The Island of Gold: A Sailor's Yarn

by Anonymous

our duty lies straight and clear before us, and we'vegot to go for it. We shall just be content to make war first, and leavethe peace to follow."

  Every man heard him, and the hearty British cheer they gave wasre-echoed even from the hill itself.

  It was agreed by all, however, that to fight these savages in the openwould be but to court death and destruction to all hands.

  Other tactics must be adopted. The enemy would no doubt land on thebeach, and so the big gun was dragged towards the cliff-top. Here theywould make their first stand, and, if possible, sink some of thewar-canoes before they had a chance to land.

  In savage warfare cover is considered of very great importance. It wasdetermined, therefore, to deprive the invaders of this at any cost, soheaps of withered branches and foliage were collected and placed hereand there all around the bay and close to the edge of the wood; and notonly there, but on the table-land itself, between the encampment andObservatory Hill.

  One of the most active young men was told off to fire those heaps,beginning at the farther side of the bay. His signal to do so would bea rifle, not the gun, fired from the top of the cliff.

  In less than three hours' time the great war-canoes were quite in view,slowly approaching the land. They were still ten miles away, however,and it was evident to every one that they meant to time themselves so asto land on the beach at Treachery Bay about an hour after sunset.

  Another hour went slowly by. Through the glasses now a good view couldbe had of the cannibal warriors. One and all were painted in a mannerthat was as hideous as it was grotesque. In the first boat, standingerect in the bows, with a huge spear in his hand, the head of which wasevidently of gold, for it glittered yellow in the sun's rays, was astalwart savage, whom James Malone at once pronounced to be the king.Beside him squatted two deformed and horrible-looking savages, and theyalso were far too well-known to James. They were the king's chiefmedicine-men.

  At the bow of each war-canoe, stuck on a pole, was a ghastly human head,no doubt those of prisoners taken in battles fought with tribes livingon other islands. There was no doubt, therefore, that their intentionsin visiting the Crusoes were evil and not good, and that James Malone'sadvice to fight first and make peace afterwards was wise, and the onlyone to be pursued.

  At sunset they were within two miles of the land, and lying-to, ready tomake a dash as soon as darkness fell.

  The gun belonging to the _Sea Flower_ was a small breechloader of goodpattern, and could carry a shell quite as far as the boats.

  It was trained upon them, and great was the terror of the king when inthe air, right above his head, the shell burst with a terrible roar.

  They put about and rowed further off at once.

  And now, after a short twilight, the night descended quickly over landand sea.

  It was very still and starry, and in a very short time the thumping andnoise of the oars told those on watch that the boats were rapidlyapproaching. And now the rifle was fired.

  Sackbut, the young sailor, had been provided with a can of petroleum andmatches, and hardly had the sound of the rifle ceased to reverberatefrom the rocks ere those on the cliff saw the first fire lighted.Running from heap to heap he quickly set fire to them one by one. Up onto the table-land he came next, and so in less than twenty minutes thewhole of this part of the island presented a barrier of rolling firetowards the sea.

  The fire lit up the whole bay until it was as bright almost as if thesun were shining on it. But the savages were not to be deterred ordenied, and so on swept the great war-canoes towards the coral beach.

  Yet, although they succeeded at last in effecting a landing, they hadpaid dear for their daring.

  Seven rifles played incessantly on them, and the howls and yells thatrose every now and then on the night air told that the firing was not invain.

  Only a few shots were fired from the gun, there being no time, but ashell crashed into the very midst of one of the war-canoes, and thedestruction must have been terrible. She sank at once, and probably notmore than ten out of the thirty succeeded in swimming ashore.

  The sharks had scented the battle from afar, and were soon on the fieldenjoying a horrid feast.

  With that bursting shell the war might be said to have commenced inearnest, and it was to be a war _a outrance_, knife to knife, and to thedeath.

  The yelling of the savages now, and their frantic gestures as theyrushed in mass to the shelter of the rocks, mingling with the cracklingand roaring of the flames and the frightened screams of myriads ofsea-gulls, was fearful--a noise and din that it would be difficultindeed to describe.

