FIGHTING FOR LIFE
The last hours of this night of the 24th of January were spent in
conversation. The two families had so much to say, so many memories to
recall, so many fears for the future to discuss! No one thought of going
to sleep, except little Bob. But until daybreak M. Zermatt and his
companions did not relax their keen vigilance, relieving one another on
duty near the two carronades, one loaded with ball, the other with
grape-shot.
Shark’s Island was larger than Whale Island, which lay two and a half
miles away to the north, to the entrance to Flamingo Bay. It was an
oval, about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile across at its
widest part, thus having a circumference of something under two miles.
By day it had been comparatively easy to keep watch over it, and as it
was of the utmost importance that equally effective watch should be
maintained from sunset to sunrise, it was decided, on Captain Gould’s
suggestion, that the whole of the shore should be patrolled.
Dawn came, and no alarm had been raised. Although the savages knew that
the island was held by a little garrison, they had no idea that it had
been reinforced and was in a position to offer them sterner resistance.
But it would not be long before they discovered that one of their canoes
had disappeared—that which had taken Captain Gould and his party from
Falconhurst beach to Shark’s Island.
“They may think,” Fritz suggested, “that the canoe has been carried away
by the outgoing tide.”
“Anyhow,” M. Zermatt replied, “let us keep a careful lookout. As long as
the island is not invaded we have nothing to fear. Although there are
fifteen of us, we have plenty of food for a long time, with the reserves
in the store-house, not to mention the herd of antelopes. The spring is
inexhaustible, and of ammunition we have enough, provided we are not
attacked very often.”
“What the deuce!” John Block exclaimed. “These tailless apes surely
won’t stay for ever on the island!”
“Who can tell?” Mme. Zermatt answered. “If they have settled down in
Rock Castle, they will never leave it. Oh! our poor dear house, prepared
to receive all of you, my children, and now in their power!”
“Mother,” said Jenny, “I do not think they have destroyed anything at
Rock Castle, for they have no interest in doing so. We shall find our
home in good condition, and we shall resume our life together there, and
with the help of God——”
“Yes, of God,” Frank added, “Who will not forsake us after having
brought us all together again as by a miracle.”
“Ah! If only I could work a miracle!” Jack exclaimed.
“What would you do, Mr. Jack?” the boatswain enquired.
“To begin with,” the young man replied, “I would jolly well make these
rascals decamp before they tried to land on this island, many of them as
there are.”
“And then?” Harry Gould asked.
“Then, captain, if they continued to infest our island with their
presence, I would make either the _Unicorn_ or another ship show its
colours at the entrance to Deliverance Bay.”
“But that would not be a miracle, Jack dear,” Jenny said; “that is an
event which will surely come to pass. One of these days we shall hear
the guns saluting the new English colony.”
“Why, it is surprising that no ship has come already!” Mr. Wolston
agreed.
“Patience!” John Block replied. “Everything comes in its own good time.”
“God grant it!” sighed Mme. Zermatt, whose confidence was shaken by her
many trials.
And so, after having organised their life in New Switzerland, here were
the two families brought down to making another start on a tiny islet, a
mere annex to their island! How long would they be prisoners on it, and
might they not fall into hostile hands if help did not reach them from
outside?
They proceeded to settle down for a stay perhaps of weeks, possibly even
of months. As the store-house was large enough to accommodate fifteen
people, Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. Wolston, Jenny, Susan, and her child,
Hannah and Dolly were to sleep in the beds in the inner room while the
men occupied the outer one.
Now, at the height of summer, the nights were warm, following the hot
days. A few armfuls of grass dried in the sun were all that the men
required, especially as they had to keep guard in turns, from evening
until morning, upon the approaches to the island.
There was no occasion for anxiety with regard to the food supply. Of
rice, tapioca, flour, smoked meat, and dried fish, such as salmon and
herrings, the stores would suffice for the daily requirements of six
months, without taking into account the fresh fish that could be caught
at the foot of the rocks. The mangroves and palms on the island bore
fruit in any quantity. There were two kegs of brandy to make an addition
to the fresh and limpid water of the spring.
