She will be allowed to repair, refit, and sail for reinforcements."
"Reinforcements? But where will you find reinforcements?"
"I must rely on Gervase to provide them. Meanwhile we have work on
hand. To begin with, we must clear up this mystery, which may oblige
us to camp here for some time."
"O-oh!" said I.
"You do not suggest, I hope, that we can abandon our comrades,
whatever has befallen them?"
"My dear father!" I protested.
"Tut, lad! I never supposed it of you. Well, it seems to me we are
more likely to clear up the mystery by sitting still than by beating
the woods. Do you agree?"
"To be sure," said I, "we may spare ourselves the trouble of
searching for it."
"I propose then, as our first move, that we step down to the ship
together and pack Captain Pomery off to Ajaccio with his orders--"
"Excuse me, sir," I interrupted. "_You_ shall step down to the ship,
while I wait here and guard the camp."
"My dear Prosper," said he, "I like the spirit of that offer: but,
upon my word, I hope you won't persist in it. These misadventures,
if I may confess it, get me on the raw, and I cannot leave you here
alone without feeling damnably anxious.
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