She knew of the arrangement
made with Ralph, and she knew the boy's healthy, sleepy nature, so that
when he went on watch she went on watch.
Outside of the cave were three wild beasts. One of them was crouching on
the farther end of the plateau. Another, on the lower ground a little
below, stood, gun in hand, and barely visible in the starlight. A third,
barefooted, and in garments dingy as the night, and armed only with a
knife, crept softly toward the entrance of the cave. There he stopped
and listened. He could plainly hear the breathing of the sleepers. He
tried to separate these sounds one from another, so that he should be
able to determine how many persons were sleeping inside, but this he
could not do. Then his cat-like eyes, becoming more and more accustomed
to the darkness within the entrance, saw the round head of Maka close
upon the ground.
The soul of the listening fiend laughed within him. "Pretty watchers they
are," he said to himself. "Not three hours after midnight, and they are
all snoring!" Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had come, he
slipped away, and joining the others, they all glided through the
darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to
their rendezvous.
After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had
not thought of entering. They were not fully armed, and they did not
know how many persons were inside.
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