"MASTER JACK."
They had been a month on the island, leading a dreamy kind of existence,
and had begun to sleep of a night deeply and well without starting up
half a dozen times bathed in sweat, and believing that the authorities
from Plantation Settlement were on their track and about to take them by
surprise. The question had been debated over and over again--What were
they to do? but Dinny generally had the last word.
"Why, who wants to do anything? Unless a man was in Ireland, where
could he be better than he is here, with iverything a man could wish for
but some more powder and a wife. Eh! Master Jack, ye handsome young
rascal, that's what ye're always thinking about."
"Jack" gave him an angry look, and coloured.
"Look at him!" cried Dinny. "There's tell-tales. Niver mind, lad, it's
human nature, and we're all full of it, and a good thing, too. Now come
and get some cocoa-nuts, for the powder's growing very low and we shall
have to take to pig hunting instead of shooting when its done."
"Jack" hesitated, and then, as if suddenly making up his mind,
accompanied the Irishman to the nearest grove where the cocoa palms grew
close down to the sea.
Here Dinny rolled up the sleeves of his coarse and ragged shirt, and
climbed one tree as a lad does a pole; but the fruit when he reached it
was immature, and he threw only one of the great husks down.
"We don't want dhrink, but mate," said Dinny, selecting another tree,
and beginning to climb; but the day was hot, there was a languid feeling
induced by the moist atmosphere, and Dinny failed three times to reach
the glorious green crown of leaves where the nuts nestled, and slid down
again, sore in body and in temper.
"A failure, Dinny!" said Jack.
"Failure! yes. Can't ye see it is?" said the Irishman sourly, as he
bent down and softly rubbed the inner sides of his knees. "Here, I'm
not going to do all the climbing. You have a turn."
"Jack" shook his head.
"No skulking!" cried Dinny; "fair-play's a jool, me lad, so up you go.
Ye're younger and cleverer wid yer arms and legs than I am. Why, ye
ought to go up that tree like a monkey."
"Jack" shook his head and frowned.
"No," he said, "I'm no climber. Let's go back."
"Widout a nut, and ready to be laughed at? Not I, me lad. Now, then, I
shall have to tak ye in hand and mak a man of ye. Up wid ye."
He caught the youth by the arm, and drew him, half-resisting, toward the
tree.
"No, no, Dinny. Nonsense! I could not climb the tree."
"Bedad, an' ye've got to climb it!" cried Dinny. "Now, thin, take howld
tightly, and up you go."
"Loose my arm," said Jack, speaking in a low voice, full of suppressed
anger.
"Divil a bit. Ye've got to climb that three."
"Loose my arm, Dinny," said Jack again.
"Ye've got to climb that three, I tell ye, boy. Now, thin, no skulking.
Up wid ye."
"Jack" hung back, with the colour deepening in his cheeks, and a dark
look in his eyes, which Dinny could not interpret and, half in anger at
the lad's opposition, half in playful determination, he grasped the
youth firmly, and forced him toward the tree.
In an instant Jack flung himself round, with his eyes flashing, and
before the Irishman could realise what was coming he went staggering
back from the fierce blow he received in his chest, caught his heels
against the husk of an overgrown nut, and came down heavily on the sand.
Dinny was an Irishman, and he had received a blow.
"Bad luck to ye, ye arbitrary young divil!" he cried, springing up.
"It's a big bating ye want, is it, to tache ye manners! thin ye shall
have it."
Jack trembled with indignation and excitement, but not with fear, for
his cheeks were scarlet instead of pale. A blow had been struck, and he
knew that no Irishman would receive one without giving it back with
interest, and the only way out of the difficulty was to run, and he
scorned to do that.
Quick as lighting he snatched a knife from his pocket, threw open the
blade, and held it across his chest, half turning from his assailant,
but with the point so directed that, if Dinny had closed, it could only
have been at the expense of an ugly wound.
"Look at that now!" cried Dinny, pausing with hands raised to grip his
adversary; "and me widout a bit o' shtick in me fist. Ye'd shting,
would ye, ye little varmint! Put down yer knoife and fight like a man.
Bah!" he cried contemptuously, as his anger evaporated as rapidly as it
had flashed up, "ye're only a boy, and it's no dishgrace to have been
hit by one o' yer size. I could nearly blow ye away. There, put away
yer knoife and shake hands."
A hail from the cluster of trees which they made their camp, and Bart
and Abel came into sight.
