As the fire gradually died out their form disappeared; but he could hear their quick breathing, and knew that they were still on the watch.
Malchus climbed the tree until he reached a fork where he could sit at ease, and there waited for morning, when he hoped that his foes would disappear.

But as the gray light dawned he saw them still on the watch; nor, as the dawn brightened into day, did they show any signs of moving.
When he saw they had no intention of leaving the place, Malchus began to consider seriously what he had best do.

He might still be, for aught he knew, miles away from the camp, and his friends there would have no means of knowing the position in which he was placed.

They would no doubt send out all the soldiers in search of the party; but in that broken wilderness of forest and mountain, it was the merest chance whether they would find the spot where he was prisoner.

Still, it appeared to him that this was the only possibility of his rescue.