fingers, and taking out the needle of the compass he broke it half in
two. Then replacing the brass lid, leaving all the pieces of the
ruined instrument inside, he slipped the compass back into its
original place and crept back to his bed by the fire.

"Now," he thought "I reckon Mr. Sam Hardwicke's long head will be
puzzled, and I reckon I'll be even with him, when he gives up that he
can't go on, and has to turn back to Camp Jackson. A pretty story
he'll have to tell, and wont people want to know how his compass got
broke? They'll think it very curious, and maybe they wont suspect that
he broke it himself, for an excuse. Oh! wont they though!"

He fairly chuckled with delight, in anticipation of Sam's humiliation.
He knew that the country south of them was wholly unsettled, a
perfect wilderness of woods and canebrakes and swamps, which nobody
could go through without some guide as to the points of the compass,
and hence he was satisfied that the destruction of Sam's instrument
was an effectual way of compelling the young captain to retreat while
it was still possible to retrace the trail the party had made in
coming. He was so delighted that he could not sleep and hours passed
before he closed his eyes.




CHAPTER X.

A DISTURBANCE IN CAMP.