Jack closed his knife with a sigh of relief, and dropped it into his
pocket.
"An' ye won't shake hands?" said Dinny, reproachfully.
"Yes, I will, Dinny," cried Jack, warmly, holding out his hand; "and I'm
sorry I struck you."
"That's handsome, me lad," cried the Irishman, gripping it tightly.
"I'm not sorry, for it don't hurt now, and I'm glad ye've got so much
fight in ye. Ye're a brave lad, and there's Irish blood in ye
somewhere, though ye're ignorant of the fact. Hallo, captain! what
ye're going to do?"
Abel strode up with Bart at his side, looking curiously from one to the
other.
"I want to have a talk with you two," said Abel, throwing himself on the
sand. "Sit down."
"Did he see?" said Jack to himself, as he took his place a little on one
side.
"A talk, and widout a bit o' tobacky!" said Dinny, with a sigh. "What
is it, captain, dear?"
"Bart and I have been thinking over our position here," said Abel, "and
we have determined to go."
"To go!" said Dinny. "Why, where would ye foind a bether place?"
"That has to be seen," said Abel; "but we can't stay here, and we want
to know where the nearest port to which we could sail and then get ship
for home."
"Get ship for the prison, ye mane!" cried Dinny, indignantly. "They'd
send the lot of us back, and in less than a month you and Bart there
would be hoeing among the bushes, young Jack here would be thried and
punished for helping ye to escape, and as for me--well," he added, with
a comical grin, "I don't, know what they'd do with me, but I'm sure they
wouldn't give me my promotion."
"But we shall starve if we stay here," said Abel, sternly.
"And is it shtarve wid you two such fishermen? Get out wid ye! Let's
build a hut before the rainy time comes, and settle down. Here's as
foine an estate as a gentleman need wish to have; and some day wan of us
'll go for a holiday to Oireland or Shcotland, and persuade four
illigant ladies to come wid us and be married; and what more could a boy
wish for then, eh, Masther Jack? What do you say, Bart?"
"That we must go," said Bart, gruffly.
"Let's think it over first," said Dinny. "At all events ye can't go for
months to come; for ye'd be taken for eshcaped prisoners at wanst; so,
as we've got no vittles, let's tak the boat and go out and catch some
fish."
Abel frowned, and seemed disposed to continue the discussion; but
everyone else was silent, and he rose slowly, ready enough, from old
associations, to obey a command. So the little party walked slowly down
toward where the boat lay hidden, ready to row it out to the edge of one
of the weed-hung reefs, where fish were plentiful; and in spite of the
roughness of their hooks and lines a pretty good dish could always be
secured.
They had reached the end of the ravine, where the trees and bushes grew
thickly, and Jack, who was first, was in the act of passing out on to
the sands of the little bay, when a great hand seized him by the
shoulder, and he was dragged back.
His hand went to his pocket again in the instinct of self-defence, for
it seemed to be a repetition of Dinny's attack; but, turning sharply, he
found that it was Bart who had dragged him back among the trees, and
stood pointing seaward, where the solution of their difficulty appeared
in, as it were, a warning to escape; for at about half a mile from the
shore a white-winged cutter was coming rapidly toward the little bay;
and as she careened over they could see that she was occupied by at
least a dozen men.
"Quick, the boat!" cried Abel, excitedly.
"Are ye mad!" cried Dinny. "They could see us, and would be here before
we could got round the point."
"Right," growled Bart.
"It's the cutter from the settlement," said Dinny, watching the coming
vessel. "She sails like the wind, and, bedad, it's wind they've got of
where we are, and they've come to fetch us. Now, thin, boys, the divil
a bit will I go back, so who's for a foight?"
The sight of the cutter seemed to chase away all discontent with their
position, bringing up, as it did, the recollection on the part of one of
months of longing to give freedom to brother and friend; on the part of
the other three, of long periods of toilsome labour in chains, and of
wearisome keeping guard over the wretched convicts, sickening in the
tropic sun. The island suddenly assumed the aspect of a paradise, from
which they were to be banished for ever; and stealing silently back to
their little camp, the fugitives hastily did what they could to destroy
traces of their presence, and then turned to Abel to ask what next.
"The woods," he said. "We must hide while we can, and when they hunt us
to bay we must fight for it."
"No," said Jack, quickly. "They will think we are in the woods, as
being the most likely place for us to hide. We should be safer among
the rocks in the cliff side, and should be able to watch the cutter as
well."
"It's a born gin'ral ye are," said Dinny, enthusiastically.
