Part 11 (1/2)
This was the opportunity for Bowata and his party, ith arrows ready fitted to their bow-strings, again rose fro rocks and let fly at the enemy Some of the arrows missed their mark, but about three-quarters of the no less than three shafts in his body--and five of the ene forith arrows sunk deep in various parts of their anatomy The leader of the band, however, ree his men forward to the attack It was evident that his followers derived great encouragement from his words and actions, and that to put him _hors de combat_ would practically be to win the battle; therefore, leaving ainst the rock behind which I had been crouching, I drew my cutlass and advanced to meet the fellow, determined to personally tackle him and put him out of action without loss of tionist, it must be admitted; two inches taller than myself, broad in proportion, with an enorreat muscles that stood out like cables under the skin of his bare arms His features were typically Tartar, and his s his sword above his head, he advanced with a shout of defiance to meet me
Meanwhile Bowata and his followers poured in still another flight of arrows, and then, flinging down their bows, they gripped their fored across the sand and fell upon the Chinaed froht between the leader and h one; but, to un and finished in a breath Theuponto make a cut at my head that should finish me out of hand And indeed he very nearly accouard my head his blade descended upon it with terrific force--and shore my weapon clean in two, and if I had not at the same moment stepped nimbly aside I should assuredly have been cloven to the eyes As it was, the descending weapon e hole in the sleeve ofwhat I was about, but acting upon instinct or the iain raise his weapon I violently thrust ered back with the force of the blohipped out ht; for as the led horror and consternation arose from those Chinese who happened to witness the incident, and who thereupon incontinently turned and fled to their boats, an example immediately followed by their comrades, hotly pursued by the blacks, who plied their war clubs with terrible effect
It was a disastrous adventure for the Chinaed--which I estimated to be between thirty and forty--only eleven escaped, for I counted them On the other hand, the casualties on our side were re only seven wounded, the wounds consisting entirely of sword cuts, none of which was serious Of those seven Bowata happened to be one, his wound consisting of a sword thrust through the upper part of the left arm I therefore took him and his six companions inthe remainder of the party on the beach to collect the weapons and their spent arrows, and to clear up generally
My surgical duties occupied about an hour and a half; and when all my patients had been attended to I sent them with Billy down to the cove, to be ferried across in the sailing boat to Cliff Island, where no doubt their own people would look after the those abandoned upon the beach, I started down to see what could be done for theh a party of wounded and no doubt treacherous and vindictive chinks would be a e to have on my hands, common humanity demanded that they should not be left to perish miserably where they had fallen
Before, however, I had covered half the distance between the bungalow and the beach Itriu not only their own recovered weapons but also several swords that they had taken froht the rifle that I had left on the beach, and the sword, scabbard, and belt of the Chinese leader, which they sole that they had evidently been busy a the latter, to which thereplied: No, they were all dead! pointing significantly to his blood- smeared war club by way of explanation
Well, it ether sorry The men were undoubtedly pirates, if not by profession, pirates at least when opportunity seemed to be favourable They had attacked me deliberately and without provocation, and, but for the help of the blacks, Billy and I would unquestionably have been ”wiped out” Ten or a dozen of such e for me to have assu to have had the No; taking everything into consideration I was not altogether sorry that they had been put beyond the possibility of perpetrating further mischief
Meanwhile, what had beco the bungalow on hted her, so to the southward, close-hauled, by which I judged that no further trouble need be looked for from her
But there were the dead on the beach to be disposed of, without loss of time How could this disposal be best effected? I considered the matter, and presently hit upon a plan The Chinese, in their precipitate flight, had abandoned two of their boats, naer ones Those tould be sufficient to contain the whole of the dead; and, having now decided upon my mode of procedure, I led my little band of black warriors back to the beach and, with their assistance, transferred the dead Chinarueso boat, whereupon I boarded her, sailed her round from the cove to the east beach, took the Chinese boats in tow, and anchored theht under the lee of the northern extreain took the boats in tow and, with a party of eight natives to help me, towed them to the beach of North Island, where we buried the dead Chinamen The snition of the assistance he had rendered er one I kept, for the sake of her materials, which would be valuable toup and putting ht after the Chinaain came under my notice and, impelled by curiosity, I drew the weapon from its sheath and subjected it to a somewhat critical examination; for if that should prove satisfactory I intended to make use of it in future in place of the cutlass, the blade of which it had shorn through with such perfect ease I found it to be so considerably thicker than that of the other weapon, though not quite so wide; it was, however, perfectly balanced and I was able to wield it with the uted as a razor; and so exquisite was its ten of a notch or indentation of any description on its edge along its entire length, from point to hilt I returned it to its sheath withthat I had effected a e
