CHAPTER XV
IN WHICH THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS
When Christobal descended to the saloon he found Elsie holding theexcited dog. It was instantly perceptible that she was not aware ofthe grave position of affairs on deck. She knew, of course, that theAlaculof menace had become active again, but the first attack had beenbeaten off so easily that she was sure this later effort would fail.
The dog was better informed. His alert ears told him that there werestrange beings on board. He struggled so resolutely that Elsie freedhim just as the Spaniard reached the foot of the stairs. Forgettinghis wounded paw, and all a-quiver with the fine courage of his race,Joey galloped up the companion and disappeared. Elsie was muchdistressed by her four-footed friend's useless pugnacity.
"I could not keep him back," she said, "and I am afraid he runs somerisk of being hit. Do you think he will go to the chart-house? Thatis so exposed--Captain Courtenay is not there, is he?"
"No. I left him a moment ago, close to the saloon entrance."
She listened intently. Her imagination led her astray, it was sohopelessly on the wrong tack.
"There does not appear to be so much stone-throwing now, but I supposeI ought not to go on deck?" she cried.
"It is not to be thought of, Miss Maxwell. Indeed, the captain askedme to come and bear you company."
"Just fancy those horrid Indians venturing to approach the shipto-night after the dreadful lesson they received this afternoon! Andwhat will poor Senor Suarez say? He was so positive that they wouldnever come near us after dark."
"I saw him, also, on the promenade deck," answered Christobal quietly."He had very much the semblance of a false prophet."
The Spaniard meant to meet grim fate with a jest on his lips. He hadseen Suarez lying dead or insensible close to the rails. In fact, theunlucky Argentine was only separated by the thickness of the ship'sdeck from the table near which Elsie was standing. Unless he werespeedily rescued he would bleed to death.
"Ah, I heard Joey barking. He has gone aft," cried Elsie. "And whatis that?" she added, moving suddenly towards the center of the saloon.She had caught the fierce hiss of steam, and she was well aware thatsteam would only be brought into use if the Indians were endeavoring toclimb the ship's sides: not yet had it occurred that they couldpossibly be on board.
"Some of our friends the enemy have come near enough to be scalded,"said the man, coolly. "That should soon drive them away. You are notfrightened, I hope?"
"Not a bit. My only regret is that I am not permitted to help in thedefense. It must be irksome for you, Dr. Christobal, to be stationedhere when the ship is in danger. I am certain you would prefer to beup there with the others."
"Thank you for saying that. I wish you were able to read all mythoughts as accurately."
His right hand went to the pocket in which he had placed the revolver.The stock appeared to have a peculiar clamminess as his fingers closedaround it. Though he was proud of the iron nerve which had won himrepute in his profession, he almost prayed now that it might not failhim at the last. What a horror, to be compelled with his partingglance to see this bright and gracious woman crumple up on the deck!
"But I know you are a brave man," she said with a confidant smile. "Itdemanded a higher courage to pass undaunted through the ordeal of thestorm than to face these ill-armed Indians. Please don't think I am awarlike person, but it makes my blood boil to find that there arewretches who regard our distress as their opportunity to murder us andpillage the ship. What have we done to them? If they are poor andhungry, and they would only come to us in a peaceful way, CaptainCourtenay would give them all the stores he could spare."
Christobal heard ominous sounds from the fore part of the vessel. Therevolver shooting had ceased, for the convincing reason there were nomore cartridges. Courtenay's double barrelled gun was being fired asquickly as he could reload it, and the sharp snap of one of the riflesin the Indians' possession was recognizable as coming from the poop,the remaining marksmen having preferred to fire wildly from theircanoes. But Christobal knew that a deadly struggle was in progress onthe fore deck. Tollemache, Frascuelo, and three Chileans were engagedin a hand-to-hand fight with nearly a score of savages; the doctorcould distinguish the cries of the combatants, the irregular stampingof boot-shod feet.
He wondered why the girl, with her acute senses, did not grasp thesignificance of the yells and trampling on the deck, until it occurredto him, with a quick pang, that she was listening for one voice alone;owing to her ignorance of the desperate nature of the conflict ragingoverhead she had ears for nothing further.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. Therewas a gravity in his eyes, which startled her.
