Percy made an effort, and ate a few mouthfuls of rice and chicken, then
he took another draught of tea, and lay down, and was almost immediately
asleep.
Jack ate his food slowly and contentedly till he finished half the
supply, then he too lay down, and, after a short but hearty thanksgiving
for his escape from a slow and lingering death, fell asleep. The sun
was rising when he awoke. He opened his eyes and sat up.
"Well, Percy, how do you feel this morning?" he asked cheerily.
"I feel too weak to move," Percy replied languidly.
"Oh, you will be all right when you have sat up and eaten breakfast,"
Jack said "Here you are; here is a wing for you, and this rice is as
white as snow, and the tea is first-rate. I thought last night after I
lay down that I heard a murmur of water, so after we have had breakfast
I will look about and see if I can find it. We should feel like new men
after a wash. You look awful, and I am sure I am just as bad."
The thought of a wash cheered Percy far more than that of eating, and he
sat up and made a great effort to do justice to breakfast. He succeeded
much better than he had done the night before, and Jack, although he
pretended to grumble, was satisfied with his companion's progress, and
finished off the rest of the food. Then he set out to search for water.
He had not very far to go. A tiny stream, a few inches wide and two or
three inches deep, ran through the wood from the higher ground. After
throwing himself down and taking a drink he hurried back to Percy.
"It is all right, Percy, I have found it. We can wash to our hearts'
content; think of that, lad."
Percy could hardly stand, but he made an effort, and Jack half carried
him to the streamlet. There the lads spent hours. First they bathed
their heads and hands, and then stripping, lay down in the stream and
allowed it to flow over them; then they rubbed themselves with handfuls
of leaves dipped in the water; and when they at last put on their rags
again they felt like new men.
Percy was able to walk back to the spot they had quitted, with the
assistance only of Jack's arm. The latter, feeling that his breakfast
had by no means appeased his hunger, now started for a search through
the wood, and presently returned to Percy laden with nuts and berries.
"The nuts are sure to be all right; I expect the berries are too. I
have certainly seen some like them in native markets, and I think it
will be quite safe to risk it."
The rest of the day was spent in picking nuts and eating them. Then
they sat down and waited for the arrival of their friend. He came two
hours after nightfall with a wallet stored with provisions, and told
them that he had regained the village unobserved. The attack had been
repulsed, but with severe loss to the defenders as well as to the
assailants. Two of their guards had been among the killed.
The others had made a great clamour over the escape of the prisoners,
and had made a close search throughout the village and immediately round
it, for they were convinced that their captives had not had the strength
to go any distance. He thought, however, that although they had
professed the greatest indignation, and had offered many threats as to
the vengeance the government would take upon the village, they would not
trouble themselves any further in the matter.
They had already reaped a rich harvest from the exhibition, and would
divide among themselves the share of their late comrades. Nor was it at
all unlikely that, if they were to report the matter to the authorities,
they would themselves get into serious trouble for not having handed
over the prisoners immediately after their capture.