Part 36 (2/2)
”What, and join our enemies in the castle up there?” sneered thetheir feast, of the nature of which they could have little doubt ”No, no We see that you are no friends of the French, so over you go to feed the fishes”
As he uttered these words, he made a rush at Linton, ith difficulty leaped out of his hen the miserable wretch, unable to stop himself, ran on till he fell over into the water, where his coles This attracted the attention of some; but the others made a rush at Linton, who had just time to draw his cutlass, and to keep them off from himself and Raby, who, hampered with the water-cask, could do little to defend himself
So rapidly had the events I have mentioned taken place, that there was not ti them assistance Had Linton chosen to kill his assailants, heto hurt them, unconscious as they were of what they were about, he was very nearly falling a victi up the rock they got round them, and on a sudden they found the his head for a moment, a powerful wretch seized his sword by the blade, and though it was cutting his hands through and through he would not let it go At the same instant others threw their arround, where in all probability they would instantly have destroyed hi down from the top of the rock with heavy spars in their hands, and striking right and left on the heads of the o their hold, and allow Linton and Raby to spring to their feet
”Now, sir, now is your time!” exclaimed one of their deliverers ”Up to the fortress before they rally They have had such a lesson that they will not think of coain”
Neither of the officers required a second call, and in an instant they were in front of the tent
”You have brought us water, sir Thank Heaven, the breaker has not been injured!” exclai it from Raby's shoulder, who poured out soht for the purpose As he did so Raby exaard and e to an old friend
”What, Bowse!” he cried ”Is it you?--I alad to find that you have escaped froh”
”Ah, Mr Raby, I knew the _Ione_ at once, and glad I a the cup ater He was about to carry it to his own mouth, but by a powerful effort he restrained hi, ”There are others want itto one of the sufferers on the ground Linton took the cup, and pouring a few drops of brandy into it, gave it to the person indicated
”What!” he exclaimed, as he did so ”Do I, indeed, see Colonel Gauntlett? Tell me, sir, is Miss Garden here? I need not say how much it will relieve the mind of Captain Fleetwood to know that she is safe”
The colonel groaned as he gave back the cup, saying--
”Indeed, I know nothing of my poor niece”
In a few iven to each of the persons round the tent, the reviving effect of which onderful on even the most exhausted Meantime the unhappy wretches on the lower part of the rock were shrieking and gesticulating as before, but instead of looking at the boats they now turned their eyes towards those ere quenching their raging thirst with the supply of water brought by Linton and Raby
At this juncture the dinghy returned, and thetwo men off, when by a less forcible manner they would probably have failed Thethe boat by the painter, and before the Frenchmen were aware they had seized two of them who had jackets to catch hold of, and had hauled them into the boat A second tiot off withoutto soothe so the one of the up a cup of water The erly
”_C'est _,” he exclaih ”_More, ive hi that their co, came up and held out their hands for the cup, theirthat they were more influenced by the instinct of anirees the whole of them came up and obtained a cup of water, and Linton had the satisfaction of seeing that they had becoht he ht venture down to exas who sat by theether unconscious of their condition, as well as of those he had seen stretched out at their length near the edge of the rock Bowse, however, recoreater nuot off ”If Mr Raby and I, and Mitchell, there,” ( the colonel's servant, as the second man who had come to their rescue), ”were to accoo alone, those poor wretches ht attack our fortress and murder all in it; and to say the truth, I aood to any of theuet the people into the dinghy He found the best as to give them a little water at a time, and then to promise them more directly they should reach the cutter In this way severalthehy, and tue of what he called the fortress, proceeded with Raby and Mitchell, carrying the remainder of the water to aid those who either could not or would notto hisliquid than he sat upright, seizing the cup in both his hands, and drained off the contents Scarcely had he finished the draught than, uttering a deep sigh, he fell back, and, stretching out his arms, expired On the next the water had a lazed and fixed, slowly acquired a look of consciousness, the ratitude, seemed to flit across the countenance of the sufferer The next, as sitting by himself, almost naked, with his feet close to the sea, received the cup with a vacant stare, and dashed the precious liquid on the ground, while the cup itself would have rolled into the sea, had not Raby fortunately saved it They, however, again tried him with more, and no sooner did the water actually touch his lips than he seeer to obtain it as he was before indifferent to it When the dinghy returned, these tere lifted into her, and conveyed on board the cutter The cutter had, by this tio on board, which she transferred to the _Ione_, and then returned, anchoring closer in with the rock than before While Linton and his co, as I have described, to the most helpless of the French seamen, they were followed closely by the res with idiot wonder
The threatening gestures of the gang, ere behind, lad to find a way by which he could retreat to the summit of the rock, where he found assembled, besides the persons I have already mentioned, the second mate and three British sea-of-hich it appeared had been wrecked there, four of his officers and five of his th and their senses; and th to walk down to the boats
Linton accordingly sent for further assistance, and two more hands ca down the sufferers, and of defending theht h at first unable to walk, quickly recovered, and insisted on having no other assistance than such as Mitchell could afford in getting to the boat The French captain had suffered the ue andbeen embarked, Linton advised that the cutter should return to the shi+p, and begged that four ood supply of rope-yarns While the boats were absent, he tried to calh they no longer attempted to injure hi so ood will
They were in all, rehy returned, he found his party to aht men, hom he considered he should easily be able to master the others The unfortunate Frenchmen had not sense to perceive what he was about, and he had captured and bound three before they attempted to escape from him Then commenced the most extraordinary chase round and round the rock In a short time three more were bound, and these Linton sent off before he made any further attee, fierce, powerful et hold of the to pull away, and leave theth he ordered his men to make a simultaneous rush at them, and to endeavour to trip them up, or to knock them over with the flats of their cutlasses
Pour of theh they had their knives in their hands, and made a desperate resistance; the others, they were tho appeared to be the maddest of the party, darted from them, and, before they could be stopped, leaped off, on the weather side, when they were quickly sed up a the breakers Linton and his companions shuddered as they left the fatal spot
The _Ione_, with her new passengers on board, kept on her course, and the wind still continuing foul, Captain Fleetwood steered for Athens, off which place, the French commander said he was certain to find a shi+p of his own country to receive hiate was fallen in with, as was expected, and the French captain and his surviving officers and creere transferred to her
They were all full of the deepest expressions of gratitude for the service which had been rendered the Bowse for his behaviour during the trying time of the shi+pwreck, which had been the chieftheir lives
I will not describe Fleetwood's feelings on seeing Colonel Gauntlett, and on hearing that Ada had, to a certainty, been carried off by Zappa
He had been prepared for the account; for he believed, from the first, that it was for that purpose he had attacked the _Zodiac_