"Pretty watchers they are," he said to himself.

"Not three hours after midnight, and they are all snoring!" Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had come, he slipped away, and joining the others, they all glided through the darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to their rendezvous.
After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had not thought of entering.

They were not fully armed, and they did not know how many persons were inside.

But they knew one thing, and that was that these shipwrecked people--for that was what they must be--kept a very poor watch, and if the whole band came on the following night, the affair would probably be settled with but very little trouble, no matter how large the party in the cave might be.

It was not necessary to look any further for the escaped negro.