"Caesar do um bes', massa."
"So you have, my lad. But the next time the enemy come on your men
shall try what they can do."
"Here they come again, sir," whispered Murray.
"Keep silence then," said the lieutenant. "May, all of you wait and let
them come on till you hear their leaders' orders to fire, and let them
have it first."
Then turning to the black, the speaker bade him head his men, who now
began to be pretty steady, and lead them along the path in the direction
of the planter's cottage.
"No, no, massa. Caesar make boys fight now."
"You do as I tell you, sir," replied the lieutenant sternly. "Go on
back, collecting as many more of your men as you can, and my lads shall
cover the retreat and check the slaves."
"Massa want Caesar do this?" said the black sadly.
"Yes, and I want you to obey my orders."
"Yes, massa," said the black, with a sigh, "only Caesar feel like fight
and die for massa now."
_Crash_!
There was the sound of a volley, so many muskets going off together like
one, while as the sound began to die away, it was mingled with loud
yells and curses, and emphasised as it were by the rattling of the
ramrods in the barrels of the muskets.
"I think that's checked them, sir," said Murray; but almost as he spoke
there came three shots from some of the boldest of the enemy who had
stopped short to snap off their vengeful retreating replies to the
sailors' volley.
"Waste of powder," growled Tom May. "Hear 'em running through the
trees, Mr Murray, sir?"
"Yes, and I should like to give them another volley."
"So should I, sir," panted the big sailor, as he drove down his ramrod
till it nearly hopped out of the musket-barrel again; "but we can't
afford it."
"Any one hurt there, May?" cried the lieutenant.
"Yes, sir; lots," replied the big sailor, with a chuckle of
satisfaction.
"What's that?" cried the lieutenant, in anxious tones.
"Beg pardon, sir," growled the sailor hastily. "I didn't mean us."
"Silence, sir!" cried the lieutenant sternly.
The next minute, in the midst of that which the officer had commanded,
they heard him giving orders to the black.
"You'll hear of this again, Mr Tom May," said Murray.
"Yes, sir, I s'pose so," said the big sailor grumpily. "That's just
like me. It's just as an old mate of mine once said. `You've got a
horkerd sort o' mouth, Tommy, you have,' he says. `You never opens it
but you puts your foot in it.'"
"Hist! What does that mean, Tom?" whispered the middy.
"Means it's so plaguey dark that you can't see what's going on."
"Yes, but you can listen, sir."
"Oh, Mr Murray, sir, don't you come down upon me too. Just then it was
Mister Tom May; and now it's _sir_. I didn't mean no harm, sir. It
cheers a man up, to try and think a bit cheery, 'specially when you're
expecting a bullet every minute to come in for'ard and pass out astarn."
"Don't talk, man," whispered Murray. "Can't you hear the enemy?"
"Yes, sir: that's them, sir, creeping up towards us through the bushes."
The man spoke with his lips close to the middy's ear.
The silence seemed to be terrible, and to Murray the feeling was that he
could not breathe.
"Won't you give us the order to let 'em have it again, sir, without
waiting till the first luff comes back?" whispered the sailor.
"Isn't he there, Tom?"
"No, sir, he's gone off with them poor shivering niggers, sir, to try a
bit o' manoeuvring o' some kind; but he won't do no good, sir. They
arn't got a bit o' fight in 'em. But what can you expect of a poor
beggar as lives on yam and a chew o' sugar-cane? It don't give a man
pluck, sir. If I had 'em fed up a bit on salt horse and weevly biscuit
I'd make 'em something like in a few weeks. There, sir; hear that?"
"Yes," whispered Murray. "Ah, they're getting ready to fire. Make
ready. Each man aim at where he thinks they're coming on. Fire!"
A capital volley was the result, followed by the rush of feet of those
who had been creeping up through the trees; and then above the crackling
and breaking of leaf and twig, arose a furious yell and the groaning of
human beings in intense pain.
"How horrible it sounds!" said Murray, as the thudding of ramrods arose.
"Does it, sir?" grunted Tom May. "Oh, I dunno, sir. Sounds to me
black. Dessay it would ha' seemed to me horrid if it had been white.
There, sir; Mr Anderson don't seem to think bad on it," growled the
man.
For at that moment the chief officer hurried up to where they stood,
uttering a few quick enquiries and listening to the results.
