CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH
OF ATTACKS BY LAND AND SEA; AND OF THE USES OF HUNGER IN THE MENDING OFMANNERS
We calculated, Billy and I, that there was enough food left on theisland to last the men for about a month, or perhaps longer withcareful husbanding; but from what Mr. Bodger had told me of their wayson their island, and from what I knew of them myself, I did not supposethey would practise any stint until they felt the pinch of want. I ownI hoped they would not, and if that seems a hard saying, you mustremember that I had a deep purpose, namely to recover possession of ourown, which was itself laudable, and also to teach the men a lessonwhereby they and all of us would profit. It was necessary to thesuccess of my plan that they should come to the verge of famishmentbefore the bread-fruit season, for if they endured until the fruit wasripe, they would have plenty of food for three or four monthsthereafter, and I could not view with patience the prospect ofremaining sequestered on the Red Rock for so long. Having done all wecould, it would have been simple foolhardiness to risk complete failureby making useless visits to the island, and we endured what was a kindof imprisonment on the Red Rock as patiently as we could, leaving itonly once to bring more stores from the cavern.
We were, I assure you, mighty weary of our life before the day camewhen our whereabouts was discovered. I know not how long it was, but Iguess five or six weeks. Having nothing better to do, we often went tothe edge of the Red Rock, where we could overlook a part of the islandfrom behind the vantage of a boulder, and we sometimes saw the menmoving from place to place, taking care ourselves to keep out of theirsight, at least I took care, Billy being less prudent, so that morethan once I had to drag him down when he began to climb the boulder tohave a better view. Of course we could have been seen any day if themen had climbed the mountain, but they never did this. I learntafterwards that they had scoured every accessible part of the islandfor us, and after a time suspected that we were on the Red Rock, andkept a watch on it, but saw never a sign of us until the day of which Iam now to tell.
[Sidenote: Discovery]
Our dog, Little John, seldom barked unless there was something totrouble him, and we had taken care since we had been on the rock tokeep him as quiet as possible, so that the men might not discover usthrough him. But it chanced one day that one of the pigs broke loosefrom the place where we had tethered him, and began to run in a verystupid fashion, not heeding in the least the danger of falling over acrag and dashing himself to pieces. Little John no sooner saw the madantics of the creature than he set off in pursuit, barking furiously,and Billy set off too with a shout, taking great enjoyment in the chaseafter our period of idleness. He came up with the pig just as it hadarrived at the very edge of the plateau, and caught it, and at thatvery moment I heard another shout, and looking over I saw two of themen just at the edge of the wood near the rocky ledge of which I havespoken before. It was plain that they had seen Billy, though hedropped out of sight immediately he heard the shout, and they cameforward until they stood at the edge of the cliff, being separated fromthe rock only by the narrow gap. "That's where the young devils arehiding," I heard one of them say. "Didn't I say so, Bill?" Theirwords came very clearly to me, for sailor men have not very dulcetvoices. "Hail them, Jack," says the other, and the first man put hishands to his mouth and let forth a stentorian "Ahoy!" which might havebeen heard a mile away. At first I paid no heed, but when he shoutedagain I saw no good that could come of further concealment, so Iclimbed up on to the boulder, being followed by Billy as soon as he hadput the pig back into safety.
