CHAPTER XIX
AT ARM'S LENGTH
Within the mazes of the forest the little party had no fear of pursuit,and they marched rapidly homeward with the alacrity of men conscious ofsuccess. They had gone only a few miles when Trentham heard theunmistakable purring of the seaplane's engine. At that spot the treesformed a canopy overhead through which the sky could scarcely be seen;but at his bidding Lafoa ordered one of the natives to climb a loftytrunk and discover if possible in what direction the machine was flying.The sound had long been inaudible when the man came to the ground againand reported that the strange bird had not soared within sight.
They pushed oh, and were met some little distance from the village byHoole himself.
'Been scalp-hunting?' he said with a smile.
'No; playing bowls. But what's your news?' asked Trentham. 'Ours willkeep.'
'Well, I guess it might be worse. I made Wilhelmshafen, and had to runthe gauntlet of a score or so of rifles. It seems they 'd heard a thingor two about the seaplane, and had already reported to one of yourwarships that's cruising somewhere east. I didn't dare land till I 'ddropped a note telling 'em who I was. There's no warship within miles;but as soon as they had heard my story they rose to the occasion; they're some sports. The only vessel they had around was a tramp; she mightmake ten knots in the ordinary way, but could be speeded up to twelve,perhaps, by frantic stoking; so the engineer said. The skipper startedcoaling at once; he had her cleared of everything that could be spared,and the crew volunteered to a man.'
'But, my dear fellow, a tramp! She 'd no more offensive weapon, Isuppose, than a hose.'
'That's correct; but, of course, the skipper had no notion of fightingthe Raider. His idea was to steal up along the coast and lie doggo whilehis men came across country and got you away. At the same time he didwhat was possible by way of armament. There was a number of machine-gunson shore, left by the Germans when they hauled down their flag to theAustralians. He put them aboard, and some Australian gunners were keento join in this stunt, along with a crowd of young fellows who sworethey were all crack shots, and a trader or two. Altogether there arebetween thirty and forty men coming along. She wasn't ready, of course,when I left; but with good luck she 'll lie off the shore eastward bysunrise to-morrow. Stealing up through the night she 's a good chance ofescaping notice, and unless the Raider makes an early morning trip you'll get away without trouble. Of course, if she is spotted--well, weknow what the Raider's guns can do.'
'The tramp has only to keep out of range; the Raider 's crippled.'
'You don't say! Did she run aground?'
Trentham related the morning's events.
'Bully!' cried Hoole. 'Say, what's to prevent our making a good bag ofGermans? You think the Raider will sink?'
'There can't be much question of that. They had carried most of theirarms on board, and probably those went down with the vessel; the menwould waste their time trying to save her. But there were some armedmen still on shore, and they might rescue a certain number of riflesbefore the ship went down. As I came along I tried to decide what I 'ddo myself in the Germans' place. They are marooned; they must guess thatyou flew off for help, and expect to have to deal with some sort offorce. The question is, will they surrender or fight?'
'Well, I don't know the inside of a German's mind, so I can't say; but Iknow what I 'd do. I wouldn't surrender without a fight; and if I sawthe odds against me, I 'd make tracks inland, live on the country, andhold out. The Germans are so cocksure of winning the war that I guessthey 'll do that.'
'I came to the same conclusion. It's not as if they were traders; they're naval men, and I can't imagine their giving in tamely. Well, then,we shall have to prepare for a fight.'
'How do you mean?
'They 've lost the greater part of their provisions, and will have toreplace them. What better chance than to quarter themselves by mainforce on the nearest village, which is our friend Flanso's, and compelthe people to provide for them? Incidentally also take vengeance forthe smashing of their vessel. We can't leave Flanso in the lurch.'
'I guess you 're right. Some of those young fellows at Wilhelmshafenwere spoiling for a fight, and were real disgruntled when the skippershowed 'em they 'd have no chance against a well-armed raider. They 'llbe ready enough to take a hand in beating off the Germans if they attackthe village.'
'If they arrive in time. We may have to face the music before they gethere, and I don't much like the prospect. Thanks to Grinson, we didvery well against Hahn's handful this morning, but it will be quiteanother thing to deal with fifty or sixty, perhaps more, a goodproportion armed with rifles. Your revolver ammunition is all spent; we've got the revolvers of the two prisoners, that's all.'
'I brought three revolvers along and a few rounds of cartridges; verylittle good they 'll be against two or three score rifles. We 'll beback of the wall, of course, which is something to the good.'
'By the way, we heard your seaplane. Where is it?'
'Away yonder. I came down on that pond the Germans failed to strike. Iguess they heard her too, and may waste time trying to find her, whichwill give us a chance to set our defences in order. Say, shall we getalong?'
