Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER SIXTY TWO.

  The loud yells of the savages struck terror into the heart of MrsSeagrave; it was well that she had not seen their painted bodies andfierce appearance, or she would have been much more alarmed. LittleAlbert and Caroline clung around her neck with terror in their faces;they did not cry, but looked round and round to see from whence thehorrid noise proceeded, and then clung faster to their mother. Tommywas very busy, finishing all the breakfast which had been left, forthere was no one to check him as usual; Juno was busy outside, and wasvery active and courageous. Mr Seagrave had been employed making theholes between the palisades large enough to admit the barrels of themuskets, so that they could fire at the savages without being exposed;while William and Ready, with their muskets loaded, were on the look-outfor their approach.

  "They are busy with the old house just now, sir," observed Ready, "butthat won't detain them long."

  "Here they come," replied William; "and look, Ready, is not that one ofthe women who escaped from us in the canoe, who is walking along withthe first two men? Yes, it is, I am sure."

  "You are right, William, it is one of them. Ah! they have stopped; theydid not expect the stockade, that is clear, and it has puzzled them; seehow they are all crowding together and talking; they are holding acouncil of war how to proceed; that tall man must be one of theirchiefs. Now, William, although I intend to fight as hard as I can, yetI always feel a dislike to begin first; I shall therefore show myselfover the palisades, and if they attack me, I shall then fire with aquiet conscience."

  "But take care they don't hit you, Ready."

  "No great fear of that, William. Here they come."

  Ready now stood upon the plank within, so as to show himself to thesavages, who gave a tremendous yell, and as they advanced a dozen spearswere thrown at him with so true an aim that, had he not instantly dodgedbehind the stockade, he must have been killed. Three or four spearsremained quivering in the palisades, just below the top; the others wentover it, and fell down inside of the stockade, at the further end.

  "Now, William, take good aim;" but before William could fire, MrSeagrave, who had agreed to be stationed at the corner so that he mightsee if the savages went round to the other side, fired his musket, andthe tall chief fell to the ground.

  Ready and William also fired, and two more of the savages were seen todrop amidst the yells of their companions. Juno handed up the othermuskets which were ready loaded, and took those discharged, and MrsSeagrave, having desired Caroline to take care of her little brother,and Tommy to be very quiet and good, came out, turned the key of thedoor upon them, and hastened to assist Juno in reloading the muskets.

  The spears now rushed through the air, and it was well that they couldfire from the stockade without exposing their persons, or they wouldhave had but little chance. The yells increased, and the savages nowbegan to attack on every quarter; the most active, who climbed likecats, actually succeeded in gaining the top of the palisades, but, assoon as their heads appeared above, they were fired at with so true anaim that they dropped down dead outside. This combat lasted for morethan an hour, when the savages, having lost a great many men, drew offfrom the assault, and the parties within the stockade had time tobreathe.

  "They have not gained much in this bout, at all events," said Ready; "itwas well fought on our side, and William, you certainly behaved as ifyou had been brought up to it."

  "Do you think they will go away now?" said Mrs Seagrave.

  "Oh, no, madam, not yet; they will try us every way before they leaveus. You see these are very brave men, and it is clear that they knowwhat gunpowder is, or they would have been more astonished."

  "I should think so too," replied Mr Seagrave; "the first time thatsavages hear the report of firearms, they are usually thrown into greatconsternation."

  "Yes, sir; but such has not been the case with these people, andtherefore I reckon it is not the first time that they have fought withEuropeans."

  "Are they all gone, Ready?" said William, who had come down from theplank to his mother.

  "No; I see them between the trees now; they are sitting round in acircle, and, I suppose, making speeches."

  "Well, I'm very thirsty, at all events," said William; "Juno, bring me alittle water."

  Juno went to the water-tub to comply with William's request, and in afew moments afterwards came back in great consternation.

  "Oh, Massa! oh, Missy! no water; water all gone!"

  "Water all gone!" cried Ready and all of them in a breath.

  "Yes; not one little drop in the cask."