"What do you want?" I cried down to them. You would have laughed tosee their faces. Our sudden appearance seemed to have nonplussed them,for they stood staring blankly up at us, as not knowing what to say.Then says one to the other, "Go and fetch Hoggett," and the fellowimmediately set off and disappeared into the wood, running towards thehut. The other man stood on the same spot, gazing dumbly at us, andnever once offered to address us, and we sat down on the boulder, Billysmiling and dangling his legs in the most careless way. Presently wesaw Hoggett and pretty near all the men coming through the wood, andHoggett had his musket, and I thought that they must have startedbefore the messenger came to them, or they could not have got to us sosoon; no doubt they had heard the shouting. Well, Hoggett comes along,with Chick and Wabberley close behind him, and when he got to the edgeof the cliff below us (it was two or three hundred feet) he lifts uphis voice and cries out, "Hi, you Brent, you come ashore sharp now,d'ye hear?" I thanked him very courteously for his invitation, butsaid I was very comfortable where I was, upon which he cursed meheartily, and cried out again, "You come sharp now, and no nonsense, orI'll come and fetch you," winding up with that opprobrious word which Ihad cured Billy of using. The threat was such an idle one that Ismiled at him, and Billy laughed heartily, and putting his thumb to hisnose, spread out his fingers in that gesture of derision which I haveobserved small boys to use, and which I thought he should not have usedat his age, being at this time, as I reckoned, not far short of twentyyears old. What with my silence and Billy's mockery, Hoggett flew intoa terrible rage, and clapping his musket to his shoulder, he let fly atme; but I was too far above him for him to take a good aim, he beingnever used to fire except on the flat, and the slug struck the rock agood many feet below us. Still, we did not know but he might havebetter luck next time, so we got down off the boulder and disappearedfrom sight, and sat there listening to the furious outcry the men made,Hoggett in particular declaring he would flay us alive when he caughtus. The men talked together for some while, and then, when the soundsceased, we peeped over and saw them returning in a group whence theyhad come.
We saw no more of them that day, or the next, but on the second day, inthe afternoon, when Billy got on the boulder to take a look round, hecalled to me that he spied a raft coming towards us from the directionof the cave, with Hoggett and half-a-dozen more aboard. I could seethat Billy was a little alarmed at this, for he always had a greatdread of Hoggett; but I told him not to be disturbed, for I was surefrom our vantage ground, and with our bows and arrows, we could easilybeat them off if they landed and tried to clamber up. "Things aregoing well," I said to him. "They have actually begun to work at last,and pretty diligently, too, to make that raft in less than two days.""But what's the odds to us, master," says Billy, "if they have begun towork? I think it's a very bad sign, I do." "We shall see," I said;and Billy looked very much puzzled, for I had not told him my design inits fulness, because I wished to get a certain assurance of its successfirst.
[Sidenote: Invasion Fails]
It was soon plain that we should not be put to the trouble of defence,and we had a hearty laugh at the coil in which the men soon foundthemselves; for coming pretty close to the shore, they were caught inthe current which ran very swiftly through the narrow gap, and despitethe desperate efforts which they made with their paddles, the raft,which is at all times a clumsy vessel, was swept along and twirled thisway and that, and the men were in such extremity of danger that theyceased to gaze at us, and bent all their energies to prevent the raftfrom being dashed against the rocks on either side and shivered toatoms. They were carried right through the channel, and pretty nearlyto the natural archway, before they got the least control over theraft, and even then they could only manage it enough to steer clear ofthe sides of the arch, and so win to the open sea. By that time thecurrent had lost the most of its force, and we knew very well that ifthey paddled out to the left, and made a sufficiently large circuit,they might gain the north side of Red Rock, even with so clumsy avessel as theirs, and discover our landing-place. However, they hadbeen so greatly discomfited that I was not much surprised when, insteadof steering to the left, they allowed the raft to drift past thepromontory, and after a little while they disappeared from our sight,having clearly determined to return to the place where they hadembarked.
But though this attempt had been so signal a failure, I saw veryclearly that we must not be content merely to
smile and do nothing, forif they were to take thought and go about the enterprise in areasonable way, they might very well come to our landing-place sometime, and then they might seize our canoe, a loss which we could notcontemplate without dismay. Accordingly, Billy and I spent the rest ofthe afternoon in a very serious talk, the issue of which was that inthe middle of the night we descended the rock and launched the canoe,in which we set off, and, rounding the archway, came opposite the lavabeach. This we examined as well as we were able by the light of thestars, for there was no moon, but not perceiving what we sought, wepaddled on very quietly until Billy told me in a whisper that he spiedit on the sandy beach; and there, indeed, was the raft, drawn up abovehigh-water mark, and no one attending it--at least, no one that wecould see. We had talked over this point very anxiously, for if theyhad set a guard over the raft our scheme would be brought to nought;but we both agreed that it would be very unlike them to take thisprecaution, and, besides, there was not a man of them who would consentto undertake the office of night watchman so far from the hut while theothers were enjoying their repose; and so it turned out.