  All haste was now made to get the gun inside the first line of defence,load it with canister, and place it where it would be most handy.

  And nothing more could be done now until the savages should once moreput in an appearance. So Tandy hurried on board, a sadly anxious manindeed. His anxiety was, of course, centred in his little daughter.

  Janeira was the first to meet him.

  "Miss Nelda?" he said quickly; "where is she, and how is she, Jane?"

  "Oh," replied Jane, "she cry plenty at fuss, sah, cry and dance, but nowshe done go to bed, sah; come, sah, come."

  And down below she ran.

  Poor Nelda! There she lay in her bunk, pale and frightened-looking.

  No tears now though; only smiles and caresses for her father. She hadone arm round Bob, who was stretched out beside the child, as if toguard her from threatened danger.

  But strange and earnest were the questions she had to ask.

  Were the savages all killed, and shot, and drowned? Would they comeback again? Would Ransey, and Bob, and the 'Rallie, and poor daddie bekilled and roasted if the awful men came with their spears and knives,and their bows and arrows?

  Tandy did all he could to assure her, and if in doing so he had toequivocate a little, surely he would be forgiven.

  As they were still talking, in at the door stalked the Admiral himself.He looked more solemn than any one had ever seen him before. Poorfellow! he too had received a terrible fright, and I suppose he feltthat he would never, never care to dance again.

  The child called to him, and he came to the bunk-side at once, andlowering his long, beautiful neck, laid his beak across her neck. Thiswas 'Rallie's way of showing affection.

  Then he went slowly and sadly away to the other end of the cabin, and"trussed" himself in a corner.

  Tandy stopped for two whole hours with Nelda. She promised to be verygood, and not to cry, even if the bad men did come back again.

  Then she fell soundly asleep, holding her father's finger.

  He kissed her now and quietly left the cabin, and Janeira herselfslipped in and took the camp-stool Tandy had just vacated.

  The fire was by this time a long distance away, only the trees that hadnot been destroyed stood at one moment like black spectres in thestarlight, but like rugged pillars of crimson and gold when a puff ofwind swept through the woods.

  Waiting and watching! Ah, what a weary thing it is! Hours and hourspassed by, and if the men of this little garrison slept at all, it wason the bare ground, and with only their elbows for pillows.

  But not until far on in the morning watch did the enemy show signs ofactivity, or give a single token of their presence.

  The fire was now too far back for the crackling of the flames to beheard, though its red glare and the cloud of rolling smoke that obscuredthe sky told that it was still blazing fiercely. The sea-birds had goneto rest once more in the rocks, and everything around the encampment wasas silent as the grave. A dread silence--a stillness like that whichprecedes the outbreaking of some fearful storm!

  And all too soon the storm burst.

  Book 3--CHAPTER TEN.

  "AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH."

  With a yell that once more scared the sea-birds, and sent them screamingin terror across the waves, a yell that seemed to awaken the echoes inevery rock and hill from end to end of the island, the sav
ages sprang totheir feet, and rushing towards the palisade, made their first fearfulonset.

  Not twenty yards away were they when they had given voice. So quickly,too, did they rush across the intervening ground, that scarce was theretime to fire a rifle volley, far less to train the gun upon thespear-armed mass, before it was close alongside and had surrounded thestockade.

  In their hundreds, these fearsome savages attempted to scale it; buttheir bodies were frightfully torn with the spikes, and cries of painnow mingled with those of anger. The defenders ran from one part of thestockade to another, firing from the loopholes; and so densely massedtogether was the foe that every bullet must have found a billet. Inspite of all this, several managed to get over, but were immediatelyshot down with revolvers, or cut down with sword or cutlass.

  Small though the loopholes were, spears were several times thrustthrough, and as each of them was poisoned, a single scratch would haveresulted in the agonised death of the receiver.

  Dark enough it was, and with nothing now but the stars to direct theiraim, yet the