"No one hurt then?" he said, with a sigh of satisfaction. "That's good,
Mr Murray. Oh, by the way, Thomas May, I shall want a word or two with
you when this business is over. Mr Murray, you will bring up the rear.
Keep together, and follow me as silently as you can. Mr Murray, the
blacks are well together now, following the planter's man, and we have
to follow him, for I have to depend upon him to lead us back. I need
not say that you must keep your ears well open, for in spite of the
checks we have given them the enemy may come on again."
"The first luff don't seem to think it's very horrible, Mr Murray,
sir," whispered the big sailor, as he trudged as silently as he could
beside his companion of the rear-guard.
"No, Tom," replied the middy; "but this fighting in the dark is very
horrible all the same."
"Well, I dunno, sir. 'Tarn't nice, of course; but 'tarn't our fault,
and wherever we've left one o' them black or white slaver chaps a bit
sore on the nat'ral deck yonder you may say as he desarves all he's
got."
Murray made no reply, for he had stopped short for a few moments to
listen; and finding this, the big sailor followed his example.
"Hear 'em coming, sir?"
"No, Tom; I thought I did, but all seems quite still again. Here, I
wish you'd listen. I don't know how it is, but you seem to hear much
more plainly than I can."
Tom chuckled.
"Well, what is there to laugh at in what I said?"
"Oh, I dunno, sir, on'y it sounded rum to me."
"What did, sir?"
"You saying you couldn't hear so plain as I can."
"Well, what is there rum, as you call it, in that?"
"Nowt, sir, only the reason why. I can hear sharp as sharp, sir,
because I was always getting my ears boxed when I was a boy. I was sent
to what they call a Dame school, and I s'pose I was a very tiresome boy,
for she used to box my ears--both on 'em--with the book. Then when I
got bigger and I was at the school where there was a master he used to
give it my ears precious hot, I can tell you, sir; but it made 'em as
sharp as sharp, and I used to be so quick with 'em that I could hear his
hands coming when he was going to hit me; and then he used to miss, and
instead of hitting 'em he used to warm my ears with words."
"Then you can't hear the enemy following us, Tom?" whispered the middy.
The man stopped short and dropped upon one knee to listen.
"N-n-n-Yes, I can, sir," whispered the man quickly. "Come on, sir; the
sailors, they're not far behind. Gently; I don't think they can hear us
then. Let's get up to the first luff and see what he says about giving
them another shot or two."
"Yes, press on. We've let them get too far ahead," said Murray hastily.
"We ought to have kept close up."
"Would ha' been better for some things, sir; but you can't keep close up
when you're in the rear and hear the enemy too. Wish the first luff
would let us have that nigger chap with us. He can feel his way in the
dark when it's black as black."
"But he can't be spared. Can you tell how near the enemy are?"
"No, sir. Can't hear 'em now. Let's ketch up to our chaps, and then as
soon as we're within touch with 'em we'll stop again and listen."
"Halt there, or we fire!" said a voice sharply, out of the black
darkness in front.
"Hush! The enemy are close at hand," whispered Murray, in a low
suppressed voice.
"Who's yon?" whispered another voice. "Look out, sir."
"Here, Tom, what does this mean?" said Murray excitedly.
"Means it ought to be my messmate, Billy Titely sir, only he's got
winged, sir, and gone right on ahead."
"Nay, he arn't, Tom, lad, 'cause he's here," came in the familiar tones.
"Say, Mr Roberts, sir, is that there Tom May talking, or has my wound
made me a bit dillylerous. I wish you'd just say."
"Is Dick Roberts there?" whispered Murray excitedly.
"I should say he was, sir, only I keep on going off giddy like."
"But you ought to be right on ahead of Mr Anderson and the men," cried
Murray.
"There, I telled you, sir, Mr Roberts, sir," said Titely. "I could
feel like as we was somehow got into the wrong watch, and I did say so,
sir."
"Oh, bother!" cried Roberts. "It was so dark, and my head was all of a
swim. Well, never mind; let's get into our right place again. Where is
it?"
"I dunno, sir. These here black chaps as is guiding us will show us
right enough."
"Hist! Hist!" whispered Murray. "Can't you understand? We're the
rear-guard of the column, Tom May and I, and the enemy is somewhere
close behind. Haven't you got your men with you, and some blacks?"
"We had," replied Roberts, "but somehow we've got separated from them,
or they've got separated from us; I don't know how it is. It's all
through my wound, I suppose. Here, Murray, old chap, you'd better put
us right again."
