'
'In arnest!' says he, almost angry; 'of course I'm in arnest. Do
you think I'm going to be fool enough to stop here to be frizzled
and sliced by that El Zeres to-morrow? 'No, it's just as I said: we
must get our hands free; we must kill all these fellows, and be
off.'
'But how are we to get our hands free, Rube?'
'That's the only point I can't make out,' he said. 'If these
fellows would leave us alone, it would be easy enough; we could
gnaw through each other's thongs in ten minutes; but they won't let
us do that. All the rest is easy enough. Just think it over, Seth.'
I did think it over, but I did not see my way to getting rid of our
thongs. That done, the rest was possible enough. If we could get
hold of a couple of rifles and take them by surprise, so as to
clear off four or five before they could get fairly on their legs,
I had little doubt that we could manage the rest. No doubt they
would shut the door as it got later, and it was possible that the
row might not be heard. If that was managed, I was sure we could
crawl through the lines and get off. Yes, it was straightforward
enough if we could but get rid of our cords. As I was thinking it
over my eye fell upon the pan of water. An idea came across me.
'I don't know, Rube, that it would stretch them enough to slip our
hands out, but if we could wet these hide thongs by dipping them in
water, we might stretch them a bit, anyhow, and ease them,'
'That would be something, Seth, anyhow.
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