I resolved that, come what might, as soon as it got dark, I would swim for the island. There would be danger, to be sure. But I was certain that my man would be there drying his clothes. I would be in the protection of the trees. There was no light. If I could come upon him unawares, I might snatch enough to cover me. Then I could make off with all my speed and lose him in the woods. It was worth the try. Indeed it was the only thing I could do. I sat huddled there on the bank of the stream until the sun had disappeared and the blackness of night covered the earth. I slid into the water. With long, easy strokes I headed for the island. In a few minutes I was dragging myself up on dry land. CHAPTER XIX ON THE ISLAND I was chilled to the bone. The touch of my feet on the hard earth made my going slow and cautious. Now and then I stubbed my toe on a sharp stone that made me wince. But even with that I advanced in among the trees. My ears were keyed for the slightest sound and my eyes glanced round with the wariness of a cat’s. I stopped once in a while to listen for the cracking of a twig, which was the surest sign that my man was near. I scarcely breathed. It was one step after the other, and every time I put my foot down I felt the ground as carefully as you would with your hand. After a quarter of an hour I had advanced, maybe two or three hundred paces. My eyes were so accustomed to the dark that the trunks of the trees were dimly outlined against the background of the night. As I peered on ahead it seemed that a faint glow of a far off light shone like a veil through the woods. I halted. It must be my captor who by some means that I could not puzzle out had lighted a fire. I groped around on the ground until I found a stout stick that would serve me as a weapon. With this firmly grasped in my hand I grew all the bolder, so that with less caution than before I went on towards the place where I was sure there was the light. In another quarter of an hour I was leaning against the trunk of a tree from which position I could plainly see the blaze. It was in the centre of an open space in the forest, on bare hard ground covered with stones and boulders. I wanted to make certain of myself so I moved in a broad circle around the fire, darting a glance here, a glance there so as not to be taken by surprise. At length I came back to the point from where I had started. Not a soul did I notice on my rounds. I walked in closer and closer with the club balanced ready in my hand. I could feel the heat. The fire blazed and shot off sparks high into the branches of the trees. Then at last I was able to spy the form of a man sitting on a rock. He had a long stick with which he was stirring up the embers. He seemed to be without a care in the world, but what amazed me most was that he was not naked, as I expected my captor to be, but fully clothed.