We passed on without landing, until we came to a sort of dell in thecliff, where we knew there grew a great quantity of long grass andrushes. We landed there, and having pulled up many armfuls of thegrass, which we did very easily, the soil being thin, we loaded it intothe canoe, and then returned to the place where the raft lay. For somelittle while we waited, listening for any sound that might give tokenof wakefulness among the men, but hearing nothing, we ran the canoelightly in shore, and having landed, we carried our grasses and laidthem beside the raft. Then we went on further until we came to a patchof thick scrub, where we broke off a quantity of small branches, andthese we laid beside our other material, going and coming as quickly aswe could.
[Sidenote: Making a Bonfire]
Our purpose, as you have guessed, was to burn the raft, so that weshould not have that to fear again, nor did I suppose the men wouldmake another, for it must have cost them many pangs to break throughtheir indolence to make this one, and if it were destroyed nothingwould persuade them to undergo the toil again. We knew, of course,that the raft would be wet, at least on the under side, where it hadnot been exposed to the sun after they beached it; but in order toassist the fire we purposed to kindle, we had brought some of ourcandle-nuts and some cocoa-nut shells and husks, which are highlyinflammable and would give a very fine blaze. But when we came to liftthe raft so as to push our fuel under it, we found that we could not inany wise raise it, for it was bigger than we had supposed from seeingit in the water, and would have needed five or six men to move it, I amsure. However, we set to work to scrape a hollow in the sand beneathit, or rather several hollows, in which we laid the fuel, and we heapedon the top side also a good quantity of cocoa-nut husks. We had takenthe precaution to bring a smouldering torch with us, so that we shouldnot make a noise in striking a light; and after we had spied round verycarefully to make sure that we were not observed, we crouched down onthe seaward side of the raft and blew the torch into a flame, and thenthrust it into the fuel, first at one place and then at another. Wewaited only long enough to see that the fires were fairly kindled, andthen we hastened at once to the canoe, and paddled out to sea for somedistance. The fire might blaze and burn itself out without being everseen by any of the men; but it was possible that some of them wereawake, and if they were they could not fail to observe the glow in thesky, and then they would assuredly come over the hill to learn thecause of it. It was for this reason that we drew off from the shore sofar that we should be outside the circle of light when the raft wasfully ablaze.
The night was calm and clear, and the sea so still that we were able tokeep the canoe at the same spot with but a touch of the paddles now andthen. It was some time before we saw any considerable flames; indeed,we began to fear lest the wood of the raft were too damp to kindleproperly, and Billy whispered in my ear, "Don't I wish we had someturps, or some of that pig fat we've got in our cellar. That wouldmake something like a blaze." However, I told him he must be patient,and a little while after the flames burst from beneath the raft andlicked the sides, and we heard a mighty crackling, the wood being wet,and at last a monstrous big flame and a thick column of smoke rose upinto the sky, and I could hardly restrain Billy from shouting in hisjoy, he saying to me, in tones much above a whisper, that he had neverseen a bigger bonfire, even on Guy Fawkes day, and he thought it mustbe something like the Fire of London. (I discovered afterwards, when Ihad time to remember it, that Billy did not in the least know what theFire of London was, but knew only the phrase; and when I told him thata great part of the city was burnt down in that historical calamity, heasked me whether that was just another of my stories, like Robin Hood.)It was indeed a very fine sight in the blackness of the night, the glowlighting up the long slopes leading up from the beach, and beingreflected magnificently in the sea.
