CHAPTER XXX
THE DEFENSE OF THE CAVE--SAVED!
"He has fainted, poor fellow!" said Dick, as he bent over theunconscious form of Bostwick.
"We ought to git back to the house at once!" put in old Jerry. "Wemust warn the cap'n and the others of what Lesher and his crowd intendto do."
"That is true, but we can't leave this poor chap here. He might diefor the want of care," came from Tom.
"We'll take him along," said Dick. "Come, lift him up."
As carefully as they could they lifted the unconscious form up andbore it to where the rowboat was lying. Soon all were on board, andwhile Tom did his best to revive Bostwick, Dick and old Jerry benttheir back to the oars, pulling as they had seldom pulled before.
The beach in front of the house was almost gained when they heard ashot ring out, followed by several others.
"Just as I feared!" groaned Dick. "Lesher and the others have begunthe attack!"
"Then we'll have to be careful how we land," said old Jerry. "If weaint, we may run right into 'em!"
There was no moon, but the stars shone brightly, so the beach linewas dimly visible in the distance. Standing up in the bow, Tom sawa flash of fire from the jungle below the house, and heard the crackof a firearm. Then he saw some dark forms running along the beach.
"Our party is making for the cave!" he cried. "We had better turn inthat direction."
Several other shots followed, but they could not tell if anybody washit. In the distance several rum-crazed sailors were yelling like somany Indians.
Bostwick came to his senses just as the sand was reached.
"Whe--where am I?" he asked feebly. "Oh, my feet!"
"We have brought you with us, Bostwick," answered Dick. "Keep still,and we will do what we can for you."
As soon as possible they took the hurt man up, and all started forthe entrance to the cave.
"Who goes there?" cried a voice out of the darkness.
"Is that you, Sam?" called back Dick.
"Dick! I am glad you are back. They attacked the house, and we aregoing to the cave to--"
"Yes, we know all about it, Sam. We have brought one of the sailorsalong. He is badly, burnt. Are the girls safe?"
"I guess so. We told them to go ahead," answered Sam.
Carrying Bostwick between them, Dick and old Jerry soon reached thecave, where they found the three girls standing in a group, each fullof dread over what was occurring. Hardly had they gotten inside whenCaptain Blossom came up on a run, accompanied by Gibson and Marny.
"Back, are you?" he said. "I am glad to see it. But it may put youin a tight hole. Hullo, so you've got Bostwick with you, eh? Everybodyget into the cave, just as quick as you can."
Once inside of the cave Captain Blossom commanded everybody to hesilent. The hurt sailor was carried to the inner chamber, where alantern was lit, for it would be impossible to see this light fromoutside. Then the girls set to work to make Bostwick comfortable.
"Has anybody been shot?" asked Tom.
"I got a bullet scratch on the arm," answered the captain. "And Marnygot a few buck-shot in his shoulder. But neither of the hurts amountto anything."
"What do you think the mutineers will do next?"
"Ransack the house first," said Sam. "Oh, but they are a bad crowd!They came on like a lot of demons."
"Of course Baxter was with them."
"Yes, but he kept in the background, for fear, I suppose, of being shot."
With caution one after another left the mouth of the cave to look inthe direction of the house. No one outside of their own party wasvisible.
Suddenly a glare lit up the scene, growing brighter each instant.
"By the great boots!" ejaculated Captain Blossom. "They have set thehouse on fire!"
"That shows how crazy they are," declared Dick. "In their rage theyare liable to do anything. Ten to one they get to fighting betweenthemselves before this is over."
The house, being built of semi-green logs, burnt slowly. As it wasconsumed, they heard some of the sailors singing and yelling, andheard several pistol shots and a scream of pain.
"Some of them are coming now!" announced Sam, half an hour later.
"Everybody get back out of sight," cried Captain Blossom.
There was a wild scramble, and in the rush Tom tripped and fell. Hisfoot struck a stone, which went rolling down to the mutineers' feet.
"Hi! hi! there they are!" came in a rough, thick voice.
"Where?" roared back the voice of Jack Lesher.
"Up there, among the rocks and bushes."
"Let's go after 'em!"
"Shoot 'em down, boys! They deserve it for burning up the ship!"
Up the rocks came the hard-drunken sailors, accompanied by Lesher,and with Dan Baxter in their rear.
