CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
A SHARP LESSON.
The men ceased rowing, and Jack sat with his heart beating painfully,his mind full of memories of accounts he had read concerning encounterswith savages, and wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows and spears.
As he sat in the intense darkness, watching the brilliant star-likelamp, it all seemed to be dreamlike and impossible that he should bethere--he who so short a time before was leading that quiet student lifein the study or library at home.
But there was the black canoe gliding by the light, and like so manysilhouettes the dark, clearly-defined figures of the savages busypaddling.
No, it could not be the canoe he had seen first, it must be another, andthe next minute he had proof thereof, in this canoe passing across thedisk of radiant light, leaving it for a few moments clear, and thenanother appeared, and he watched the little black silhouettes steadilymoving as they paddled, till the long boat had gone by, when anotherappeared and passed.
"Give way!" came in a whisper; then the oars dipped silently, and theybegan to move onward.
"We must make a dash for it, or they will surprise the yacht," whisperedthe mate. Then he leaned over backward, and the exciting wordscame--"Astern there. Guns ready and load."
A faint whisper or two from the mate's boat told that the men not rowinghad received a similar command, and Jack, as he thrust a couple ofcartridges into the breech of his gun, felt that the canoes would bepaddling round the yacht, and have reached the other side by the timethey were alongside.
"Are we not going to shout and alarm Captain Bradleigh?" whispered Jackto the doctor.
"No; sit still," said that gentleman sternly. "He and your father arethe leaders. We have only to obey. Don't fire till you receiveorders."
A low deep sigh came from Ned, but it was accompanied by a faint"click--click; click--click."
"Both barrels at full cock," thought the lad. "But how horrible to haveto fire at any one, even if he is black."
But all the same, horrible or no, the lad cocked both locks of his ownpiece, and felt the flap of his cartridge satchel to try whethereverything was handy if he had to reload; and just then, as they glidedsilently along in the full glare of the great artificial star, a feelingof angry resentment ran through him, and he said half aloud--
"Serve them right. Why can't they leave us alone?"
"And so say all of us, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, startling him headdressed, for he was not aware that his words were heard.
The only sounds to be heard now were the regular heavy boom of thebreakers on the reef--a sound so deep and constant that it had alreadybegun to count as nothing, and curiously enough did not seem tointerfere with their hearing anything else, acting as it did like thedeep bass in an orchestra or great organ, and making the lighter,higher-pitched notes more clear--and the light soft dip of the boat'soars as the men silently pulled home.
Then, all at once, as Jack strained his ears to catch the paddling ofthe canoes, the deep voice of Captain Bradleigh rang out as if from theother side of the yacht.
"Ahoy! What boat's that?"
Then in the midst of a dead silence there was a quick flash, and Jackheld his breath, expecting to hear the report of a gun, but his eyesconveyed the meaning of the flash, not his ears.
The darkness was profound, for the light from the great star had beenshut off in their direction, and directly after the shape of thegraceful yacht stood out clearly, every spar and rope defined against asoftly diffused halo as the star was made to perform the duties of asearch-light, sweeping the lagoon beyond and showing plainly the longlow shapes of four great canoes, each with its row of men, and about aquarter of a mile away.
Then all was black as pitch.
"Now for it, my lads," whispered the mate. "Pull with all your might."
The men made the water hiss as they drew hard at the long tough ashblades, and above this sound they could hear the hurry and rattle ofsomething going on aboard the yacht. Quick short orders were issued;then Captain Bradleigh's voice was heard again.
"Ahoy there! Sir John!"
"Right. Here we are."
What the captain said in reply was confined to the word "Thank--" Therest was smothered by a sharp crash, and a check which took the smallboat in which Jack sat sharply up against the other's stern.
The crash was followed by a savage yelling and splashing; and as theywent on again directly, the men pulling with all their might. Jack wasconscious of struggling and blows, and he grasped the fact that they hadrowed at full speed against the stern or bows of another canoe which hadbeen invisible in the darkness, and that some of her occupants hadseized the men's oars on the port side. The blows, he found, weredelivered by their men to shake off their adversaries, some of whom hedimly saw struggling in the water as the boat passed on; and, unable tocontrol himself, Jack leaned over and caught at a hand just within hisreach, the fingers closing upon his in a fierce grasp and nearly jerkinghim out of the boat, a fate from which he was saved by Ned, who seizedhim round the middle and dragged him back.
"Got him?" cried the doctor excitedly.
"You should have said `Got it,' sir," grumbled the man, with adrawing-in of his breath as if in pain. "But he's all right. I wish Iwas."
