CHAPTER SIX.
HOW THEY INVESTIGATED A CERTAIN CIPHER AND MET WITH SOME ADVENTURES.
Day had scarcely broken next morning ere Harry and Roger tumbled out oftheir bunks, dressed, and went up on deck, so eager were they once moreto be on shore after their many long days at sea.
As they came on deck the sun rose in all his tropic grandeur, andtransfigured the little inlet--with the ships floating on its bosom, itsenvironment of green palms and tropical verdure, and its golden sandsrunning down to the water's edge--into a veritable nook of fairyland.
For a distance, so far as they could judge, of about three miles theground appeared to be fairly level, rising very gradually, and thicklycovered with tropical foliage. Beyond that there was a range of hills,apparently about a thousand feet high; and beyond these again rose peakafter peak of lofty mountains, the bare summits of the tallest glowinglike jewels in the brilliant tropical light. Close at hand, on thesouthern shore of the inlet, lofty cliffs ran sheer down to the water'sedge, where a ledge of rocks ran out some little distance into the bay,and these rocks seemed to be literally honey-combed with caves. On thenorthern side of the inlet the water shoaled gradually, terminating on abeach of clean yellow sand, which again stretched for some distanceabove water mark, and was then lost among the bush foliage. Tallcoco-nut palms graced the margin of the inlet, and, behind them, treesbearing oranges, guavas, bananas, lemons, mangoes, and various otherkinds of tropical fruits could be discerned close at hand. It was intruth a lovely scene that the lads gazed upon that bright morning.
There was a moderately good rise and fall of tide, judging from themarks on the beach, and the northern shore was undoubtedly the one thatwould be chosen by Cavendish for careening his vessels, as the groundsloped steeply but evenly, the sand was firm and hard, and the trunks ofthe palm-trees would be very useful for securing the hawsers, by meansof which they would heave the vessels down on their beam-ends.
The sun mounted higher in the clear blue of the heavens as they looked,and all about them rose the sounds of awakening nature. Away back inthe woods they could hear the chattering of monkeys; parrots and birdsof bright plumage screamed and sang and fluttered among the trees nearthe beach; and several bright-plumaged flamingoes stalked gravely aboutthe shallows, seeking their morning meal in the limpid water.
Presently, too, life on board the vessels was stirring, and the shrillwhistle of the boatswain's pipe roused all hands to their duties. Themen came tumbling up from below, and the business of the day commenced.
The officers of the ship and the two lads went down presently tobreakfast, after which leave to go on shore was granted to several ofthem, including Roger and Harry.
Those who were going ashore quickly determined to make up a party andkeep together, because as yet they knew nothing of the country, andthere was the chance that it might be inhabited; in which case, ifseparated, and any savages were in the neighbourhood, the whites mightfind themselves awkwardly situated.
As many of the crew as could be spared were also allowed to go on shorefor a few hours before the business of careening and refittingcommenced; and, needless to say, they were delighted at the prospect ofhaving a little more space wherein to walk about than the narrow decksof their own ships, and also of being able to get some fresh fruit--ofwhich they stood in great need, scurvy having already appeared amongthem.
After breakfast, therefore, they quickly got the boats over the side,and soon there was a regular procession of them from the vessels to theshore.
Once there, the seamen immediately began to gather the fresh fruit, and,collecting a pile of what they most fancied, they lay down beside it,and ate at their ease, their past perils forgotten for the moment, andall of them supremely happy.
A few of the more adventurous spirits, however, went off into the woodson a tour of investigation, taking their muskets and bows with them, inthe hope of procuring a little fresh meat.
Roger and Harry, who had, of course, gone ashore with the firstboat-load, stood for a while on the beach at the edge of the water,undecided for the moment what to do first.
Harry suggested having a bathe in the limpid water of the little bay,first of all; and indeed it looked so inviting that Roger was not slowin seconding the proposition.
Accordingly they soon slipped off their clothes, and were quicklydisporting themselves like young dolphins in the water, when Harry,glancing up, saw the ships lying, as it seemed, only some quarter of amile away, their shapes reflected in the water with such distinctnessthat it was difficult to say where the substance ended and the shadowbegan.