"Will you hold your stupid tongue, Dick?" whispered Murray excitedly.
"Here, both you and Titely follow me. Get behind them, Tom May, and
look sharp, or we shall be too late."
"Ay, ay, sir!" replied the big sailor; and Murray heard him throw his
musket from one shoulder to the other before seeming to loosen his
cutlass in the scabbard, which the lad could only interpret as putting
himself in readiness for an immediate encounter.
"Listen again, Tom," whispered Murray.
There was a pause, and for a few minutes nothing broke the strange
silence which reigned.
"Well?" whispered the middy impatiently.
"Well, sir, I can't make nothing of it," replied the sailor.
"Not so loud, Tom."
"All right, sir, but I don't think that was much of a pig's whisper."
"Oh, nonsense! What do you make of it now?"
"Nowt, sir, only as we've got ourselves into a great hobble. I can't
hear nothing of our chaps."
"No; they've gone on, and we must overtake them and let Mr Anderson
know that Roberts and Titely have lost their way, and have doubled back
so that we have met them."
"Ay, ay, sir, that's the way; but how are we going to do it?"
"You take Titely by the arm, and I'll hurry on Mr Roberts. Let's start
at once."
"Right, sir. Which way?"
"Follow Mr Anderson's track at once."
"Yes, sir, of course; but which way's that?"
"Why, you don't mean to say you've lost touch, Tom?" said Murray
excitedly.
"Nay, sir, I arn't had nothing to touch lately. I s'pose I've turned
stoopid through coming upon them two so sudden. But just you start me,
sir, and then I shall go on as steady and reg'lar as can be."
"Tom!" groaned Murray.
"Ay, ay, sir! Which way?"
Murray uttered a gasp as he stood trying to pierce the darkness, turning
slowly in different directions the while.
"Ready, sir," said the sailor. "I've got hold of Bill Titely, sir,
quite tightly too," added the man, with a low chuckle.
Titely groaned aloud.
"Steady, sir!" whispered the man. "That was a regular pig's whisper,
and no mistake.--Quiet, you lubber!" he added, giving his messmate a
shake. "Don't bully him, sir; his wound's made him a bit silly like,
and he don't quite know what he's about, or he wouldn't howl aloud like
that."
"Here, stop that," came from out of the darkness. "Who is it--you,
Frank? Don't play the fool with a fellow. It makes me so jolly giddy,
and it hurts."
"I'm not doing anything, Dick," whispered Murray. "Oh, do be quiet, old
chap! Can't you understand that your wound has made you turn weak, and
that the enemy are somewhere close at hand?"
"No! It all goes round and round and round. Stop it, will you?"
"Dick, I'm doing nothing," said Murray despairingly. "Be quiet, or
you'll betray us to the enemy."
"Hang the enemy! Who cares for the enemy? I'm not going to run away
from a set of woolly-headed niggers. Let's fight them and have done
with it."
"Say, Mr Murray, sir, we've got in a hole this time. Arn't you 'most
as bad as me?"
"Worse, Tom--worse!" groaned Murray.
"Oh, you couldn't be worse, sir," said the man hastily; "but you can't
tell me which way to go, can you?"
"No, Tom; the darkness seems to have quite confused me, and if I tell
you to make a start we're just as likely to run upon the enemy as to go
after Mr Anderson."
"That's so, sir; and that arn't the worst of it."
"There can be no worse, Tom," said Murray despondently.
"Oh yes, sir, there can, for you see it arn't you and me alone to look
after one another; we've each got a messmate on our hands, for I s'pose
it wouldn't be right for you to leave Mr Roberts to shift for hisself,
no more than it would for me to leave Billy Titely."
"Of course not, poor fellows; we must stand by them to the last."
"That's your sort, sir. A sailor allers stands by his messmate; but
they are a pair of okkard ones just now, just at a time when it's dark
as the bottom of a pitch kettle full right up to the very top. But do
say something, Mr Murray, sir."
"Say, Tom! I've got nothing to say."
"I know some one who will have, sir, when we come acrorst him, and
that's Mr Anderson, sir." Murray groaned.
"I think I shall get behind you, sir," said the big sailor, with a
chuckle, "so as he can take the sharp edge off his tongue on you first."
"Tom May!" whispered the midshipman bitterly. "How can you laugh at a
time like this!"