"What's the manner, man?"
"Him a-holding his gun like that. Oh, my crikey! What a whack I got onthe cheek!"
"What an escape, Jack!" cried the doctor.
"But the poor wretch was drowning. Hark! their canoe must be sinking--men struggling in the water."
"Never mind: let them," said the doctor. "They can swim like seals, andtheir canoe will float like a log."
"But the sharks!" panted Jack.
"We can't stop to think of them," said the doctor.--"Are you all rightthere?"
"Yes, and alongside," cried the mate, and there was the rattle of theoars being laid in.
"Thank heaven!" cried the captain from the deck, as both boats groundagainst the yacht's side. "Quick, all aboard! Now then, hook on thosefalls and up with the boats."
The boats were run up to the davits in regular man-o'-war fashion, thegangway was closed, and the men who were busy went on rigging up a stoutnet about six feet wide along from stanchion to stanchion, and shroud toshroud, while, after a word or two of congratulation upon their safereturn, the captain went on giving his orders.
"Nearly surprised us, Sir John," he said; "and it would have beenawkward with us so weak-handed. All go to your stations; they may tryto board at any time. Here, Mr Jack, you'd better go below."
"What for?" said Jack quietly.
"To be out of danger, sir," said the captain angrily. "Quick, sir, Ihave no time to be polite."
"Are you going below, father?" said the lad.
"I? No, my boy. I shall stay."
"So shall I," said Jack; and a voice whispered at his ear--
"That's it, Mr Jack. You stop; we don't want to be out of the fun."
Sir John was silent, and stood behind the captain, who looked out aheadat the canoes, shown up clearly by the search-light as four lay in acluster together, their occupants watching the light as if puzzled.
The next moment the light was sent sweeping round to the other side; andthere, plainly seen, was the fifth canoe, its gunwale level with thesurface, and only its high stem and prow standing well above the water.And there clinging to her on either side were her crew, paddling away bystriking the water, and sending the injured vessel slowly along, so asto cross the yacht's stem, and take her to where the rest lay waiting,as if their leaders were uncertain what to do.
"There, you see, Jack," said the doctor. "But what a crash! our speedsaved us from being stove in, just as the tallow candle is said to passthrough a deal board when fired from a gun."
"Do you think they are all there?" said Jack.
"Oh yes, they would help one another; but I don't think we should havebeen all here if they had had their way with us."
They stood watching
the damaged canoe till it had passed the yacht, andthen the light was suddenly turned so that it lit up the four canoes, inwhich there might have been close upon a couple of hundred men; and toJack's horror he saw that they had altered their position, and were prowtoward them in regular battle array, and only about forty or fifty feetapart.
"Does that mean coming on?" said Jack, and he thought of their ownweakness.
"I expect so," replied the doctor; "but I dare say a few volleys ofsmall shot will give them such a sickening of the white man's magic thatthey will turn tail. Why look at that."
The light was now turned on to its full power, and the man who managedit kept on changing its position so that it blazed right upon each canoein turn, with a singular result, each doing the same. For, as ifstartled by the light, the occupants began to paddle backward in ahurried way, till the beam was shifted, when they ceased.
"Why they're regularly scared at the lamp, captain," cried DoctorInstow.
"Yes, that's so, sir," replied the captain; "and it looks as if theyknew that their deeds were evil, shunning the light in this fashion; butit can't last. They'll soon get used to it; and if they can only bescared until I get the steam up I don't mind."
"Are you getting the steam up, captain?" asked Jack eagerly.
"Yes; can't you hear the fires going?"
Jack had been too much excited to notice any one special thing in thepreparations to resist an attack, but he was now conscious of a dullhumming sound which he knew was the softened roar of the furnaces.
"The yacht's like a useless log lying here becalmed," continued thecaptain; "but once I have a good head of steam on she becomes a livingcreature, and I can do anything with her--and with them if they don'tbehave themselves. I don't want to run down and drown any of the poorwretches; but if they attack us they must take the consequences."
"Poor ignorant creatures!" said Sir John. "I suppose they don't knowour power."
"That's it," replied Captain Bradleigh. "The more savage a man is,according to my experience, the more vain and conceited he seems. Hebelieves in himself thoroughly, for he is generally vigorous and activeas a wild beast, and looks down on an ordinary white man with a kind ofscorn. You would be surprised, Mr Jack, what a number of lessons haveto be given him before he will believe in our machinery and weapons ofwar, unless you can appeal to his brain by making him believe that theyare what the Scotchman calls uncanny. If you once find him thinkingthat steam, or the gun which kills a man a couple of hundred yards away,is the result of fetish or the bunyip, or a diabolical spirit, he's thegreatest coward under the sun. Give them another brush over with thelight, my lad."
