o a certain extent fascinated by the
strangeness of the adventure. It seemed as if I personally were
sharing the excitements as well as the hazards of the escape, though in
my case there was no sense of guilt to lie heavy on my conscience. I
might have been a prisoner wrongfully convicted making a dash for
liberty. The delusion was perhaps strengthened by the fact that up to
the present the personal risk and danger I had run had not been very
great. Of Rodwood I certainly felt afraid, regarding him as an
unscrupulous ruffian; but the remainder of the gang, perhaps with the
exception of Nat, I believed certainly bore us more good will than ill,
and would set us at liberty again as soon as they could do so without
endangering the success of their own plans.

So, in a comparatively tranquil frame of mind, I stretched my tired
limbs on the rock beside Woodley, and listened to the conversation.

"Well, and how long do you reckon we're going to stay here?" demanded
Nat.

"We can't stir to-morrow--that is, not in daylight," answered Rodwood;
"and I'm not sure if it'll be safe to do so at night either. There'll
be too sharp a lookout kept for some days to make it over safe for us
to take our walks abroad."

"Why can't we stay here for a week," said one fellow, "until the chase
has been abandoned? If the food runs short, we could get more some
night from the village; at least," he added with a laugh, "I reckon I
could find some if any one will put me ashore!"

"It's risky to stay too long," muttered Lewis.

"What d'you mean?" asked Rodwood sharply. "I thought you offered to
find us a safe hiding-place where there'd be no danger."

"I said where there'd be no danger of being found."

"Then what other risk is there?"

"The chance of getting in without being able to get out," was the
reply. There was a certain ominous sound in the speaker's voice which
attracted every man's attention, and I noticed that George Woodley
turned his head to listen.

"What's the good of beating about the bush?" growled one man. "Speak
out plain, you fool!"

"Why," returned the smuggler, "what I mean is, you can't get in or out
of this place with anything of a rough sea running. It's calm now, but
there's no knowing how long the weather's going to hold this time of
year. You can't expect to walk out of jail and get off without running
risks; if you steer clear of one, you must take your chance of running
into another. Here's a p