"Right, Abel, lad; Jack's right," growled Bart; and Abel acceded with a
nod of his head.
"You are lightest," he said. "Go first, Jack. Steal down by the side
of the cliff, and get a good way round."
"No," said Jack, "there is neither time nor need. We must stay where we
are, and wait and see which way they go. It will be time then to
retreat."
"Hark at him! Sure, and if I wasn't certain that there's Oirish blood
in his veins, I'd say his grandfather was the Juke o' Marlbrook."
"Right," growled Bart; and they drew back among the rocks and waited,
lying down so as to be well hidden, Jack climbing a little way up the
slope above them, and getting into a position which commanded the ravine
leading down to the bay.
They had not long to wait before voices were heard coming up from the
shore, and soon after the overseer made his appearance, in company with
a young officer, both carrying pieces over their shoulders, and followed
by half a dozen soldiers in their flannel undress.
They were chatting and smoking, and quite off their guard, taking
matters so leisurely that the watcher felt doubtful as to their
intentions, and lay trying to catch the bent of their conversation, as
they went on toward the interior of the little island, their voices
dying out in the distance, before he attempted to stir.
When he drew himself slowly back and crept through the bushes till he
rejoined his companions, every mouth parted to ask for news; and
anxiety, mingled with the stern determination painted in their faces,
told of the stubborn resistance that their pursuers might expect before
they had achieved their ends.
"They have gone right on into the woody part."
"Yes, the gin'ral's right," said Dinny.
"But I have my doubts of their intentions," said Jack.
"And so have I--big doubts," said Dinny; "so I won't thrust them."
"I don't think they've come in search of you," continued Jack.
"Not come in search of us?" said Abel, excitedly.
A shot rang out from the distance, followed immediately by another.
"That proves it," said Jack. "It is a shooting party."
"Av course it is," cried Dinny, laughing. "I could have told ye that,
only I didn't think of it. It's the pigs they're after, and they're
making free wid our flocks and herds."
"What a relief!" said Abel, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What shall
we do next?"
"Keep in hiding; but I'll climb up till I can see their cutter. It may
be near our boat."
"A born gin'ral," said Dinny, giving his head a roll and gazing
approvingly at Jack. "There'll be two or three left in charge of their
boat, and--what would you do next?"
Jack held up his hand, and softly retraced his course up the steep
slope; and they could trace him from time to time by the waving of the
leaves, but he went so cautiously that he was not seen once; and while
they kept their eyes fixed upon one spot the bushes and leaves were seen
to rustle softly some distance higher up.
Then they saw no more, but lay listening to the distant shouts and
firing which reached their ears again and again, till, to the surprise
of all three, Jack suddenly came upon them from behind.
"Well?" said Abel, eagerly.
Jack could not speak for a few moments, being breathless with exertion.
"Three men left with the cutter and they are ashore, lying upon the
sands."
"Abel," said Jack, after a long, thoughtful silence, "we shall never be
safe here with these people coming from time to time."
"No; that settles our plans. We must take the boat and go."
"Why not take our enemy's vessel? We could sail where we liked then."
"Didn't I say he was a born gin'ral?" cried Dinny, enthusiastically.
"Take their boat!" said Abel.
"They're three men, and we're three," said Bart, in a low growl.
"Four!" cried Dinny, excitedly. "Ye never see how Masther Jack can
foight."
"Hush!" said the latter, sternly. "The men are lying about half asleep.
If we waited, we might get on board, cut the anchor rope, and drift out
with the tide perhaps without rousing them."
"And if it came to the worst we could fight," said Abel.
"Are ye ready?" whispered Dinny. "See that your piece is well primed.
My shtick's loaded, and I'm ready to fire it off."
"Hush!" said Jack, sternly. "I will climb up to where I can watch the
men, and if they go to sleep I will wave a branch. Then creep up to me,
and we may succeed without trouble."
The proposal was agreed to at once, and a long, tedious time of waiting
ensued, at the end of which Bart bared his arm.
"We're strong enough for 'em," he whispered. "Let's go at once and
fight it out."
At that moment, high above their heads, a branch was seen waving just as
a shot rang out at no great distance, shouts were heard, and the
grunting of a herd of the wild pigs rose from the wooded part on their
left.
"Too late!" whispered Abel.
"Right!" growled Bart.
"Then we'll foight for it," whispered Dinny. "Bedad, I believe they'll
run as soon as they find us here, and small blame to 'em."