The only thing which might run short—and that possibility was
serious—was ammunition, although they had brought some more over in the
boat. If, as a consequence of repeated attacks, powder, bullets and
cannon balls ran out, defence would cease to be possible.
While M. Zermatt and Ernest helped the women to make everything as
comfortable as possible, Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould, the boatswain
and Fritz and Jack and Frank surveyed Shark’s Island on foot. Almost all
round the coast it was easily accessible on little beaches lying between
the projecting points of the coast-line. The best protected part was
that commanded by the battery knoll, which rose at the south-west
extremity, overlooking Deliverance Bay. At its foot there were enormous
rocks, among which it would be very difficult to effect a landing.
Everywhere else, light boats, such as these pirogues were, could find
quite enough water to enable them to reach land. Consequently it was
indispensable that they should keep all the approaches to the island
under careful supervision.
In the course of their inspection Fritz and Frank had opportunity to
observe the fine condition of the plantations. The mangroves, palms, and
pines were in full fruit. Thick grass carpeted the pastures where the
herd of antelopes capered and played. Many birds, flitting from tree to
tree, filled the air with their myriad cries. The magnificent firmament
poured light and warmth upon the surrounding sea.
The day after that on which the two families had taken refuge on the
island, a bird arrived, to receive the warmest of welcomes. It was the
albatross of Burning Rock, which Jenny had found again at Turtle Bay,
and which had flown away from the top of Jean Zermatt peak in the
direction of the Promised Land. When it arrived, the piece of thread
that was still fastened round one of its legs attracted Jack’s
attention, and he caught the bird without any trouble. But,
unfortunately, on this occasion, the albatross brought no tidings.
The men went up to the battery. From the top of the knoll an
uninterrupted view could be obtained north as far as False Hope Point,
east as far as Cape East, and south as far as the end of Deliverance
Bay. To west, about two miles away, ran the long line of trees which
bordered the shore between Jackal River and the Falconhurst woods. But
they could not see whether the natives were roaming about the Promised
Land.
Just at this moment, at the mouth of Deliverance Bay, a few canoes came
paddling out to sea, keeping well beyond range of the guns in the
battery. By this time the savages had learned the danger of coming too
near Shark’s Island, and if they should attempt to land upon it they
would most certainly wait for a very dark night.
Looking out to the open main in the northward, one saw nothing but
deserted boundless space, and it was from that quarter that the
_Unicorn_, or any other ship despatched from England, must appear.
After having satisfied themselves that the battery was in order, the men
were just preparing to come down, when Captain Gould asked:
“Is there not a powder magazine at Rock Castle?”
“Yes,” Jack answered, “and I wish to goodness it were here instead of
there! The three barrels that the _Unicorn_ left us are in it.”
“Where are they?”
“In a little cavity at the end of the orchard.”
The boatswain guessed the captain’s thought.
“Probably,” he said, “those rascals may have discovered that magazine?”
“It is to be feared they may,” Mr. Wolston answered.
“What is most to be feared,” Captain Gould declared, “is that in their
ignorance they may blow up the house.”
“And themselves with it!” Jack exclaimed.
“Well, if Rock Castle had to go to blazes in the explosion, it would be
one solution, for I imagine that those left of the filthy creatures
would decamp, without any heart to come back!”
Leaving the boatswain on sentry-go at the battery, the others went back
to the store-house. Breakfast was eaten together; how happy a meal it
would have been if all the party had been gathered in the big hall at
Rock Castle!
The next four days brought no change in the situation. Beyond keeping
proper watch over the island, they did not know how to fill the long
hours. How different everything would have been if the _Unicorn_ had not
been compelled to put in to Cape Town for repairs. They would all have
been settled down at Rock Castle more than two months ago! And now that
Fritz and Jenny were married, who could say that another wedding would
not be celebrated soon, the union of Ernest and Hannah, which the
corvette’s chaplain might have blessed in the chapel of Rock Castle?
There might have been whispers of a third union—by and by—when Dolly
should be eighteen.
Everyone fought bravely against despondency. As for John Block, he had
lost none of his native good humour. They took long walks among the
plantations. They watched Deliverance Bay, although no attack by the
pirogues was to be apprehended while the sun was in the sky. Then, with
night, all their anxiety returned, anticipating an attack in force.
