I watched that long procession toiling up the hill for a long time, and watching it made me sleepy, and I dropped off to sleep. It was nearly dark when I woke, and I heard Jones and the Commander talking softly.
Jones was saying: "The tide don't ebb till nigh three bells, sir, and it won't be running strong till eight or nine o'clock."
"I've been watching the morning ebb, and it ran very strongly past the end of the landing-stage," replied the Commander, "so that if we creep down in the dark, get hold of one of those boats and cast off, we shall be whisked out in no time. We may have to knock a sentry or two on the head, though," he chuckled. "You'll have to do that part of the show, Jones."
"Right you are, sir. I'm a bit cramped now, but I'll be all right soon."
CHAPTER XVIII
The Escape from the Island
We Scramble Down—We Secure the Sentries—We Capture the Steam-boat—We Run the Gauntlet
Midshipman Glover's Narrative continued
At six o'clock (we could hear the cruisers striking their bells, so knew what time it was), and just as it was getting dusk, a little steam-boat came across from the opposite fort, the European we had seen in the morning landed at the jetty below us, and went up towards the fort, leaving the boat with a coxswain, bowman, and a stoker.
In a few minutes he returned and went back to his own side.