"
They had their bottle out of the boat, and they had also come upon
Gard's bottle of cognac, of which quite half remained. It was a finer
cordial than their own, so they sat drinking them turn about, and
watching the sun set, and chatting spasmodically, till it grew too dark
to do more than sit still with safety.
They were by no means drunk, but the spirits had made them heavy, and
when John Drillot solemnly suggested that they should keep watch about,
Peter Vaudin as solemnly agreed, and offered to take first duty.
So John curled his length inside the bee-hive, and made himself
comfortable with Gard's cloak and blanket, and was presently snoring
like a whole pig-sty. And that had a soporific effect on Peter. He had
only stopped behind to oblige John, and personally had little
expectation of anything coming of it. Moreover, the night air was
chilly. If he could get that cloak from John now! He crawled in to try,
but big John was rolled up like a caterpillar. It was warmer inside
there than out, anyway. And he could keep watch there just as well as
outside; so he propped himself up alongside John, and braced his mind to
sentry duty.
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