of them."

"Say hundreds, Punch. Well, I haven't spoken to you much lately, for I
thought you were asleep."

"Asleep! Not me! That's what I thought about you; and I hoped you was,
so that you could forget what a muddle we got into. Well, I don't know
how you feel now, but what I want to do is to get away from here."

"Don't talk so loud," said Pen; "there are those fellows on sentry, and
they keep on coming very near now and then."

"That don't matter," said Punch, "they can't understand what we talk
about. What do you say to having a go at getting our arms loose?"

"They would find it out, and only bind us up again."

"Yes, if we stopped to let 'em see."

"Then you think we could get away, Punch?"

"To be sure I do; only we should have to crawl. And the sooner the
better, for once it gets light the sentries will have a shot at us, and
we have had enough of that. I say, though, didn't they pick us up
because they thought we were wounded?"

"The men did; and then one of the officers saw our uniforms and that we
were the two who had been taken prisoners when they made their rush."

"Oh, that was it, was it?" said Punch. "Well, what do you say? Hadn't
we better make a start?"

"How?" said Pen. "I have been trying again and again to get my arms
loose, and I am growing more helpless than ever."

Punch gave a low grunt, raised his head a little, and tried to look
round and pierce the darkness, seeing very little though but the fact
that they were surrounded by wounded men, for the most part asleep,
though here and there was one who kept trying to move himself into an
easier position, but only to utter a low moan and relapse into a state
of semi-insensibility.

About a dozen paces away, though, he could just make out one of the
sentries leaning upon his musket and with his back to them. Satisfied
with his scrutiny, Punch shifted his position a little, drawing himself
into a position where he could get his lips close to his companion's
ear.

"Look here," he said, "can you bite?"

"Bite! Nonsense! Who could think of eating now?"

"Tchah!" whispered Punch, "who wants to eat? I have been wiggling
myself about quietly ever since they set me down, and I have got my
hands a bit loose. Now, I am just going to squirm myself a bit farther
and turn over when I have got my hands about opposite your mouth, and I
want you to set-to with your teeth and try hard to draw the tongue of
the strap out of the buc