"Elsie," he said, "you believe in the efficacy of prayer, don't you?Well, then, pray now a little. I shall be glad to think, when thistime of danger has passed, that we owed something to your invocation."
It was in his mind that he must shoot her within a few seconds, and theimmeasurable agony of the thought reflected itself in his face. He hadno notion that she would give his words a more direct significance thanhe intended them to bear. But a strange, hoarse yell of triumph, thewar-cry of an Alaculof leader who had hauled himself to the bridge andfound it undefended, warned her in the same moment that all was notwell with the defense.
She sprang towards the saloon stairs.
"Do you hear that?" she cried in a ringing voice. "There are Indianson board. Come! We must not stay here when our friends are fightingfor their lives."
Christobal knew that this active girl would readily outstrip him in arace to the deck. She was already several feet distant, but he mustdetain her, no matter what the cost; if she fell into the clutches ofthe ghouls then over-running the _Kansas_, she might not be killed, butonly wounded, and her sufferings would be inconceivable ere the endcame.
"You are wrong," he shouted with convincing vehemence. "But, if youwish to see for yourself, at least allow me to go first."
While he was speaking, he ran forward. She thought he meant what hesaid, and waited for him. Then he caught her right arm firmly in hisleft hand.
"Let us wait here a moment or two," he breathed.
"No, no; I am going now. You shall not hold me back. You don'tunderstand. The man I love is up there, perhaps surrounded by savages.Let me go, I tell you! If he is dying I shall die by his side. Let mego! Would you have me strike you?" She turned on him like an angrygoddess, and strove to wrest herself from his grip. At that instantTollemache and Frascuelo, the only survivors of the deadly struggleforward, were driven back by a rush of Indians. They caught sight ofothers leaping down the bridge companion.
"To the saloon, Courtenay!" roared Tollemache, clearing a path forhimself with an iron bar which he swung in both hands. Followed byFrascuelo, he jumped inside the saloon gangway. Four savages followed,two entering through the doorway behind him. One raised a hatchet-likeimplement, and would have brained the Englishman had not Christobalwhipped out his revolver and shot him through the body, releasing thegirl's wrist in his flurry. The Indian pitched headlong down thestairs, falling limply at Elsie's feet. She stooped over theterrifying figure and seized the man's weapon. Her eyes shone with astrange light. She felt her arms tingle. A wonderful power seemed toflow through her body, like a gush of strong wine. She was assuredthat she, unaided, could beat down all the puny, despicable creatureswho barred the path to her lover. She vaulted over the writhing formof the Alaculof, and made to climb the stairs, but Christobal,admirably cool, fired again and brought another Indian to his knees.The second Indian's fall caused Frascuelo to trip; and the Chilean,locked rib to rib with a somewhat sturdy opponent, rolled into thesaloon. Elsie drew back just in time, or the two men would haveknocked her down. Even as they were turning over on the steep stepsshe saw Frascuelo's knife seek that favorite junction of neck andcollar-bone which Christobal had said was so well understood by thoseof his ilk. At the foot
of the stairs the Indian lay still, andFrascuelo tried to rise. She helped him gladly. The awfulness of thiskilling no longer appalled her. Each dead or disabled Indian was oneless obstacle between her and Courtenay. A third time the revolverbarked, but Christobal missed. It did not matter greatly, asTollemache had shortened his bar, using it twice as a miner delves at arock. But the doctor did not forget that he had only three cartridgesleft, two of which were bespoke long before the fight began.
At last, then, the way was clear. Elsie would have mounted the stairsbut an appealing hand detained her.
"I cannot walk, senorita. My leg has given way. And we can do no goodthere. They are all down."
A death chill gripped her heart at Frascuelo's words.
"All down!" she repeated, white-lipped.
"I think so," said he, blankly. The man was dazed by the ordealthrough which he had passed.
As if to answer and refute him, Joey's hysterical yelp sounded from apoint close at hand, and they distinctly heard Courtenay's loud command:
"This way, Boyle! Rally to the bridge!"
