Marjorie

by Justin H. McCarthy

  CHAPTER XXV

  THE STORY FROM THE SEA

  In few words, it came to this. The sailors on the island had provedthemselves to be as bloody villains as had ever fed the gallows. Theyhad taken the unhappy colonists by surprise and had massacred them, allbut the women and the children. As for the women--poor things!--it wouldhave been better for them if they had been killed with the others, buttheir lives were spared for greater sorrows. Those who told us that talewere all that were left, they said, of the unhappy company. They hadescaped by mere chance to the woods, and had fashioned with their axesthe rough raft and oars which had conducted them at last to us and totemporary safety.

  This was their first raw story. Horrid as it was it took a strongerhorror when one of the men shouted a curse at Cornelys Jensen.

  'Cornelys Jensen!' I cried. 'Cornelys Jensen--Cornelys Jensen is dead,and the seas have swallowed him.'

  The man who had uttered his name gave a great groan.

  'Would to Heaven they had,' he said. 'But Heaven has not been somerciful. That tiger still lives and lusts for blood.'

  Marjorie and Lancelot and I glanced at each other in amazement, and thesame thought crossed all our minds--that fear and grief had crazed theunhappy man who was speaking to us. But he, reading something of ourthoughts in our eyes, turned to his fellows for confirmation, andconfirmation they readily gave. Cornelys Jensen was alive. CornelysJensen was on the island. Cornelys Jensen was the instigator of themassacre, the bloodiest actor in the bloody work.

  Here was indeed amazing tidings, and we cried to know more, but the menhad no more to tell. They had no knowledge of how Cornelys Jensen madehis appearance upon the island; all they knew was that he did appear,and that his appearance was the signal for a display of weapons on thepart of the sailors on his side and the massacre of all the unhappywretches who were not inclined to his piratical purposes. The colonistsseemed to have made no sort of stand for their lives. Indeed, it wouldappear that they were taken quite unawares, and that the most werestruck down before they had time to act in their own defence. As for themiserable wretches who told us this tale, they had fled to the woodswhen the wicked business began, and the murderers either lost count ofthem or imagined that they must perish miserably of famine in theforest. Indeed, they must have so perished if it had not occurred to oneof them, who had his wits a little more about him than the others, tosuggest the manufacture of a raft, whereby they might make the attemptto reach the island, where, as they guessed, we, with our well-armedfellows, were safely settled. 'For,' as the man argued, 'we risk deatheither way. If we stop here we must either perish among these trees forlack of sustenance or must creep back to the piratical camp with littleother hope than a stroke from a hanger, or tempt the seas in the hope offriends and safety.' So they fashioned a raft as well as they could outof a number of fallen trees, which they fastened together with naturalropes made of the long creeping plants that abounded, and that were astough and as endurable as ever was rope that was weaved out of honesthemp. They found enough timber for their craft among the fallen treetrunks, and they had the less difficulty in their work that one oftheir number was Janes, who had his saw in his belt at the moment oftheir flight to the woods.

  Long before they finished telling their tale our men, who were scatteredabroad in the woods, came tumbling down to us at the sound of the horn,that Lancelot wound to summon them, and gathered in horror around theirunhappy comrades. As for me, I was so amazed at the news that CornelysJensen was alive that I stood for awhile like one stunned, and could saynothing, but only stare at those pale faces and wonder dumbly. Whenafter awhile the power of speech did return to me I strove with manyquestions to find out how Jensen was thus restored to life and to evildeeds, but as to that they none of them knew anything. If the marvel ofJensen's reappearance was the greatest marvel, marvel only second to itwas how the sailors who obeyed him came to have weapons for theirbusiness. As to that, again, the fugitives could give no help. Thesailors had arms, every man of them, muskets and pistols and cutlasses,and had used them with deadly effect. It was all a mystery that made oursenses sick to think upon.

