come across the trail, and, even if it happened to be below where the
captain and Rajah had stopped, I could soon come up with them.

There was nothing to gain by keeping after Reddy and Long Jim, now that I
was sure they were running away from Thirkle's camp rather than toward
it. I thought it would be much better to let them go than to fire upon
them, and so either alarm Captain Riggs or warn Thirkle and Buckrow that
there were others they had not counted upon on the island.

Even Petrak and Long Jim might not get away very easily when they found
the oars and boat-plugs gone. I reasoned that if we could come upon
Thirkle and Buckrow, and make short work of them, we might even overtake
the pair of thieves and capture or kill them.

As we went along the jungle thinned, and we came into a forest where the
trees were sparse and there was little underbrush; and, as there was an
open space ahead, I concluded not to cross it, but to wait and see them
go out of sight, and then try to pick up the trail. When they entered the
clearing they dumped the sack and fell upon the ground, and as they lay
looking in my direction there was nothing for me to do but drop behind a
convenient shrub and wait for them to go on before I moved.

They lit cigars and fell to gossiping, evidently in some argument, for
their gestures betrayed their vehemence, although I could not make out
what they were saying. They continued the conversation until I lost my
patience, and began to begrudge the time I was wasting to no advantage,
while Captain Riggs was probably fretting about me, and might go away to
search for me. I waited another ten minutes; but they showed no
disposition to go on, and I stealthily began to draw out of the bushes.

We had come through a grove of wild hemp-trees, and, keeping the bush
that had concealed me between me and the pirates, I crawled to one of
these wide-spreading bunches of gigantic leaves drooping to the ground,
and managed to get behind it. But as I rolled under the stalks a bird
rose near me and screamed shrilly in long-drawn cries of alarm, and
several of its young, hunting for cover, set up a racket in the dead
leaves on the ground.

I lay still for a minute, hoping that the two pirates would not think
anything amiss; but the mother bird wheeled above me, screaming and
darting down, and I heard Petrak and Long Jim cursing and running toward
me. I jumped up behind the tree, and, looking through the big leaves,