"You are mistaken!" shrieked Elsie, wrenching herself free from theChilean's grasp. Nothing short of violence would stop her now.Tollemache darted out into the darkness, and she mounted the steps twoat a time. Christobal panted by her side. He was determined not to beparted from her: if necessary, he would drag her away from any doubtfulencounter on the battle-field of the deck. But his blood was aflamenow with the lust of combat. He wished to die fighting rather than bya suicide's bullet.
They were not yet clear of the doorway when an extraordinary burst ofcheering and shouts in English and Spanish assailed their wonderingears. The sounds seemed to come from the sea, from some point verynear to the ship. A loud hubbub arose among the Indians; Courtenay,clubbing his gun, rushed past, with the dog at his heels, and ran upthe bridge companion. They could follow his progress as he racedtowards the port side, and they heard his amazed cry:
"What boats are those?"
"Your own, captain," came the answering yell, plainly audible above thedin.
"That is Mr. Gray," screamed Elsie, and she, too, ran towards thebridge, with the doctor close behind.
"Sink every canoe you can get alongside of, and knock those fellows onthe head who are swimming," roared Courtenay, who was so carried awayby the fierceness of the fight from which he had just emerged that hewould have given the same directions to the archangel Michael had thatwarrior-spirit come to his aid.
He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, he turned so suddenlywhen Elsie neared him.
"Ah, thank God you are safe!" he said, drawing her to him for aninstant. "Stand there, dear heart!"
He placed her in the forward angle of the bridge rail, and leaned outover the side. She understood that she must not speak to him then, buta great joy overwhelmed her, and her eyes melted into tears.
Christobal, who had missed no word of Elsie's frenzied protest in thesaloon, nor failed to note the manner of Courtenay's greeting, seemedto take the collapse of his own aspirations with the unmoved stoicismhe had displayed in the face of danger.
"The ship's boats--" he began, but the captain raised his gun and firedtwice aft along the side of the vessel. Cries of pain and a good dealof splashing in the sea proved that he had expedited the departure ofseveral Indians who were perched on the rails beyond the reach ofWalker's steam jet.
"The ship's boats," went on Christobal calmly, "have turned up in somemysterious manner, just in the nick of time. A few minutes more, andthey would have been too late."
"But where have they come from? Where can they have been all thesedays?" whispered Elsie, whose eyes were so dimmed that she perforceabandoned the effort to make out what was going on in the sea near theship.
"My brain reels under the wildest guesses. At present we are chieflyconcerned in the fact that they are here. Yet people say that the ageof miracles has passed: obviously a foolish remark."
Those who have been plucked from the precipice by a sleeve, as it were,are seldom able to concentrate their attention on the one thought whichshould apparently swamp all others. They either yield to the strain,and lapse into unconsciousness, or their minds become the arena ofminor emotions, wherein trivialities play battledore and shuttlecockwith the tremendous issues of the moment. When a more extendedknowledge of all that had happened, joined to a nicer adjustment of thetime-factor in events, enabled Elsie to realise the extraordinarydeliverance from death which she had been vouchsafed that night, shebegan to appreciate the service which Christobal rendered her indiscussing matters with such nonchalance.
Barely a minute had elapsed since they were in the throes of a strugglewhich promised to be the last act of a tragedy. The ship was thenover-run by a horde of howling savages, maddened by the desperateresistance offered by the defenders, and ruthless as wolves in theirlust for destruction. Now, the _Kansas_ was clear of every bedaubedAlaculof, save the many who cumbered the decks, either dead or soseriously wounded that they could not move. These men were so nearakin to animals, that this condition implied ultimate collapse save ina few instances of fractured skulls and broken limbs. From the finalstage of a hopeless butchery the survivors of the ship's company weresuddenly transferred to a position of reasonable security. It was notthat the arrival of the ship's boats meant such an accession offighting strength that the Alaculofs could not have made sure ofvictory. Gray and his companions were badly armed. The Indiansremaining in the canoes could have pelted them to shreds in a fewminutes. Even those on the ship had the power to resist any attempt bythe newcomers to gain the decks. But the superstitious savages hadalready screwed themselves up to an act of unusual daring in deliveringa night attack, and the appearance of boats filled with men of whosefighting qualities they had already such a lively experience quitedemoralized them. They fled without attempting a counter assault.Just as negroes conjure up white demons, so did these nude Alaculofsregard with awe men who wore clothes. They were ready to kill and eatthe strange beings of another race who, few in numbers and ill armed,wandered into their rock-pent fastness, but it was quite a differentthing to face them in equal combat.