About half-an-hour, I should think, from the time when we first kindledthe bonfire, we saw some of the seamen hasting down the hill, and theglow striking the barrels of the muskets which one or two carried, Ideemed it expedient to withdraw a little farther from the beach, thoughin truth it was unlikely we could be seen. We lay to again, andobserved the men draw near to the fire, some standing about ithelplessly, one or two trying to scatter the fuel with the barrels oftheir muskets; but they could no nothing, the great heat preventingthem from coming close enough, and besides, we saw Hoggett pull themaway, and heard him cry out to them that they were fools, because theywould only spoil the muskets and not put out the fire. And Ernulfushimself could not, I am sure, have cursed us more comprehensively thanthose seamen then did (you will find his curse in Mr. Sterne'singenious book), and not merely did they curse us, but they addedsundry strange extravagant threats of what they would do to us, some ofthese things being so horrible that Billy wanted to answer them back,only I prevented him, for besides being merely amused at these bigwords from men who were perfectly impotent to harm us, I thought thatsilence would work better for the further acting of my plans.
We stayed until the fire was nearly burnt out, and then got us back tothe Red Rock, exceeding pleased at having destroyed the only means, aswe thought, whereby the seamen might come at us. Another week ran itscourse, we remaining quiet in our habitation, cruising a little off thenorth side in the twilight and early mornings, but not going again tothe island. We kept a look-out on it from the vantage ground of theboulders, and once or twice caught glimpses of the men in the copse oron the cliffs, but they did not come near to the rock again, and I ownI began to feel a little downhearted, for if they could eke out theirfood much longer the bread-fruit season would come, and then my planwould be ruined. Once or twice, too, we heard sounds as of choppingwood in the copse, and we thought that the men were after all going tobuild a raft, which did not give us any concern, for even if we couldnot burn it, we could prevent them from getting a footing on ourfortress. However, it was not a raft, as we learnt one day. We weresitting at our dinner one afternoon, and, as we always did (I forgetwhether I have mentioned it), we had tied up Little John, who, though avery good dog in many things, could never be taught to know thedifference between "mine" and "thine" at meal times, so that Billy saidhe was afraid the beast would always be a heathen. He had reasonenough to know, after a little experience, that his turn to feed wouldcome after us and before the pigs, so that he was accustomed to standin perfect quietness while we ate; wherefore when on this afternoon weheard him growling very deeply, and saw him strain at his leash, wewondered what was amiss with him.
[Sidenote: A Bridge]
"I guess it's Hoggett," said Billy all of a sudden, and up he jumps andruns to the boulder and peeps over. "Goodness alive, master!" hecalled to me, in a low tone; "they've been and made a bridge!" I wasup in an instant, and springing to Billy's side I saw that the men weredragging up the slope from the wood a long sort of hurdle, very likeour drawbridge, only longer and stouter. They were hauling it
to theedge, where the cliff approached within twenty feet of the ledge on RedRock, and if they should throw it over the gap, they would have an easypassage-way from the island to our fortress, nor did I see any means ofpreventing them, for while we were shooting at some of them with ourbows and arrows, the rest could come across; and though we should stillhave the advantage of them, being above them and with good defences, Idid not like to think that it was even possible for them to get afooting on our ground. The narrowest part of the gap was almostdirectly below us, so that if we had some heavy stones we might hope,by casting them down on the bridge, either to smash it, or to renderthe passage so perilous that no man would venture to make it. Thoughthere were a great number of large rocks about us, there were nonesmall enough to be dislodged or hurled; but I remembered having seen anumber of loose stones in a fissure about half-way across our plateau,and seeing that it would be some minutes before the men came to the gapwith the bridge, I bade Billy fetch as many of these stones as he couldcarry in a basket, while I held the men at bay.
