The morning's light brought us no change either for worse or better,
excepting that under cover of the night Smart had gone to search for our
other companions. He gave us orders what to do, in case of an attack,
and departed with these comforting words "Let a score on 'em attack ye,
and I'll be bound the young gentlemen, if they be but steady, can keep
'em off. Any ways Mrs. E. can, and if we hear shots cap'in and I will
just come in the rear in nick o' time."
We sat composedly down to such breakfast as we had, which led to an
examination as to what had been brought up. We had plenty of water,
bread, yams, and potatoes. No little girl had forgotten her parrot, or
the boys their monkeys; in fact Felix declared his had been very useful,
as he made him carry two great potatoes. "But," said Lilly, "you had to
carry him, so it made no great difference."
"Moreover," says Felix, "I brought my two hens, because they lay eggs,
and Tommy is so fond of eggs."
_Lilly._--"I do think you love Smart more than any of us, more than your
Mother."
_Felix._--"Oh! any body may have the other egg, but I must keep one for
my Tommy. He has never been quite well since he was with those brutes.
And I am his doctor he says, so I order him eggs. And if I bid him do
it, I know he would eat twenty, one after another."
_Mother._--"How odd it seems to Schillie, our laughing at all this
nonsense of the children, when we certainly are in a very uncomfortable
position. We seem to think we are in no danger, now we have got the
captain and Smart to help us, and I doubt if we were ever in a worse
predicament than now."
_Schillie._--"Predicament or not, it's extremely nasty not being allowed
any water to wash with, and I shall owe Hargrave a grudge all my life.
Here we have been accustomed to bathe two or three times a-day, now
stewed to death we are only allowed sufficient water to send bread down
our throats, that would otherwise stick there."
_Mother._--"I wish that may be our greatest inconvenience; it's all very
well for Smart to say that we are in no danger, but if these people keep
staring at us and watching us all day as they did yesterday what are we
to do? They'll stare us out, let alone the chance of our being broiled
to death. I feel quite sure Madame will have a brain fever if we don't
take care."
_Schillie._--"Well don't fuss. We can last out a week of this work,
perhaps, and then we shall at all events be less fat for the fishes. I
intend to try the depths of those caverns before I put myself in the
power of that pirate captain."
I shuddered as she pointed down to the blue waters, through whose depths
we could see endless caverns of fantastically shaped coral.
"Oh! Ma'am, Ma'am," cried Jenny, "they are coming up." We ran for our
weapons, concealing them as well as we could, and then stood on the
defensive, Schillie on one side of the path and I on the other, the rest
all ready to hand us the guns. "Shoot, Schillie, shoot," I said, "hit
the foremost man, and he'll tumble over the others."
"I am trying, I am indeed, but don't you know I cannot even kill a wasp!
Hang me if I can do it," said Schillie, turning white as a sheet, and
letting her gun drop. Steadily Otty raises his gun, fires, and the
foremost man falls, knocking over two others, and causing great
confusion. Felix, by way of calming it, fires his gun right into the
middle of them.
Their imprecations were loud and deep, and their rage seemed boundless
as they looked up at their two little antagonists. One man dead, two
hurt. "Very good boys," say we. But the pirates were not to be driven
back in this manner. It was too humiliating to be repulsed by two boys.
They seemed speculating as to what had become of Smart, he was evidently
not with us. So once more they essayed the ascent, sheltering themselves
as well as they could from the guns, by creeping under cover of the
ledges of rock. "Now let's all be firm this time," we whispered, "for
shoot them we must." Schillie took a great gulp of water, seized her
gun, and once more we all stood ready. "Let them come quite close," said
Oscar.
But a fresh person appeared on the scene of action, whose shrill screams
told her name better than anything. Not that anybody seemed hurting or
molesting her, but attracted, I suppose, by the sound of the guns, she
had ventured forth from her hiding place, and discovered us all roosting
at the top of the rock. Not being able to entertain more than one idea
at a time, and that idea being since her separation from us solely how
she could rejoin, it was not a matter of wonder, that to see us, was to
make her rush down towards us. It never entered her limited capacity to
think that the pirates might object to the re-union. However they showed
themselves most civil and polite towards Mrs. Hargrave, though we on the
rock did not give them credit for acting entirely from disinterested
motives.
_Schillie._--"Upon my life! if they are not going to let that mad woman
come up here. You may be sure, June, they have some motive for this
gratuitous kindness. I dare say they think such an ass of a woman will
be more likely to do us harm than good by her presence. Well! any body
may help her up that likes, I won't."
"Nor I, nor I," sounded on all sides.