This apparent proximity of the ships immediately put an idea into boththeir heads at the same moment, and they both shouted together: "Let ushave a race off to the _Stag Royal_."
They laughed that they should have spoken the same words together, andthey immediately decided that they would have a wager of a noble on theevent.
"Are you ready, then, Roger? 'tis a race to the _Stag Royal_; and thefirst up the ship's side and on her deck will win the noble," exclaimedHarry.
"Agreed, lad; away we go!" replied Roger.
And the two started off, swimming strongly, with a side stroke insteadof the breast; for although the former required more power, yet it wasthe faster stroke, and they reckoned their strength to be quite equal toa much longer distance than that to the ship.
But, as is invariably the case, distance viewed over water is deceptive,and by the time that they had done three-quarters of the course bothwere feeling pretty well fagged out with their unusual exertions, thoughneither would admit it; and the fact remained that they were swimmingmuch slower than at the start. Suddenly they were startled by a loudhail from the deck of the _Stag Royal_--the ship for which they weremaking,--in the voice of Cavendish.
"Be not frightened, lads, but pull out as fast as you can for the ship;there are sharks coming after you!"
Their hearts leapt in their breasts at this startling news, and, lookinghurriedly round, they perceived, to their horror, that several blacktriangular dorsal fins were cleaving the water in their wake, andclosing rapidly in upon them.
Fortunately the water in the direction in which they were swimming wasas yet clear, to all appearance.
"Cannot you send a boat, sir? We are nearly exhausted with the swim,"hailed Roger, who was slightly in advance of Harry.
"Nay, that I cannot, lad, for all the boats are still on shore. Youmust swim, and for your lives' sake swim hard," answered Cavendish fromthe deck of the ship.
He was leaning anxiously over the bulwarks, and the rail was lined withthe faces of the few seamen who were left on board, while two of themhad gone down the accommodation ladder and were waiting at the foot,ready to haul the lads in as soon as they were near enough.
The men on board now quickly seized whatever missiles they could laytheir hands on, and stood ready to bombard the sharks, in the hope ofdriving them off, if they did not seize the lads before they got withinrange.
As for Harry and Roger, they struck out with the energy of terror; buteach felt that he was tiring with every stroke, while the knowledge thatat any moment they might feel themselves in the jaws of one of thosesea-tigers seemed to paralyse their limbs. Their flesh crept with thehorror of the thought.
Harry, especially, was showing manifest symptoms of increasing distress;while Roger, resisting the impulse to swim on and reach safety, keptvaliantly at his side, encouraging him.
"Go on, Roger," at length gasped Harry; "I am done, and cannot reach theship. Swim you on and get on board; I will follow if I can."
"Nay, Harry, lad," answered Roger, "either we both get on board, or--ornot; we did not make our compact to break it at the first sign ofdanger. Do your utmost, and we shall yet get on board all right."
Even in his extremity Harry could not avoid noticing that Rogerhesitated when he came to "or--or not;" the brave lad could not bringhimself to utter the alternative in words.
Before leaving the shore the boys
had stripped down to their pantaloonsand vests, which they had retained as a makeshift bathing-costume. Now,as luck would have it, Roger invariably wore a belt round his waist, towhich was attached a very fine Venetian dagger, slender of blade, sharpas a razor, and very strong.
This had been given him by his father as a parting keepsake, and helooked upon it almost as a kind of talisman; he therefore never allowedit to leave his person.
Merely by force of habit he had buckled this belt and dagger about himbefore starting for the swim, and now, in the moment of his deadlydanger, he suddenly recollected that he had it on him, and an idea cameto him like an inspiration.
"Harry, swim you on and reach the ship," said he. "I am not at alltired, and I have my dagger with me; swim on, and I will swim after you.Argue not, lad, you will but waste your breath; do as I say, and makeall haste to the ship."
Harry, knowing that when Roger spoke thus it was useless to argue, didas he was ordered, and struck out for the vessel with such energy as hecould muster.
