the men were breaking camp, having slept late, and that presently they were going to travel still further into the interior. I could not imagine what they had in view, or where they expected to hide from the vengeance of the men they had plundered; but Bry declared we could follow them without ourselves being seen, so I decided not to give up until we had tracked them to their hiding place—if, indeed, they had one.
Presently we could see them tramping away to the southward, carrying the gold and provisions they had tied up in the blankets. There must have been two or three hundredweight of the gold, so the packages were heavy, and they had to take turns carrying them. But men seldom feel overburdened by the weight of gold, so we heard no complaints from the bearers.
Bry went on alone, hiding behind rocks and trees but keeping the men well in sight. After him trailed Nux, keeping Bry in sight; and then, as far away as I dared, I followed Nux, trying to imitate the example of the blacks and to hide myself as well as possible.
Before noon I grew hungry, for we had brought no provisions of any sort with us. The robbers paused to lunch, and then went on; but, although I searched carefully, I could not find a morsel of food that they had cast aside. Of water there was plenty, for we crossed several small streams; but food began to be more precious than gold to me, and I vaguely wondered if I should die of starvation before I got back to camp.