  "I filled it up to the top!" exclaimed Ready very gravely; "the tub didnot leak, that I am sure of; how can this have happened?"

  "Missy, I tink I know now," said Juno; "you remember you send MassaTommy, the two or three days we wash, to fetch water from the well inlittle bucket. You know how soon he come back, and how you say whatgood boy he was, and how you tell Massa Seagrave when he come to dinner.Now, Missy, I quite certain Massa Tommy no take trouble go to well, butfetch water from tub all the while, and so he empty it."

  "I'm afraid you're right, Juno," replied Mrs Seagrave. "What shall wedo?"

  "I go speak Massa Tommy," said Juno, running to the house.

  "This is a very awkward thing, Mr Seagrave," observed Ready gravely.

  Mr Seagrave shook his head.

  The fact was, that they all perceived the danger of their position: ifthe savages did not leave the island, they would perish of thirst orhave to surrender; and in the latter case, all their lives would mostcertainly be sacrificed.

  Juno now returned: her suspicions were but too true. Tommy, pleasedwith the praise of being so quick in bringing the water, had taken outthe spigot of the cask, and drawn it all off.

  "Well," observed Mr Seagrave, "it is the will of Heaven that all ourcareful arrangements and preparations against this attack should bedefeated by the idleness of a child, and we must submit."

  "Very true, sir," replied Ready; "all our hopes now are that the savagesmay be tired out, and leave the island."

  "If I had but a little for the children, I should not care," observedMrs Seagrave; "but to see those poor things suffer--is there not a dropleft, Juno, anywhere?"

  Juno shook her head.

  Mrs Seagrave said she would go and examine, and went away into thehouse accompanied by Juno.

  "This is a very bad business, Ready," observed Mr Seagrave. "Whatwould we give for a shower of rain now, that we might catch the fallingdrops!"

  "There are no signs of it, sir," replied Ready; "we must, however, putour confidence in One who will not forsake us."

  "I wish the savages would come on again," observed William; "for thesooner they come, the sooner the affair will be decided."

  "I doubt if they will to-day; at night-time I think it very probable.We must make preparations for it."

  "Why, what can we do, Ready?"

  "In the first place, sir, by nailing planks from cocoa-nut tree tococoa-nut tree above the present stockade, we may make a great portionof it much higher, and more difficult to climb over. Some of them werenearly in, this time. If we do that, we shall not have so large a spaceto watch over and defend; and then we must contrive to have a large fireready for lighting, that we may not have to fight altogether in thedark. It will give them some advantage in looking through thepalisades, and seeing where we are, but they cannot well drive theirspears through, so it is no great matter. We must make the fire in thecentre of the stockade, and have plenty of tar in it, to make it burnbright, and we must not, of course, light it until after we areattacked. We shall then see where they are trying for an entrance, andwhere to aim with our muskets."

  "The idea is very good, Ready," said Mr Seagrave; "if it had not beenfor this unfortunate want of water, I really should be sanguine ofbeating them off."

  "We may suffer very much, Mr Seagrave, I have no doubt; but who knowswhat the morrow may bring forth?"

  "True, Ready. Do you se
e the savages now?"

  "No, sir; they have left the spot where they were in consultation. Isuppose they are busy with their wounded and their dead."

  As Ready had supposed, no further attack was made by the savages on thatday, and he, William, and Mr Seagrave, were very busy making theirarrangements; they nailed the planks on the trunks of the trees abovethe stockade, so as to make three sides of the stockade at least fivefeet higher, and almost impossible to climb up; and they prepared alarge fire in a tar-barrel full of cocoa-nut leaves mixed with wood andtar, so as to burn fiercely. Dinner or supper they had none, for therewas nothing but salt pork and beef and live turtle, and, by Ready'sadvice, they did not eat, as it would only increase their desire todrink.

  The poor children suffered much; and little Albert wailed and cried for"water, water." Ready remained on the look-out; indeed, everything wasso miserable inside of the house, that they were all glad to go out ofit; they could do no good, and poor Mrs Seagrave had a difficult andmost painful task to keep the children quiet under such severeprivation, for the weather was still very warm and sultry.