"I dunno, sir, but I don't mean nothing disrespectful to my officer,
sir. I thought a bit of a joke would cheer us up a bit. But it arn't
nat'ral like, for I feel as if I could lay my cocoanut up again' a tree
and howl like a sick dog as has got his fore foot under a wheel. But it
is a muddle, sir, arn't it? What shall we do?"
"I can only think one thing, Tom, and it is horrible. It seems like
giving up in despair."
"Never mind, sir: let's have it, for I want to be doing something."
"I can think of nothing but waiting till daylight."
"Can't you, sir? Well, I thought that, but it seemed to me too stoopid.
But I don't know as there isn't some good in it, for we might get them
two to lie still and sleep, and that's about all they're fit for. It's
orful dark, but that don't matter for the sick bay, and when they wake
up again in the morning, perhaps they won't talk silly. You're right,
sir; let's put our wounded to bed, and then divide the rest of the night
into two watches. I'll take the first, and you take the second watch,
which will carry us well on till daylight. What do you say to that,
sir?"
"That it is the best thing to be done; only we'll watch together, Tom,
and rest."
"Not you go to sleep, sir?" said Tom dubiously.
"I could not sleep, Tom. We'll talk in whispers about the blacks'
meeting and what they were planning to do."
"Very well, sir.--What say, Billy? No, no! No answering, my lad.
You'll be telling the niggers where we are. You've got to lie down, for
it arn't your watch.--That's the way.--Now, Mr Murray, sir, you let
your one down easy. That's the way, sir--close up together. It'll keep
'em right, and p'raps ward off the fever. Now you and I sit down and
have our palaver. I should say let's sit on 'em as soon as they're
asleep, but I s'pose you wouldn't like to sit on Mr Roberts."
"Oh no, of course not," said the midshipman.
"All right, sir; you think it wouldn't be fair to your messmate, but it
would, for it would keep him warm. But I shall do as you do, sir; or
let's try t'other way."
"What other way, Tom?"
"Sit up close to one another, back to back; then I warms you and you
warms me, and that keeps away the chill. You gets a bit tired after a
time and feels ready to droop for'ard on to your nose, but when that
comes on you can hook elbers, and that holds you upright.--Now then,
sir, how's that? Right? Wait a minute; let's have a listen. Three
cheers for well-boxed ears!"
The big sailor sat upright and listened intently for a few minutes,
before he whispered--
"I can just hear the beetles crawling about among the dead leaves and
things, sir, and seeming to talk to one another in their way, but I
can't hear no niggers coming arter us. Strange thing, arn't it, sir,
that one set o' blacks should take to capturing another set o' blacks
and selling 'em into slavery? Them's a savage lot as that Huggins has
got together, and it strikes me as we shall find 'em reg'lar beggars to
fight if it's all right as Master See-saw says about their manning his
ships. So far as I could make out he's got schooners manned with white
ruffians as well as black blacks, and all as bad as bad can be."
"Yes, Tom," said Murray thoughtfully.
"Nice beauties," continued Tom, "and so far as I can make out, sir,
there was going to be a reg'lar rising to-night, or last night. The
plantation niggers had come to the way of thinking that it was time to
mutiny and kill off them as had brought 'em here, and so that there
Huggins--my word, shouldn't I like to have the job of huggin' him!--got
to know of it and brings his schooners' crews to show 'em they was not
the sort of chaps to carry out a mutiny of that kind."
"Poor wretches, no," said Murray sadly.
"That's right, Mr Murray, sir. Poor wretches it is. You see, sir,
they're a different sort o' nigger altogether. I got to know somehow
from a marchant skipper as traded off the West Coast that there's two
sorts o' tribes there, fighting tribes as fights by nature, and tribes
as 'tisn't their nature to fight at all. Well, sir, these here first
ones makes war upon them as can't fight, carries off all they can as
prisoners, and sells 'em to the slave-traders. Then it comes at last to
a mutiny like this here we've seen, and the poor wretches, as you calls
them, is worse fighters than they was afore, and slaving skippers like
Huggins collects their schooners' crews together and drives the black
mutineers before 'em like a flock o' Baa, baa, black sheep, kills a lot
and frightens a lot more to death, and then things goes on just the same
as before.--Comfortable, sir?"
"No, Tom. Are you?"
"No, sir. But that's about how it is, arn't it?"
"Yes, I believe so, Tom."