They hurried on. The natives of their party had preceded them, and weresurrounded by groups of excited villagers to whom they were expoundingthe method by which the white men had destroyed the enemy's vessel. Anoisy throng followed Trentham and his friends to the gate of the innerenclosure, and when they had disappeared, started a victory dance up anddown the broad path.
Lafoa's aid was once more enlisted by Trentham in explaining thesituation to the chief. More intelligent than his subjects outside,Flanso was under no illusion about the danger that threatened hisvillage. His own experiences while in the hands of the Germans left himin no doubt as to the fate in store for his people if the enemy got thebetter of them, and he was ready to accept Trentham's suggestion thatall but the fighting men should be at once sent away southward into theforest, where they would be at least out of harm's way until the issuewas determined. But when he consulted some of his counsellors he atonce encountered the strenuous opposition of the medicine-man, who hadnot forgiven Hoole for having made him cut so sorry a figure at theduk-duk dance. He protested that the new danger threatening the villagewas due to the stupidity of the white men. Why had they destroyed theblue vessel, and prevented the enemy from going away? They were alreadyresponsible for the destruction of the wreck that had been preserved andcherished by the chief's forefathers from the beginning of the world.They had prevented the human sacrifice customary at the inauguration ofa new chief. They were meddlers, and all the misfortunes that hadbefallen the village were due to them.
Such was the gist of the medicine-man's harangue, though these fewsentences by no means represent the torrent of words which poured fromhis lips. Nor could any one but a cinematograph operator properlydepict the extraordinary grimaces of his features and the violentgestures with which he emphasised his denunciations. His right handwielded a heavy nail-studded mace, and as his excitement grew hestepped, or rather danced, nearer to the group of white men, twirlingthe mace, tossing it in the air, striking the ground with it. Ignorantthough they were of his language, the white men could not mistake thepurport of his speech, and two of them noticed with some anxiety that hewas making an impression on some members of his native audience.Grinson, however, felt nothing but amusement. A broad grin spread overhis face as he listened and watched, and the more excited themedicine-man became the more pleasure the seaman took in theperformance, giving utterance now and then to his sentiments with sundryejaculations and cat-calls.
At last a sudden change came over his expression. The medicine-man inhis frenzy had drawn very near to Hoole, and to give point to one of hisstatements he thrust his mace forward at the full length of his arm, sothat Hoole only escaped a blow by stepping quickly back. It wasuncertain whethe
r the man had intended to attack him, but the suspicionwas too much for Grinson. His lips snapped together; with a great roarhe hurled himself at the orator, struck the mace from his hand, andcaught him round the waist and hoisted him above his head. The sinewsof the seaman's arms cracked; for some seconds he held the native aloft,as if hesitating whether to cast him to the ground. Terrified intosilence, the man wriggled; the spectators looked on open-mouthed.Grinson grew purple with exertion; then he laughed. Gradually helowered his arms, stretched to full length, and gently laid the man atHoole's feet.
'Windbag!' he muttered, passing his hand across his sweating brow, thensetting his arms akimbo and looking down at the still figure.
Gasps of amazement broke from the natives. The medicine-man lay forhalf a minute; when Grinson stooped and picked up the fallen mace heclosed his eyes as if expecting a blow.
'A very neat little bobby's bludgeon, sir,' said Grinson, sticking themace under his arm. 'Move on, there!'
The medicine-man opened his eyes, and seeing that Grinson had turnedaside he crawled slowly away, rose to his feet, and sidled into his hut.
The colloquy he had interrupted was resumed. So great was theimpression made by Grinson's display of strength that the natives wereready to agree to anything the white men proposed. It was arranged thatthe non-combatants should be sent away; a number of huts and trees nearthe wall on the outside should be razed, provisions brought into theinner enclosure. A few weak spots in the wall were strengthened, and bynightfall everything that was possible had been done to prepare forattack. Scouts meanwhile had been sent out in the direction from whichattack might be expected. These were withdrawn as soon as it becamedark, and the whole able-bodied population was brought within the wall.
Trentham recognised the futility of attempting any definite tacticalmeasures with a rabble of undisciplined natives.
'They must fight in their own way, if there is to be a fight,' he saidto Hoole. 'Let alone the impossibility of giving orders with only oneinterpreter, we should only worry them by trying to lick them intoshape. We must rely on their common sense.'
'Just so. It's up to them to keep the enemy out, and that's all thatmatters. A word as to not exposing themselves--that's all we can do,except set 'em a good example.'
'As to that, you 'd be useful here, old man; but I fancy you 'd be evenmore useful if you went off in the seaplane and guided the steamer intothe cove. With the Raider sunk, she could quite well run in and landher crew on the Germans' beach; they 'd get here quicker then than ifthey landed at a spot we don't know the way from.'
'Well, I guess we 'll wait and see,' said Hoole. 'We 'll take turns todo sentry-go through the night. If nothing happens, I 'll very likelytake a run out in the morning. The tramp won't be far away then,anyhow.'