"LET ME GO: I CAN RUN FAST."
The minute before, all peace, rest, and the promise of plenty; now, an
alarm so full of horror that every one there felt chilled.
A rush was made to the wagons for the guns and ammunition, the ladies
were hurried into the little square formed by the vehicles, as the
safest place, and the advantage of having an experienced soldier for
their leader was shown at once, though all the time the captain was
bitterly reproaching himself for not having spent more time in providing
for their defence, instead of giving up valuable hours to rest and
planning what they should do.
"I ought to have known better, Norman," he said angrily, as the boy
walked by his side to obey his orders, and convey them to one or the
other. "Take a lesson from it, my boy, and if ever you march in an
enemy's country, wherever you halt, do as the old Romans did; entrench
yourself at once."
"But we have entrenched ourselves, father," said the boy, pointing to
the boxes, barrels, and cases which had hastily been dragged out of the
carts and placed outside to form a protection before the openings
beneath the wagons, and also to fire over in case of an attack.
"Pooh! not half enough. There, we can do no more. Now about that
black.--Here, Jack, what do you say? Is that fellow in collusion with
the people coming on?"
"No," said Uncle Jack, decisively. "If he had been, he is cunning
enough to have lulled us into security. He need not have uttered a
warning, and the blacks could have surprised us after dark."
"Yes, there is something in that," said the captain. "And look what he
did, father, directly he had warned us."
"What?"
"Set to work with his boomerang covering the fire over with earth to
smother out the smoke."
"But it might all be cunning to put us off our guard with him, and it
would be a hideous danger to have a traitor in our little stronghold."
"For him," said Uncle Jack, grimly.
"Yes," said his brother. "But there, I'll trust him. I should not
display all this horrible suspicion if it were not for the women. They
make quite a coward of me. Now, can we do any more?"
"No," said Uncle Jack; "there is no time. We can keep a good many at
bay."
"If you fire steadily," said the captain. "No shot must be fired
without good reason. In war, many go to one enemy the less. In this
case every shot must tell."
"Rather horrible," said Uncle Jack, quietly; "eh, Norman, lad? But
there, they can avoid it. They have only to leave us alone, and we
should never hurt a soul."
By this the little party were crouching about their wagon and box fort
with their guns ready, and plenty of ammunition at hand; the fire only
sent up one tiny curl of smoke, and this was stopped instantly, for
Shanter crawled from where he had been lying flat close to Tim and
Rifle, and scraping up some more earth with his boomerang, he piled it
over the spot where the smoke issued, and returned by rolling himself
over and over till he was back beside a large box. Their position was
in some respects good, being on an elevation, but in other respects bad,
as the captain pointed out to Norman.
"We are not far enough away from the trees in front there. The
scoundrels can creep up through the bushes, and use them for a shelter
from which to throw spears. Listen. The first who sees a black figure
give warning by a low hiss."
Fortunately the cattle had all strayed off grazing in the other
direction, and were invisible from where the little party lay waiting
the expected onslaught; and just as Uncle Munday had made allusion to
the fact that if the enemy were seen in that direction, the cattle would
give warning, the captain said in a low voice, "I wish they'd come."
Norman stared.
"Before it is dark, my boy. In less than an hour we shall not be able
to see them, and our position will be ten times as bad. There, I have
done all I can for our protection. I must go and reconnoitre now."
His words were loud enough to be heard from behind, and Mrs Bedford's
voice rose in supplication.
"No, no, dear. Pray don't run any risks."
"Hush!" said the captain, sternly, "we must know whether the enemy is
near."
The danger, as far as they could make out from Shanter's broken English,
lay across the little river; but instead of being in the visible sloping
plain, it was away beyond the trees to their right, and hidden by the
broken mountainous range, and after glancing at the priming of his
double gun, the captain turned to his right.
"Here, Shanter!" he said in a low whisper. "Come with me. Come along--
show black fellow."
There was no response for a moment or two, and then Rifle spoke.
"He isn't here, father."
"Not there?"
"No; he was lying down here just now, but while I was watching the trees
over there, he must have crept away."
"Crept away? But I want him to go with me to scout. Who saw him go?"
There was no reply, and feeling staggered by the ease with which these
people could elude observation, and applying it to the enemies' advance,
the captain looked sharply round for danger, half expecting at any
moment to see a dim-looking black form emerge from behind a bush, or
others rapidly darting from tree to tree, so as to get within throwing
distance with their spears.
