CHAPTER XL
THE BATTLE OF THE GOLDEN WALL
The five men now got behind the barrier of bags, but, before followingthem, Captain Horn, with the butt of his rifle, drew a long, deep furrowin the sand about a hundred feet from the breastwork of bags, andparallel with it. Then he quickly joined the others.
The three white men stationed themselves a little distance apart, andeach moved a few of the top bags so as to get a good sight between them,and not expose themselves too much.
As the boats came on, the negroes crouched on the sand, entirely out ofsight, while Shirley and Burke each knelt down behind the barrier, withhis rifle laid in a crevice in the top. The captain's rifle was in hishand, but he did not yet prepare for action. He stooped down, but hishead was sufficiently above the barrier to observe everything.
The two boats came rapidly on, and were run up on the beach, and the menjumped out and drew them up, high and safe. Then, without the slightesthesitation, the ten of them, each with a gun in his hand, advanced in abody toward the line of bags.
"Ahoy!" shouted the captain, suddenly rising from behind the barrier."Who are you, and what do you want?" He said this in English, butimmediately repeated it in Spanish.
"Ahoy, there!" cried Cardatas. "Are you Captain Horn?"
"Yes, I am," said the captain, "and you must halt where you are. Thefirst man who passes that line is shot."
Cardatas laughed, and so did some of the others, but they all stopped.
"We'll stop here a minute to oblige you," said Cardatas, "but we've gotsomething to say to you, and you might as well listen to it."
Shirley and Burke did not understand a word of these remarks, for theydid not know Spanish, but each of them kept his eye running along theline of men who still stood on the other side of the furrow the captainhad made in the sand, and if one of them had raised his gun to fire attheir skipper, it is probable that he would have dropped. Shirley andBurke had been born and bred in the country; they were hunters, and wereboth good shots. It was on account of their fondness for sport that theyhad been separated from the rest of their party on the first day of thearrival of the people from the _Castor_ at the caves.
"What have you to say?" said the captain. "Speak quickly."
Cardatas did not immediately answer, for Nunez was excitedly talking tohim. The soul of the horse-dealer had been inflamed by the sight of thebags. He did not suppose it possible that they could all contain gold,but he knew they must be valuable, or they would not have been carriedup there, and he was advising a rush for the low wall.
"We will see what we can do with them, first," said Cardatas to Nunez."Some of us may be shot if we are in too great a hurry. They are welldefended where they are, and we may have to get round into their rear.Then we can settle their business very well, for the negro said therewere only three white men. But first let us talk to them. We may managethem without running any risks."
Cardatas turned toward the captain, and at the same time Burke said:
"Captain, hadn't you better squat down a little? You're making a veryfine mark of yourself."
But the captain still stood up to listen to Cardatas.
"I'll tell you what we've come for," said the latter. "We are notofficers of the law, but we are the same thing. We know all about you andthe valuable stuff you've run away with, and we've been offered a rewardto bring back those bags, and to bring you back, too, dead or alive, andhere we are, ready to do it. It was good luck for us that your vesselcame to grief, but we should have got you, even if she hadn't. We weresure to overhaul you in the Straits. We know all about you and that oldhulk, but we are fair and square people, and we're sailors, and we don'twant to take advantage of anybody, especially of sailors who have hadmisfortunes. Now, the reward the Californian government has offered us isnot a very big one, and I think you can do better by us, so if you'llagree to come out from behind that breastwork and talk to us fair andsquare, your two white men and your three negroes,--you see, we know allabout you,--I think we can make a bargain that'll suit all around. Thegovernment of California hasn't any claim on us, and we don't see why weshould serve it any more than we should serve you, and it will be a gooddeal better for you to be content with half the treasure you've gone offwith, or perhaps a little more than that, and let us have the rest. Wewill take you off on our vessel, and land you at any port you want to goto, and you can take your share of the bags ashore with you. Now, that'swhat I call a fair offer, and I think you will say so, too."
Captain Horn was much relieved by part of this speech. He had had aslight fear, when Cardatas began, that these men might have been sent outby the Peruvian government, but now he saw they were a set of thieves,whether Rackbirds or not, doing business on their own account.
"The Californian government has nothing to do with me," cried CaptainHorn, "and it never had anything to do with you, either. When you saythat, you lie! I am not going to make any bargain with you, or haveanything to do with you. My vessel is wrecked, but we can take care ofourselves. And now I'll give you five minutes to get to your boats, andthe quicker you go, the better for you!"
At this, Nunez stepped forward, his face red with passion. "Look here,you Yankee thief," he cried, "we'll give you just one minute to come outfrom behind that pile of bags. If you don't come, we'll--"
But if he said any more, Captain Horn did not hear it, for at that momentBurke cried: "Drop, captain!" And the captain dropped.
Stung by the insult he had received, and unable to resist thetemptation of putting an end to the discussion by shooting Captain Horn,Cardatas raised his rifle to his shoulder, and almost in the sameinstant that the captain's body disappeared behind the barrier, hefired. But the bullet had scarcely left his barrel when another ball,from Shirley's gun, struck Cardatas under his uplifted left arm, andstretched him on the sand.
A shock ran through the attacking party, and instinctively they retreatedseveral yards. So suddenly had they lost their leader that, for a fewmoments, they did not seem to understand the situation. But, on a shoutfrom one of them to look out for themselves, every man dropped flat uponthe beach, behind a low bank of sand scarcely a foot high. This was notmuch protection, but it was better than standing up as marks for therifles behind the barrier.
