THE GOVERNOR'S STRATEGY.
When Atkins and his companion had disappeared down the path that led to
the cove, Sam placed his hands behind his back, and began pacing
thoughtfully to and fro, while Friday, dismayed and perplexed by this
unlooked-for event, and utterly unable to discover any way out of the
difficulty, stretched himself on the ground and waited for the chief to
speak.
The affairs of the band were certainly beginning to look desperate. With
two of his best men in the hands of the enemy, two more setting his
authority at defiance, and with only one companion upon whom to depend,
what could the governor do? A less determined and persevering boy would
have given up in despair; but Sam, who, since the idea of leading Crusoe
life had been suggested to him, had thought and dreamed about nothing
else, was not easily discouraged. He was resolved that he would not
abandon the course of action which had been determined on by the band a
few days before; but he could not carry it out unless assisted by the
two mutineers, and, as they could not be coaxed to listen to reason,
they must be compelled. He would punish them for their disobedience, and
show them, once for all, that his authority could not be resisted with
impunity.
"Friday," said he, "I'll never forget you fur this night's work. You've
got the best name of any of us, an' so has Will Atkins. The Friday the
book tells about stuck to Crusoe like a brother, an' Atkins done nothin'
but study up meanness an' mischief. Our Atkins is doin' the same thing;
but he won't make nothin', no more'n the one he's named after did. He'll
be glad enough to come to terms by mornin', now you see if he aint. We
don't intend to let him an' Jack Spaniard go back to the village to blow
on us, an' the first thing to be done is to fasten 'em in the cove, so
that we can find 'em when we want 'em."
"How are we goin' to do it?" asked Friday.
"We'll take down the bridge," replied the governor, with a chuckle, "an'
then let's see 'em get out. They don't know the channels across the
shoals, so, of course, they won't dare to try to sail out; an' after the
bridge is gone, there's only one way they can get across the gully. I'll
larn 'em how to get up a mutiny."
The chief, after lighting his lantern, led the way down the path, and
presently came to a halt on the brink of the chasm. Atkins and Jack
Spaniard having crossed it a few minutes before, the rope was on the
opposite side, and Friday could see no way to obtain possession of it.
"I'll tell you how I am goin' to manage it," said the governor, in
answer to an inquiring glance from his companion. "I told you there is
one way to get across, even after the bridge is gone, didn't I? Well, do
you see this tree here? It leans over the gully, an' one of its limbs
runs into the tree on the opposite side that the rope is made fast to."
Friday elevated his lantern and gazed up into the darkness, but could
see nothing more than a dense canopy of leaves and branches hanging over
the chasm. He shuddered at the thought of attempting to cross on so
frail a bridge. "I wouldn't go up there fur nothin'," said he, "an' I
wouldn't advise you to try it, either."
"Well, it aint the pleasantest job in the world," replied Sam,
carelessly, "but I know just where the limb is, an' I am sure I can
cross on it. Howsomever, I am free to confess, that if I could think of
any other way to get the rope, I wouldn't try it."
"If you can cross that way, what's the reason that Will Atkins an' Jack
Spaniard can't do it too?" inquired Friday.
"'Cause, after I get over an' come back, nobody will ever cross the gully
that way again. We'll pull the limb down. Now, you hold the lantern up
high an' give me all the light you can. It's mighty dark up there, an' I
don't care about missin' my hold an' fallin down on them rocks."
The chief scrambled up the cliff to the tree of which he had spoken, and
began to ascend it. He worked his way up with the agility of a squirrel,
and presently disappeared from the view of his man below. When he came
in sight again, he was on the limb that stretched out over the chasm,
and which was bending and cracking beneath his weight in a manner that
made Friday extremely nervous. But Sam resolutely held on his way, and
finally swung himself safely into the branches of the tree on the
opposite side. After securing the rope, he threw one end of it to
Friday, made the other fast to the limb on which he had crossed the
gully, and a few moments afterward he slid down the bluff and seated
himself on the ground beside his companion, to recover his breath.
"I'll show them fellers what they are about," said he, wiping the big
drops of perspiration from his face. "I'll larn 'em how to get up a
mutiny, after promisin', honor bright, to obey all orders. Now, if we've
got muscle enough to break that limb, we are all right."
"Couldn't Atkins make a bridge, by cuttin' down one of them trees?"
asked Friday.
"No, he couldn't. The trees on that side won't fall across the gully,
'cause they all lean the other way. Ketch hold, now, an' pull fur life."
The governor and his man grasped the ropes, and, exerting all their
strength, suddenly found themselves lying flat in the path. The limb,
unable to resist the strain brought to bear upon it, parted with a noise
like the report of a cannon, and fell crashing into the gully, carrying
with it a perfect avalanche of rocks and earth which it detached from
the opposite bluff. That bridge was destroyed, and there was no way of
escape for the mutineers.
The next thing was to untie the rope from the limb which lay at the
bottom of the chasm. The only way it could be accomplished was for one
of the Crusoe men to go down into the gully, and this Friday volunteered
to do. Accordingly, the end of the rope which they held in their hands
was made fast to the nearest tree, and Friday, after tying the lantern
around his waist, descended out of sight. In a few minutes he
re-appeared, climbing the rope, which was pulled up and hidden away in
the bushes.
"That job is done," said the chief, with a long breath of relief, "an'
them two fellers are fastened up as tight as if they were in jail. I'll
larn 'em how to get up a mutiny!"
"But, governor, how will we get across?" asked Friday.