The man in charge of the great star sent the rays sweeping over the sea,once more making the dazzling beam play here and there at his will, uponfirst one and then another of the blacks in the canoes, with the resultthat they were all thrown into a state of confusion, each as the lightdazzled his eyes ducking down right into the bottom of his vessel, ortrying to bend behind his neighbour and to escape from the terribleblazing eye, which seemed to go through him.
"That's right," said Sir John.
"Now if we can only keep them off for an hour longer I don't care. Giveme that time and I'll chase them all out to sea before they know wherethey are, or send them to the bottom if they don't mind."
The suppressed excitement on board the yacht was tremendous, but the menworked without a word. The thick net was strongly fixed so as to act asa barrier to the enemy who might try to climb on board. The yacht'sguns were cast loose, well shotted with small grape, and cartridges wereready for use. The men whose duty it was to repel attempts at boardingstood ready with their sword-bayonets at the ends of their rifles, andthe engineer and firemen were below doing their best to get up steam,the humming noise going merrily on the while.
The captain paced the deck very calmly and quietly, night-glass in hand,with which he watched the movements of the savages, and handed it morethan once to Jack to take a look through at the enemy, making remarksthe while about their bows and arrows, spears and war-clubs, while thedoctor and Sir John stood aft, well-armed and ready for any emergency,Sir John's servant being close at hand.
"Don't seem quite the thing, Jack," said the doctor, as the lad camealong the dark deck to where they stood.
"What doesn't seem quite the right thing?" said the boy, glad to have anopportunity to talk and have some cessation of the terrible strain whichkept his excited nerves at the highest pitch of tension.
"Why, the standing here with a double gun loaded with slugs, ready topepper the niggers. I'm a curer, not a killer."
"We must defend ourselves," said Jack.
"You must. I ought to be below turning the cabin or the steward's placeinto an operating room, getting my instruments, tourniquets, silk, andbandages ready."
"Oh, don't talk like that!" cried the lad with a shudder.
"Why not? Doctors must prepare for the worst."
"Hope we shall have no worst, Doctor Instow," said the captain, comingup. "If I could only get the signal that steam was ready! We are justswinging by the head to the buoyed cable, so that I can slip at anymoment. Halloo! What's going on now?" He ran forward, gave a word tothe man in charge, and the beam of light swept round the yacht and back;but there was no fresh danger coming up, and the shouting and yellingwhich had taken the captain forward evidently proceeded from the twocentral canoes.
"Why, where's the sunken one?" said Jack, as he shaded his eyes andpeered forward.
"They've floated her right astern of them," replied the captain,"half-an-hour ago, and the crew are distributed amongst the four. But Idon't quite make out what they were shouting about. Why--Steady there,my lads. You at the guns, be ready. The canoes are coming on. Oh!" headded to himself, "if there were only a capful of wind!"
But there was not a breath of air, as a loud yell from one voice washeard, and followed by a burst from the whole party. Then the paddleswere plunged into the water on both sides, making it foam and sparkle inthe bright light of the star, the canoes began to move very slowly, andCaptain Bradleigh turned to the yacht's owner--
"They mean mischief, sir. I'm afraid we must fire."
"Only as a last resource," said Sir John.
"If we wait for a last resource, sir," said the captain sternly, "it maybe too late. My lads could sink one of the canoes now, and that mightcheck the advance. The guns are useless if we let them come to closequarters."
"But I am dreadfully averse to what may prove wholesale slaughter," saidSir John.
"So am I, sir," said the captain dryly. "It is for you to decide."
Jack stood quivering with excitement, and wondered what Sir John wouldsay. But he said nothing, for all at once, as the canoes were coming onfaster and faster in the bright light shed by the star, and the littlecrews of the two bright guns laid them ready for the shots they expectedto hear ordered from moment to moment, the strange silence on board wasbroken by the clear loud _ting_ of a hammer upon a gong close to wherethe principals stood.
"At last!" cried the captain; and before Jack could utter the questionupon his lips as to what that stroke meant, order after order wasdelivered in quick succession.
At the first the cable was slipped. At the second, the star, which wasvividly lighting up the approaching canoes, suddenly went out, leavingeverything in darkness, for there was not another light visible onboard. And at the third, a peculiar vibration made the slight yachtquiver from stem to stern, for the engine was in motion under a goodhead of steam, and the propeller revolved slowly in reverse, so that theyacht moved astern as fast as the canoes approached.
