Now the happenings of the last hour had set me thinking hard.  First of all, there was Dominique's remark about the impossibility of anyone escaping inland.  During the period of my convalescence I had seen enough of the country, while wandering about in Lotta's company, to convince me that this statement might be quite true, although Lotta had never said a word to lead me to believe that she was aware that it was so.  And if there was no possibility of escaping landward, the only alternative was to escape by going out to sea.  But a boat voyage was an undertaking not to be rashly entered upon, especially where a woman was in the case; the inconvenience and discomfort, to say nothing of the danger, of such an attempt were such as to make me pause long and consider the matter very seriously in all its bearings before determining to engage in such a venture.  Yet something must be done; we could not continue to inhabit the cavern indefinitely; a way of escape must be found; for after what had fallen from Dominique's lips while addressing his men, I felt that there was no such thing as safety for any of us while we remained within arm's reach of that miscreant.  The most serious feature of the case, so far as a boat voyage was concerned, was that even the biggest of the available boats, which was one of the _Barracouta's_ gigs, was much too small to justify me in the attempt to make the passage to Jamaica in her; for should the breeze happen to pipe strong, the boat could not possibly live in the boisterous sea that would at once be knocked up.  If, on the other hand, the brig's longboat had happened to be in the water, or some other craft big enough to accomplish the voyage in safety--I pulled myself up suddenly, for a distinctly audacious idea had at that moment occurred to me as well worthy of consideration.  Why not take the brig herself?  True, she was a big craft for two men to handle, but if she could but be got safely out to sea, and beyond the reach of pursuit by boats, she could be sailed under such short canvas that one man could take care of her for a whole watch without very much difficulty.  The trouble would be to get aboard her, get her under way, and take her out to sea without being detected and pursued, unless--and here I pulled myself up again, for another audacious idea had occurred to me.