A SURPRISE FOR THE INVADERS
Hastily throwing on portions of their clothing and seizing their rifles
and revolvers, which, by a general custom, were in variably kept
loaded, the four white men prepared to dash out of the house.
"Don't show a light on any account," cautioned Mr. McKay. "We must let
the storehouses go and hold this terrace."
It was a complete surprise. The natives, who had wrested Ahii from its
former owners, had followed up their success in driving off the
invaders by paying a return visit to Ni Atong. The population of that
island had either been killed or reserved for a more lingering death,
and from one of the latter their captors learnt of the existence of
McKay's Island and its wealth of metal goods so prized by the South Sea
Islanders.
Accordingly ten large canoes set out on an expedition to raid the white
men's dwelling.
Arriving within sight of the peak of the island, they kept in the
offing till night, then with torches blazing aloft they found the
passage into the lagoon, and, paddling rapidly, landed on the beach
below the settlement.
Thereupon three hundred powerful savages, armed with club, bow, spear,
and knife, and bearing torches, began the ascent of the path that led
to the three terraces.
The lower storehouse was their first discovery. Quickly finding that
no white men were within, the host of warriors resumed their advance.
Some, however, tempted by the various articles stored in the building,
began to help themselves.
Then it was that a savage laid hold of the concertina that Ellerton had
brought from the wreck and had hitherto been left neglected in the
store. The native was examining his prize in the torchlight, when,
happening to come into collision with another plunderer, the concertina
gave out a startling screech as if to atone for its days of idleness.
Dropping the musical instrument of torture like a live coal, the savage
rushed from the building, his yells of terror being taken up by his
companions. This diversion was the cause of alarming Ellerton, and
consequently saving the inhabitants of McKay's Island from a massacre.
"Aim low, lads!" shouted Mr. McKay. "Let 'em have it!"
The conflict was short and sharp. Although many of the attackers got
within throwing distance, not a single native succeeded in gaining the
top of the steep and narrow path.
They fled hurriedly to the shore, where they rallied to await the dawn.
"Anyone hurt?" inquired Mr. McKay.
There was a general reply in the negative, though in the heat of the
firing there had been several narrow escapes, for the ground was
bristling with spears and littered with stones, which, had they struck
anyone, would have caused serious if not fatal wounds.
In the excitement Ellerton had forgotten his crippled arm, and had used
a rifle equally as well as his comrades; but the exertion had caused
the blood to flow afresh.
"Rotten luck, I call it," he grumbled as Andy readjusted the bandage.
"You must load at least a dozen revolvers for me. Thank goodness it's
my left arm."
"It's a fair surprise," remarked Mr. McKay. "We've our work cut out to
drive them off. Won't they play old Harry with the storehouse--and the
yawl."
"Oh!" exclaimed Andy in dismay, at the thought of his particular
treasure being in the hands of the savages. "Whatever can be done to
save it?"
"Nothing, I'm afraid," replied his father. "Perhaps if the mischief is
not already done and the vessel holed, we can keep them off with a long
range fire, though I can hold out no strong hopes in that direction.
The plain truth is, that we are in a tight corner, and we must make the
best of it."
For some minutes the defenders kept silence, listening to the subdued
sounds of their foes.
"Look here," said Mr. McKay, "it's no use sitting here and doing
nothing. Terence, will you go back to the house and bring three or
four spades? We'll dig a shelter trench along the edge of the cliff so
as to be able to command the path without unduly exposing ourselves to
the rascals. Andy, you had better go with him and bring some more
rifles and some ammunition."
Upon the lads' return, the little band set to work to throw up their
defences, and barely had the work been completed ere the day broke.
"There are not so many of them after all," remarked Andy, when the full
strength of the attacking party was revealed. "We had greater odds at
Ahii."
"And a worse position," added his father. "We can hold out here, I
fancy, but we cannot prevent the damage to our stores and gear. See,
they've begun again."
