Our dog, Little John, seldom barked unless there was something to
trouble him, and we had taken care since we had been on the rock to
keep him as quiet as possible, so that the men might not discover us
through him. But it chanced one day that one of the pigs broke loose
from the place where we had tethered him, and began to run in a very
stupid fashion, not heeding in the least the danger of falling over a
crag and dashing himself to pieces. Little John no sooner saw the mad
antics of the creature than he set off in pursuit, barking furiously,
and Billy set off too with a shout, taking great enjoyment in the chase
after our period of idleness. He came up with the pig just as it had
arrived at the very edge of the plateau, and caught it, and at that
very moment I heard another shout, and looking over I saw two of the
men just at the edge of the wood near the rocky ledge of which I have
spoken before. It was plain that they had seen Billy, though he
dropped out of sight immediately he heard the shout, and they came
forward until they stood at the edge of the cliff, being separated from
the rock only by the narrow gap. "That's where the young devils are
hiding," I heard one of them say. "Didn't I say so, Bill?" Their
words came very clearly to me, for sailor men have not very dulcet
voices. "Hail them, Jack," says the other, and the first man put his
hands to his mouth and let forth a stentorian "Ahoy!" which might have
been heard a mile away. At first I paid no heed, but when he shouted
again I saw no good that could come of further concealment, so I
climbed up on to the boulder, being followed by Billy as soon as he had
put the pig back into safety.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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