When he was gone about this, I fitted an arrow to my bow, and taking asgood aim as I could, I let fly at the foremost of the men, there beingeight of them carrying the bridge, four on each side. But not beingused to shoot downwards at so sharp an angle, I did not hit any of themen, though the arrow stuck in the wicker-work near the end of thebridge, and the arrival of this silent messenger (and yet eloquent)made the men drop their burden and stand irresolute. Hoggett andPumfrey at once raised their muskets to the shoulder, but they couldsee nothing to aim at, and though they must know, of course, that thearrow had come through one of the many gaps above, they could not tellwhich, and their ammunition was much too precious now to be wasted on achance shot. However, they still held their muskets ready, no doubthoping that I would show myself, and so give them a target; but findingafter a while that this hope was vain, they lowered their weapons, andI heard Hoggett call to the others to take up the bridge again and makehaste to bring it to the gap. Then, knowing that they could hardlyraise their muskets again, take aim, and fire, before I could dropunder cover, I leapt up in full view of them all and cried in a loudvoice that I would shoot the first man of them that offered to crossthe gap. It was almost an error to do this, for Hoggett was prettynear being too quick for me. Just as I sank down again behind theboulder his musket flashed, and I heard the slug strike with a thudagainst the rock. I moved a little away to another place, and sawHoggett making all haste to prime his weapon, while he shouted to theothers to rush forward with the bridge and fling it across the gap. Atthis Joshua Chick, who was the only man that ever stood up againstHoggett, cried in a fierce manner, "You come and lend a hand yourself,"with an oath at the end; whereupon Hoggett, who did not want forcourage, flings his musket down and, shoving Chick aside, takes hisplace at the bridge, and, roaring "Now!" the men forgot their fears,and raised a seamen's cheer, and with a mighty heave flung the bridgeacross the gap, having tied ropes to each end of it to prevent it fromfalling into the gulf if they missed their aim.
Now my mind was firmly made up that no man should cross the gap if Icould help it, and recognizing that Hoggett was the men's leader, andthat without him they would scarce attempt anything, I took steady aimat him, not intending to kill him, for I had another fate in store forhim, but to hit the arm by which he held the bridge. I was by thistime a pretty good marksman at a target, whether stationary or therunning man, but the necessity of aiming down-hill clean put me out, sothat instead of hitting Hoggett's arm, my arrow pierced the calf of hisleg. He let forth a terrible curse, and, loosing his hold on thebridge, clapped his hand to his leg and pulled out the shaft, then satdown upon the ground and began to bind up the wound with a strip tornfrom his shirt. The moment of my hitting him was the same moment whenthe bridge was thrown across the gap, and I hoped that it would fallfrom the men's hands into the channel, but it had been well aimed andfell plumb on the ledge. However, when the men saw Hoggett wounded,and pretty badly, to judge by his language, they drew back, none ofthem caring to be the first to venture on the bridge and to encounteran arrow from above. Hoggett roared to them to go on, but every manlooked at other to lead the way. He cried to Wabberley, but Wabberleywas much in the rear; and then to Chick, but Chick was not on thisoccasion obliging; indeed, I observed him, being a small man, hidinghimself from Hoggett's gaze behind Wabberley's more massive frame, andWabberley trying in his turn to put Chick in front of him. Thisbackwardness on the part of the men inflamed Hoggett to an excess ofrage, and he swore that as soon as he had bound up his leg he wouldcross that bridge and teach those young (here a very bad word) that hewas not going to be played with no more.