The men from the _Arato_ were very much surprised by what had happened.They had expected to have an easy job with the crew of the _Miranda_. Assoon as the sailor Sanchez had seen the stranded brig, he had recognizedher, and Cardatas, as well as the rest of them, had thought that therewould be nothing to do but to go on shore with a party of well-armed men,and possess themselves of whatever treasure she had brought to thisdeserted coast. But to find her crew strongly intrenched and armed hadvery much amazed them.
Nunez's anger had disappeared, and his accustomed shrewdness had takenits place, for he now saw that very serious business was before them. Hewas not much of a soldier, but he knew enough to understand that in theplan proposed by Cardatas lay their only hope of success. It would beridiculous to lie there and waste their ammunition on that wall of bags.He was lying behind the others, and raised his head just enough to tellthem what they should do.
"We must get into their rear," he said. "We must creep along the sanduntil we reach those bushes up there, and then we can get behind them.I'll go first, and you can follow me."
At, this, he began to work himself along the beach, somewhat after thefashion of an earthworm. But the men paid no attention to him. There waslittle discipline among them, and they had no respect for thehorse-dealer as a commander, so they remained on the sands, eagerlytalking among themselves. Some of them were frightened, and favored arush for the boats. But this advice brought down curses from the others.What were three men to nine, that they should run away?
Burke now became tired of waiting to see what would happen next, andputting his hat on a little stick, he raised it a short distance abovethe breastwork. Instantly one of the more excitable men from the _Arato_fired at it.
"Very good,"
said Burke. "They want to keep it up, do they? Now,captain," he continued, "we can see the backs and legs of most of them.Shall we fire at them? That will be just as good as killing them. Theymean fight--that's easy to see."
But the captain was not willing to follow Burke's advice.
"I don't want to wound or maim them," he replied. "Let's give them avolley just over their heads, and let them see what we are prepared todo. Now, then, when I give the word!"
In a few moments three shots rang out from the intrenchment, and thebullets went whistling over the prostrate bodies of the men on the sand.But these tactics did not have the effect Captain Horn hoped for. Theyled to no waving of handkerchiefs, nor any show of an intention to treatwith an armed and intrenched foe. Instead of that, the man Sanchez sprangto his feet and cried:
"Come on, boys! Over the wall and at them before they can reload!"
At this all the men sprang up and dashed toward the line of bags, Nunezwith them. Somebody might get hurt in this wild charge, but he must reachthe treasure as soon as the others. He must not fail in that. But Sanchezmade a great mistake when he supposed that Captain Horn and his menfought with such arms as the muzzle-loading rifles and shot--guns whichthe _Arato's_ men had thought quite sufficient to bring with them for thework they had to do. Captain Horn, when he had fitted out the _Miranda_,had supplied himself and his two white men with fine repeating rifles,and the _Arato's_ men had scarcely crossed the line which had been drawnon the sand before there were three shots from the barrier, and three ofthe enemy dropped. Even the captain made a good shot this time.
At this the attacking party stopped, and some of them shouted, "To theboats!" Nunez said nothing, for he was dead. There had been muchstraggling in the line, and Shirley had singled him out as one of theleaders. Before one of them had turned or a retreat begun, Burke's rifleflashed, and another man fell over against a companion, and then downupon the sand. The distance was very short, and a bad shot was almostimpossible for a good hunter.
Now there was no hesitation. The five men who had life and legs, turnedand dashed for the boats. But the captain did not intend, now, that theyshould escape, and rifle after rifle cracked from the barricade, andbefore they reached the boats, four of the flying party had fallen. Thefifth man stumbled over one of his companions, who dropped in front ofhim, then rose to his feet, threw down his gun, and, turning his facetoward the shore, held up his hands high above his head.
"I surrender!" he cried, and, still with his arms above his head, and hisface whiter than the distant sands, he slowly walked toward the barrier.
The captain rose. "Halt!" he cried, and the man stood stock-still. "Now,my men," cried the captain, turning to Burke and Shirley, "keep your eyeson that fellow until we reach him, and if he moves, shoot him."
The three white men, followed by the negroes, ran down to the man, andwhen they had reached him, they carefully searched him to see if he hadany concealed weapons.
After glancing rapidly over the bodies which lay upon the sand, thecaptain turned to his men.
"Come on, every one of you," he shouted, "and run out that boat,"pointing to the largest one that had brought the _Arato's_ men ashore.
Shirley and Burke looked at him in surprise.
"We want that vessel!" he cried, in answer. "Be quick!" And taking holdof the boat himself, he helped the others push it off the sand. "Now,then," he continued, "Shirley, you and Burke get into the bow, with yourrifles. Tumble in, you black fellows, and each take an oar. You," he saidin Spanish to the prisoner, "get in and take an oar, too."
The captain took the tiller. Shirley and Burke pushed the boat intodeep water, and jumped aboard. The oars dipped, and they were off,regardless of the low surf which splashed its crest over the gunwale asthe boat turned.
"Tell me, you rascal," said the captain to the prisoner, who was tuggingat his oar as hard as the others, "how many men are aboard thatschooner?"
"Only two, I swear to you, Senor Capitan; there were twelve of us inall."
The men left on the schooner had evidently watched the proceedings onshore, and were taking measures accordingly.
"They've slipped their anchor, and the tide is running out!" shouted thecaptain. "Pull! Pull!"
"They're running up their jib!" cried Burke. "Lay to, you fellows, orI'll throw one of you overboard, and take his place!"
The captured man was thoroughly frightened. They were great fighters,these men he had fallen among, and he pulled as though he were rowing torescue his dearest friend. The black fellows bent to their oars likemadmen. They were thoroughly excited. They did not know what they wererowing: for they only knew they were acting under the orders of theircaptain, who had just killed nine Rackbirds, and their teeth and theireyes flashed as their oars dipped and bent.