At last the sounds of conflict died away. The black waters closed overthe dead; the last swimmer vanished into the silence. The spasmodicbarking of the dog, the groaning of men lying on the decks and theshouts exchanged between Courtenay and Gray for the guidance of theboats, were the only remaining symbols of the fiercest crisis which hadyet befallen the _Kansas_.
Elsie, wandering through a trance-like maze of vivid impressions, awokewith a start to the fact that Courtenay was giving directions for thelowering of the ship's gangway, meanwhile receiving information as tothe identity of the boats beneath.
"Mr. Malcolm is in charge of the jolly-boat," Gray was saying. "MissBaring and Mr. and Mrs. Somerville are with him. Miss Baring's maid isdead. Senor Jerrera is in my boat, Number 2. We have been on WhiteHorse Island all this time, but we have seen nothing of the otherlife-boat."
That meant that two boats out of those which quitted the ship hadarrived thus opportunely. Senor Jerrera was the Spanish miningengineer who had been hustled into one of the craft manned by themutineers. And Isobel was actually sitting down there in the darknessa few feet away. How wonderful it all was! Elsie thought her heartwould never cease its labored throbbing. Even yet her breath came inlittle gasps. How could the captain and Gray talk so coolly, as ifsome of the passengers and crew were returning on board the ship afteran evening ashore? It was the bedizened savages who now assumedreality: the simple orders which dealt with the clearing of the fallsand the lowering of a ladder became wildly fantastic.
And Christobal was saying:
"Well, Miss Maxwell, you and I can look forward to a busy night. Theship is littered with wounded men, and our newly arrived friends mustbe worn with fatigue."
His smooth, even sentences helped to dispel the stupor of amazementwhich had made her dumb. And the first reaso
ned thought which came toher was that the Spanish doctor had treated her with the kindness of anindulgent parent, for Elsie was far too unselfish not to be alive tothe unselfishness of others.
"How good you have been to me!" she murmured. "I can never repay you.I remember now that I said dreadful things to you in the saloon. Butyou did not know what it meant to me when I realized that CaptainCourtenay might be falling even then beneath the blows of thosemerciless savages. I have not had a chance to tell you that he hasasked me to be his wife, and I have consented. I love him more thanall the world. And you, Dr. Christobal, you who knew my father andmother, who have grown-up daughters of your own, you will wish mehappiness?"
It was not easy to bear when it came, although he had guessed the truthalready. But he choked back the wrath and despair which surged up inhim, and said with his stately courtesy:
"I do wish you well, Elsie. No man can hope more earnestly than I thatyou have made the better choice."
Then he turned, with a certain abruptness which reminded her of thechange in his manner she had noticed once or twice during recent days,and quitted the bridge. She sighed, and was sorry for him, knowingthat he loved her.
Courtenay, who had been far too busy to pay heed to anything beyond thebrief fight between the boats and the canoes, perceived now that thegangway was in position; lights were shining on both the upper andlower platforms.
He stretched out his hand, and drew Elsie to him.
"Are you alone, sweetheart?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Kiss me, then, and go to meet your friends. They will be aboard inless than a minute. Oh, Elsie, I thought I had seen the last of you."
"Was it so bad as that?" she murmured, a great content soothing herheart and brain at her lover's admission that he was thinking of herduring the worst agony of the fray. He gave her a reassuring hug.
"You will never know how bad it was," he said. "I cannot understandhow we escaped. One moment it all looks like blind chance; the next Ifeel like going on my knees in thankfulness for the direct interventionof Providence. Those brutes ought to have mastered us a dozen times.I almost lost faith when I heard Tollemache shout that the saloon wasin danger, but I could not leave the after deck, where four of us werekeeping fifty in check. The least sign of yielding would have causedan overwhelming rush. Well, all's well that ends well. And not asailor living can squeeze his best girl and do his work at the sametime. Off with you, or I shall never bring you on a voyage in my shipagain."
With her soul singing a canticle of joy she passed from the bridge tothe lower deck. Mr. Boyle was waiting there, holding a lantern.
