"Approach gently, and fire all together," said the professor.
They did so, and four shots were discharged at the same time.
The wild boar uttered a ferocious grunt, ran a few paces, and fell downdead.
"What is it, sir?" asked Carl.
"A wild boar; do you not see his tusks? Now, Stumpton, set to work, andcut a leg of pork off piggy. You, Folsom, make a fire with the drywood; it will kindle when I rub two sticks together. You, Barnaby,gather some of this fruit."
"Is it good to eat, sir?"
"You will find it excellent. I recognize it as the breadfruit of thetropics, and, cut up in slices and toasted over the fire, nothing couldbe better for us with our roast pork," answered the professor.
They were quickly at work. The fire was lighted, the leg of pork cut offand fixed to a tripod, the breadfruit toasted, and plates supplied bylarge palm leaves. Presently a delicious odor of roast pork spreaditself around.
After living so long on the peculiar fare provided by Captain Vindex,they enjoyed their dinner immensely; and, when they had satisfied theirappetites, they sat down under the shade of a tree, sheltered from thenoontide heat.
"Now, sir," said Mont, "what are we to do?"
"I have no wish to return to our floating prison," replied theprofessor. "The question is, shall we go back, or shall we try to makeour way to some port, risking the dangers of the way, the chances ofstarvation?"
"That does not appear likely," answered Mont, thinking of the roast porkand the breadfruit.
"When our guns are empty, we may not find it so easy to kill game,however abundant it may be. The savages are another danger."
"Put it to the vote, sir," said our hero.
"Certainly; all you who wish to make an effort to escape from thethralldom in which we are held, hold up your hands."
Every hand was extended.
"To the contrary?"
There was no response.
"Not a hand," said the professor. "I may, then, conclude, that we areunanimous in our wish for freedom, and it is decided that we do notreturn to the _Searcher_."
"Hurrah!" cried Stump, proceeding to stand on his head again.
"If you don't stop those street-arab tricks," remarked Mont, "you'llhave a fit, after such a meal as you've had."
Stump resumed his natural position.
"There's no lie, sir, about my having had a filler of pork," he replied."But though I'm only an odd boy, I've got my feelings, and I'd as soonbe a convict as in that there prison ship."
"The youth is right," observed the professor mildly; "to live and die inthat ship is an awful prospect, and I would rather herd with savages intheir wilds than do it."
And as if it was intended as an answer to his speech, an arrow flew overhis head.
Fortunately it missed its mark, and stuck quivering into the bark of thetree under which they were sitting.
Everyone sprang to his feet, and stood, gun in hand, on the defensive.
"Savages, by George!" exclaimed Mont.
"Where?" asked the professor.
"To the right, sir. Fire away, and chance it, or we shall all bekilled."
There was an instant discharge of firearms, and a scuffling was heardbehind some cactus and mimosa bushes.
A dozen savages, nearly naked, armed with spears and bows and arrows,were seen in a state of hesitation, whether to fly or stand theirground.
Three of their number had fallen from the discharge, and one, who wasmortally wounded, was crawling, in a slow, labored manner, into the bushto die.
CHAPTER XXII.
FIGHTING THE SAVAGES.
"They are retreating!" cried Mont joyfully.
"No! no! they are coming on again!" put in Carl, a few seconds later.
"At 'em again, boys; let them have it," said the professor.
"Hot and strong this time, sir," said Stump, advancing a step to takebetter aim.
Again the bullets flew, and three more savages went down.
The others turned to fly to the shelter of the neighboring forests.
"Hurrah! they're bolting," said Mont.
"But they've collared what was left of our bread, and the remains of theroast pork," said the hired boy angrily. "Oh, the varmints! I'll justgive them something."
He advanced to fire better.
An aged chief, however, turned at this moment and discharged a partingshot which took effect in the calf of Stump's leg.
"Oh, dear! I'm hit," he cried. "A great wooden skewer's stuck right inmy leg, sir. Perhaps it's poisoned, sir. Oh, dear, but I wish it hadn'tbeen me. There's the professor, now; he could have borne it better thanme."
"Thank you, my young friend," said the professor, "the calf of my leg isas susceptible to pain as yours; let us get away, as arrowheads aresharp, and in certain parts of the body mortal."
"Where shall we go?" asked Mont.
"We are not safe here. The savages will return in larger numbersdirectly, and we shall probably lose our lives, so I propose to seek ourboat."
"And go back to the _Searcher_?" asked Carl.
"Yes."
"Never! I for one will not go!" cried Carl.
"And I can't crawl. I'm as lame as a dog," said Stump, half crying.
"Roll, if you can't walk," said the professor jokingly.
"Pull it out, sir. Give me a hand with it. It hurts awful."
Mont advanced to the boy and seized the arrowhead, which he tugged atuntil, with a torrent of blood, it came out of the wound.
