Part 19 (1/2)
”Hi, mister, d'ye 'ear that?” said coke to De Sylva ”There's horse sense in it The whole bally place will be buzzin' like a nest of wasps till they find out wot the shots estion,” came the calm answer, ”provided, that is, the launch is in the harbor”
”She's just as likely to be there now as later If she isn't, we must hark back to the first plan Now, you swabs, all aboard! See to thean to toll in the convict settlehts appeared in many houses scattered over the seaward slope In truth, Fernando Noronha had not been so badly scared since its garrison mutinied three years earlier because arrears of pay were not forthco It was impossible to determine as yet whether or not the island steamer was at her berth, so they could only push on boldly and trust to luck
Hozier, never for an instant forgetting Iris, saw that Marcel still remained with his leader Under these new circumstances, it certainly would be a piece of folly to send back until they were sure of the launch So he hurried after theh fortunate in the fact that his captive's head was big in proportion to the rest of his body
So from the town to theEach breathlessly de infore blow
The _Andromeda_ had received no quarter, and her crew retaliated now
They did not deliberately ood care that none of those whom they encountered would be in a condition to work ht was ended
It was a peculiar and exasperating fact that although they were descending a steep incline to the harbor the presence of trees and houses rendered it i-place Hence, there was no course open but to race on at the uth De Sylva was careful to keep his small force compact, and its pace was necessarily that of its slowestthese was coke, who had never walked so far since he was granted a captain's certificate He swore copiously as he lu, and, what between shortness of breath and his tight boots and clothing, the latter disability being added to by a ridiculously inadequate Brazilian tunic, he was barely able to reach the water's edge
Happily, the launch was there,it was necessary to cross a loharf some fifty yards in width, and De Sylva's whispered coer er problematical but assured
They broke, and ran, an al, as it happened, since the soldiers whom Philip had seen from the rock were still on board One of the a body of men so, and was discussing it with others when this strange thing happened
He challenged San Benavides answered, but his voice was shrill and unofficer-like
The engines were started Aarope off a fixed capstan when De Sylva shot him between the shoulder-blades
”On board, all of you!” shrieked the ex-President in a frenzy
”At 'eer another foot
TheSheets of flame leaped from the vessel's deck as the soldiers seized their rifles and fired point-blank at these e But flame alone could not stop that desperate attack So at the Brazilians like farappled and fell, some into the water, others on deck, or they sprawled over the hatch and wrought in frantic struggle in the narrow cabin The fight did not lasta lever and throttle valve, roared to a sailor to take the wheel, and already the launch was curving seahen Hozier shouted:
”Where is Marcel?”
”Lyin' dead on the wharf,” said Watts
”Are you certain?”
”He was alongside me, an' 'e threw is 'ands up, an' dropped like a shot rabbit”
”Then who has gone for Miss Yorke?”
”No one D'ye think that this d--d President cares for anybody but hisself?”
Philip felt the deck throbbing with the pulsations of the screw The lights on shore were gliding by The launch was leaving Fernando Noronha, and Iris aiting in that wretched hut beyond the hill, waiting for the sumo, the one otherin the cabin with three ribs broken and a collar-bone fractured