For his part, Roger drew his dagger, and held it firmly in his hand; andthen, swimming after Harry, began to splash and shout with all hismight.
The fins, which had by this time come very close to them, pausedsuddenly and scattered at the unexpected commotion; and a little timewas thus gained for the fugitives, who made the utmost of it.
The sharks, however, were not so easily to be denied, and presently theybegan to close in again; by which time Harry was approaching the side ofthe _Stag Royal_, while Roger was still some distance behind, splashingand shouting vigorously.
The fins drew nearer and nearer with deadly determination.
Abandoning now the splashing, which was greatly exhausting him, Rogerput out all his remaining strength and swam for his life, while, thesplashing having ceased, the sharks were after him again at once.
It was now a race, not between two boys for a wager of a noble, butbetween a boy and a school of sharks, with the boy's life as the stake.
The sharks were fast gaining upon Roger, and he and they were as yetquite out of range of the missiles with which the men were ready to peltthe ravenous monsters. But Harry had meanwhile reached the ship andbeen hauled in and deposited on deck, where he immediately sank downfainting with exhaustion.
Then, seeing his friend safe, Roger redoubled his efforts, and thedistance between the sharks and him lessened but slightly, while hedecreased the distance between himself and the ship very perceptibly.
These herculean efforts could not last long, however, and the sharksonce more began to draw in upon him.
The men on the deck of the ship now shouted, and flung their missiles asfar as they could; but the swimmer and the sharks were still too far offfor the latter to be frightened by the bombardment.
Inch by inch the ravenous fish closed in on the lad.
He glanced over his shoulder as he swam, and as he perceived how closethe monsters were, the men on board the ship could see, even at thatdistance, that his face turned livid.
The foremost shark was nearly on him now, and there was yet aconsiderable distance to cover ere he could reach safety.
Suddenly the leading fin disappeared, and the watchers knew that theshark had dived, in order the better to seize its prey. Their warningwas roared over the water to him, but apparently too late, for withtheir shout, Roger's body disappeared!
A cry of horror at once went up from the ship, and strong men turnedaway, unwilling to witness the death of their favourite.
Those who still watched, however, almost immediately saw a tremendousdisturbance of the water just below the spot where Roger haddisappeared; and presently a broad blotch of red stained the blue waterof the inlet, while a deep groan went up from the assembled crowd ondeck. But the groan quickly changed to a mighty cheer as they sawRoger's form appear again at some considerable distance nearer the ship,and evidently safe and sound, for he was still swimming strongly. Andimmediately after, in his rear, the body of the shark rose to thesurface, floating on its back, dead! The remainder of the sharksinstantly flung themselves upon the carcass, tearing it to pieces, andchurning up a bloody froth as they struggled and tore and fought fortheir share of the spoil.
Roger had done the only thing possible to save his life. As the sharkdived, so did he, and, swimming below the brute, he had ripped up itsbelly with several strong slashing blows from his keen dagger, thuseffectually ridding himself of one adversary, and trusting that theremainder of the school would wait to devour it--as indeed they haddone,--thus giving him a further chance to escape.
He was now quite near the ship; but the sharks had quickly disposed ofthe carcass of their companion, and were again after him. Roger,however, was now within range. So, as the sharks came on in pursuit,they were bombarded with every description of missile upon which the mencould lay their hands, a proceeding which checked them slightly, andgave Roger a little more grace.
At length, utterly exhausted, the plucky lad reached the foot of theaccommodation ladder, but just in time, for, as he was pulled clear ofthe water, a pair of huge jaws clashed behind him with a sound that madehim nearly faint, so suggestive was it of what he had so narrowlyescaped.
By the time that he reached the deck Harry had fully recovered, and hewas the first to grasp Roger's hand and wring it convulsively as thelatter stepped inboard. Harry could find no words wherewith to expresshis feelings adequately, but the pressure of his hand spoke for him, andRoger felt amply repaid for all he had done.