"Huh!" he growled, when he saw her, "p'raps you'll believe what I tellyou before your hair turns gray, if not sooner. Luck! Did any manever have such luck as the skipper? Why, if he fell off Mong Blonghe'd find a circus net rigged up to catch him."
"I agree with you so fully, Mr. Boyle," she whispered, "that I am goingto marry him."
"I guessed as much," he answered. "At any rate I fancied it wouldn'tbe for want of axing on his part." He whirled off into a tempest ofwrath because a sailor beneath had failed to keep a guide-rope taut.The occupants of the boats might have saved his life, but he would letthem know that he was still chief officer for all that.
At last he stooped and gave his hand to some one who emerged from thedarkness beneath.
"Glad to see you again, Miss Baring," he said gruffly. "And you, Mrs.Somerville. And you, sir," to the missionary. "We thought you'd goneunder, an' good folks are scarce enough as it is."
It was a wan and broken-spirited Isobel whom Elsie led to her cabin,but notwithstanding her wretched state, her eyes quickly took in theorderly condition of the room.
"I left my clothes strewed all over the floor," she said, with anervousness which Elsie attributed to the hardships she had undergone."Why did you trouble to pack them away?"
Then Elsie told her of her hunt for the poudriere, and was so obviouslyunconcerned about any incident other than the adventures they had bothexperienced since they parted, that Isobel questioned her no further.A bath and a change of clothing worked marvels. Though thin and weakfor want of proper food, neither Isobel nor Mrs. Somerville hadsuffered in health from the exposure and short fare involved by life onthe island. It was broad daylight ere they could be persuaded toretire to rest, there was so much to tell and to hear.
Meanwhile, the meeting between Tollemache and Gray was full of racialsubtleties.
Tollemache, stepping forward to grasp Gray's hand, felt it wasincumbent on him to utter the first word.
"Had a pretty rotten time of it, I expect?" said he.
"Poisonous. And you?"
"Oh, fair. Beastly close squeak when you turned up."
Gray became more explicit when Courtenay met him in the chart-room,where the table had to be cleared of debris before some glasses and acouple of bottles of champagne could be staged.
"When those blackguards cast off from the ship," he said, "we scuddedaway in a sort of ocean mill-race which threatened to upset us at anymoment. In fact, we gave up hope for a time, but, as the boat keptafloat, Mr. Malcolm and I managed to stir up the Chileans, and we gotthem to steady her with the oars. Some time before daybreak we raninto smooth water, and made out land on the port bow. In a few minuteswe were ashore on a pebbly beach, in a place alive with seals. Whenthe sun rose we found we were on a barren island, and, what was more,that one of the ship's life-boats had been upset on a reef which wejust missed, and had lost all her stores, though the men had scrambledinto safety. With the aid of our boat, and helped by fine weather, weraised the life-boat, and recovered some of her fittings. Thewater-casks and tins of food were hauled up by a chap who could divewell. We have been on that lump of rock until today, when I finallypersuaded the others that unless we made for the land which we couldsee in the dim distance the weather would break and our food give out.The trouble with the Chileans was that they were afraid of the nativeshereabouts, and preferred to wait on the off chance of a ship showingup. At last they saw that Malcolm and I were right, but we missed thefull run of the tide, and were some miles from the mainland, orwhatever it is, when night fell. We pushed along cautiously, found theentrance to the cove we had made out before the light failed, and wereabout to lay to until dawn, when we saw a rocket and heard thefog-horn. That woke us up, you bet. The Chileans pulled like mad, butwhen we came near enough to discover that the ship was being attackedby Indians, I had a fearful job to get my heroes to butt in. Thatfellow Gomez is a brick. He orated like a politician, and finally theygot a move on. From what I have seen since I came aboard, I guess youwere hustling about that time?"
"Yes," said Courtenay, filling a glass with wine as he heard Boyle'sstep without. He handed the glass to the chief when he entered.
"How many?" he asked.
"Huh! We've slung fifty-three Indians an' six of the crew overboard.There's fourteen wounded natives an' five of our men in the doctor'shands. Two Alaculofs died of funk when they set eyes on the nigger whoturned up in the life-boat. They thought--well, here's chin chin toeverybody. I'm thirsty."