So while the women retired within the second room of the store-house,
the men made the rounds of the shore, ready to concentrate at the foot
of the knoll if the enemy approached the island.
On the 29th of January, during the morning, there was still nothing
unusual to be noted. The sun rose in a horizon undimmed by the faintest
haze. The day would be very hot, and the light sea-breeze could hardly
last until the evening.
After the mid-day meal Captain Gould and Jack left the store and went to
relieve Ernest and Mr. Wolston, who were on sentry-go at the battery.
Those two were just coming away when Captain Gould stopped them.
“There are several canoes at the mouth of Jackal River,” he said.
“They are probably going fishing as usual,” Jack replied. “They will
take care to go by out of range of our guns.”
Jack was scanning the place through the telescope.
“Ah!” he exclaimed. “There are a lot of canoes this time. Wait:
five—six—nine; and two more coming out of the creek; eleven-twelve! Can
the whole fleet be going fishing?”
“Perhaps they are getting ready to attack us,” Mr. Wolston said.
“We will be on our guard,” said Captain Gould; “let us go and warn the
others.”
“Let us see first which way the canoes are going,” Mr. Wolston replied.
“Anyhow, all our guns are ready,” Jack added.
During the few hours that Jack had spent in the hands of the savages he
had observed that their pirogues were in number fifteen, each able to
carry seven or eight men. Twelve of these canoes could now be counted,
rounding the point of the creek. With the help of the telescope they
were able to calculate that the whole band of savages had gone aboard,
and that there could not be a single aborigine remaining at Rock Castle.
“Can they be clearing out at last?” Jack exclaimed.
“It isn’t very likely,” Ernest answered. “More likely that they mean to
pay a visit to Shark’s Island.”
“When does the ebb begin?” Captain Gould enquired.
“At half-past one,” Mr. Wolston told him.
“Then it will soon make itself felt, and as it will be in the favour of
the canoes we shall then know what to expect.”
Ernest went to inform M. Zermatt, his brothers, and the boatswain, and
all came and took up their posts under the hangar of the battery.
It was a little after one o’clock and, with the ebb only just beginning
to run, the pirogues moved but slowly along the east coast. They kept as
far away from the island as possible, in order to escape the projectiles
whose range and power they now knew very well.
“Yet—suppose it were a final departure!” said Frank again.
“Then good luck to them and good-bye!” said Jack.
“And here’s hoping we shall never see them back!” John Block added.
As yet no one would venture to prophesy such a happy contingency. Were
not the canoes only waiting for the ebb to run strongly in order to make
for the island?
Fritz and Jenny stood side by side, watching in silence, hardly daring
to believe that the situation was drawing to so immediate an end.
It soon became apparent that the canoes were feeling the action of the
outgoing tide. Their speed increased, although they did not cease to hug
the coast, as if it were the natives’ intention to go round Cape East.
At half-past three the fleet was midway between Deliverance Bay and Cape
East. At six o’clock there could be no further doubt on the matter. The
last boat rounded the cape and disappeared behind the point.
Neither M. Zermatt nor anyone else had left the knoll for a moment.
What relief was theirs when not a single pirogue remained in sight! At
last the island was freed from the savages’ presence! The whole party
would be able to settle down in Rock Castle again. Perhaps there would
be only trifling damage to make good. They would do nothing but watch
for the arrival of the _Unicorn_! Their last fears were forgotten, and,
after all, they were all together again after surviving so many dreadful
trials!
“Shall we start for Rock Castle?” Jack exclaimed, eager to quit the
island.
“Yes, yes!” said Dolly no less eagerly. Frank had just joined her.
“Would it not be better to wait until to-morrow?” Jenny suggested. “What
do you think, Fritz dear?”
“What Mr. Wolston and Captain Gould and papa think,” Fritz replied; “and
that certainly is to spend this next night here.”
“Yes,” said M. Zermatt. “Before we return to Rock Castle we must be
absolutely sure that the savages have no intention of going back there.”
“They have gone to the devil already,” Jack exclaimed, “and the devil
never lets go of anything he has once got in his claws! Isn’t that so,
good old Block?”
“Yes—sometimes,” the boatswain answered.
