We had
taken a big chance and had come off lucky. It was impossible for Leith's
party to be very far ahead, and as we watched the ginger clump we
wondered how we could circumvent the sharpshooter.
After about five minutes of absolute quiet Kaipi turned his head and
pointed to the rear, and Holman and I listened intently. The Fijian's
sharper ears had detected slight sounds behind us, and as we strained
the silence we came to the conclusion that the enemy had stealthily
worked their way around us, and were now creeping like snakes through
the maze with the hope that they would take us unawares.
We started to worm our way to the right, and our hatred of the infernal
island, where we were reduced to the condition of burrowing moles,
increased. Our eyes were practically useless. We had to depend upon
hearing alone, and when a white man pits his ears against those of a
native he finds that he has been suffering from partial deafness without
being aware of the fact. A dozen times we shifted ground on a signal
from Kaipi, whose head was continually to the earth, and that game of
hide and seek drove us frantic.
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