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"It was rather a queer position that we found ourselves in then There ere all four tied by the leg and with precious little chance of ever getting out again, while we each held a secret which ht have put each of us in a palace if we could only have h to make a man eat his heart out to have to stand the kick and the cuff of every petty jack-in-office, to have rice to eat and water to drink, when that gorgeous fortune was ready for hiht have driven me mad; but I was always a pretty stubborn one, so I just held on and bided ed frora to Madras, and from there to Blair Island in the Andamans There are very fehite convicts at this settlement, and, as I had behaved well froed person I was given a hut in Hope Tohich is a small place on the slopes of Mount Harriet, and I was left pretty much to myself It is a dreary, fever-stricken place, and all beyond our little clearings was infested ild cannibal natives, ere ready enough to blow a poisoned dart at us if they saw a chance There was digging, and ditching, and yas to be done, so ere busy enough all day; though in the evening we had a little tis, I learned to dispense drugs for the surgeon, and picked up a se All the time I was on the lookout for a chance of escape; but it is hundreds of miles from any other land, and there is little or no wind in those seas: so it was a terribly difficult job to get away
"The surgeon, Dr So officers would ery, where I used to -room, with a small een us Often, if I felt lonesoery, and then, standing there, I could hear their talk and watch their play I aood as having one to watch the others There was Major Sholto, Captain Morstan, and Lieutenant Bromley Broere in coeon himself, and two or three prison-officials, crafty old hands who played a nice sly safe ga little party they used to make