It was with difficulty Stump managed to limp on one leg, and seemed verygrateful when Mont bound up the wound and told him to lean on hisshoulder.
"My dear boy," said the professor, "discretion is the better part ofvalor. I am averse to the taking of human life, for I am a man ofscience and not a fighter. My advice is to check the advance of thosebloodthirsty savages, and when your ammunition is spent, to run. As I amold, and not quick of foot, I will start at once."
So saying, he ran with all speed to the boat.
"Coward!" said Mont angrily.
"What are we to do?" asked Carl blankly.
"Follow him, I suppose," replied Mont. "Bring up the rear, Carl, while Ihelp Stump along, and if the beasts show again, call us, and we willturn and fire."
They began to beat a retreat in this order, and, fortunately, thenatives did not again make an appearance.
The half-mile was traversed quickly, Stump groaning dreadfully as he wasforced along.
When within a few paces of the boat awful yells were heard behind them.
Turning to see from whence they proceeded, Mont saw a horde of savagesin pursuit. The sands seemed to be alive with them.
Evidently the defeated party had returned to obtain re-enforcements andapprise their companions of the slaughter which had taken place, urgingthem to avenge it.
An army of at least three hundred wild-looking fiends were at theirheels, and not a moment was to be lost.
"Quick, for Heaven's sake!" said Professor Woddle. "The savages are uponus. Quick, boys, or we are lost!"
The boys sprang into the boat, placing Stump in the bows, and pushedoff.
Carl and Mont plied the oars vigorously.
Fortunately, when the savages reached the beach they were some distanceout.
A flight of arrows fell close to them without doing them any harm.
At least a hundred of the natives plunged into the sea up to the waist,but they did not attempt to swim after the boat, which soon reached the_Searcher_.
Mont expected to see someone, but the platform was deserted.
Our hero at once went to the captain, being alarmed at the hostileattitude of the savages, whom he did not doubt were possessed of canoesand would make an attack upon the ship.
He was annoyed at being obliged to take shelter so soon, but what couldhe do?
All his hopes of liberty in flight were nipped in the bud.
He began to see now that Captain Vindex knew the character of the coast,and had ca
lculated well on their return to their captivity.
Imprisonment with him was better than death or slavery among the savagesof the island.
The captain was sitting in front of the organ playing an exquisite airof Beethoven.
Full of excitement, Mont had no time to listen.
He touched him on the shoulder.
The Wizard of the Sea seemed unconscious of his presence.
"Captain," said our hero.
The strange being shivered and turned round.
"Ah," he cried, "'tis you, Mr. Folsom. Have you had good sport? You havereturned sooner than I expected."
"The sport was not bad," replied Mont, "but unfortunately we met with atroop of savages, who spoilt our fun."
The captain smiled ironically.
"Savages!" he repeated. "Were you surprised at meeting with them? Haveyou so little geographical knowledge that you do not know they swarmhereabouts?"
"All I know is," replied Mont, "that if you don't want them on board theboat, you had better look out."
"My dear fellow," said the captain, "I am not likely to trouble my headabout such wretches."
"But there are lots of them."
"How many?"
"Over three hundred, I should think, as well as I could count."
"We have nothing to fear from them, nothing at all," said the captain."Don't be alarmed."
Without another word he turned again to the organ, and played a Scotchair which had an indescribable charm about it.
He was plunged again in a reverie that Mont did not think it prudent tointerrupt.
He remounted to the platform without seeing a single negro.
The most absolute want of precaution reigned on board the _Searcher_,and it looked as if no one knew that hundreds of howling savages werewithin five minutes' row of them.
In the growing darkness, which came on while Mont was alone, he couldsee the forms of the natives running backward and forward on the beach.
They were evidently planning an attack upon a large scale.
What could account for the captain's strange apathy?
After a time he forgot the natives in admiring the lovely night of thetropics.
The zodiacal stars appeared, and the moon shone brightly amidstinnumerable constellations of the zenith.
He wished that the moon would light the _Searcher_ to the coral bed, andthat they would sink to the bottom, where they would be safe from theirenemies.
Proceeding below again he sought his friends.
The door giving access to the interior of the boat remained open, and heobserved a slave standing at the bottom of the staircase as if on watch.
Stump had his leg plastered up, and, though in pain, was much better.
Strange to say, all were pleased to return to the boat, and to escape afearful death of lifelong slavery among the savages, who are known totravelers as the Papouans.
Mont slept badly, for he anticipated a night attack.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ELECTRIFYING THE SAVAGES.
"What a sight! They are going to attack us, sure!"
It was Mont who spoke, as at six o'clock in the morning he ascended tothe platform.
The morning mist had lifted, and he could see the land distinctly.
The savages were very busy, and more numerous than they had been thenight before.
As well as he could calculate, he counted six or seven hundred of them.