"Well," he said, "I must go alone. Keep a sharp look-out, boys."
"What are you going to do, father?" said Norman.
"Scout," said the captain, laconically.
"No; let me go: I can run fast. I'll be very careful and shelter myself
behind trees. You can't leave here."
"He's quite right Ned," said Uncle Jack.
"I can run faster than Norman, uncle," cried Tim eagerly. "Let me go."
"No, me, father," cried Rifle, excitedly.
"Silence in the ranks!" cried the captain sternly. Then, after a moment
or two's pause, he said firmly, "Private Norman will go as far as the
ridge yonder, scouting. He will go cautiously, and keep out of sight of
the enemy, and as soon as he has made out whether they are advancing and
the direction they will take, he will return."
"Yes, father."
"Silence!--Now go.--Stop!"
The captain caught the boy by the arm, as he was creeping near the box,
and as all followed the direction in which the captain was gazing, they
saw a black figure darting from tree to tree some eighty or ninety yards
away and with his back to them.
"That's Shanter," whispered Norman.
"Yes: follow him, and try and keep him in sight. If he joins the enemy
come back at once. There, you need not creep over the space between us
and the trees; there can be no enemy there. Quick! How soon the
darkness is coming on!"
Norman stepped on to the great chest, leaped down, and ran off, as a low
piteous sigh--almost a sob--was heard from behind; but though it had an
echo in the captain's breast, he crouched there firm as a rock, and
steeling himself against tender emotions, for the sake of all whom he
had brought into peril and whom it was his duty to protect.
There before him was his eldest son, carrying his gun at the trail, and
running swiftly in the direction of the black, who from running boldly
from tree to tree was now seen to be growing very cautious, and suddenly
to drop down and disappear.
The captain drew a long deep breath.
"We may trust him," he said softly; "he is evidently our friend. Now
for Norman's news."
Yet, though he was at rest on this point, he was uneasy about an attack
on their right flank or rear, but that could not come from the rear, he
knew, without some panic on the part of the cattle; while he was hopeful
about the right flank, for the ground was precipitous in the extreme,
and from what they had seen so far, it was hardly possible for any one
to approach.
But though Shanter had dropped quite out of sight of those behind the
little barricade, he was still visible to Norman, who ran on and was
getting near to where the black was creeping from bush to bush on all
fours, looking in the dim evening light like a black dog carrying his
master's stick, for Norman in one glimpse saw that he was drawing his
spear as he crawled, his boomerang was stuck behind him in his
waistband, and his nulla-nulla was across his mouth tightly held by his
teeth.
When about some twenty yards away, and approaching in perfect silence as
he thought, the black looked sharply round, rose to his knees, and
signed to the boy to go down on all fours.
Norman obeyed, and Shanter waited till he had crawled up. Then making a
gesture that could only mean, "Be silent and cautious," he crawled on,
with the boy following him, till, after what seemed quite a long painful
piece of toil, they reached the foot of a steep rocky slope whose
tree-fringed summit was some fifty feet above their heads.
Shanter pointed to the top, and began to climb, mounting easily for some
distance, and then stopping by a small tree, whose gnarled roots were
fixed in the crevices of the rock. Here he held on, and reached down
with his spear, by whose help Norman soon climbed to his side, where he
paused to sling his gun by its strap, so as to leave his bands at
liberty.
The rest of the ascent was made with more ease; and when Shanter reached
the top, he raised his eyes above the level with the greatest caution,
and then seemed to Norman to crawl over like some huge black slug and
disappear.
The boy prepared to follow, when Shanter's head reappeared over the
sharp ridge and his arm was stretched down with the spear, so that the
final climb was fairly easy, though it would have been almost impossible
without.
As soon as Norman was lying on the top, he found that the other side was
a gentle descent away to what appeared to be a wide valley between
mountains, but everything was so rapidly growing dim that the distant
objects were nearly obscured by the transparent gloom. But nearer at
hand there was something visible which made the boy's heart begin to
beat heavily. For as Shanter drew him on all fours cautiously among the
bushes to where there was an opening, there, far down the slope, but so
near that had they spoken their words would have been heard, was a great
body rising, which directly after resolved itself into smoke; and before
many minutes had been spent in watching, there was a bright flash of
flame which had the effect of making all around suddenly seem dark,
while between them and the bright blaze a number of black figures could
be seen moving to and fro, and evidently heaping brushwood upon the fire
they had just lit.