"Easy enough. One of us will climb up an' make one end of the rope fast
to this tree that leans over the gully, an' we'll swing back an' forth
just as we did before. The next job we've got to do aint so easy. It's
one I don't like; but, if I was a prisoner, I'd think it mighty mean of
my men if they deserted me, an' I'm goin' to do to the cap'n an' Xury
just as I'd like to be done by."
The governor and his man ascended to the top of the bluff, and bent
their steps toward the farm-house, which was now shrouded in total
darkness. The inmates had all retired to rest, happy in the belief that
those of the band who had escaped had made the best of their way to the
village, and that their potato-patch was safe for the rest of the night.
But the Crusoe men, apprehensive that the farmer might still be on the
watch, were at first very cautious in their movements. They walked
around the house several times without seeing any signs of the enemy,
and, growing bolder by degrees, began to search the out-buildings,
hoping that Tom and his mate might be confined in one of them. But their
efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of their unlucky companions were
unrewarded, and, after half an hour's fruitless search, even Sam began
to get discouraged.
"Mebbe they have taken them to the village already," he whispered,
leaning disconsolately against a corner of the house. "If they have, the
expedition is up stump, easy enough, an' we can bid good-by to all hopes
of ever seein' our island. What's that? Didn't you hear some one call?"
"I thought I did," replied Friday, "but I wasn't sartin'."
"I say, governor, are you deaf? Look this way. Here we are."
The words seemed to come from the ground at their very feet; and the
governor and Friday heard them plainly enough this time. Their attention
was drawn to one of the cellar windows, and there they saw the two
prisoners, with their faces pressed close against the bars.
"What are you doin' down there?" asked Friday, in an excited whisper.
"Are you locked up?"
"I reckon," replied Xury. "We wouldn't stay here if we wasn't, would
we?"
"O, now, yes, we're locked up," drawled Tom, who, delighted as he was at
seeing the chief, could not forget his lazy way of talking. "But you are
going to let us out, are you not?"
"Sartin. That's what we come here fur, an' we'll do it if we have to
burn the shantee."
"You needn't go to all that trouble, governor," said Xury. "Do you see
that door around there on the other side of the house?"
Sam walked around the building, and when he came back, he said that he
had seen the door.
"Well," continued Xury, "all you have got to do is to raise a rumpus out
there, an' awaken the people up stairs."
"Humph!" sneered Sam.
"Hold on till I get through, governor. Of course, when they hear you,
they'll come out an' foller you; an' when the men have all left the
house, one of you can slip back an' cut down that door an' let us out.
Here's an ax to do it with," he added, passing the implement through the
window to the chief.
"That's a good idea, after all," said Sam.
"Friday, you take the ax, an' I'll do the runnin'. I'll lead the fellers
toward the beach, an' you stay here an' watch your chance to beat down
that door. How many folks are there in the house, Xury?"
"Ten altogether--six men an' boys, an' four women," was the reply. "I
know, 'cause I counted 'em."
"Of course, the women will stay in the house," continued the governor,
addressing himself to Friday; "an' when they hear you cuttin' at the
door, they'll be sartin to come out an' holler at you; but that needn't
scare you. Now, then, how shall we awaken the folks?"
The chief had scarcely propounded this question, when it was answered in
way he had not expected. A window above him was thrown open, a head
appeared, and a voice called out, "Well, I swan!"
The governor and his man did not wait to hear what the farmer had to say
next. The enemy were aroused, and an opportunity was given them to try
the plan Xury had suggested. Friday, who well understood the part he was
expected to perform, sprang around the house out of sight; while Sam
started across the field toward the beach.
"Stop there, you young rascal!" shouted the man in the window. "Josh!
Bill! Wake up, an' get out there! Those robbers have come back again!"
The window came down with a crush, and Friday, who had by this time
concealed himself behind a corn-crib, a short distance from the cellar
door, heard a great commotion in the house. Lights flashed from the
windows, men and women run about calling to each other, and presently
the door opened and Josh and Bill appeared.
"There they are!" exclaimed one discovering Sam, who was by this time
well on his way across the field; "hurry up there, boys. He's got a
long start, and is running like a scared turkey."
These last words were addressed to the men in the house, who came out
one after another, some without their hats, some bare-footed, others
pulling on their coats as they ran, and all following after Bill and
Josh, who were flying across the field in hot pursuit of the governor.
Friday, from his hiding-place, counted them as they sprang down the
steps, and when the sixth man had left the house, and was out of sight
in the darkness, he straightened up and prepared for action. He listened
a moment to the shrill, excited voices of the women, and clutching his
ax with a firm hold, he came out from behind the corn-crib and ran
toward the house. A few rapid steps brought him to the cellar door,
which he attacked furiously. The first blow he struck echoed through the
cellar like a peal of thunder, alarming the women up stairs; and the
second brought them to the porch, where they stood watching Friday's
operations in speechless amazement. The Crusoe man, intent on releasing
his companions, gave no heed to what was going on around him, until a
chorus of angry screams arose from the porch; then he started and
trembled a little, but was not frightened from his work. He redoubled
his efforts, the door began to bend and groan, and was finally forced
from its fastenings, and Tom and his mate sprang out. Then the screams
arose in greater volume than before, and reached the ears of the farmer
and his men, who abandoned the pursuit of the governor, and returned to
the house with all possible speed. But they were too late; for, long
before they arrived, Tom and his companions had made good their escape.
The shattered door, and the ax lying where Friday had thrown it after
effecting the release of the prisoners, were all that were left to
remind the farmer of the Crusoe band.