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
A SURPRISING REAPPEARANCE
It was about three weeks later that, as Billy and I foregathered in the living-roo our biscuit and early cup of coffee prior to setting out for the matutinal bath that always preceded the work of the day, Billy asked:
”By the way, Mr Blackburn, did Kit disturb you at all last night? He was so uneasy that I had to turn out twice and go to hi at the top of the veranda steps, straining at his leash,” (latterly ays tied hi half-suppressed growls, as though he scented or heard so near the house It was only by staying with hi him down You see, I was afraid he would awake you, and I kne frightfully tired youday's work at the cutter, under the broiling sun I hope no apes or other unpleasant creatures have found their way to Eden, and are lurking to frighten the life out of reatly fear,” said I ”All the same, there was probably a cause for Kit's uneasiness--which, by the way, did not in the least disturb me, for I never heard him--and we may as well try to discover what it was; therefore after breakfast I will take the rifle and give a look round”
It was, however, unnecessary to wait until after breakfast for the elucidation of the mystery, for when Billy and I reached the beach upon which stood the nearly coed, unkeed from the shadow of the craft and approached me
”Mornin', Mister,” remarked the taller of the pair, in a would-be hearty tone of voice that nevertheless so, as did his ain, turned up like bad pennies; just in time, by the looks of it, to help ye finish this dandy yacht and sail her to--wherever you thinks of goin'”
”What!” I exclaimed, in inexpressible amazement, ”can it be possible that you are Svorenssen and--and Van Ryn? Why, I believed that you and all the rest of the crew of the _Yorkshi+re Lass_ were drohen she recked, h,” replied Svorenssen ”There was only three of us--besides you and Billy--that escaped; and that was me, Dirk here, and a chap named Flemin'--Pete, we used to call 'im When the shi+p struck as all washed overboard by the first sea as broke aboard; and nat'rally those of us as could swim struck out as soon as our heads rose above water And--but, I say, Mister, ain't there no breakfast knockin' about? We haven't ate nothin' since yesterday a'ternoon, and we're feelin' pretty sharp set, I can tell ye”
”Breakfast!” I reiterated ”Why, of course It will be ready in about an hour's time But you cannot come up to the house as you are, you know--by the ere you by any chance prowling about in the neighbourhood of the house last night?”
”Ay, as,” answered Svorenssen ”We landed on the beach below it, and uessed as it was yours; and as for rousin' you out to give us a bite o' supper; but that dog o' yours growled so vicious, and seee, that we decided to wait till this mornin'”
”It was extre', as you call him, happens to be a _leopard_; and if you had persisted in your attempt to approach the house, the pair of you would assuredly have been killed I tell you this at once, by way of warning”
”The beast will 'ave to be shained oop; else how are we to go in an' out of der 'ouse?” deo in and out of the house,” I retorted ”There is no room for you there Then, just look at yourselves You are as indecent in theas you are filthy in your persons
Before anything else you will have to cleanse yourselves, and be clothed decently The condition of your clothes you cannot help, I suppose, being castaways for ht at least have kept your bodies clean You are disgustingly verminous, both of you; and after you have had a et yourselves clean You will re you down some breakfast; after which I must see what can be done to ht Mister,” answered Svorenssen, ”we'll keep clear of the 'ouse, never fear We don't want to be tore to pieces by no leopards, after tryin' our utet to ye and lend a hand in whatever you et away froet away from it, you may bet on that”
”Well,” said I to Billy, as we turned away to retrace our steps to the house, our bath cootten, ”this reappearance of Svorenssen and Van Ryn is a surprise, and not altogether an agreeable one at that
I never particularly liked either of the insubordinate of disposition and iotten the character that the boatswain and Chips gave them How did they behave before I joined the _Yorkshi+re Lass_, Billy? Had your father ever any trouble with theood deal,” answered Billy ”What the boatswain and Chips said about theners were always quarrelling with the rest of the forecastle hands; they wanted to do only just ork suited them, and not what Father wanted them to do; and frooes would havehold of and sharing the treasure”
Returning to the house, Billy and I snatched a hastywith us food, two suits of the lightest clothing the slop-chest afforded, two blue-striped shi+rts, two cloth caps, soap, towels, a cory to talktheirmy curiosity until a more favourable opportunity to satisfy it should present itself; and when the pair had finished eating Ithem the soap and towels, I bade thehly cleanse thelect This at length done, I set theenerally render the and respectable as was possible; after which I handed thes They seeruard as the wholly unnecessary trouble I was i upon theth they realised that I intended to have my way they surlily submitted In the end I believe that, in despite of thelad that I had been so insistent; for when they once more stood fully clothed their appearance was inition, and they seemed quite pleased with themselves