Norman Bedford, as he lay there among the bushes, felt, at the sight of
the blacks, as if boyhood had suddenly dropped away with all its joyous
sport and fun, to leave him a thoughtful man in a terrible emergency;
that he was bound to act, and that perhaps the lives of all who were
dear to him depended upon his action and control of the thoughtless
savage at his side.
"Poor father!" he said to himself, as his courage failed and a cold
perspiration broke out all over him; "you have done wrong. You ought
not to have brought out mamma and the girls till we had come and proved
the place. It is too horrible."
That was only a momentary weakness, though, and he nerved himself now to
act, trying to come to the conclusion which it would be best to do--stop
and watch, sending Shanter back with a message, or leave the black to
watch while he ran with the news.
The position was horrible. Setting aside his own danger up there on the
ridge, where the slightest movement might be heard by the sharp-eared
blacks, there they were, evidently encamping for the night with only
this ridge dividing them from the spot selected for the new home.
What should he do?
Before he could decide, as he lay there watching, with dilated eyes, the
black figures passing and repassing the increasing blaze, Shanter placed
his lips close to his ear.
"You pidney?" (understand), he whispered. "They all black fellow."
"Yes. Go and tell them at the camp," Norman whispered back.
In an instant the black's hand was over his lips, and his head was
pressed down amongst the grass, while he felt the black's chest across
his shoulders. He was so taken by surprise that he lay perfectly still,
feeling that after all his father was right, and Shanter was
treacherous; but his thoughts took another direction as quickly as the
first had come, for Shanter's lips were again at his ear.
"Black fellow come along fetch wood."
In effect quite unnoticed, three or four of the men had been approaching
where they lay, and now seemed to start up suddenly from some bushes
twenty feet below them.
Retreat was impossible. The precipice was close behind, and to get away
by there meant slow careful lowering of themselves down, and this was
impossible without making some noise, which must be heard, so that all
that could be done was to lie close and wait with weapons ready, in case
they were discovered--a fate which was apparently certain.
Norman laid his hand upon the lock of his gun, ready to raise it and
fire if they were found, and a slight rustle told him that Shanter had
taken a fresh grip of his club.
That was all, and they lay waiting, listening to the rustling noise made
by the black fellows as they pushed their way through the scrub, still
coming nearer and nearer.
They were agonising moments, and again Norman felt that his father's
doubts might be correct, for the enemy approaching were evidently not
gathering wood, but coming up there for some special purpose. Was it,
after all, to surprise the camp, and was Shanter holding him down to be
made a prisoner or for death?
He was ready to heave himself up and make a brave struggle for life as
he shouted out a warning to those in camp, and as the rustling noise
grew nearer his heart seemed to beat more heavily. But his common sense
told him directly that he must be wrong, and that, too, just as he could
hear the mental agony no longer, for when the rustling was quite near,
the men began jabbering quite loudly to each other, and directly after
one tripped in the darkness and fell forward on the bushes, the others
laughing loudly at his mishap.
That settled one thing: they could not evidently be going to surprise
the camp, or they would have been cautious, and a warm sensation of joy
even in the midst of his peril ran through the boy's breast.
But why were they there, then?
He soon had evidence as to the meaning of their coming, but not until he
had suffered fresh agonies. For as he lay thinking that the noise and
laughter must have been heard by those in camp, the blacks came nearer
and nearer in the darkness, and their next steps seemed as if they must
be over or upon them. "And then there will be a horrible struggle,"
thought the boy, one in which he would have to play his part.
He drew in his breath, and the hand which grasped the gun-lock felt so
wet that he trembled for fear it should moisten the powder in the pan,
while the next instant he felt a great piece of prickly bush pressed
down over his head, as if trampled and thrust sidewise by some one
pushing his way by. There was loud rustling close by his feet, and then
the blacks went a couple more steps or so, there was a sharp
ejaculation, and they stopped short.
Had Norman been alone he would have sprung up; but Shanter pressed him
down, and in another instant he felt that the exclamations had not been
at the discovery of hiding enemies, but because one of them had nearly
gone down the precipice.
