Part 48 (1/2)

There, take May and t.i.tely. Now off.”

Just at that moment Roberts, who had been standing close at hand, stepped forward, to cry eagerly--

”Did you say I was to go with Murray, sir?”

”What, you? Go with Murray?” cried the lieutenant. ”No, sir. What!

Do you want to leave me in the lurch?” Then, knowing from old experience the jealous motive which animated the lad who was left out of the commission, the officer clapped the mids.h.i.+pman on one shoulder warmly. ”No, no, Roberts; I can't spare you. I want your help, my lad; and besides, you will be safer with me than with Murray.”

Roberts winced and turned a reproachful look upon his officer.

”I wasn't trying to make myself safe, sir,” he said bitterly. ”I wanted to be in the thick of it all, sir, and not left out as usual.”

”Of course you did, my boy; and that's where you are going to be, I expect.”

By this time Murray and his two men were pa.s.sing out of sight, followed by the mids.h.i.+pman's longing eyes; and directly after the lad had forgotten his disappointment in the orders he was busily trying to obey.

For in the full belief that the overseer would return with his followers, the lieutenant set to work trying to put the house in a state of defence.

This was no easy task, for with four times the number of men that were at his service the officer would have found it difficult to bar and barricade the lower windows of the plantation house and secure the doors back and front.

Fortunately it was soon found that the occupant or builder of the house must have had some notion of the possibility of an attack being made upon the place, for the doors were strong, the lower windows were each furnished with stout shutters and bars, and these having been secured and the bottom of the staircase carefully barricaded, a better chance was offered for holding the house, that is, of defending the first floor from any attack that might be made from within or without.

”There, Mr Roberts,” cried the lieutenant, ”I think that is all we can do for the present, and if our friend the overseer ventures to bring his men on we shall be able to give a good account of a few of them. Can you suggest anything more to strengthen the bottom of that staircase?”

”I think we might drag some of those chests out of the rooms, sir, on to the landing, ready to pile in front of the stairs.”

”Good, my lad; it shall be done,” cried the lieutenant; ”but in addition let the lads fill up every bucket, can and jug we can find.”

”I did see to that, sir, and I am sure that we have more than the men can drink.”

”I was not thinking of drinking, my lad,” said the lieutenant, ”but of quenching the fire that may be started by our enemies.”

”You don't think that they will try to fire the place, sir?” said the lad.

”Indeed, but I do, my lad. But at any rate we must be prepared for such an attack.”

Roberts puckered up his forehead and looked aghast at his officer, and then bidding four of the men follow him, he did his best to collect together on the landing of the well-appointed building a pretty fair supply of the element necessary for extinguis.h.i.+ng the first out-breakings of fire which might be started by the expected foe.

”Well done, Mr Roberts,” said the lieutenant; ”but we've rather upset this Mr--Mr--What's his name?”

”Allen, sir.”

”Yes--Allen. Upset Mr Allen's house. It's a bit of a surprise to find an English gentleman.--Yes, gentleman, Mr Roberts: he is evidently quite a gentleman, although he is completely under that Yankee scoundrel's thumb. But what was I saying? Oh, it's rather a surprise to find an English gentleman living like this in an out-of-the-way West Indian island?”

”That's what I thought, sir,” replied Roberts.

”Ah, well, you need not feel so again, for numbers of men of our best families have settled out like this in the plantations, built themselves good houses, and surrounded themselves with every comfort, and grown rich producing sugar, coffee, cotton and rum by means of a large staff of slaves. We have fallen upon one of these estates, but in this case the Yankee overseer seems to be the master, and the real master the slave.”

”It seems strange, sir, doesn't it?” said Roberts, who was standing by one of the first floor windows keeping a sharp look out for danger.

”To a certain extent, my lad,” said the officer, ”but I have made a shrewd guess at what has been going on, and it strikes me that our friend Mr Allen has been dabbling largely in the trade that we are here to suppress.”