Numbers of the savages were engaged in looting the store, while others,
to Andy's great disgust especially, had paddled off to where the yawl
lay at her moorings.
"Now," exclaimed Andy, setting the backsight of his rifle. "Eight
hundred yards!"
"That's about the range," assented his father, and four rifles opened
fire upon the daring natives, Ellerton contriving to rest the barrel of
his weapon upon the ridge of the earthwork, so as to avoid using his
damaged arm.
The bullets all fell close to the yawl, several of the natives being
hit; but possibly in their hour of triumph the savages scorned the
white men's weapons. Casting off the moorings, they leisurely towed
the yawl out towards the reef and plundered her.
Great was the defenders' rage to see the blacks hacking at the rigging,
sails, and cordage, throwing the contents of the cabin-lockers into the
bottom of their canoe, and wrenching the metal cleats, hinges, and
shroud-plates from her hull. This done, a powerful savage stove a hole
in the craft, and slowly sinking by the stern, she at length plunged to
the bottom of the lagoon.
"It's hard lines, Andy," exclaimed his father as he paused to recharge
his magazine. "But I'm afraid we shall have to make greater sacrifices
before this affair is over."
"We seem to have horrible bad luck," replied Andy savagely. "First at
Ahii, and now here."
"Remember we were saved by the merciful intervention of One above,"
added Mr. McKay. "And if it please Him, we'll come out of this in
safety. We've had a lot to be thankful for."
"I know, but all the same it's hard lines. Take that, you brute!" Andy
added, pressing the trigger.
It was a splendid shot. A group of natives had begun to batter the
yawl's tender to splinters. They were a good four hundred yards away,
but Andy's shot struck a tall savage, clad in a gorgeous cloak of white
and red feathers, fairly between the shoulder-blades.
Andy had laid aside his rifle immediately after discharging it, and had
snatched up a pair of field-glasses. The effect of the chief's
death--for a chief he evidently was--caused the wreckers to abandon
their task, and they fled to join their fellows under the shelter of
the lowermost cliff.
"They are preparing for another rush," observed Terence.
"Yes. I wish we had a Maxim or two," replied Andy. "That would stop
them."
"I have an idea," exclaimed Ellerton. "I can best be spared, so I'll
run over to the caves and bring back a few sticks of dynamite and some
detonators."
"Good! Good!" replied Mr. McKay. "You're a wonder, Hoppy. Mind how
you come back, and don't stumble, or we won't be able to find even your
fragments."
Ellerton set off on his self-imposed mission, and presently returned
with about fourteen pounds of dynamite and half a dozen time-fuses.
"What do you propose to do?" asked Terence. "Make a bomb and roll it
over the cliff?"
"No!" replied the youth. "We can load up one of those trucks, set the
time-fuse, and turn the thing adrift."
"It will mean good-bye to our storehouse," observed Mr. McKay. "But
that cannot be helped, so let's to work; they'll be rushing us in a few
minutes."
At the top of the cable-railway stood three empty trucks. In ordinary
circumstances these would be filled with water, and their increased
weight would cause them to descend and, at the same time, bring up the
loaded trucks from the shore or the storehouse. Half-way down the
line, and almost abreast of the building, were three other trucks,
waiting to be loaded should occasion require. Around these trucks,
which were invisible from the upper terrace, were most of the savages,
who were massing for the attack at the base of the second terrace.
"You are quite sure you can unshackle the thing easily?" asked Mr.
McKay. "If there's a hitch we shall be the ones to be blown to
smithereens."
"I'll make sure of it," replied Ellerton, and securing the lowermost of
the three trucks to the second one by means of a piece of rope, he
unfastened the proper connecting shackles.
Then placing the explosive in the truck he asked Mr. McKay to take the
time.
"It's set for four minutes," he announced. "Half-a-minute will be
quite enough, so at three and a half minutes from the time the fuse is
lit I'll cut the rope and off she'll go."