  Of one thing the fugitives were very positive--that Jensen and hismurderers would very soon make a descent upon our island, in the hope ofsurprising us unawares and killing us. For now they were very numerous,and at least as well-armed as we were, and would make very formidableenemies. The only wonder was that they had not already attempted it, butthe men believed that the villains were so engrossed in a swinish orgieafter their triumph as to be heedless of time or prudence. So here werewe--but thirty-two men in all, not counting these fugitives--and withone woman, though so brave an one--in urgent peril. It was fortunate forus all that in Lancelot's youth there was an alliance of courage withskill which would have done credit to a general of fifty. I was not muchin those days in the way of giving advice, but I was strong and active,and ready to obey Lancelot in all things, which was what was most wantedof me in that juncture. We had every reason to be confident in thefidelity and courage of the men who were with us, and our confidence wasnot misplaced.

  The first thing to be done was to settle the fugitives in the utmostcomfort we could afford them. We put them to rest in one of our tents wehad built, and gave to each of them a taste of strong waters, afterwhich we urged them to sleep if they could, adding, to encourage them inthat effort, that the sooner their bodies were refreshed by rest andfood the better they would be able to bear their part in resisting thecommon enemy. This argument had great weight with the men, who were verywilling to be of help, but too hopelessly worn out just then to be ofthe smallest aid to us or the smallest obstacle to our enemies. Indeed,the poor fellows were so broken with fear and suffering that I thinkthey would have slept if they had heard that Cornelys Jensen, with allhis pack, had landed upon the island. As it was, in a very few minutesall of them were lying in a row and sleeping soundly. I could almosthave wept as I looked upon them lying there so quiet and so miserable,and thought of all the high hopes with which they had entered upon theadventure that had proved so disastrous for them and so fatal for somany of their companions.

  Having thus disposed of them, our next course was to take such steps aswe could towards strengthening our position. To begin with, we hauledour boat further up the creek than she now was, for it would be aterrible misfortune to us if anything were to happen to her, seeing thaton her depended any chance we had of leaving the island if we were sofar pushed as to have to make the attempt. Our position was not an easyone to attack as it stood, coming, as the attack must, from the islandwe had left, for of an attack in our rear we had no danger. Even ifCornelys Jensen were able to get to the back of our island, it wouldtake him an intolerable time to make his way through the well-nighimpenetrable woods that lay between us. On our front we felt confidentthat the attack would come, and we felt further confident that, even ifit was made with the full force of ruffians that Jensen had at hiscommand, we ought to be able to repulse it, and to prevent thescoundrels from effecting a landing. For though the news that they werethoroughly equipped with the weapons and munitions of war was wofullydisheartening news, still, as we were well-armed ourselves, it did notaltogether discourage us. They might be very well two to one, but two toone is no such great odds when the larger party has to effect a landingupon an open place held by resolute men and well weaponed.

  It was, in Lancelot's judgment, our first duty to erect a sort of fortor stockade upon the beach, wherein we could take shelter if we werereally hard pressed, and wherein we could store for greater safety ourstores and ammunition from our skiff. We had set up several huts alongthe shore of the creek for habitation and for storage of our goods. Butthey would have offered no protection in case of an attack, being butmere shells hurriedly put together, and intended merely as temporaryshelters from possible foul weather. Lancelot's scheme was to encloseall these buildings in a strong wall, and to connect that fort byanother wall with the spot at which our skiff was beached.

  There w
as no great difficulty in the construction of such a stockade initself. Timber enough and to spare was to be had for the chopping, andwe had thirty odd pairs of arms and sufficient axes to make that amatter of no difficulty. Nor was there any difficulty as regards thebuilding of such a fort, for Lancelot's knowledge of military mattersmade him quite capable of planning it out according to the most approvedmethods of fortification.

  We set to work upon the stockade at once, and soon were chopping awayfor dear life, even Marjorie wielding a light axe, and wielding it well.Many hands, it is said, make light work, and there were enough of us tomake the business move pretty quickly. Choosing trees with trunks of amiddling thickness, we soon had a great quantity cut down and made ofthe length that was needed. These we proceeded to set up in the placesthat Lancelot had marked out, but first we dug deep trenches in theground so as to ensure their being firmly established, Marjorie takingher share of the spade work with a will. We had not done very muchbefore Abraham Janes, the carpenter, came out of the hut and joined us.He declared that he was now well refreshed, and that he wished to bearhis part in the labour; and indeed we were very glad to let him do so,because he was an exceedingly skilful workman, and very ready with theuse of saw and hatchet.