Part 14 (1/2)
dat kin' o' example to yo men!”
Divine's terror had placed him beyond the reach of contu them?” he whimpered ”We should never have left theainst the savages of this awful island if we divide our forces? They will pick us off a few at a time just as they picked off Miller and Swenson, Theriere and Byrne We ought to tell Ward about it, and call this foolish battle off”
”Now you're talkin',” cried Bony Sawyer ”I'er with my friends a-shootin' atdown on me from above to cut off my bloomin'
head”
”Same here!” chimed in Red Sanders
Blanco looked toward Wison For his own part the Negro would not have been averse to returning to the fold could the thing be accoer of reprisal on the part of Skipper Simms and Ward; but he knew the men so well that he feared to trust thely acquiesce to any such proposal On the other hand, he reasoned, it would be as e to have the deserters return to them as it would to the deserters themselves, for when they had heard the story told by Red Sanders and Wison of the murder of the others of the party they too would realize the necessity for th of the little coain nothin' by fightin' 'em,” said Wison ”There ain't nothin' in it any orn Let's chuck it, an' see wot terruht 'e the conversation Bony Sawyer had been busy with a stick and a piece of rag, and now as he turned toward his co of surrender None interfered as he raised it above the edge of the breastwork
Immediately there was a hail from below It was Ward's voice
”Surrenderin', eh? Comin' to your senses, are you?” he shouted
Divine, feeling that ier froe of the earthwork
”We have so to communicate, Mr Ward,” he called
”Spit it out, then; I', Mr Theriere, Byrne, Miller, and Swenson have been captured and killed by native head-hunters,” said Divine
Ward's eyes ide, and he blew out his cheeks in surprise Then his face went black with an angry scowl
”You see what you done now, you blitherin' fools, you!” he cried, ”with your funny business? You gone an' killed the goose what laid the golden eggs Thought you'd get it all, didn't you? and now nobody won't get nothin', unless it is the halter Nice lot o' numbskulls you be, an'
whimperin' 'round now expectin' of us to take you back--well, I reckon not, not on your ain at Divine
The society man toppled over backward into the pit behind the breastwork before Ward had a chance to pull the trigger
”Hol' on there ettin' excited Wait until you hear all we gotta say You can't blame us pore sailormen It was this here fool dude and that scoundrel Theriere that put us up to it They told us that you an' Skipper Simms was a-fixin' to double-cross us all an' leave us here to starve on this Gawd-forsaken islan' Theriere said that he ith you when you planned it That you wanted to git rid o' as many of us as you could so that you'd have more of the ransom to divide So all we done was in self-defense, as it were
”Why not let bygones be bygones, an' all of us join forces ag'in' these murderin' heathen? There won't be any too many of us at best--Red an' Wison seen more'n two thousan' of the ht this minute, an' you can lay to that; an' the chances are that they got some special kind o' route into that there cove, an' ht now!”
Ward turned an apprehensive glance to either side There was logic in Bony's proposal They couldn't spare a man now Later he could punish the offenders at his leisure--when he didn't need them any further
”Will you swear on the Book to do your duty by Skipper Simms an' me if we take you back?” asked Ward
”You bet,” answered Bony Sawyer