Then followed more talking and laughing, all in an unknown tongue to
Norman; till after a few minutes the blacks continued along the ridge
for some little distance, stopped again, and ended by going leisurely
back toward the fire, with the bushes rustling as they went.
Norman drew a deep breath of relief, and a low whisper came at his ear:
"Mine think good job all black dark. Myall black fellow no see. Nearly
plenty numkull."
"Are they gone?" whispered back Norman, as he felt the heavy weight of
the black's chest removed from his back.
"All agone down fire. Come for more fire all about."
Which means they were reconnoitring, thought Norman. Then, as he raised
himself a little and looked down at the brightly-blazing fire, about
which several men were sitting, he saw other figures go up, and there
was a loud burst of chattering and laughing.
"Hear um all yabber yabber," whispered Shanter. "All myall black
fellow. Come 'long, tell Marmi, (the captain)."
"Yes; come quickly," said Norman.
"Ah!" whispered Shanter, clapping his hand over the boy's mouth. "Myall
black fellow big ear."
He pointed downward, and Norman shivered again, for, softly as his words
had been uttered, he saw that they had been heard, for the group about
the fire had sprung up and their faces seemed to be turned in their
direction.
Shanter placed both hands to his mouth and uttered a soft, long-drawn,
plaintive, whistling sound, then paused for a few moments, and whistled
again more softly; and then once again the plaintive piping rose on the
air as if it were the call of a night bird now very distant.
The ruse had its effect, for the blacks settled down again about the
fire, and were soon all talking away loudly, and evidently cooking and
eating some kind of food.
"No talk big," whispered Shanter; and creeping close back to the edge of
the precipice, he lowered his spear and felt about for a ledge which
promised foothold. As soon as he had satisfied himself about this, he
turned to Norman.
"Now, down along," he whispered; "more, come soon."
The boy slung his gun again, and taking hold of the spear, lowered
himself over the edge of the rugged scarp, and easily reached the ledge,
the black, whom nature seemed to have furnished with a second pair of
hands instead of feet, joining him directly, and then began searching
about once more for a good place to descend.
He was longer this time, and as Norman clung to the tough stem of some
gnarled bush, he looked out anxiously in the direction of their camp;
but all now below was of intense blackness, not even a star appearing
above to afford light.
"Mine can't find," whispered the black; and then, "Yohi (yes); now down
along."
Norman obeyed, and once more clung to the steep face by the help of a
bush; and this process was repeated several times till the black uttered
a low laugh.
"Myall black fellow no see, no hear. Mine glad. Come tell Marmi."
The captain was nearer than they thought, for they had not gone many
steps before they were challenged, and the voice was his.
"Back safe, father," panted Norman, who was terribly excited.
"Why have you been so long?" said the captain shortly. "The anxiety has
been terrible."
"Hush! don't talk loud. There is a party of black fellows on the other
side of that ridge;" and he rapidly told the narrative of their escape.
"So near the camp, and quite ignorant of our being here.--Will they come
this way in the morning, Shanter?"
"Mine don't know. All go along somewhere--fine sugar-bag--fine grub--
fine possum. Wait see."
"Yes; we must wait and see," said the captain, thoughtfully. Then to
the black, "They will not come to-night?"
"Baal come now. Eat, sleep, all full," replied Shanter. "Big white
Mary gib Shanter damper?"
"Hungry again?" said the captain angrily. "But make haste back. They
are in sad alarm at the camp."
"Shall we be able to stay here, father?" said Norman, on their way back
through the darkness.
"Stay, boy? Yes. Only let them give us a few days or weeks' respite,
and I do not care. But look here, boy, we have gone too far to retreat.
We must hold the place now. It is too good to give up meekly at a
scare from a gang of savages. Come, Norman, you must be a man."
"I was not thinking of myself, father, but about mamma and the girls."
The captain drew a sharp, hissing breath.
"And I was too," he said in a low voice. "But come, let's set them at
rest for the night."
Five minutes later Norman felt two soft hands seize his, and hold him in
the darkness, as a passionate voice whispered in his ear: "Oh, Norman,
my boy--my boy!"
Then there was a long silent watch to keep, and there was only one who
slept in camp that night--to wit, Shanter. And Rifle said merrily, that
the black slept loud enough for ten.