Despite Jack’s protests and arguments, it was decided to postpone the
start until the morrow, and all assembled at the last meal which they
expected to take on Shark’s Island.
It was a very merry one, and when the evening came to an end all were
ready for bed.
Everything suggested that this night of the 29th of January would be as
tranquil as the many others spent in the quietude of Rock Castle and
Falconhurst.
Nevertheless, neither M. Zermatt nor his companions would depart from
their customary caution, although all danger seemed to have gone with
the last of the canoes. It was therefore arranged that some should make
the usual nightly rounds while the others remained on guard at the
battery.
As soon as the women and Bob had gone into the store, Jack, Ernest,
Frank, and John Block, with their guns over their shoulders, set out to
the north end of the island. Fritz and Captain Gould went up the knoll
and took their place under the hangar, as it was their turn to go on
guard until sunrise.
Mr. Wolston, M. Zermatt, and James stayed in the store, where they were
free to sleep until dawn.
The night was a dark one, with no moon. The atmosphere was thick with
the evaporations from the heated earth. The breeze had fallen at
evening. Profound silence reigned. Nothing was audible save the surf of
the incoming tide, which began to flow about eight o’clock.
Harry Gould and Fritz sat side by side, recalling memories of all the
events, good and ill, that had followed each other after the _Flag_ had
cast them adrift. From time to time one or other of them went out and
looked carefully about, more especially in the direction of the dark arm
of the sea lying between the two capes.
Nothing disturbed their utter solitude until, at two o’clock in the
morning, the captain and Fritz were startled out of their conversation
by a report.
“A gun!” said Harry Gould.
“Yes: fired over there,” Fritz answered, pointing to the north-west of
the island.
“What’s up, then?” Captain Gould exclaimed.
Both rushed out of the hangar and peered for any light in the midst of
the profound darkness.
Two other reports rang out, nearer this time than the first one.
“The canoes have come back,” said Fritz.
And leaving Harry Gould at the battery he ran to the store at top speed.
M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston had heard the reports, and were already on
the threshold.
“What is the matter?” M. Zermatt asked sharply.
“I am afraid, papa, that the savages have tried to effect a landing,”
Fritz answered.
“And the rascals have succeeded!” exclaimed Jack, who now approached
with Ernest and the boatswain.
“They are on the island?” said Mr. Wolston.
“Their canoes touched the north-east point just at the very moment we
got there,” said Ernest, “and our shots were not enough to frighten them
off. And now nothing remains but——”
“To defend ourselves!” Captain Gould finished for him.
The ladies had just left their room. In anticipation of an immediate
attack they had to carry all the arms, ammunition and stores they could,
and get to the battery as quickly as possible.
The departure of the pirogues had been merely a ruse. Taking advantage
of the incoming tide, the savages had returned towards Shark’s Island,
which they hoped to take by surprise. The manœuvre had been highly
successful. Although their presence was known and they had been welcomed
with guns, they were in occupation of the point, whence it would be easy
for them to get to the central store.
The situation was thus desperate, for the pirogues had succeeded in
landing the entire band. M. Zermatt and his companions could not offer a
serious resistance to so large a number of assailants. That they must
succumb when their ammunition and supplies ran out was only too certain.
They could do nothing but take refuge on the knoll, within the battery.
That was the only place where there was any possibility of putting up a
defence.
The women and Bob crept under cover in the hangar which sheltered the
two guns. They did not let a murmur escape them.
For one moment M. Zermatt thought of carrying them over to the
Falconhurst shore in the boat. But what would become of the unfortunate
women if, after the islet had been invaded, their companions were unable
to join them? Besides, they would never have consented to go.
It was a little after four o’clock when a confused noise announced the
presence of the savages, a couple of hundred yards away. Captain Gould,
M. Zermatt, Mr. Wolston, Ernest, Frank, James, and the boatswain, armed
with carbines, were ready to fire, while Fritz and Jack stood with
matches lighted near the two little cannon, only waiting for the moment
to rake the slopes of the knoll with grape-shot.
When the black shadows showed against the early light of dawn, Captain
Gould gave the order in a low tone to fire in that direction.
