Rainsford had felt as if General Zaroff had been treating him as at least an equal, if not a superior since he had won the general's game. General Zaroff had a high degree of respect of Rainsford, and he also seemed to fear him. He had done everything to satisfy Rainsford and make him comfortable.
Rainsford had breakfast in bed whenever it suited him, was able to choose whatever he wanted to wear from General Zaroff's lavish wardrobe, and, basically, had the freedom to do whatever he pleased, except, of course, as General Zaroff kept reminding him, to go home.
Just the other day, Rainsford had asked, "Zaroff, do you keep a boat around here anywhere?"
Zaroff became flustered and stuttered, "Well…w-why do you n-need a-a boat?"
"Well, I'll put it this way. It's been a very interesting experience, staying here, and, uhhh, playing your game, but I want to and need to go back home, I appreciate your hospitality, but I can't stay.
Zaroff replied, "You can't mean that you'd just leave me here all alone, now that Ivan's…gone. A man can go crazy when he's alone."
"I guess I can stay for a little while longer. But, really, I have to go soon."
General Zaroff nodded, as if he was deep in thought contemplating a serious problem.
The general had been doing a lot of thinking lately, Rainsford thought. He had appeared absent-minded and dazed occasionally. Rainsford would be talking to Zaroff, and Zaroff would be distracted, and mumble things like, "I have only three." Or, "How can I get another one?" Rainsford thought he should know what the three things were, and he had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he thought about it, but to feel better he tried to convince himself Zaroff was just looking for a replacement for Ivan. And that he just wanted Rainsford to stay with him until he found one.
About a week after Rainsford had asked General Zaroff about the boat, the two were sitting in the dining room, enjoying their supper. The only sounds came from their forks and knives clinking on their plates. Occasionally they heard an echo from a wave crashing on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff outside. Rainsford and General Zaroff were both thinking to themselves about the approaching storm, although their thoughts were very different.
Rainsford was thinking about the night he had fallen overboard and swam to the safety of this island. General Zaroff, on the other hand, was hoping that there was a boat out there somewhere that would get blown ashore and on that boat, he hoped there were men.
Finally Zaroff broke the silence, "Well, Rainsford, I never really asked you what your impression of my game was. What did you think?"
"I…I…It was a different type of experience."
"But did you like it?" Zaroff asked.
"It gave me a chance to figure out what I am capable of."
"Did you enjoy it?" asked Zaroff yet again.
"It is something that I'll never forget." Said Rainsford, still dancing around the point.
Finally, Zaroff said quietly, "Would you like to play again?"
Rainsford couldn't think. Hadn't once been more than enough? He couldn't speak.
Mutely, he nodded.
"Now remember," General Zaroff was saying to Rainsford, "instead of being hunted, you are going to be doing the hunting. All you have to do is find the man and finish him off." It sounded so basic when he said it like that. "I'll see you within three days."
Rainsford set off through the thick jungle, not really sure how he was going to find this guy. He began by looking for footprints. About halfway through the first sweltering, mosquito filled day, Rainsford found what he had been looking for.
He followed the footsteps, which were easy to see because of the recent storm, until close to sunset, when he saw the man hiding in a tree.
Rainsford raised his gun and pulled the trigger.
He stumbled back to General Zaroff's house and went to bed.
The next morning Zaroff congratulated Rainsford, saying, "Well done. Very good job. And it only took you a day. You're a natural."
Rainsford didn't think this was something that he wanted to be an expert at.
General Zaroff was very good at manipulating Rainsford's mind. Rainsford would never have agreed to this if he wasn't so desperate to get off the island and back home. General Zaroff was making Rainsford do what he wanted him to before he would let him leave.
So when the general suggested that Rainsford play the game again, he agreed.
This time, he set out with a little more confidence. The sooner he could finish this game, the sooner he could get a boat and get out of here.
Since the ground was still muddy, he still didn't have much of a challenge completing his task.
When Rainsford found his prey, sleeping next to a fallen tree and partially covered by branches, he hesitated for a minute. A thought along the lines of, "Why am I doing this if it's so inhumane?" flew through his mind as he gazed at the sleeping man.
As soon as that minute was over, he lifted the gun.
Yet again, General Zaroff sent Rainsford out into the jungle to hunt. The ground had since dried, so Rainsford took a little longer in locating the man.
This time, his hesitation lasted even longer. He paced around the man, this one sleeping in an old hollow tree, almost with a look of fondness on his face, although he didn't know him.
Finally he told himself what he had to do and fired a deadly shot.
As he stumbled back to Zaroff's house, Rainsford was trying to comprehend what he had done. He had killed those three men. Defenseless men. They had had no way to defend themselves. What was he coming to?
The next time General Zaroff sent him out on one of these ridiculous hunts, he vowed that he would not kill the man. He would go into the jungle but he would not kill.
Instead, Rainsford planned to build some sort of raft and leave the island. If General Zaroff wouldn't let him go, he'd leave on his own. If he happened to find the man wandering out there, he'd take him with. Better than waiting around to get killed.
So when General Zaroff sent Rainsford out yet again, he headed straight to the shore to build his raft, making sure he was out of sight of the house and Zaroff. He chose some slender trees and bound them together with vines. It wasn't a big raft, but it was sturdy and Rainsford hoped it would last until he got wherever it was he was going to.
It only took him two days to build the raft, so when he finished, he started searching for some food to take with him.
He hadn't gone very far when he heard a rustle in the trees beside him. Since Zaroff had made sure that there weren't any animals on the island, Rainsford knew it must be the man.
He sighed. He halfway hoped he wouldn't find him that meant more food and who knows how long stuck with a stranger. But still, with apprehension, he called out, "Who's there?"
All he heard was more rustling. "Please," he said, "I'm not going to harm you. You'll be safe."
Slowly, footsteps approached. Then a voice trembled slowly, "Rainsford?"
Rainsford was thinking, "How does he know my name?" when the man walked out of the trees. Rainsford jumped in recognition and whispered, "Whitney?" He took a step closer. "What are you doing here?"
Whitney smiled, "I got thrown overboard the night of that storm. I ended up here. Some crazy man sent me out here and told me that there's someone out here planning on killing me."
"Yeah, I know," said Rainsford sheepishly, "That's me."
"What!"
"Don't worry. I'm not going to. I'll explain later. We're going to get out of here. I have a raft."
The two men went back to the raft Rainsford had built
Suddenly the heard barking. General Zaroff must have found out about Rainsford's plan. Rainsford swore. "Come on. We've got to go, now."
They launched the raft and began paddling the makeshift paddles. Rainsford turned around and saw Zaroff and his dogs standing on the rocks along the shore. Hopefully he didn't have any way to catch them. Why did he have to see them escaping?
"Now what do we do?" Whitney asked.
"We just keep going. Eventually we'll find a boat or some land. Until then, we just wait."
They floated for several endless days, growing hot and restless. Their food was running out. There was no water. They hadn't seen anything since leaving the island. They were both ready to just give up.
Finally, one day which had seemed hotter and longer that the rest, they saw a small speck. As they watched, it grew larger, and larger.
That speck was called hope.