"And now, young gentlemen," said Cavendish sternly, when the young heroof the adventure had been recovered somewhat by the administration of aliberal dose of rum, "let this be a warning to you never again to gobathing in these seas. You have both had a most miraculous escape, andI for one had given the pair of you up as lost. But, thank Heaven, youare safe after all. Only never let it occur again. But I suppose youwill take care of that," he added with a twinkle in his eye. "Yourfirst experience with Johnny Shark has been enough for you, hasn't it?"
They reassured him on that point, and both then went below to dress.When they were again clothed, Harry said:
"And now, how shall we spend the remainder of the day, Roger? I don'tfeel like going ashore again to-day, even if we had a boat. The idea ofcrossing that sheet of water again does not very greatly appeal to mejust now."
"I feel pretty much as you do," replied Roger. "I have had quite enoughof the water for to-day. As an alternative, I suggest that weinvestigate that sheaf of documents that we took out of the _Gloria delMundo_ at the time of the battle. That fellow Alvarez seemed feverishlyanxious to find a certain paper, and bitterly disappointed at hisfailure, so perhaps there may be something of value among them."
So saying, Roger went to his sea-chest, and, having unlocked it, drewout the bundle of papers to which he had referred, and laid it on thetable.
They ran through most of them without finding anything of interest,those examined proving to be merely papers relating to the provisioningof the ship, and one or two old charts with courses marked off on them.
On another chart, however, they found something that claimed a moment'sattention. It was one upon which the position of the Spanishintercepting fleet had been laid down, together with the supposed coursethat the English vessels would steer, thus proving that they hadcorrectly anticipated the movements of the English. This they putaside, intending to hand it to Cavendish, as it would be of interest tohim.
"This is probably the document that scoundrel Alvarez was looking forwhile the _Gloria del Mundo_ was sinking," said Roger, who had relatedto Harry all that had happened while he was awaiting death in the cabinof the Spanish vessel.
"Hardly that," demurred Harry. "I should think it would be something ofmuch more importance; because, you see, this would not be of much valueto him after the action. Let us search further."
They did so, and presently came upon a sheet of rough parchment, whichhad escaped the search of Alvarez through its having worked its way intoa fol
ded chart.
They spread it open upon the table, and found that they could makenothing of it, as it appeared to be a mass of figures, and nothing else.
"I wonder what on earth this can be," said Roger. "It seems to benothing but a lot of figures put down anyhow. I expect it is merely asheet of scribbling-paper, upon which some rough calculations have beenworked. At any rate it is of no importance, and clearly is not whatAlvarez was looking for."
"Wait one moment, Roger," said Harry; "be not over-hasty, lad. Ibelieve this is more important than it looks. May it not be a cipher ofsome kind? Let us have another look at it."
The document presented the following appearance:--
1581. 2227 1819 1919 2622 1820 1335 1138 1918 1717 2020 1618 2727 2722 2222 3811 1819 1816 1237 2225 1915 1515 2424 2525 1730 2014 1430 1718 2121 1420 1920 3014 1830 1519 2120 1915 2018 1030 1440 1614 3019 2017 1028 2226 1930 1226 1616 1324 1325 1236 1818 1235 1222 1218 3118 2725 3113 1334 3217 1324 1424 1335 3212 1817 2019 1321 2824 1420 2021 1434 2121 3212 1533 3316 2223 1614 1433 3415 3311 1916 2220 2525 1715 1423 2322 3314 2414 1517 1816 3019 1416 1822 1618 2122 1120 2826 2022 1321 1424 2221 1930 2413 2014 2413 3311 2624 2029 1423 2512 1915 1614 2611 2319 1713 2320 2925 1519 2418 1816 1433 2218 1922 1320 1126 1721 2920 1133 1232 1030 1520 1730 3212 2418 2317 2520 3017 2117 2023 1220 1321 3311 2015 2517 1222 1821 1721 2012 3014 2616 2426 1220 2413 1818 1430 2219 2013 1614 1922 2424 3113 1120 2624 1730 1721 2212 1320 1419 2311 2410 2124 1918 1331 1922 2113 2426 2320 1914 2014 3017 2523 2821 3113 2023 1915 1820 1829 3212 2122 2928 1919 2221 1620 1616 1416 2428 1816 2318 3311 2320 1717 2417 2826 2018 2419 2516 1618 2920 752626 202122 1519 1420 1924 1320 1820 2325 1625 1317 2419 2013 2017 2117 2424 2421 1218 1825 1721 3311 2615 1317 2523 2029 1133 2518 1816 14 2124 1812 1616 1915 2622 2220 3410 2624 2920 1720 5 2223 1218 1715 1717 2424 2626 1515 2120 2021 2020 1717 1818 1720 1930 1816 2122 3019 1618 1822 1816 2221 1917.
