"
"Then my advice to you is, be beforehand with him. You are as
strong a man as he is, and if I were in your place, and a man who
meant to kill me came into a lonely hut like this, I would take
precious good care that he had no chance of carrying out his
intentions."
Charlie then took two loaves of black bread and a portion of goat's
flesh from the cupboard; found a bottle about a quarter full of
coarse spirits, filled it up with water and put it in his pocket,
and then, after taking possession of the long knife his captive
wore in his belt, went out of the hut and closed the door behind
him.
He had purposely moved slowly about the hut, as he made these
preparations, in order that the Jew should believe that he was
still weak; but, indeed, the effort of dragging the man into the
hut had severely taxed his strength, and he found that he was much
weaker than he had supposed.
The hut stood in a very small clearing, and Charlie had no
difficulty in seeing the track by which the cart had come, for the
marks of the wheels were still visible in the soft soil. He
followed this until, after about two miles' walking, he came to the
edge of the wood. Then he retraced his steps for a quarter of a
mile, turned off, and with some difficulty made his way into a
patch of thick undergrowth, where, after first cutting a formidable
cudgel, he lay down, completely exhausted.
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