But there was no need for us to offer, for the amiable pirates were
kindly assisting her up themselves. Little did Mrs. Hargrave dream that
they were making a convenient shield of her most precious self and that
if we hoped to execute our former man[oe]uvre we should have to send our
bullets through her first. She thought of nothing but being again
amongst us, and scrambled and struggled towards us, screaming the whole
time.
_Oscar._--"Mother, I must shoot her, there is no help for it. If one of
those fellows gets footing on here, we may as well give ourselves up.
You see he is close behind her."
_Mother._--"We will just make one effort. Wait till she is so near that
I can grasp hold of her, and then shoot; she must take her chance."
With the greatest coolness the brave boy did as he was bid; and I had no
sooner grasped the woman than he fired. With a squall that no one could
think proceeded out of human lips, she lost her footing and held on by
me, and if Schillie had not had firm hold of me, Serena and Sybil of
her, I must have gone over with Hargrave and the pirate. As it was, he
fell dead, and we dragged her up, and, pulling her to some distance, we
never stayed to enquire if she was wounded or not, but ran back to our
posts. They were swarming up, just under a ledge, ready to make a bolt
out upon us if we looked off one moment. "Get stones, little ones,"
whispered Serena, "they will help us, perhaps." Now they bolt. We all
fire simultaneously. They retreat again, some wounded, but none dead.
We took up the second relay of guns, Schillie carrying off the others to
reload.
"In the name of all that's horrible," we heard her say, in a loud angry
voice, "what are you doing here?"
_Hargrave._--"I am not going to be shot at and killed by those dreadful
guns any more, and, besides, the pirates gave me to understand down
there as the sun would soon set the powder in a blaze, and we should all
be blown up. Look at me, bleeding like a pig, and half my ear and one of
my best ear-rings gone. No, no, though I was dead, as I thought, I was
determined to throw the powder and shot over the rock, that you might be
safe, if I died the next minute."
"Bring me that rope, Lilly," said Schillie, in a voice of concentrated
rage. Gatty sprung to help her, and in two minutes the foolish woman was
tied, with her hands behind her back, to one of the palm trees, and they
returned to help us, as best we could be helped. We trusted that Smart
would hear the firing, and come to our assistance before all hope was
gone. But the pirates themselves ceased their warfare against us,
finding the stones quite as destructive as the guns; besides, they
seemed to be in a great state of uncertainty and trouble among
themselves, and had so many consultations, and talked at such a rate,
that we lost ourselves in conjectures as to what it could be all about.
"They are in a mighty rage against us, I think, for killing the two
men," said Oscar. "They don't want to hurt us, apparently," said
Serena, "as they never fixed their guns at us." "Why, my dear child,
don't you see that is against their interests to hurt any of us," said
Schillie, "they want to sell us, or some such blessed thing."
_Gatty_ (demurely).--"I don't think the king will sell you, little
Mother."
_Schillie._--"None of your nonsense. Miss. I'll marry you to him if you
don't mind, and a regular dun duckity mud-coloured spouse you will
have."
_Gatty._--"If you please, little Mother, you are and have been so cross
to me since we came up here."
_Schillie._--"And no wonder, you young noodle, talking such nonsense,
and behaving like a young ape when we are in such danger; and June is
just as bad, encouraging you in all this stuff."
_Mother._--"Come, don't let us quarrel, night is coming on. Go to bed,
children. You and I must watch, Schillie."
_Schillie._--"And I, feeling like a dead dog, wanting a week's sleep at
least."
_Mother._--"Then Hargrave shall help me."
_Schillie._--"Help the pirates you mean; but who has looked after that
female lately?"
We went to see her, and luckily she was unable to have her feelings
wounded by any remark that might have been bottling up against her, for
through her nose she gave audible demonstrations that she considered her
troubles and sorrows over, and that any remonstrances on our parts
would only be regarded as an unpleasant dream of the night.
"What a dirty draggle-tailed thing she looks," said Schillie, "in all
that worn-out old finery. Why cannot she dress like us and Jenny in
these serviceable dresses?"
"Oh, she made a particular request to me," I answered, "not to dress in
our island costume, and asked leave to use all our old things to make
herself, what she called, respectable. But are you really so tired you
cannot watch?"
_Schillie._--"To be sure not; you don't think I am going to let you
watch without me, only I am regularly done up, and think it would be
rather a good plan to get shot that I might have some rest."
_Mother._--"Fie, Schillie, you forget what you are saying."
_Schillie._--"I dare say I am very wicked, but don't bother me now; keep
your scolding until we get out of this mess, if we ever do."