This went on for a few minutes, with captain and mate standing by thewheel, and the former suddenly turned to Sir John.
"I can't keep this up in the dark, sir," he said. "Perhaps we hadbetter give them a shot or two."
"Why not keep on retreating?"
"Because at any moment we may retreat on to a sharp coral rock, and beat their
mercy."
"Try everything first."
"I will, sir," said the captain; and suddenly changing his tactics, theorder was given, the light flashed out again, and the canoes were madeout four times the distance away, the men paddling with all their might,but stopping instantly in utter astonishment, for they were in perfectignorance of the distance having been put between them, all beinginvisible in the darkness which followed the shutting off of the light.
There was another yell now, and plunging their paddles in again, thewater once more flashed and foamed in the brilliant light.
Then there was a stroke on the engine-room gong down below, and thepropeller began to revolve; two more strokes, directly after, anotherthree, and the yacht gathered more and more way till she was rushing onfull speed ahead, her light, like a brilliant star, hiding everythingbehind her, and apparently just above the surface of the water, bearingrapidly down for the centre of the little fleet of canoes.
On she went, and as she neared the rate at which the paddles were usedincreased in speed too, but it was to get out of the way, for thesteersmen turned off to starboard and port, and though the slightestturn of the wheel would have sent the _Silver Star_ crashing througheither of the canoes the captain had chosen to select, she was steeredstraight through the little fleet till she was three or four hundredyards astern, and the canoes were invisible in the darkness. Then by aclever manoeuvre she was swung round in very little more than her ownlength, the light which had been shut off as soon as they passed beingopened upon the enemy again, and the occupants of the deck saw the twopairs of canoes now lying waiting as if undecided.
Once more the order to go on full speed rang out, and the yacht wassteered for the nearest canoe.
No movement was made at first, but the moment the enemy made out thatthe light was rushing silently at them again, they uttered a wild shoutof horror and dismay and began to paddle as hard as they could for theopening in the reef, to escape from the fiery star that had dropped fromthe heavens and was now chasing them to burn them up.
Ignorance and fear went hand in hand, for there was the dazzling starbut nothing more to be seen. There might have been no yacht inexistence for all they could tell. It was enough that the fiery lightlike a great eye was fixed upon them in full pursuit, and away theywent, faster probably than canoes ever travelled before, till the darkportion was reached where there were no breakers, and the leading canoerushed out, followed by the others, and away to sea, horror-stricken atthe great mystery they had seen, and in no wise lightened by the factthat the star suddenly disappeared as the last canoe dashed out from thelagoon.
"I think that has startled them," said the captain, as he had the lightshut off and gave the order for the yacht to go slowly astern, as hemade, as well as the darkness would allow, for their old quarters, butdid not reach them, it being more prudent to drop another anchor atonce.
No lights were shown and the strictest watch was kept, when thegentlemen went below to their late dinner, and discussed over it theprobabilities of a return of the enemy.
"No, you won't receive another visit from them in the dark, gentlemen,"said Captain Bradleigh merrily. "The star they saw will be talked aboutamong them for years. That big light must have been a scare; but Iexpect we shall have them again by daylight, for this yacht would be aprize worth having. But we shall see."
"Well," said the doctor, "I should think that the maker of that lightwould be surprised if he knew to what purpose it was put."
"Yes," said the captain, "I should say it is the first time anilluminated figure-head was used to scare a war-party of blacks."
"What about to-night, Captain Bradleigh?" said Jack anxiously.
"Well, if I were you, sir, I should go to bed and have a good longsleep."
"Oh, impossible," cried the lad; "I could not close my eyes for feelingthat the blacks were come back."
"Try, sir," said the captain; and when the others went to lie down, onthe captain's assurance that steam would be still on and the strictestwatch would be kept, Jack lay down to try.
But he did not try, he had no time. Wearied out with the dangers of theday, he laid his head on his pillow, after placing a double gun andloaded revolver close to the bed's head, and just closed his eyes.
They did not open again till Ned stood there and announced that it was"some bells," and that it was time to rise.
"How many, Ned?" said Jack sleepily.
"Oh, I dunno, sir, only that it answers to seven o'clock."
"And the savages?" cried Jack excitedly.
"Nowhere in sight, sir; but they've left the broken canoe as a presentfor you. It's floating close in to the sands where we made our startthe day before yesterday. Lovely morning, sir, but I wish theneighbours hadn't been quite so friendly and wanted to come and see howwe were getting on."
Jack at Sea: All Work and No Play Made Him a Dull Boy Page 22