Beyond these figures, the paper, which seemed of considerable age, wasperfectly blank.
The lads gazed earnestly at the mass of figures for some time, trying tofathom its meaning.
That a hidden meaning of some kind was attached to it was almostcertain, as no sane man would put down a long string of figures to nopurpose, or for mere pastime; and if the writer had not intended themeaning to be hidden, he would certainly have used words in preferenceto a number of mystifying figures.
"Roger," said Harry, "the more I look at this cipher--for cipher I amconvinced it is--the more certain do I feel that it is the key tosomething important or of value. Now, friend, do you notice anythingpeculiar about these figures?"
"I cannot say that I do," answered Roger, "unless you mean that they arearranged in groups of four."
"Yes, that is certainly so," agreed Harry; "but there is somewhat elseof significance, and that is, that, although they are grouped in foursfor the most part, there are two groups of six figures, one of two, andone figure stands alone. These being different from the remainder ofthe cipher, we may at once set them down as denoting something differentfrom the rest of the writing. I should say that possibly somedirection, instruction, or it may even be a compass-bearing, isconcealed in these two groups of six figures, while, to my mind, thefigures 14 and 5, are to be read as they really are, that is as figuresonly; for I believe that the remainder of the figures stand for words orletters, as indeed they must, if any sense is to be made of the thing.Yes, the more I study this, the more certain am I that we have foundsomething of value, and this, I am convinced, is the document you toldme Alvarez was looking for while you were in the cabin of the sinking_Gloria del Mundo_."
"By Saint George," said Roger, "I am inclined to believe you are right,Harry; only I see not how it will benefit us if we cannot translate thecipher, and that seems to me impossible without the key thereto."
"Nothing is impossible, my friend," retorted Harry. "We have no key, itis true, but by repeated experiments we shall solve the thingeventually, I am sure."
"Let us start trying right now, then," suggested Roger.
"Well, starting from the beginning, let us take the first group of--"
"Mr Trevose, hie you on deck, if you please; I want you," cameCavendish's voice down the companion at this moment, putting an abruptend to the operations on the cipher.
Leaving Harry to put away the document in safety, Roger ran up on deck,and touched his hat to his captain.
"Mr Trevose," said Cavendish, "one of the boats has just come off fromthe shore with a load of fresh fruit and vegetables which the men havecollected. They have now had a short spell ashore, and it is time forus to be thinking of work again; so I wish you to take this boat andproceed to the shore in her with instructions to Mr Leigh to collectall the men forthwith. Let them bring off as much fruit and vegetablesas they can find, but they must not be very long about it. You can takeyour friend Edgwyth with you, if you will, and while the men are gettingfresh provisions together you and he have my leave, after you havedelivered my message, to do as you please until all are ready to comeoff aboard.
"And have a care," added the skipper, "that you two lads do not get intoany further scrapes. You had a particularly narrow escape this morning,both of you, and perchance may not get off quite so easily next time."
Roger saluted, and forthwith ran down to inform Harry of his errand;whereupon the two mounted again to the deck and dropped into the boat,which was waiting for them alongside, and were soon being pulled overthe water to the shore again.
Arrived at the beach, Roger enquired of the few men who were there whereMr Leigh was to be found. None of them seemed to know, but one mansaid he believed that Mr Leigh had gone in "that" direction--pointingit out with a stubby and tarry forefinger--and had taken a musket, withthe intention, he thought, of getting some fresh meat for the pot.
