The dusk had come nigh hand completely , and as I opened out the cleft between the two peaks , I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky , where , as I judged , the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire . And yet I wondered , in my heart , that he should show himself so careless . For if I could see this radiance , might it not reach the eyes of Silver himself where he camped upon the shore among the marshes ? Gradually the night fell blacker ; it was all I could do to guide myself even roughly towards my destination ; the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter ; the stars were few and pale ; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pits . Suddenly a kind of brightness fell about me . I looked up ; a pale glimmer of moonbeams had alighted on the summit of the Spy-glass , and soon after I saw something broad and silvery moving low down behind the trees , and knew the moon had risen . With this to help me , I passed rapidly over what remained to me of my journey , and sometimes walking , sometimes running , impatiently drew near to the stockade . Yet , as I began to thread the grove that lies before it , I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle warily . It would have been a poor end of my adventures to get shot down by my own party in mistake . The moon was climbing higher and higher , its light began to fall here and there in masses through the more open districts of the wood , and right in front of me a glow of a different colour appeared among the trees . It was red and hot , and now and again it was a little darkened -- as it were , the embers of a bonfire smouldering . For the life of me I could not think what it might be . At last I came right down upon the borders of the clearing . The western end was already steeped in moonshine ; the rest , and the block house itself , still lay in a black shadow chequered with long silvery streaks of light . On the other side of the house an immense fire had burned itself into clear embers and shed a steady , red reverberation , contrasted strongly with the mellow paleness of the moon . There was not a soul stirring nor a sound beside the noises of the breeze . I stopped , with much wonder in my heart , and perhaps a little terror also . It had not been our way to build great fires ; we were , indeed , by the captain 's orders , somewhat niggardly of firewood , and I began to fear that something had gone wrong while I was absent . I stole round by the eastern end , keeping close in shadow , and at a convenient place , where the darkness was thickest , crossed the palisade . To make assurance surer , I got upon my hands and knees and crawled , without a sound , towards the corner of the house .
As I XXXXX nearer , my heart was suddenly and greatly lightened .
came camped come cooking drew got help judged loomed shed