While he was still tying up his wound Billy staggered up with thebiggest basket slung over his back, filled with five or six jaggedlumps of rock weighing, as I guessed, about a dozen pounds apiece. Hewas panting very much, but asked, "Where's Hoggett?" and when I toldhim in a word that the bridge was thrown across and Hoggett intendingto invade us, he cried, "I'll show him!" and immediately slung thebasket off his back, and seizing one of the stones, hurled it over theplateau to the bridge below, and when he did so I peeped through acrevice to see what was the issue. The missile struck the ledge abouttwo yards from the end of the bridge, and then bounding off, fell intothe gap, but we did not hear the splash as it entered the water,because the sea itself made a pretty loud noise as it raced through thenarrow channel. The men shrank back when they saw the stone, fearingno doubt lest another should light on the head of some one, and theywere less inclined than ever to pay heed to the words of Hoggett, whohad roared himself perfectly hoarse. I told Billy what I had seen, andbade him try again, and the second stone he cast, heavier than thefirst, plunged into the gap without striking either the bridge or theledge. Of course both these shots had been made pretty much byguesswork, Billy hurling them over without exposing himself, and onlyable to judge the general direction. When I told him the result of thesecond cast, he waited a moment or two, to recover breath and to wipethe sweat from his brow; and then he took up another big stone, andjumped to the very edge of the plateau, where there was no cover atall, and setting his teeth, put all his strength into the throw. Thebridge was a pretty good target, being not less than three feet wide,and Billy's aim was so true that the stone hit the bridge not far fromthe further end, causing it to jump so much that it lay very awkwardlyaskew across the gap, threatening indeed to slip into the sea. At thisHoggett jumped up and rushed to the bridge to pull it back into itsformer place; but meanwhile I had taken another stone and, doing asBilly had done, flung it with all my might, and it fell about thecentre of the bridge, making it jump again just as Hoggett was stoopingto clutch it. Billy was at my side instantly with another stone, andhe aimed this time exactly at the further end of the bridge, purposing,as he told me, to hit this and Hoggett too, and he succeeded so wellthat the seaman, bold as he was, started back as the missile sprang upand almost struck his head. Before he could recover himself I hadhurled another stone down, and I had the satisfaction of seeing this,falling a little sideways on the bridge, which was already shifted fromits first position, shake the end of it clean off the cliff, and thoughHoggett, braving all things, leapt forward and caught at the rope, hewas too late; the bridge fell into the gap, and we heard quite plainlythe splashing sound it made as it came to the bottom.
[Sidenote: The Enemy Retreat]
All this time the men had been looking on in a dazed and silly way, notone of them offering to help Hoggett to save the bridge they had beenat such pains to make; indeed, the moment it fell into the chasm Iobserved Wabberley very gently slink away towards the wood. It wasalways a great cause of wonderment to me that this big wind-bag of aman was tolerated, let alone made a comrade of, by Hoggett, who wasneither a coward nor a wind-bag, except when he was mouthing futilethreats against me and Billy. But I have lived a good many years sincethen, and have seen other instances of the same sort. However, to keepto my story, the men stood for a little while,
unable to say a word tothe ravings of Hoggett, who, between the pain of his wound and thebitter disappointment at his rebuff, was as near frenzy as ever I saw aman; and then, seeing, I suppose, that nothing was to be gained bystaying, they presently departed, Hoggett last of them all, walkingvery slowly and with a limp. I saw one or two of the men turn back tospeak to him, but he waved his arms and roared at them, so that theyvery soon faced about and left him to himself; in some circumstanceswould-be sympathizers only aggravate a man's trouble. So Hoggett went,baffled and solitary, never turning aside until he came to the edge ofthe wood, and then the passion that he had been brooding on broke allbounds, and he wheeled about suddenly, and shook his fist mostvehemently at us, shouting words which in the distance I could notcatch. I think we should have laughed at this exhibition of impotentwrath if he had done it before; but there was something, I know notwhat, strangely moving in the spectacle of this big rough man walkingalone, unable to endure the speech, or even the presence, of hisfriends, and then at last overcome by the force of the feelings workingwithin him. Neither Billy nor I spoke for a full minute after he hadvanished into the wood, and then Billy struck a new note.
"Chick's skinnier than ever," says he.
"Wabberley isn't," I said.
"Not so far as you can see," says Billy; "but I warrant he is if youcould see him with his clothes off. Them big men take a lot ofthinning."
"You think they are hungry, then?" said I.
