Part 27 (1/2)
”He wished me to translate Senor Suarez's explanation of another snal,” she answered
”Oh, was that all?”
”Practically all”
”He told you himself, I suppose, that he wished you to stay here”
”He did ainst your will?”
”No Am I not one of the shi+p's company? Is he not the centurion? He says to this wooeth, nor does she stand upon the order of her going Oh, please don't look at le the Bible and Shakespeare in an eency?”
”One ravely
Elsie's quip had saved the situation He attributed her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes to the fever of the threatened fight
She applied herself eagerly to the task Already the fu to conquer the ecstasy which had flooded her whole being She re to be clasped in Courtenay's arms which she experienced when she saw his the cup of bitterness she had forced on herself during these later days, here she was, ready as ever to quaff the love potion Poor Elsie! She longed for the waters of Lethe; haply they are denied to young women with live blood in their veins
Courtenay,flotilla His brain was conning each detail of the Alaculof array, but his heart hispering gladly:
”In another moment you would have kissed her and told her you loved her You know you would, so don't deny it! Ah! kissed her, and held her to your breast!”
So Suarez spoiled a pretty bit of roe frenzy, for Courtenay, of course, would have laughed away the girl's protests that she was usurping another woentina had not found so else to occupy hispeople ere obviouslyand heartburning would then have been avoided; but perhaps it was just the whim of fate that the captain's love affair should follow the irregular course mapped out for his shi+p, and the _Kansas_ was not yet re-launched on the ocean high-road to London, no, not by any manner of means
In fact, if the confident de warriors in the canoes were destined to be justified, the big steamer was in parlous state Her vast bulk and sheer walls of steel did not daunt theainst the rapid current, and spread out into a crescent ithin a few hundred yards of the shi+p Then threein the bows of different canoes, produced rifles hitherto invisible and began to shoot The bullets ricochetted across the ripples, and Courtenay saw that the savages did not understand the sighting appliances They were ai point-blank at the vessel, in so far as they could be said to aiht shot to rebound from the surface of the water and strike a plate a of the ht Probably they had no fixed idea of the distance the tiny projectiles would carry Joey began to bark furiously, and the Indians imitated hi, and the curiously accurate yelping of the men in the canoes,now rolled back fro cliffs In such wise did the battle open Courtenay, more amused than anxious, did not silence the terrier, and Joey's barking speedily rose to a shrill and breathless hysteria Soe, more skilled than his fellows, reproduced this falsetto with le heralded by such grotesque huedy of e of the pit
The long-range firing was kept up for several minutes, much to Courtenay's relief, as Suarez was certain that the Indians' stock of cartridges did not amount to radually nearer, and bullets began to strike the shi+p frequently One glanced off a davit and shattered a couple of s in the chart-house This incident aroused even greater enthusiasm than the first blow of the attack There was renewed activity a the paddle wielders Two canoes were not fifty yards frothe half-dozen thin cords: he turned to tell Suarez to be ready for the duty which had been entrusted to hilance happened to travel towards the nificance of that column of smoke on the northern point A fleet of at least forty canoes was advancing on the shi+p fro the s pace They were already much nearer the vessel than the first batch of Indians, who had very cleverly contrived to enlist the attention of the defenders while the real attack was developing without let or hindrance It was a sher attainments than the tribe which is ranked lowest in the hu, they had probably estimated to a nicety the number of men on board They reasoned that a show of force to the south would draw all eyes froht be enabled to run under the bows of the shi+p so speedily and quietly that the occupants of the leading craft,the deck unobserved That this was their design was proved by the abstention of the newco with the speed and silence of vultures
Two mines protected the front of the _Kansas_, and several canoes had passed them Indeed, Courtenay soon found that some of the assailants were already screened by the shi+p's bows, but the larger number were clustered thickly round Tollemache's infernal machines It ell that a cool-headed sailor was called on to deal with this eency
The captain of the _Kansas_ even s of the trick which his adversaries had tried to play on hier is one to be depended on
The six cords were nu, and seized Nos 4 and 5 He drew them in, hand over hand, as rapidly as possible, but careful not to sacrifice a s reports split the air, the glass front of the chart-house shook, pieces of the broken panes rattled on the floor, several scraps of iron, bolts, nuts and heavy nails fell on the decks and hatches, and a tremendous hubbub of yells caed dyna death and destruction over a wide area
Several canoes near the floating platforms were torn asunder and sank, while men were killed or wounded out of all proportion to the number of craft disabled
Courtenay at once picked up the governing cord of the mine which he was about to fire in the first instance He felt that the Alaculof flotilla would act in future on the ”once bitten twice shy” principle where those innocent-looking little poles showed above sea level, and he must strike fierce blohile the opportunity served The nine canoes on the south were not clustered around the boh to sustain heavy loss, and their affrighted crews had ceased to ply their paddles So he fired that shell also, and had the satisfaction of seeing two more of the frail craft capsize
He heard the crash of bullets against the shi+p's sides; a volley of stones slass; many arroere embedded in the ork: but he calle loud blast on the siren That was the agreed signal to warn those below that they must expect to be attacked fro on the table He took it up, and faced forward again; several canoes were scurrying past and away from the shi+p as fast as the current and many arms could propel thee on the port side He reloaded, and the sharp snapping of revolver-shots told him that Tollemache and the Chilean were busy
But the Indians were demoralized by the co and stone-slinging; they were flying for their lives Courtenay wheeled round on Suarez
”Now!” he cried, pointing to a speaking-truaphone to his mouth, and roared after the discos in store if they dared to coe, the sounds he uttered were the most extraordinary that Courtenay had ever heard frouttural vowels, and consonants ending in a series of clicks--and the stentorian power of his lungs must have amazed the Indians
Courtenay saw that the two fleets were co forces about five hundred yards to ard They were close inshore, but none of the savages landed, nor did they head for the more remote Otter Creek As he was anxious to keep theed rightly, as it transpired, that they would fear the bellow of the fog-horn evenmissiles which had dealt death and serious wounds so lavishly