Part 25 (1/2)
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
FROBISHER CAPTURES THE ”SATSUMA”
Several months had passed since thein the face of death in the For, to be saved in the very nick of time by a well-directed shot froether with Drake and all that remained of the crew of the _Chih' Yuen_--twenty-three seamen only, out of her co slowly and carefully, on hands and knees, down a steep jungle path, not half a mile from the scene of the rescue, on their way to the beach How they co cautiously within the shadow cast by the moon, can soon be told
Immediately the cannibals had been slain by the japanese volleys, and the officer and his men had cast loose the cramped and stiffened forms of the prisoners, the wounded Formosans--of whom there were very few-- had been executed by the orders of the japanese captain, who said that he could not afford to take any savage prisoners But he courteously inforhted and honoured at having been thethe ”honourable captain” and his ed, as the two countries were still at war, to make him and all his ed If, however, Frobisher would give his parole for hiive thee to japan when the transports returned thither; otherwise, he should be obliged to keep them with hiarrison withdrawn
Frobisher and Drake, after consulting, decided that they would not give their parole They were both eager to get away from Formosa and back to their duty as soon as possible, and they believed theythis about, if they were not sent to japan
He therefore infored his shoulders, and ordered the two Englishuarded until a building could be erected as a prison for them This was soon run up, and the twenty-five ht and day
They ell treated, but very strictly guarded; and it was a long ti of an opportunity to escape occurred The gunboat had convoyed the transports back to Nagasaki; and as escape was impossible without the assistance of a shi+p, it became necessary to wait until another returned, as she was expected to do, in about three er than that, however, before she appeared, and provisions were becoly scarce when one day everybody awoke to find one of the latest and finest japanese torpedo-boat destroyers lying off the beach, and with her an old tramp steamer laden with stores It was then that Frobisher and Drake decided to atte into execution the scheme matured by the in their brains ever since the departure of the gunboat and transports
This sche less than the capture of the war-vessel which would certainly accompany the storeshi+p; but the question noas, Hoas the scheme to be carried out with so small a number of men?
Twenty-five to a hundred and ten--which would be about the co odds; but Frobisher and Drake between theht meet with success
They had observed--at the ti their stores, after the troops had been disembarked--that the crews of transports and war-shi+p had been allowed to cos after the voyage, being pero into the woods at the back of the cliffs with rifles, after tigers and other gae parties, so as to avoid any danger of being cut off by the cannibals They had also unboat's crew had taken their turn at shore leave, fully three-quarters of the ed to do so at the saht take place, leaving only a few men behind to look after the shi+p This _battue_ had proved such a tremendous success that the crews of the two transports had followed the example of their Service comrades, and had likewise had excellent sport
The reports of these successes, Frobisher felt sure, would be co the next consignment of stores; and it was upon the possibility of the ether, leaving the shi+p very indifferently lishmen had built their plan If the japanese did not follow their predecessors' exaht out after the shi+p's arrival, when it could be seen what arrangements were actually in force
But, fortunately for the success of Frobisher's sche had fallen out as he had hoped The storeshi+p's crew came on shore first, and met with splendid success; and, as the destroyer and her consort were ed to hold their _battue_ the following day Frobisher had therefore warned his men, directly he becas of delight and apprehension that he saw and heard the laughing japanese tars ht fell, to take up their posts for the ht ”shoot”
The prison had been built at some distance froe of the jungle, and not far from the strip of beach where the _Chih' Yuen's_ boats had landed The other two buildings just referred to were more than half a nal-station had also been established On the night selected for the atte a ”sing-song”, to which the officers on shore and a number of h fortune herself were on the side of the conspirators
Frobisher gave the hunters half an hour in which to ”, as he phrased it, and then, when the shades of evening had well set in, passed the word to his ht and day, over the prisoners, and these had been changed half an hour before the time the atte slowly up and down outside; and he whispered to one of the sailors, who could speak japanese, that the moment had arrived
The fellow immediately shouted, at the top of his voice:
”Help! help! I have been bitten by a snake!” and, acting on Frobisher's instructions, the rean to raise a tre to find the reptile to kill it, while the ”bitten”the tones of his voice, called wildly to the sentries to bring their rifles to shoot the thing
The plan worked to perfection The prisoners had always been quiet and well-behaved, and had never ested theuards They hastily unlocked the doors and dashed in, with rifles held ready to shoot--and the next moment they were on the floor, with half a dozen men on the top of each of them, and their rifles in the hands of Frobisher and Drake respectively
They were bound and gagged in less time than it takes to tell; and five minutes later the little band were in the situation in which they were discovered at the beginning of this chapter, crawling cautiously along the jungle path toward the beach