"Lane, old chap," said Drew, "can't Panton turn on the fireworks?"
"What do you mean?"
"Poke up the volcano and get up a good eruption, so as to sweep these
wretches away."
"He seems to have already done it," said Oliver, bitterly. "Haven't you
noticed that the ground has been all of a quiver for long enough?"
"No, too much worried over getting away. I wish a good blow up would
come."
"As bad for us as for the blacks, man. But what are we to do?"
"I don't know. What do you say to keeping on along the edge till we are
opposite to the brig, and then making a rush as you did before?"
"Seems our only chance."
"Or wait till dusk and then try?"
"No, they want our help at the brig as badly as we want theirs. I think
we had better creep on slowly. If we are seen, we must let the enemy
come close, and then give them four barrels and rush. They'll cover us
from the brig."
The plan was decided upon, and keeping along the edge of the forest,
they went cautiously on, sensible now that the tremulous motion of the
earth was on the increase, while in addition there came a short sharp
report from the mountain.
"Won't this scare the niggers?" said Drew as they stopped to
reconnoitre.
"It doesn't seem to," replied Oliver, as they peered between the trunks
of some newly-sprung-up palms. "They're taking it coolly enough."
The blacks were in fact walking about, now gazing toward the brig, now
along the opening toward the sea.
"Why, I know," cried Drew; "they're waiting for their friends whom we
saw. When they come there'll be a general attack."
Oliver was silent for a few moments, as he stood watching the movements
of the blacks.
"That's it," he said at last. "Then our plan is to get to the brig at
once."
He led on now till they were as near as they could get, and as they
stood in the dark shadow of the forest the question was, had the enemy
sense enough to invest the vessel and plant sentries all round? If they
had, the difficulties were greatly increased; and to solve this problem,
Oliver made his companion wait, sheltered by a great tree, while he
crept right to the edge to investigate.
"You'll come back?" said Drew.
"I will if I am left alive," said Oliver, quietly, and then he turned
his head and was in the act of drawing out his little glass to watch the
actions of a couple of sun-birds playing merrily about in a narrow sunny
beam of light, but he checked himself; half-laughing the while. "Use is
second nature," he said, and, leaving his gun with Drew, he went down on
hands and knees and crept cautiously along, dislodging beetles, lizards,
and more natural history specimens in a few yards than he would in an
ordinary way in a day.
In a few minutes he was at the extremity of and beneath a great bough,
with the brilliant sunshine before him, the darkness of the forest
behind. There, in front, rising above the low growth and a quarter of a
mile away, was the brig, with the look-out in the top and a head showing
here and there, one of which he made out by his glass to be Panton's,
while it was evident enough that they were well on the _qui vive_.
To Oliver's great joy there was not a black in sight on his side, though
plainly enough beyond the vessel, they were hanging about in groups and
all well armed.
As he lay there, sweeping the various objects with his glass, partly for
signs of danger, partly for places of shelter to which they could creep,
going from one to the other till they were near enough to make a rush
for the brig, he marked down quite a series. There, a short distance
their side of the brig, were the heaps of wood rejected in the making of
the lugger; a little nearer a shed-like construction of bamboo and palm
leaves, erected to shelter the men who were adzing and planing the
planks. Then, nearer still, there was a high tuft of newly-grown-up
grass. Again, nearer, a hollow, once full of fish, but long since dried
up, and, nearer still, a freshly-grown clump of bamboos.
"If we can crawl to that unseen, we're all right, and we must risk it at
once," said Oliver to himself, and then his heart seemed to stand still
and a horrible feeling of despair came over him, for he suddenly made
out a slight movement and jerking amongst the bamboo stems, and, fixing
his glass upon the spot, there, plainly enough, were the soles of a
man's feet--a scout evidently, lying extended there, watching the brig.
Oliver swept the bamboos on both sides for others of the enemy, but all
was so still and the space was so small that he came to the conclusion
at last that there was only one foe concealed there, and with pulses
beginning to throb now from the exciting thought which came upon him, he
backed slowly and silently away and made haste to rejoin Drew.
"Well?" said the latter, excitedly.
"Hist! Sound travels," whispered Oliver, and he hurriedly told all that
he had seen.
"The brute!" said Drew. "He is, then, between us and safety."
"Yes."
"Well," said Drew, sternly, "I would hurt no man if I could help it, but
that black would not hesitate to kill us and our friends, and in
addition to saving our own lives, we may perhaps help to save those of
the others. Lane, old fellow, do you think we could creep up behind and
stun the wretch?"
"That was the idea that came to me," said Oliver, hurriedly. "I don't
want to, but we must."
"Yes," said Drew, firmly, "we must."
"And at once."
"Come on, then," said Drew. "No firing; the butts of our pieces."
Oliver nodded with his brow all in wrinkles, and directly after they
crept to the spot from which Oliver had caught sight of the feet among
the bamboos, and once more, lying flat down, he examined the edge
nearest to him, and then handed the glass to Drew, who scanned the spot
carefully.
"Strange how the insides of the palms of a black's hands and the soles
of his feet grow to be nearly white," whispered Oliver, whose natural
history propensities always came to the front, even in times of peril.
"Yes," said Drew, returning the glass, "and I only wish their hearts
would wear white, too--the murderous wretches. Ready?"
"Yes, both together, and when we are sheltered by the bamboos from the
blacks we must rise, take a few quick steps forward together and club
the wretch."
"Exactly. No one can see what we do for the canes, and all we want to
do is to stun him."
"Agreed."
The next minute they were creeping silently and cautiously over the
sand, keeping their heads well down and gradually nearing the feet,
which, even as they grew closer, remained the only portions of their
enemy's body visible. Every moment they expected to see him take the
alarm, and if he did, and attacked them, they would club him if they
could, but it was fully expected that he would take flight, and in that
case, they determined to follow rapidly, and take their chance of
getting on board.
But the man was so intent upon his duty of watching the brig, that he
did not hear; and as they came on and on there were the toes twitching
and jerking about uneasily, and the bamboos amongst which he lay gently
waved.
Twenty yards, ten yards, five yards, and now brig and savages were
hidden by the giant grass. Oliver turned to Drew, whose face was deadly
pale, and their eyes met. Then together they rose, bending in a sloping
position, held their guns by the barrels, and, keeping step, advanced
foot by foot, raising their pieces as they nearly reached the tall
greeny stems and then paused and hesitated, for the same question was
mentally asked by both,--
"How can we reach to strike this man on the head when we are standing
close to his feet?"