The lads at once set off in the direction indicated, pushing their waythrough tangled underwood, and treading down in their passage manysplendid and brilliant flowers, while startled birds, of rainbowplumage, flew out from the branches over their heads.
Everywhere stillness reigned supreme, and no sound or sign of any of themen was to be met with. They pushed resolutely forward, however, tryingto discover some indication of people having passed that way before. Sodense was the undergrowth in many places that Harry and Roger wereobliged to draw their swords to cut a passage through it.
Presently Roger caught sight of a beautiful orchid on the trunk of atree just below the first branch, and put forth his hand to gather it.As he did so there was a bright green flash, and the lad started backonly just in time. There was a swish of steel, and a snake fell to theground severed in half, yet still writhing horribly.
"A thousand thanks!" said Roger. "I owe you my life again, Harry. Hewould surely have bitten me if you had not been so quick with yoursword."
They examined the reptile, which was about six feet long, and of abrilliant green above and light yellow underneath, with the heart-shapedhead that betokened an extremely venomous variety. Tossing the twowrithing halves of the body into the bush with the point of his sword,and giving a shrug of repugnance, Roger passed on, followed by Harry,with no further desire to pluck orchids, and each taking care to lookwell about him.
Presently they came to a small clearing, and on the opposite side saw anopening in the bush which seemed to suggest that someone had recentlypassed that way.
They crossed the clearing and pushed through the opening on the otherside, and, after going about half a mile, heard the report of a gunclose to them, followed by a great fluttering of wings, as a host ofstartled birds flew away from the branches where they had been roosting.
A few moments later they came upon Leigh, accompanied by a seamancarrying a large bag, which seemed to be well filled, and gave promiseof a few savoury meals in the immediate future.
Roger at once gave him Mr Cavendish's orders to reassemble the men, andthen asked him how far he had succeeded in his hunting.
"Oh, very well, Roger!" replied
Leigh. "I have nearly filled the bag,as you may see, and some of the birds are fine big fellows, and shouldbe excellent eating. At any rate we will sample them at mess thisevening. But I must be off and get the men together. As you two haveliberty until we start for the ship, you may take this musket andammunition, if you like, and try to shoot something on your own account.One's own shooting always tastes best, I am told," he added with alaugh, as he prepared to return. "But I should not wander too far away,if I were you," he advised. "We do not know the place as yet, and theremay be dangers that we are not aware of; so be careful."
The lads thanked Mr Leigh for the loan of the musket, and thelieutenant disappeared to collect the men, telling the lads that hewould sound the trumpet if they were not in sight when it was time toreturn to the ships.
"Now," said Roger, when Leigh had disappeared, "where are we to go,Harry?"
"Do you remember that ledge of rocks that we saw this morning?" askedHarry! "Well, we noticed quite a number of caves among them; what sayyou to going and having a look at them?"
"Agreed, my friend!" said Roger. "But can we get to them, I wonder,from here, without going back to the beach and walking all the wayround?"
"Oh, yes! I think so," answered Harry. "I believe I remember how theylie, and in what direction; and if we bear away to the left here it willbring us to them, no doubt."
So the two turned off, and presently found another opening in the brush,through which they went.
"It appears to me," said Roger presently, "as though someone had beenalong this way before us. See, some of the small branches are broken,and the growth beneath our feet seems to have been recently trodden. Iexpect we shall find that some of our men have been here before us,perhaps to look at those same caves themselves. If so, we can warn themto return immediately; and if they are in front of us it will give us alittle longer, as it will take them some considerable time to get backto the boats from here."
Thus reassured in their own minds--for there was always the danger ofsavages to consider,--they pressed on, but saw no further signs of themen whom they imagined to be in front of them.
"It is possible," said Harry, his thoughts still dwelling upon thematter, "that if they have gone this way they are still at the caves.Or they may have gone back along the beach; for that, I suppose, is thenearest way of return. And if so, we shall not meet any of them comingthis way; but we may overtake them."
They had gone but a little distance farther when Roger looked upsuddenly.