"Back! back! All of you, stand back!" cried Captain Blossom. "Comea step nearer at your peril. We are all armed and ready to fire!"
At these words the sailors halted for a moment.
"Say, cap'n, why did you set the ship afire?" asked an unsteady voice.
"We had nothing to do with that," answered Captain Blossom. "We wereall over on this island when the blaze started."
"It's a lie!" came in the voice of Lesher.
"Of course it's a lie," added Dan Baxter. "They did their best toburn every one of us up.
"It is the truth," cried Dick. "Now stand back, or we shall fire on you."
"Come on!" yelled Lesher, and fired a pistol at those near the mouthof the cave.
"If ever I get the chance to have you tried, every one of you shallbe hung for mutiny and murder!" cried Captain Blossom, and then firedin return.
The bullet hit Dan Baxter in the arm, and he fell back with a shriekof pain.
"I am killed! I am killed!" he moaned, and ran down toward the beach.
Then came a volley from the mutineers, followed by one from those inthe cave.
"Oh, what a close 'shave!" muttered Tom. A bullet had grazed his ear,cutting away one of his curly locks.
Lesher was wounded in the shoulder, and in a moment more of themutineers ran off, feeling that they were at a disadvantage.
"They can see us out in the open, while we can't see them for therocks and bushes," said one sailor. "Let us wait till morning "; andso it was decided.
Inside of the cave a council of war was held, and it was decided toblock up the entrance fronting the bay with large rocks, leaving onlytwo loopholes open, for watching and for possible shooting.
All of the wounded ones were cared for, and then a watch was set. Inthe meantime Bostwick was put at ease, and he told the particularsof what happened on the burning wreck, and how Lesher and Baxter hadurged the mutineers to attack those at the house.
The remainder of the night wore away slowly. Nothing more was seenof the mutineers, who had retired to the jungle, drank more liquor,and gone to sleep, Baxter with them, moaning and groaning over hiswound.
"I am going to take a look around," said Tom, early in the morning.
"A look around where?" asked Dick.
"From where we have the signal of distress. I don't believe any ofthe mutineers are in that vicinity."
"I'll go with you," put in Sam, and so it was decided.
It was an easy matter for the two boys to make their way to the gullyentrance, and with great caution they climbed out of the opening andwalked to where the flag of distress floated in the breeze. Not asight of the mutineers or Dan Baxter was to be had in any direction.
"They are either sleeping, or else they are afraid we'll shoot atthem if they show themselves," said Tom. And he added: "I am goingto climb the tree and take a look around."
"Be careful," cautioned Sam; nevertheless, he went up the tall treewith his brother.
Once in the tree, directly under the flag, they took a careful lookaround the island and then out to sea.
"My gracious, Sam, look!" screamed Tom suddenly, and pointed out tothe ocean.
"A ship! A ship!" ejaculated
Sam.
"Yes, and do you see what kind of a ship it is? A warship, and anAmerican warship at that!"
"Hurrah, Tom; we are saved!"
"Yes! yes! They are sailing this way. Our flag of distress has beenseen! Hurrah!"
"We must tell the others right away."
Both slid down the tree with all haste. As they reached the bottoma gun boomed out across the waves.
"That is to let us know that our signal has been seen," said Tom."Won't the others be delighted when they know a ship, an Americanship at that, is so close at hand!"
As quickly as they could they reentered the cave and ran to wherethey had left the others.
The good news spread like lightning.
"A ship! an American warship is coming!" was the cry.
"Oh, how thankful I am," came from Dora.
"What shall we do next?" asked Nellie, with tears of joy streamingdown her cheeks.
"We'll go to the shore and meet the small boat that is sent in,"answered Captain Blossom.
Without delay he set out, accompanied by Dick and old Jerry, leavingthe others to defend the cave during his absence.
It was nearly two hours before he returned.
"The ship is the cruiser _Jefferson_," he said. "She is bound forHonolulu, to await orders. The captain says he will take us on boardwillingly, and he will do what he can to help us bring those otherfellows to justice."
"Hurrah!" cried Tom. "If that is so, then our troubles as castawaysare over."
"And we are not sorry," said Grace. "Not a bit sorry."
And all of the others agreed with her.