They were tall, handsome men, with an erect bearing, their features wellchiseled.
In their ears they wore rings of bone.
Their arms were bows and arrows, spears, and shields made of the skinsof fish stretched over a wooden frame or the back of the turtle.
A chief rowed in a canoe toward the _Searcher_, keeping at a safedistance.
He was adorned with a fantastic headdress of feathers and leaves, andseemed to be the king of the country.
Having nothing better to do, Mont got a fishing line from the negro whousually attended upon him, and amused himself with catching some of thefish that swam round the ship.
No one made any preparation to repel an attack of the Papouans, whichalarmed Mont very much.
He had, however, so much confidence in the sagacity of Captain Vindexthat he believed he would not be caught asleep.
For two hours he continued his sport with tolerable success, and was sowrapped up in it that he forgot the natives for the time.
While he was engaged in pulling up a good bite, an arrow whizzed pasthim.
Mont dropped his fish, and very nearly his line.
"Bother the brutes!" he exclaimed; "can't they let a fellow fish inpeace? Why doesn't the captain make a start and get away from them?"
He was as eager now to leave the land as he had been the day before toreach it.
It was clear that the Papouans were puzzled.
They had seen European ships before, but what could they make of a longcylinder of iron, without masts, almost flush with the surface of thewater, and no chimney like a steamer?
But they gained confidence as they saw no attempt made to drive themaway.
They had seen some of their number killed by the air-guns, yet they hadheard no noise.
All at once a flotilla consisting of a score of canoes, full of savages,put off from the shore, and approached the ship.
Mont at once sought refuge in the interior of the ship, and ran toapprise the captain of the formidable state affairs were assuming.
Clearly no orders had been given to repel boarders.
Knocking at the captain's door, he was told to enter.
Captain Vindex was reading.
"Do I disturb you?" asked Mont politely.
"A little," replied the captain; "but I suppose you have good reason forseeking me?"
"Rather," answered our hero. "We are surrounded by savages, and in a fewminutes we shall have them on board."
"Ah," said the captain, "they have got their canoes, I suppose?"
"Heaps of them."
"Then we must do something."
"Shut up the shop," said Mont.
"That is easily done," replied the captain, touching a bell, and adding:"In half a minute the trapdoor will be closed. You need not be afraidthat they will break in."
"No, but to-morrow we shall want air, and you must open the door againfor your pumps to work."
"Yes; our ship is like a great whale, and cannot live without air."
"In a moment the Papouans will be on the top of us, and I don't supposethey will go away in a hurry," replied Mont.
"You suppose they will take possession of the outside and keep it?"
"Exactly."
"Well, then," answered the captain calmly, "I don't see why theyshouldn't. Why should I kill the poor creatures if I can help it? I knowmany savages in the civilized world whom I would cut off with morepleasure. Leave them to me. If it is necessary I will make a terribleexample of them."
"You have no cannon."
"I shall not fire a shot, and I shall not wound them in any way, and yetthey will fall like leaves in autumn. Go to your friends, and restperfectly easy," said the captain.
This was a dismissal, and, wondering much, Mont went away.
As he sought his cabin he heard the fierce cries of the savages, whoswarmed on the back of the iron ship like flies in summer.
The night passed without any incident. Plenty of oxygen still passedthrough the ship, but it was time to renew the air, which was becomingimpure.
Breakfast was served in the morning, as usual.
Eleven o'clock came, and the captain showed no signs of moving.
This apathy appeared incomprehensible to Mont.
Without any difficulty the vessel could have gone out to sea, risen inmid-ocean, and taken in fresh air.
"It is very odd we don't move," he remarked.
"I can't understand it," said the professor. "But everything is soremarkable on board this ship that I have ceased to wonder at anything."
"
I've had a taste of niggers, and don't want another," said Stump, whowas lying on a mattress with his leg bound up.
"Hark at the reptiles! What a thundering row they're kicking up!"remarked Mont.
"I never heard such a racket," answered Carl; "our skipper must be outof his head not to start the vipers."
The captain appeared in the doorway.
There was a pleasant smile on his face, and he did not seem at allalarmed at the menacing aspect of affairs.
"Gentlemen," he said, "we resume our voyage at twelve o'clock exactly."
"It is now a quarter to," said the professor, regarding his chronometer.
"Precisely. I shall open the flap, and take in air directly."
"And the niggers?" said Mont.
"The Papouans?" replied the captain, shrugging his shoulders.
"Won't they get in?"
"How?"
"Easily enough, by walking down the ladder. They can do that when theflap is up, and can kill us all without any trouble."
"Gentlemen," said Captain Vindex, "the Papouans will not descend thestaircase, although the flap is open."
They regarded this singular man in amazement.
"You do not understand me," he continued. "Come to the bottom of theladder, and you shall see."
"Shall we take our guns?" asked the professor.