THE FRIEND IN NEED
There was no excuse for not hearing this warning, for it was uttered
in a voice loud enough to reach over the whole extent of the atoll.
Both Redvignez and Brazzier were enraged at the interference, and
there was an instant of time when the two were on the point of
attacking him. But he was a terrible foe for any one to assail, and he
would have made warm work, as they well knew, for he was not afraid of
the two together.
Brazzier was quick to comprehend the situation, and he refrained.
"Take away the girl, then," he commanded, "so I can get at him."
"I will not leave him," declared Inez, throwing her arms about the
neck of the captain, who was rising to his feet. "You mean to hurt
him, and you shan't hurt him without hurting me. He has been kind, and
he's a good man."
"Take her away," commanded Brazzier, with difficulty repressing his
anger at the repeated delay.
"Oh, Pomp! You won't let him hurt the captain?" pleaded Inez, turning
toward him, and ready to throw her arms about his dusky neck, were it
not that she was afraid to leave the captain for the moment--he having
risen to his feet, while he held her hand and looked at his enemies,
panting from his own great exertion, though he did not speak a word.
Even in the dreadful peril which enveloped him, he was too proud to
ask for mercy from such wretches.
But the appeal of Inez to Pomp had produced its effect. When she
turned her misty eyes upon him, and pleaded in such piteous tones for
mercy, the mouth of the huge African twitched, and any one could see
that a hard struggle was going on within.
"If you don't keep those bad men from hurting Captain Bergen," she
added, in the same impassioned manner, "I'll never speak to
you--never, never, never--there!"
This was accompanied by a stamp of her tiny foot, and then she burst
into weeping--sobbing as if her heart would break.
Hyde Brazzier stood irresolute, and seemed on the point of leaping,
knife in hand, upon the captain. But the prayer of the innocent child
had settled the question, and the sable Hercules sprang in front of
the endangered man.
"Dis 'ere thing hab gone fur 'nough; let de cap'in alone. If dere's
any killin' to be done, why I'm de one dat's gwine to do it."
The two mutineers were wild with fury, for this unexpected show of
mercy promised to upset the whole scheme they had been hatching for
weeks. Both Redvignez and Brazzier protested vehemently, seeking to
show that it was imperatively necessary that both the officers should
be put out of the way, and that since the mate was gone, it was the
sheerest folly to allow the captain to remain.
But the words were thrown away.
The prayer of little Inez Hawthorne had reached the heart of the
gigantic African, and the sight of the child standing there weeping
was more than he could bear, although it but served to add to the
exasperation of the other two savages.
Captain Bergen did not stand mute and motionless during all this rush
of events, which really occupied but a few seconds. As soon as he saw
the way open, he took the hand of little Inez and began moving in the
direction of the schooner, his purpose being to secure refuge upon
that if possible. As he moved away he saw Pomp and the two mutineers
in conference, for Brazzier and Redvignez at that moment would have
given a large share of their prospective wealth for the purpose of
disposing finally and forever of the captain.
"We have been in mutinies before, Pomp, and the only safe course--and
that ain't safe by any means--is to follow the rule that dead men tell
no tales."
"Dat may be de rule, but it ain't gwine to work in dis case; an' de
reason am 'cause de little gal dere don't want it done. You can talk
an' argufy fo' fourteen years, but it won't do no good. De only way
you can finish up de job am by killin' me fust."
The foregoing is the substance of the protests and replies of the two
parties to the angry discussion. It so happened, as we have shown,
that the African held the balance of power. He was strong and
courageous, and he was armed and ready to fight, and they knew it.
They did not dare to attack him openly, where the result was so likely
to be disastrous to both, and they were compelled to fall in with his
scheme of saving the captain, though it can well be understood that it
was the most distasteful thing to which they could consent.
This discussion lasted but a few minutes; but, as we have said, it was
improved by Captain Bergen, who saw that the wisest course for him to
pursue was to remove the cause as far as practical. He walked backward
a few steps until he was some way off, when he turned about, still
holding the hand of Inez in his, and they continued until a number of
palm-trees intervened, when he sped so rapidly that the child was kept
on a run to maintain her place at his side. She had ceased her crying,
but her face and eyes were red, and she was in an apprehensive,
nervous and almost hysterical condition from the terrible scene she
had witnessed--a scene such as should never be looked upon by one of
her tender years.
A minute later Captain Bergen caught sight of the trimly-built
schooner lying at rest in the lagoon, close to the shore, and his
heart gave a throb of hope, that, if he could once secure position on
her deck, he would be able to hold his own against the mutineers.
During the next few hurried minutes occupied in the passage to the
schooner, the conviction had grown upon him that this mercy which had
spared his life for a brief while would not be continued. Pomp Cooper
would not continue to be his friend after his spasm of affection for
Inez should spend itself, and devoid as the African was of intellect,
he was likely to understand that the true course of the party who had
entered upon the villainy was to make thorough work of it.
The captain saw the three men still talking and gesticulating angrily
when he reached the schooner.
In a twinkling he had lifted Inez upon the deck, and then he sprang
after her. He ran into the cabin, reappearing in an instant with the
three loaded rifles.
"Now," said he, with a sigh of relief, "let them come! I am ready."