"Stand back, you fellows! If it goes wrong we need not all be blown
sky-high. Are you ready? Stand by!"
The fuse began to hiss and splutter. Ellerton, knife in hand, kept his
eyes fixed on Mr. McKay, who, standing fifty yards off, held his watch
before him.
"Precious long three and a half minutes," thought the lad.
It was not a pleasant task standing within two yards of a
highly-charged explosive. More than once he felt tempted to cut the
rope and let the truck go.
"Time?" he shouted huskily, for his heart seemed literally in his
throat.
"No, not yet," replied Mr. McKay.
Realising the strain on the plucky youth, he began to walk slowly in
the direction of the truck.
"Stand back, sir!"
Mr. McKay stopped and slowly raised his hand.
"Stand by! Let go!"
One swift sweep of the sharp blade and the cord was severed. Slowly
the truck began to gather way, then moving with increased speed it
plunged on its headlong course.
Ten seconds later--before the fuse had time to complete its work--the
descending truck crashed into the stationary ones. There was a
deafening roar, a cloud of dust, in which was mingled a number of
heavy, shapeless objects, and then an ominous silence, broken only by
the crash of some fragments of wood and metal hurled high in the air by
the explosive.
Rushing to the edge of the cliff the four defenders gazed upon the
result of their stratagem.
Where the trucks had stood gaped a pit six feet in depth, for one of
the peculiarities of dynamite is that it shows its power mainly where
it meets resistance. Of the storehouse scarce a vestige remained,
while the double line of rails had been uprooted for a distance of
nearly twenty yards.
The havoc wrought amongst the savages was appalling. So many were
killed that had the white men so wished it they could have fallen upon
the survivors and exterminated them; but such was not their intention.
"We must act with prudence or we shall be left with fifty wounded
savages on our hands," said Mr. McKay. "Those who are unhurt will take
to their canoes, and leave the others to their fate, and that won't do!"
"How can we stop them taking to their canoes?" asked Andy.
"By taking advantage of their cowed condition and disarming them.
Come, let's to work."
Fearlessly the four defenders descended the path to the lower terrace.
"We'll begin with those fellows first!" exclaimed Mr. McKay, pointing
to a group of natives cowering, with their hands over their eyes,
against a spur of the cliff. "Stand by with your revolvers in case
they resist."
There was no resistance. Passively the savages allowed Mr. McKay to
remove their weapons, which had fallen from their nerveless grasp.
Seizing one man firmly but gently, Mr. McKay dragged him from his
companions. The native's face bore a strong resemblance to that of a
sheep led to the slaughtering-block; no doubt he thought he was to be
slain.
Escorted by the three lads the prisoner was taken to the fringe of the
cocoa-nut grove, where Mr. McKay presented him with a branch of a
palm--the almost universal emblem of peace.
At this the native began to see a chance of having his life spared, and
Mr. McKay, pointing to the canoes and then to the wounded savages, made
signs to the man that they desired their crippled enemies to be placed
in the native craft.
This experiment was tried upon some of the other unharmed savages, with
equally good results, and quickly recovering their senses the natives
set to work with a will.
One powerful-looking savage, however, refused to deliver up his club,
but instead made a sudden rush at Mr. McKay with the evident intention
of knocking him over the head.
Mr. McKay had discarded his rifle, and his revolver was in the side
pocket of his pyjama coat. Coolly his hand sought his pocket, and
without attempting to withdraw the weapon he discharged it at his
assailant, who was barely five yards off.
The heavy bullet, striking the man full in the chest, laid him dead on
the ground, while the other savages, awestruck at the sight of one of
their number being killed by no visible agency, were again thrown into
a state of panic.
At length all the wounded were distributed between five of the canoes.
Then Mr. McKay made signs for the rest of the natives to embark,
keeping the other five canoes on the beach, and within an hour of the
explosion the sorry remnant of the invaders was paddling back towards
the island of Ahii.