get round to that side
we may conceal ourselves; and it is hard, in a country like this,
if we cannot, at any rate, find fruit enough to keep us for some
time. And we had better wait till dark. Our white shoulders will be
seen at too far a distance, by this light."

Creeping into a thicket, the lads lay down and were soon sound
asleep; and it was night before they awoke, and looked out. All
signs of the storm had passed. The moon was shining calmly, the
stars were brilliant, and seemed to hang like lamps in the sky, an
effect which is only seen in tropical climes.

There were lights in the town, and these served as a sort of guide
to them. Skirting along at the top of the basin in which the town
lay, they passed through cultivated estates, picking some ears of
maize; thus satisfying their hunger, which was, when they started,
ravenous; for, during the storm, they had been unable to open the
hatchways, and had been supported only by a little biscuit, which
happened to be in the caboose on deck.

Towards morning they chose a spot in a thick plantation of trees,
about a mile and a half from the town; and here they agreed to
wait, for a while, until they could come to some decision as to
their course.

Three days passed without any change. Each night they stole out and
picked maize, pineapple, and melons in the plantations for their
subsistence; and as morning returned, went back to their hiding
place. Close to it a road ran along to a noble house, which stood
in some grounds at about a quarter of a mile from their grove.
Every morning they saw the owner of this house, apparently a man of
distinction, riding towards the town; and they concluded that he
was one of the great merchants of the place.

One day he came accompanied by a young lady, carried in a litter by
four slaves. The boys, who were weary of their solitude, pressed to
the edge of the thicket to obtain a clear view of this little
procession, which broke the monotony of their day.

"Gerald," Ned exclaimed, grasping him by the arm, "do you know, I
believe that the lady is the girl I picked out of the water, the
day we took that ship three months ago."

"Do you think so?" Gerald said. "It is too far, surely, to see."

"I do not know for certain," Ned answered, "but methinks that I
cannot be mistaken."

"Perhaps she would help us, or intercede for us," Gerald suggested.

"Perhaps so," Ned said. "At any rate, we will try. Tonight we will
make a move in