"Harry, I heard something whistle past my head a moment ago," said he.
"Nonsense!" responded Harry. "What you heard was one of those smallcreatures they call `humming-birds' flying past your ear."
"I am certain it was not," retorted Roger. "If it had been, I shouldhave seen as well as heard him, and--why, there it is again!"
"Yes, you are right, Roger; I heard it myself that time. I wonder whatit can be?" exclaimed Harry.
"I don't know," said Roger, "but it sounds very queer. Let us push on,or we shall have no time to explore those caves."
They pushed forward for some little distance, and again heard, more thanonce, the same peculiar sibilant sound, as of something flying past themwith great velocity; but they saw nothing, and could not account for theoccurrence at all.
Suddenly Harry, who was behind, whispered to Roger: "Do not appear totake any notice, Roger, at present; but I distinctly saw the head of asavage peering at us from behind a tree when I turned my head just now,and I believe that what we heard was the sound of arrows flying past us.I should not be greatly surprised to find that there is quite a crowdof natives round us, and the only wonder to me is that we have not yetbeen hit. Now, we must press on and endeavour to reach the shelter ofthe caves, and there defend ourselves, if necessary, until assistancecomes. It is useless to think of retreating by the way we have come; weshould only be ambushed. Ah! I see two more faces looking at us overthere in the bush. We had better make haste; but we only need walk alittle faster. It will never do to run, or they will see that we havediscovered them, and in that case they will attack us at once, and weshall have no chance here. By the way, is that musket loaded?"
"Yes," replied Roger. "It was loaded when Leigh handed it to me; for Iremember that, after the discharge we heard which led us to him, he wasloading as we came up, and he did not fire again."
"Very well," said Harry, "we had better for the present trust to ourswords; we must reserve the musket until the last. And you had betterdrop a few more bullets in, so that it will do as much execution aspossible when we fire. And I trust to Heaven that the report may bringsome of our men up. But it will not do that if we fire now, as theywill merely think we are shooting game. If we fire from the caves theywill know there is no game there to shoot at, and it may attract theirattention."
The two lads now moved as fast as they thought consistent with safety,and, to their great relief, at length perceived an opening in the trees,and got a glimpse of the sea beyond. A few minutes later they emergedon the beach, and found themselves quite close to the caves.
Then, having a clear ground, they took to their heels and ran as hard asthey could for the nearest cave.
As they started to run, a chorus of savage yells broke on their ears,and what they had quite anticipated happened. The natives had at lastleft cover and were pursuing them at the top of their speed.
Roger and Harry, unaccustomed to running in sand, moved but slowly, andthe savages gradually began to overhaul them. They were not far fromthe caves by this time, however, and presently they gained the entranceto one of them some fifty yards ahead of their pursuers.
As soon as they were safely inside, Roger turned, and, raising themusket to his shoulder, discharged the piece point-blank into the midstof the nearest group of running savages.
It was a lucky discharge, and the extra bullets that they had put in,scattering as they flew, had almost the effect of a round of grape-shot,dropping no fewer than four of the blacks. It did not check their rush,however, and there was no time to reload before the howling, yelling mobwere upon them.
Roger and Harry had at once taken up positions, one on each side of theentrance to the cave, allowing themselves sufficient room to avoidstriking each other with the blades of their long swords, which, withthe now useless musket, were all the weapons they had.
The savages came at them with a rush, stabbing furiously with theirspears, and forced on by those behind, who feared to use their bows andarrows at such close quarters lest they should hit their companions.
The long sword-blades, however, rose and fell untiringly, flashing inthe sunlight, now parrying a spear-thrust, and anon making a sweepingcut, and with every blow at least one savage had cause to regret histemerity.
The natives, however, had numbers on their side, the sound replacing thefallen until quite a heap of dead and wounded began to grow at theentrance to the cave.
They were likewise growing chary of those long blades of steel thathewed through shield and spear-haft as though they had been paper.