"Then it goes on as I said till their medicine man--sort o' priest, I
suppose--stirs 'em to make another try to get the upper hand. Talks a
lot o' that nonsense to 'em about fetish and Obeah, as they calls it,
and shows the poor benighted chaps a bit of hanky panky work with a big
snake like that we saw to-night. Makes 'em think the snake's horrid
poisonous, and that it can't bite him as handles it, because he's took
some stuff or another. Rum game that there was with that sarpent, and--
I say, sir, don't you think we'd better get up now for a bit and just
mark time? You see, we can't walk, for if we do we shall lose
ourselves."
"We might take it in turns, and just keep touch of one another."
"What, sir? No, thankye. Ketch me trying that way again! We've had
enough of that. Fust thing, though, let's see how our wounded's getting
on."
"Yes, Tom," said Murray; and they felt for their unfortunate companions
in the darkness, with the result that Titely flung out one fist with the
accompaniment of an angry growl, and at the first touch of Murray's
fingers, Roberts uttered an angry expostulation, taking all the
stiffness out of his brother middy's joints as the lad started, broke
out in a violent perspiration, and caught hold of his wakeful companion,
for the pair to stand listening for some sign of the enemy having heard
the cry, and beginning to steal silently towards them.
"Cutlasses, Tom," whispered Murray, with his lips to the big sailor's
ear, and together they unsheathed their weapons and stood back to back,
ready to defend themselves.
"Thrust, Tom," whispered Murray again.
"Ay, ay, sir!" And then the terrible silence of the black darkness was
only broken by a faint mutter from one or other of the wounded pair,
while the listeners breathed hard in agony, trying the while to suppress
the going and coming of the prime necessity of life. Murray pressed the
hard hilt of his cutlass against his breast in the faint hope that by so
doing he could deaden the heavy throbbing that sounded loudly to his
ear, while if any one was approaching at all near he felt certain that
he must hear the dull thumps that went on within the breast of the big
sailor.
There was another dread, too, which troubled the watch-keepers: at any
moment they felt certain the disturbed sleepers might begin talking
aloud. But that peril they were spared.
"Don't hear anything, sir," whispered Tom, at last. "I made sure we
should have brought them down upon us. I say, sir, it seems to me as
Natur must have made some mistake."
"How?" asked Murray.
"Forgot to wind up the sun last night."
"What do you mean?"
"So as it should rise again."
"Nonsense!" said Murray, in a voice which sounded to be full of
annoyance. "That's the morning breeze beginning to blow."
"Well, I don't care, sir," grumbled the big sailor; "it ought to have
been to-morrow morning before now. Sun must be late. I never knowed
such a long night before."
"It's coming, Tom, and before long. Isn't that the warm glow?"
"No," said the sailor shortly. "As you said, there's a breeze coming up
from somewhere or another, and tidy strong, too."
"Yes," said Murray.
"Well, it's blowing up the embers of the fire that was burning its way
through the woods."
"Think so, Tom?" said Murray, his companion's words arousing his
interest.
"Yes, sir; that's it. Can't you see that it looks reddish?"
"So does the sunrise."
"Yes, sir, that's true; but all the same I'm sartain that's the fire
brightening up a bit. We haven't seen no pale dawn yet."
"If it would only come, Tom!"
"Yes, sir; and what then?"
"We shall be able to find our messmates and bring them to our side."
"Maybe we shall bring the black and white niggers instead, sir, and
it'll mean a fight, for we're not going to give up quietly, are we?"
"No, Tom, and I hope that when those two wake up they may be able to
fire a shot or two to help us."
"Hope so, sir. But look yonder: there's the dawn coming."
"Yes!" whispered Murray eagerly. "Look; I can just make out the
branches of a tree against the sky."
"That's right, sir. Now for it; what's it going to be--enemies or
friends?"
"Friends, Tom," whispered Murray confidently.
There was a pause, during which the pair stood gazing straight before
them, striving to pierce the dim dawn which seemed to consist for the
most part of a thick mist which lay low upon the surface of the earth,
while above the top of the forest all was fairly clear.
Then all at once, very softly, but so clear of utterance that the word
seemed to vibrate in the middy's ear, the big sailor uttered a whisper,
as he pressed his firm, strong hand upon the lad's shoulder.
His word was "Enemies!" and in obedience to the warning, Murray sank
down till he lay prone upon the dew-wet earth.
For about fifty yards away there were figures moving, and evidently in
the direction of the spot where the two watchers lay.