Fiction > Book editions > London, 1886 - Kidnapped

196                                    KIDNAPPED.
the most of the story of the day that we had now to pass.
Yon are to remember that we lay on the bare top of a
rock, like scones upon a girdle; the sun beat upon us
cruelly; the rock grew so heated, a man could scarce
endure the touch of it; and the little patch of earth and
fern, which kept cooler, was only large enough for one
at a time. We took turn about to lie on the naked
rock, which was indeed like the position of that saint
that was martyred on a gridiron; and it ran in my
mind how strange it was, that in the same climate and
at only a few days' distance, I should have suffered so
cruelly, first from cold upon my island, and now from
heat upon this rock.
All the while we had no water, only raw brandy for
a drink, which was worse than nothing; but we kept
the bottle as cool as we could, burying it in the earth,
and got some relief by bathing our breasts and temples.
The soldiers kept stirring all day in the bottom of
the valley, now changing guard, now in patrolling
parties hunting among the rocks. These lay round in
so great a number, that to look for men among them
was like looking for a needle in a bottle of hay; and
being so hopeless a task, it was gone about with the less
care. Yet we could see the soldiers pike their bayonets
among the heather, which sent a cold thrill into my
vitals; and they would sometimes hang about our rock,
so that we scarce dared to breathe.
It was in this way that I first heard the right
English speech; one fellow as he went by actually