At length one of the natives stooped down and picked up the dead body ofa fallen comrade, held it before him as a shield, and rushed toward thedefenders of the cave, and as Harry thrust at him he flung the body fullupon the sword's point, where it remained impaled, dragging Harry'sweapon from his grip. The man then lunged savagely with his spear, butRoger's wary eye was on him, and the fraction of a second before thespear left the fellow's grasp the sword flashed and fell, and the savagestood looking stupidly for a moment at the arm still grasping the spear,that had fallen at his feet, ere he himself sank, groaning, to theground.
Harry shouted his thanks across to Roger, and drew his sword out of theimpaled body with some difficulty, determined not to be so trickedagain, and once more the battle went furiously on, the savages surgingmadly about the cave's mouth, and the two lads straining every nerve tokeep their stronghold inviolate.
"I wonder," gasped Roger, "how long it will be bef
ore Leigh collects allthe men, and, missing us, sends out a search-party?"
"They should all be mustered long before this," replied his companion."You must remember that it took us some time to reach this place, andLeigh started to look for the men directly we left him. Hark! theregoes the trumpet for our recall, unless I am mistaken. Did you not hearit?"
"I think I heard something," answered Roger. "If it was indeed thetrumpet, it means that Leigh has collected all the men and only waitsfor us; and he will not wait long before sending in search of us,because of the captain's orders to return on board as quickly aspossible. If we could but find time to reload the musket and dischargeit again, Leigh might possibly hear the report, and it would show himwhere to look for us."
"That is true," agreed Harry. "Now, Roger, leave me to defend thecave-mouth alone, and try to load the piece; the discharge may bringdown the men, and if you load, as we did last time, with plenty ofbullets, we shall do the enemy some considerable damage at the sametime."
It was no time for arguing. Roger therefore did as Harry had suggested,and, leaving the defence of the cave to his friend, grasped the musketand loaded it with frantic haste.
Seeing one of the defenders apparently retreating, the natives at onceredoubled their onslaught, and spears came whizzing through the air,thick as falling autumn leaves.
The long blade, however, still flashed untiringly hither and thither,and the cave remained untaken.
"Hasten, Roger!" cried Harry. "I cannot much longer keep these fellowsoff unaided."
"Coming, lad," shouted Roger in return.
A huge native at this moment forced himself to the front and engagedHarry at close quarters, and, tired as he was, the boy knew his strengthmust soon fail. He responded gallantly, however, and drove the man backfor an instant; but, with a cry like that of a furious beast, the fellowagain leapt at him, and, beating down the sword-point, bore the lad tothe ground, at once shortening his spear to pin him to the earth.
Poor Harry closed his eyes, and for a moment experienced all thebitterness of death. But it was for a moment only. The weight suddenlyrolled from his chest, and, opening his eyes, he saw Roger pulling hisreeking blade from the savage's body. Then, dropping his sword, Rogerraised the musket to his shoulder and fired into the thick of the groupof natives.
With the report came a hearty English cheer as Leigh and a couple ofdozen well-armed sailors rushed round a bend in the beach.
"Lie down! lie down!" roared Leigh, and as the two lads flung themselvesto the floor of the cave, a storm of bullets whizzed over them that atonce accounted for ten of the savages.
Then out came the hangers, and the sailors charged the remainingassailants, who turned resolutely to meet them, while Harry and Roger,rising from the floor of the cave, dashed down on the rear, cutting andslashing and thrusting with right good will, their strength renewedsomewhat by a sight of their own countrymen.
Thus taken in front and rear, the blacks, seized with sudden panic,broke and fled, followed by another storm of shot from the sailors.
"Now," shouted Leigh, "make for the boats ere they return inoverwhelming numbers!"
In response to this order the English all went off along the beach atthe double, and soon reached the boats, which were not very far away.
They embarked forthwith, and were soon once more on board theirrespective ships.
"Well, my boys," said Cavendish as the inseparables climbed the ship'sside, "this morning's adventure was not enough for you, it would appear,so you must needs go and get yourselves into another mess. Now, mark mywords, you will some day get into a scrape, and one or the other of youwill fail to come out again alive!"
Across the Spanish Main: A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess Page 6
