nine o'clock
now through the other ; that 's your sort ! Now I 'll take the fore end of the pole and you the after end ; lift handsomely ; have you got your end on your shoulder ? Then off we go . We have not such a very great distance to travel -- only some twenty miles or so -- but we must get over the ground as quickly as possible ; for when once nine o'clock to-morrow morning has passed , we may make certain that they 'll be after us ; so we must reach the coast by that time , or soon after it , if we wish to get clear off . '' And in this manner , with Walford slung in his impromptu hammock between them , George and Tom set off upon the wearisome journey which lay before them , and which , they fondly hoped , was to end in the absolute recovery of their liberty . _ Tramp , tramp ; splash , splash _ ; on they trudged , -- stumbling over the roots of trees , tripping over the long , tough , straggling creepers which crossed their path , sometimes brought-up `` all standing '' and half-strangled by the cord-like _ llianas _ which hung festooned from tree to tree , their naked feet and legs torn by thorns and stabbed by the spines of the wild cactus -- in thick impenetrable darkness for a couple of hours , and then the clouds suddenly vanished away on the wings of the land-breeze , the stars reappeared , the soft silvery rays of the moon streamed down once more through the gaps in the foliage , and the weary fugitives flung themselves down upon the sodden ground for a short breathing-space . George was of opinion that , from the time they had been tramping through the forest , they ought to have very nearly reached its southern skirts ; but as far as the eye could penetrate , in the uncertain moonlight , through the sylvan vistas , there was no sign of break or opening of any kind ; nothing but an apparently endless succession of trees and dense undergrowth .