Seven or eight reports rang out, followed by horrible cries which proved
that more than one bullet had found its billet in the crowd.
Three attacks had to be repelled before sunrise. In the last a score or
so of natives succeeded in reaching the crest of the knoll. Although
some of them had been mortally hit, the carbines could no longer keep
them in check, and but for a double discharge of the ordnance the
battery would probably have been carried in this assault.
At daylight the band withdrew among the trees, near the store, as if
they meant to wait until the next night to renew the attack.
Unfortunately the defenders had almost exhausted their cartridges. When
they were reduced to the two guns, which could only be directed towards
the base of the knoll, how could they cover the summit?
A council was held to consider the situation. If they could not carry on
the resistance under these conditions, would it not be possible to leave
Shark’s Island, land on Falconhurst beach, and seek refuge within the
Promised Land or in some other part of the island—all of them together,
this time? Or would it be better to make a rush on the savages and, with
the advantage of carbines over bows and arrows, compel them to take to
the sea again? But M. Zermatt and his party were only nine against the
scores who surrounded the knoll.
Just at this moment, as if in answer to this last suggestion, the air
was filled with the whistling of arrows, some of which stuck in the roof
of the hangar, fortunately without wounding anyone.
“The attack is beginning again!” said John Block.
“Let’s get ready for them!” Fritz replied.
This assault was the fiercest of all, for the natives were furious, and
seemed no longer afraid to face the bullets and grape-shot. Moreover,
the ammunition was almost exhausted, and the fire slackened. Several of
the savages crawled up the knoll and got to the hangar. The two
carronades fired point blank at them, cleared the ground of a few, and
Fritz, Jack, Frank, James, and John Block fought hand to hand with the
others. Then they retired over the corpses which strewed the foot of the
hill. They had used a weapon between axe and club, which, in their
hands, was a formidable thing.
Plainly the struggle approached its end. The last cartridges were spent.
Numbers must tell. M. Zermatt and his party were trying to make a stand
around the hangar, which must soon be entered. At grips with several
natives, Fritz and Frank and Jack and Harry Gould were in imminent peril
of being borne down to the foot of the hill. The fight would be over in
a few minutes now, and defeat meant massacre, for they could expect no
mercy from these savage foes.
Just at this moment a report rang out off the island, borne by the wind
from the north.
The assailants heard it, for those in advance stopped.
Fritz and Jack and the others at once ran back towards the hangar, one
or two of them slightly wounded.
“A gun!” Frank exclaimed.
“And a gun from a ship—or I’m a Dutchman!” the boatswain declared.
“There is a ship in sight,” said M. Zermatt.
“It is the _Unicorn_,” Jenny replied.
“And it’s God who has sent her now!” Frank murmured.
The echoes of Falconhurst rang with a second detonation, much closer,
and the savages recoiled into cover under the trees.
Jack sprang to the flag-staff, and, nimble as any top-man, scrambled to
the top of it.
“Ship! Ship ahoy!” he yelled.
All eyes were turned towards the north.
Above False Hope Point the topsails of a ship appeared, swelling in the
morning breeze.
A three-master, on the port tack, was manœuvring to get round the point,
which thereafter was known as Cape Deliverance.
From her mizzen-mast flew the flag of Great Britain!
The women appeared stretching their hands to heaven in ardent gratitude.
“What about those ruffians?” Fritz enquired.
“They’re running!” replied Jack, who had just slid down the flag-staff.
“Yes, they’re running!” John Block added. “And if they don’t clear jolly
quick, we’ll help them along with our last four-pounders.”
And indeed, surprised by the detonations ringing from the north, scared
by the sight of the ship coming round the point, the savages had fled to
the point where their canoes were lying. They clambered into them,
shoved off hard and paddled vigorously in the direction of Cape East.
The boatswain and Jack went back into the hangar and trained the two
guns upon them; and three canoes, cut in half, went to the bottom.
Just as the ship, coming under full sail into the arm of the sea, was
off Shark’s Island, she joined her heavy guns to those of the battery.
Most of the pirogues failed to escape the rain of shot and shell, and
only two succeeded in vanishing behind the cape, never to return.
[Illustration: “Just as the ship was off Shark’s Island, she joined with
her heavy guns.”]