"I don't think; I'd take my davy on it," says he. "They've eat all ourprovender long ago, you may be sure, and all the pigs except our two,and it ain't the fish season, nor yet the bread-fruit; and if we waithere a bit longer they'll just be skellingtons, and all we shall haveto do will be to bury 'em."
I smiled, for I did not think it would come to burying yet, and Billyasked me what there was to laugh at, for he would not care to demeanhimself by burying such rascals; and then I considered whether to tellhim the further part of my plan, and decided to wait yet a little. Iwas in no more doubt than he was that the men were beginning to feelthe pinch of want, which had urged them to their late desperateassault, they suspecting, I suppose, that we had full stores which wewere hoarding from them. A week or two more, I thought, and my scheme,by the very flux of time, would be brought to maturity. Meanwhile Ideemed it well to make another visit to the cavern to replenish our ownstores, and I saw with concern how low our stock was falling; indeed,if I had not seen by their haggard look that the men were already instraits, I should have been anxious about the possibility of us twoholding out any longer than they.
[Sidenote: Suppliants]
It was about ten days, I think, after that business of the bridge, whenone morning, an hour or two after daybreak, we heard a loud shout fromthe cliff opposite our rock. A hurricane had been blowing during thenight, as bad as any we had had since we came to the island, and worsethan any since the mariners came; and the wind had been set in thatdirection in which it gave that deep and melancholy organ-note from themouth of the cave. It sprang up so suddenly that we had no warning ofit, and could not sail to the cave; but very fortunately the north sideof the rock was not exposed to the tempest, so that our canoe sufferedno hurt. Billy and I had slept very little, being very much put aboutto keep ourselves dry; but when the fury of the storm abated towardsmorning, we fell asleep, and were awakened by the shout I havementioned. Seizing our bows and arrows, we ran to the edge of theplateau, and peeping through a crevice in the rock we beheld Wabberleystanding some little way from the brink of the cliff, and holding up astick to which was tied a frayed and tattered shirt.
"A flag of truce, Billy," said I, and I am sure the tone of my voicemust have betrayed my inward elation.
"No, it's Pumfrey's shirt, master," says Billy. "I know it by the bluespots. What's he stuck it on to the silly old stick for?"
"For a flag of truce," I repeated; "to show he's an envoy come to suefor terms of peace, perhaps."
"I don't know what them there words mean," says Billy, "but you lookuncommon pleased about it, so I suppose it's all right. But I say,master, look; there's the whole lot of them among the trees yonder.What's in the wind now?"
I told him that we should soon see. We had not yet shown ourselves,and Wabberley continued shouting, sometimes, "Ahoy!" sometimes my name,always prefixing the respectful appellative "master," and not callingme plain "Brent," as Hoggett had done. Since the main group of menwere pretty near a furlong from us, and we were far above them, Ithought we might safely show ourselves; whereupon we mounted theboulder, and the moment he saw us Wabberley waved his flag and came apace or two nearer. Here I will set down, as near as I can rememberthem, the exact words of the conversation (if such it can be called)that ensued.
"What do you want?"
"Why, sir, d'ye see, we're terrible short of grub."
"Well?"
"Pretty near starved."
"Well?"
"Only scraps for the last three days."
"Yes?"
Here he paused, finding little encouragement in my monosyllables, andthough he was usually glib enough, it was not easy, I dare say, to beeloquent when he had to shout so that his voice would reach to us sofar above him. But he now assumed a most solemn and lugubriousexpression of countenance, and cried--
"Dying fast!"
"What of that?"
"Can you do summat for us?"
"Do what?"
"Give us some grub."
"Why?"
"You wouldn't see your old shipmates starve!" (I wish I could conveywith my pen the accent of surprise, pain, reproach, which trembled inhis voice.) "You wouldn't see your old shipmates starve!" says he.
"Why not?"
At this his jaw dropped: he was struck dumb; he stared up at us for alittle, and then, lowering his flag, he turned and went slowly back tothe wood.
