reat deal of toilsome climbing. At length they
plunged once more into a belt of timber which stretched, seemingly for
miles, across their path; and here exhausted nature gave out; Tom
declared his utter inability to walk another yard, George felt scarcely
better than his companion, and so, notwithstanding the terrible loss of
precious time which it involved, they selected the first suitable spot
they could find, and flinging themselves upon the ground, one on each
side of Walford, gave themselves up to the sweetest sleep which had ever
sealed their eyelids.

George was the first of the trio to awaken, and when he did so, he
found, to his dismay, that the sun was already several hours high in the
heavens. He immediately aroused the lad Tom, and, greatly refreshed by
their sleep, the pair once more shouldered poor helpless Walford and his
hammock, and resumed their flight. They were as hungry as healthy men
usually are after great exertion and a fast of several hours' duration,
but they had not a particle of food with them, so they were compelled to
subsist for the present upon hope, the hope that ere long they would
meet with something more substantial. They felt no particular anxiety
upon this score, as George knew that wild fruits of several kinds were
tolerably plentiful on the island, and about half an hour after they had
started they were fortunate enough to fall in with a wild plantain, the
fruit of which was just in the right condition for eating. No time was
lost in securing a goodly bunch of this very nutritious fruit, upon
which they feasted, as they went along, until their appetites were
completely satisfied.

After trudging manfully along for about a couple of hours, they found
themselves upon the crest of a range of low hills, from which they
caught, through a break in the scrub, a glimpse of the sea, sparkling
invitingly under the noonday sun. They also caught a glimpse of
something, by no means so pleasant--namely, a town of considerable
dimensions immediately before them and only about two miles distant.

To avoid this they were compelled to make a wide detour, and much
valuable time was lost in this way and in reconnoitring; for they knew
there would be several plantations in immediate proximity to so
important a place, and through these they would have, as it were, to run
the gauntlet. And, notwithstanding all their caution, they failed to
effect their passage entirely unobserved through this d