thirst, and
utterly worn out, I frequently stumbled and fell, when they both set upon
me and beat me to my feet. Petrak pulling me up with the rope, while
Thirkle scourged me with a leather thong.

We had been on the road about half an hour when I recognized the spot
where Captain Riggs had crawled into the brush to rest, and I began to
complain loudly and made as much noise as possible, hoping that the
captain and Rajah might still be concealed near by.

"Keep close!" yelled Petrak, as I let the rope tighten and hung back.

"Get along or I'll flay ye alive!" thundered Thirkle, which was what I
wanted him to do.

"Then don't let those low limbs fly back on me," I cried as loudly as I
dared without exciting their suspicion of my purpose. "They knock me off
my feet, and that's why I can't keep close up."

"Shut yer jaw," said Thirkle, and I stumbled along again, wondering what
had become of Captain Riggs, and wondering if he had been lured into the
jungle by the shots I had exchanged with Long Jim, and was lost.

I kept straining at the cords about me, but although I hurt the wounds on
my wrists until I was weak from pain, I could not free myself. If nothing
better offered, I was determined to make a dash at Thirkle if he freed my
hands to work at the boat. If I could not surprise him in the dark and
get hold of a knife or pistol, I could at least give him a fight even if
I died in a last attempt to save myself. I much preferred to die fighting
than at the end of a rope in the water, as Petrak had suggested.

I knew they would have to find the oars before they could get a boat
away, and the missing plugs might cause them a deal of trouble if they
launched the boats without noticing their loss. I hoped that I might find
a chance of escape in the darkness if the boat filled with them after
they got it into the water.

Finally we came to level ground, and I knew we were close to the beach,
for we could hear the rollers. The brush was thicker in the marsh, and we
got off the trail, but we could see patches of the moonlight on the water
ahead, and caught the white flash of the waves tumbling on the shingle.

Petrak left the bed of the brook and pushed his way straight ahead
through the dense foliage which shut us off from the beach. I fell and
made a great racket, setting up a wail about my leg and swearing that I
had broken it, and begging Thirkle to help me.

He struck at me with his thong, and, although he missed,