A NEW DANGER.
The night brought its alarms with it. Every noise in the woods round
about startled the alert sentinel, and there always are noises at night,
not only in the woods but in houses also, as we all find out, when for
any reason we are awake and on the alert. It seemed to each of the boys
during this night, that there never were so many sounds which could not
be explained: crackling noises, like those which are produced by the
breaking of dry sticks under foot; sounds of footsteps, and of hard
breathing; a thousand different sounds, in short, each of which seemed
for the time being surely to indicate the stealthy approach of some foe.
Morning came at last, however, and no ill had befallen the camp. It was
voted at breakfast that this day should be devoted exclusively to
fortification, security being deemed of more pressing importance than
escape from the island.
By steady persistence the work was carried forward until the line of
tall, leaning pickets was more than half-way round the camp. This at
least reduced the space to be watched through the night to less than
half its former length, and as the night passed quietly with no sign of
an enemy about, it was unanimously resolved, the next morning, that
Sunday should be kept as a day of rest, the opinion being that the
completion of the stockade could not now be called a work of necessity.
During Sunday night, however, the boys had reason to modify this opinion
somewhat. About two o'clock Ned, who was on guard at the time, armed
with a big club, awoke his companions, saying, in a whisper:
"Get up, quick! There's somebody about."
The two sleepers sprang to their feet quickly, and, seizing their clubs,
joined Ned outside the hut.
By way of precaution the boys had cut a considerable number of short,
thick, and very heavy clubs, which could be made to serve a good
purpose as missiles. Thrown with violence from the hand they were
likely to be of much greater service than stones or brickbats would have
been, if such things had been at hand. Armed with these clubs the boys
peered and listened. For a while they heard nothing. Then a low growl
came from the bushes, and the sound of a sharp blow followed it
immediately. Evidently one of the squatters was sneaking around the
camp, and when his dog growled he struck it to secure silence.
The boys waited a long time but heard nothing more. Finally, in a low
whisper, Ned said:
"There can't be more than one of them here."
"No, I suppose not," answered Jack, "but let's be quiet and see what he
wants."
All became still again, and as the boys from their hiding-place could
not be seen by any one in the bushes, the prowler had every reason to
suppose that they were asleep. After perhaps an hour's waiting, Jack
whispered:
"I see him; he is crawling on his stomach to the fire. H--sh! let's see
what he wants."
The man could be seen only in dim outline until he reached the fire,
and, taking a smouldering brand, blew it to quicken its burning. The
light thus created revealed his face, and the sight was not a pleasant
one to the boys. They saw in their visitor as ugly and forbidding a
specimen of untamed humanity as one often meets. He was a negro of the
small, ugly, tough-looking variety, seen nowhere in this country except
on the South Carolina and Georgia coast. About five feet two inches
high, he had a small, flat head, large, muscular arms and body, short
legs, and no clothing except a sort of sack with head- and arm-holes in
it, worn as a shirt. His brow was so low and retreating, that his eyes
seemed to project beyond it. His nose was flattened out as if it had
tried to spread itself evenly all over his face. His thick lips were too
short to cover his big teeth, and it is hardly necessary to add that he
looked far less like a rational human being than like some wild animal.
When he had satisfied himself that his brand was burning, he crept a few
paces further, and his purpose was revealed. He meant to set fire to the
pile of plank that the boat was to be built of.
"Quick now," said Jack, "give him a volley of clubs and then charge!"
[Illustration: "GIVE HIM A VOLLEY AND THEN CHARGE!"]
It was no sooner said than done. Standing at less than twenty feet
distance, the boys threw one club each at the intruder, and then,
snatching other clubs, one in each hand, rushed upon him. Rising, he
knocked Jack down, but was brought to his own knees by Charley's club.
At that moment the man's dog, a surly-looking brute, seized Charley, and
it required the combined efforts of all three boys--for Jack was up
again in an instant--to beat the creature off. While they were engaged
in this, the dog's master, finding himself outnumbered and overmatched,
took to his heels and the camp was clear, for the dog quickly followed,
howling with pain.
"Are you much hurt, Charley?" was the first question asked when the
enemy's retreat left the boys free to think of themselves.
"I'm pretty severely bitten," was the reply, "but luckily it's in the
fleshy part of my thigh, and the flesh isn't torn. One of you must have
struck very quickly, or I shouldn't have got off so easily. See," he
continued, when the fire had been stirred into a blaze, "the brute
buried his teeth, but let go again without shaking me."
"Yes, I saw him jump at you, and tried to hit him before he got hold,"
said Ned. "I must have struck him just as he seized you--half a second
too late to save you entirely, but I hit him fairly on the head."
"And he had to let go of me to howl," said Charley, who, in spite of his
pain, was in good spirits after the exciting encounter. "By the way, are
you hurt, Jack?"
"I've an earache," said Jack, turning his head and showing an inflamed
and swollen ear; "but I'm glad that fellow didn't hit me fairly in the
face, as he meant to do. It would have settled the question of
photographs for me for all time, I think. Why, if I had caught that blow
on the face my nose would have been distributed over the rest of my
countenance as evenly as his is."
"You look solemn, Ned," said Charley; "are you hurt too?"
"No, but I'm thinking."
"Well, out with your thought then. What is it?"
"Only that we're fairly in for it now."
"In for what?"
"War."
"War?"
"Yes. You don't suppose we're going to have peace with the squatters
now, do you? They'll attack us in force as sure as sunrise and sunset."
"Well, it's my opinion that one of them, at least, has got as much of us
as he wants," said Charley.
"Very likely," answered Ned; "but now he'll want to give us something,
by way of returning the compliment. He'll bring all his friends with him
next time."
"But I don't see what we've done that they should interfere with us."
"Oh! don't you? Well, that's because you don't look at the matter with
their eyes. You see, when we first came here they didn't object. They
took a fancy to our coffee and flour and bacon, and the rest of it, and
helped themselves, but they didn't in the least object to us or our
presence. Having got all we had for them to steal, they let us alone.
But when they found that we were getting rice out of what they called
their field, it put a new face on the matter, and they objected. You
baffled the one that got after you, and he hurt himself trying to catch
you. That was another offence on our part, and so this fellow that was
here to-night determined to get even with us by burning us out. He has
been pretty badly whipped, and he isn't likely to forget it. He'll bring
all his friends here and we must take care of ourselves, for we shan't
get any coddling, I can assure you, if we fall into their hands."
"You are right, Ned," said Jack; "and now we must really take care of
ourselves. It's nearly morning, and we may as well get breakfast at once
and get an early start. We must be ready to receive those fellows when
they come."