"Not hurt, are you?"
"No, sir; only faint."
By this time the last of the pirates had passed over the ridge, and I
felt irritated with Mr Reardon for not going in pursuit. But he did
not read my countenance; he called one of the men out of the line, made
him give me some water from his bottle, and bent down on his knees by
poor Tom Jecks.
"Ha!" he said; "fever from a wound. Give him some water too, my lad."
He sprang to his feet then, and I understood why he had not gone in
pursuit of our enemies, for just then there was a sharp volley from over
the ridge somewhere.
"Ha! that's got them," said Mr Reardon, turning to me. "We divided, my
lad! half of us came along the top of the cliff, the other half along
the shore."
There was another volley, and I saw Mr Reardon smile as he gave the
orders, and out flashed the men's cutlasses, and were fixed with a quick
tingling rattle on the muzzles of their rifles.
"Here they come, sir," cried the warrant officer at the far end of the
line.
"Yes, my lad, and we're ready for them. Now, one volley as soon as they
are together, boys, and then the blades. Bayonet every wretch who does
not throw down his arms."
A low murmur ran along the little line, and I saw our men's eyes flash
in the evening sun.
But the excitement was not complete, for, gathering strength now, and
recovering from the shock I had received, I was watching the pirates
scrambling over the ridge in haste, as if pursued, when there was a
concussion of the air, a heavy boom, and I saw the _Teaser_ come into
sight, passing through the channel south of where we stood. Then there
was a quick puff of smoke, another heavy boom, and I saw that she was
going full speed, leaving a black stream of smoke behind her, in chase
of the two junks, one of which was about a quarter of a mile away, the
other about a mile farther.
They were evidently taken by surprise, for the men were hurriedly
hoisting sail, and, as I learned afterwards, the _Teaser_ had been quite
hidden till she rounded a little promontory at the mouth of the channel
between the first and second islands--the channel for which we had so
vainly steered on the night of the storm.
The firing went on steadily, the crash of the great shell following the
report of the piece, but I had nearer and more exciting work to see
close at hand; and once more my heart beat high, as the pirates gathered
together, and, seeing the danger before them, paused for a moment or two
at the foot of the ridge slope, looked to right to see only the
perpendicular cliff, to left to see the sea, and then, uttering a savage
yell, came tearing on.
"Fire!" roared Mr Reardon, when they were about fifty yards distant,
and I saw several fall and others stagger and halt.
But the others continued their wild dash like men, and were met by our
lads, who advanced with their cutlass-bayonets at the charge.
There was a loud cheer, a savage yelling, and I saw the blades flashing
in the golden sunshine as they met. Then a minute's fierce encounter,
with men falling, and then half-a-dozen turned and fled back for the
ridge, but only to stop and turn to their right, making for the sea.
For the ridge was lined with blue-jackets and marines, and shot after
shot was fired at the flying men, who without hesitation plunged into
the sea and swam out a few yards, while our lads pursued them, but only
to halt on the hard wet sand, where the waves now gently rippled.
There was a strange fascination in the scene, and I watched the six
shaven heads of the swimming pirates till the first threw up his hands,
battled the air for a few moments, and went down. The others turned and
slowly swam shoreward till they could wade, when they approached our men
and flung their weapons on the sand in token of surrender.
There was a triumphant shout at this, and then another--a loud and
frantic cheer. For the firing of the _Teaser_ had been going on
rapidly, and all at once the first junk was seen to heel over, and
gradually settle down, leaving the sea strewn with fragments of timber,
to which the crew were left clinging; while the gunboat raced on,
sending shell after shell rapidly at the other, till she was nearly
alongside, when there was a tremendous roar, following the crashing into
her of a shell, and the second junk flew up in fragments.
The shell had reached her little magazine of powder; and then the work
of mercy began.
I was watching the boats being lowered when I heard a shout from behind,
and, looking round, saw the second line of our blue-jackets advancing
from the ridge. To my great joy, I saw with them those whom we had
mourned as drowned, while the next minute Mr Brooke had me by the
hands, and I heard a strange gulping noise, ending in quite a howl.
I looked sharply round, and saw Ching seated on the sand, wiping his
eyes with his sleeves.
"What's the matter, Ching--hurt?" I asked.
"No, not hurt, Mis' Hellick; Ching so velly glad."