that
the whole party should remain in their cave another night and day.

Jack was very unhappy at being the cause of their detention; but Rayner
cheered him up by reminding him that it was not his fault, and perhaps,
after all, it was the best thing they could do.

They accordingly all crept into the cave and went to sleep.

In the morning light enough found its way through the bushes to enable
them to eat breakfast. They, of course, took care not to speak above a
whisper, though listening all the time for the sound of footsteps; but
as no one came near them, they hoped that their place of concealment was
unknown to any of the villagers, who might otherwise have pointed it out
to the soldiers.

The day went by. All the food Le Duc had brought was consumed, except a
small portion kept for Jack. He offered to go for more, but Rayner
judged it imprudent to let him return to the village, where he would be
recognised as having come on the previous evening. They accordingly had
to go supperless to sleep, Tom grumbling, as usual, at his hard fate.

When daylight streamed into the cavern, Le Duc declared that he could
hold out no longer, and that, both for his own sake and that of others,
he must go and get some food.

"The soldiers will have gone away by this time," he observed, "and the
black people in the village can have no object in detaining me. If they
do, I will bribe them to let me off, and they know if they hand me over
to the soldiers that they will get nothing."

The hunger all were feeling and his arguments prevailed, and he set off,
promising to be back as soon as possible, and to take care that no one
followed him.

Rayner felt some misgiving as he disappeared. All they could do in the
meantime was to keep close in their hole.

All day they waited, but Le Duc did not return.

Tom muttered, "The Frenchman has deserted us after all."

Even Brown expressed some doubts about his honesty.

"You never can trust those mounseers," he said in reply to Tom's remark.

"Be silent there, men," said Rayner. "Our good friend has probably
thought it safer to hide himself, and will manage to get back at night."

Night came, however, and still Le Duc did not appear. Rayner and Oliver
became more anxious than ever.

"I must not let you fellows starve," said Rayner at last. "I'll go out
and try and get provisions of some sort. Le Duc spoke of several
cottages on the outskirts of the village, and I'll call