"Hullo!" "Why, I've been giving you the credit of being ready to settle down here in the most _nonchalant_ way." "Yes, I saw you did. That's why I chiselled away so, to get through those bamboos." "While I was asleep?" "While you were asleep," said Chumbley, spitting vigorously. "Ah, my dear fellow, I shall--" "Hold your row. Light a cigar, or they'll be suspicious." Hilton obeyed without a word, and Chumbley went on: "So when you are ready we'll pocket a table-knife apiece, fill our pockets with portable meat of some kind, and then be off." "Why not to-night?" "I don't see why not," replied Chumbley, coolly; "I'm ready. It will do you good--a bit of a scamper through the jungle, even if we get caught." "No scoundrel shall catch me alive." "I say, old man, don't talk as if the Malays were fly-papers and you were a pretty insect." "Don't be absurd," said Hilton excitedly. "Shall we try to-night?" "Well, no; let's leave it till to-morrow, when we can devote the day to storing up cigars and food; and then if they don't find out the hole I have made, we can slip through and make for the river." "But suppose they find out the hole you have made." "Well, then we must try another plan: your way through the thatch." "Yes, of course. But, by the way, old fellow, I wish you would drop that habit you have just taken up of spitting through the window." "Certainly I will," said Chumbley, coolly; "but don't you see, old fellow, I've had to get rid of a lot of bamboo chips, and that was the only way I could destroy them. They're awfully harsh chewing, by the way." Hilton looked at him with a kind of admiration. "And to think that I've been abusing you for your indolence!" he cried. "Didn't hurt me a bit," said Chumbley. "Go it. I don't mind." That night and the next day seemed as if they would never pass. Every time a native servant entered Hilton felt sure that he had some suspicion about the loosened bamboos, and it seemed as if his eyes were directed towards the pile of mats upon which Chumbley slept. But at last, after a false alarm of the Princess coming, the night fell, and with a beating heart Hilton set about filling his pockets and a handkerchief with provisions for the journey, Chumbley seeming all the while to be plunged into a state of lethargy. "Come, Chum," whispered Hilton, at last, "be stirring, man." "Heaps of time yet, my boy," replied the other. "Lie down and have a nap." "Will nothing stir you?" whispered Hilton, wrathfully. "Good Heavens, man, rouse yourself!" "Shan't. I'm resting. There's heaps to do when we start, and I want to be fresh. Lie down." "Hang it, don't speak as if I were a dog," cried Hilton, sharply. "Have the goodness to lie down and rest yourself, my dear boy," said Chumbley in a polite drawl. "It is of no use for us to attempt to stir till the fellows are all asleep, so save yourself up."