"My eye! This is prime!" cried Billy, hugging himself with glee."'Why not?' says you, and he ain't got no answer, 'cause there ain'tnone, at least, not a good one. Speaking short's much better thansquirting a lot of words about, like my mother-in-law does--or did, forshe may be dead."
When Wabberley got back to his companions, I observed that there wassome discussion among them, and by and by another man left them,carrying the flag, and I saw that this was Mr. Bodger. He came up asWabberley had done, and asked very humbly if he might speak a word withme. I bade him say on, and he then told me, in more words thanWabberley had used, but with no more essential matter, that they hadcome to the end of their food, and without some assistance from uswould in no long time starve to death. Now you may think that, Mr.Bodger being an officer, I ought to have yielded, at any rate so far asto take him into company with Billy and me; but I would not do this,because he was a weak man, who could only swim with the current, and Iknew very well that if the seamen got the upper hand of us again, Mr.Bodger would not only do nothing to help us, but would consent to anyindignity and oppression that might be put upon us. Accordingly, Igave him as short answers as I had given Wabberley, and when he beganto whine and plead for himself I dismissed him very abruptly, and heturned away dejected. At this, the men who had been lurking among thetrees swarmed out in a body, and rushed towards the edge of the cliff,and for a moment I thought they meditated another attack; but I sawthat they were without arms, so I did not change my posture, but waitedwhere I was until they came to the brink, and set up such a clamour,all speaking at once, that I could not distinguish what any one said.
"Where's Hoggett?" says Billy, and I had already noticed that neitherhe nor Wabberley was now among them: indeed, I had not seen Hoggett atall since he went away with a wound in his leg. I observed thatprivation was telling heavily upon them, and I own I felt a touch ofcommiseration for Clums and one or two more of the better disposedamong them; but I hardened my heart, for if my plan was to succeed Icould not afford to show the least mark of weakness or complaisance.There being a great clamour, I say, I raised my hand and made a gesturefor them to be silent, and the
n said that I would come down to theledge and speak to them at closer quarters. Billy begged me not to doso, but I told him to hold bow and arrows ready in case he perceivedany sign of treachery, and then walked down the shelf of rock until Icame to the ledge and stood within about twenty feet of them. Thehungry look in their eyes, now that I saw them close, was very dreadfulto behold; but I stiffened my countenance to a great severity, and toldthem that there was no reason that I could see why I should not leavethem to the fate they had brought on themselves. They had committedcrimes, I said, for which they would assuredly have been hanged in anyland where law and order reigned; and I reminded them of their baseingratitude when their very existence at that moment was owing to Billyand me. Then cutting my speech short, for it is ill work baiting folkin desperate misfortune, I merely added that I could not endure to seeeven such wretches as they were perishing with hunger, and that I waswilling to help them, provided they would accept my conditions. Atthis their eyes lighted up with hope, and a babel of cries arose, allshouting assent, and I think I heard one voice say, "God bless you!"But commanding silence again I bade them not to be so ready with theirassent until they had heard my terms, and I explained to them that theymust needs change quarters with us, they abiding on the rock, whencethey would have no means of escape, we returning to our proper abode onthe island. I said further that I would provide them with asufficiency of food, but that they must work for their living, and Iended: "These are my terms; you can take them or leave them."
They were silent when I had finished speaking, and looked at oneanother with a mixture of doubt and wonder. Then Chick, whose eyeswere at greater variance than ever, I suppose because he was so pulleddown in his health by want--Chick steps forward and says, "But if wecome on to this here rock you may leave us to starve," and another manjoins in, "True, we shall be in a trap."
"You are right," I said. "You will be in a trap; you will have totrust me, and being villains and traitors yourselves, you find that ahard matter, I doubt not. Go away and talk it over. If you want tospeak to me you can hail the rock; but let no man, I warn you, comearmed from the wood, for he will certainly be shot."
And with that I left them, and went slowly up to rejoin Billy.
Palm Tree Island Page 25
