Midnight Webs Part 31

"Katie, darling, Katie," was whispered again--"water!"

Water! How could she get it? The spring was on the other side of the house, and the men were in the front; she could hear them still talking loudly over their plunder. If she went, they would seize her. If she appealed to them for help, they would rob _him_ of what little life remained. What could she do? She could do nothing, she told herself despairingly--nothing but wait, and perhaps the wretches would go.

But it was not dark now. A dull light seemed to play through the window above their heads, as turning, she knew that it was smoke that she could see; and, starting to her feet, she found that, at the height of her lips, it was so dense that she could not breathe.

Was there to be no end to the perils of that fearful night? Was death to come in another and more terrible form? After escaping ma.s.sacre at the hand of their ruthless enemies, were they to meet death by the lingering torture of fire?

The dread of this new alternative roused Katie into action. This was a peril that could be battled with, and they could escape if the men in front would but go. She whispered a few words to Murray, and he answered calmly and sensibly. She told him not to fear.

"Only for you," he murmured; and for a brief moment all was still.

Then, starting once more into action, Katie asked him if he could rise, and he tried to do so, but only to fall back despairingly, when, creeping to the door, she softly lifted the latch, and pushed it a little open, so as to breathe once more the pure night air. She dared not open it far, for the voices were loud, and close at hand; but though she could not see the speakers, she could make out the reflection of their work in the bright glow lighting up the palm-like foliage around.

And now a fierce, low, crackling noise fell upon her ears, and she crept back hastily to where Murray lay, seized him in her arms, and tried to drag him towards the door, but in vain. She could only move him a few inches at a time, so perfectly helpless was he.

"It is of no use, darling," he whispered. "Go, glide out of the door, and make for the woods; you may escape. I cannot move; pray go; for my sake--for my sake, love!"

"Go--go--where?" murmured the trembling girl, as she still tried to move him.

"To the woods--hide somewhere--the place is on fire!" he gasped; "and G.o.d in heaven give me strength, for I cannot help her!"

"Hush, Ned, hush!" she whispered; "we shall be heard. Now try--try once more;" and she dragged at him with all her strength, so that he lay in the middle of the shed.

"No, no; I shall only draw you back to destruction," he faintly said.

"Never mind me. Escape, darling. You know the paths, and can hide, or make your way to where you can get help. Don't stay. Look, look!" he whispered.

"I see," she murmured.

And as she spoke, a bright tongue of flame began to lick the shingles of the roof, gilding them with its fierce fiery slaver, till first one and then another began to glow; and sparks and flakes fell from them, illumining the interior of the shed; while soon an opening appeared, through which the flames rushed careering out, the heat the while becoming insupportable.

"Katie, dear," sighed the wounded man, "would you add torture to my death?"

"No, no," she sobbed, as she dragged him nearer the door. "Are we not one?" And she sank exhausted by his side, to lay her face upon his arm.

"Ned, my own Ned! pray--pray to heaven that our death may come quickly, and that we may wake soon where there is peace. I can do no more."

As her simple words fell upon his ear, a loud demoniac drunken shout rose from outside, apparently close by the door; and from the trampling, mingled with the roar of the flames, it was evident that the ruffians were taking their departure.

Nerving himself for a last effort, Murray half lifted himself into a sitting position, fell back, struggled up again; and Katie rose to her knees.

"Try again--again," he gasped; for he felt that she would not leave him; and together they struggled almost to the door, when, half-suffocated, the young man fell back once more. "Now go; leave me. You can escape yet, Katie," he gasped. "O, if I had strength!"

But for answer he felt the two soft clinging arms round his neck, and a choking voice breathed two words in his ear:

"Forever!"

But the dread of the impending death seemed to give strength--the strength he had prayed for; and straggling a few inches at a time, with the red-hot embers gathering where they had lain but a few minutes before, and the flames crawling and dancing round the side of the house, Murray, now hardly aided by the fainting girl, contrived to reach the door, with one hand to thrust it back, so that a rush of air darted in, driving from them the smoke, as he uttered a loud cry for help.

The cry was heard; and they were seen for an instant ere the cloud of smoke wrapped them again in its folds. Two men darted forward to seize the prize, one of them, however, being daunted by the threatening roof, which, ruddy and golden, seemed ready to fall; while the other seized Katie's dress in his hands to drag her out; but so tightly did she cling to Murray, that he was drawn forward and half raised before sinking back into the cloud of falling sparks and smoke.

STORY THREE, CHAPTER NINE.

CUTTING OFF THE RETREAT.

Old Martin Lee saw with anxious solicitude Edward Murray rush after Bray; then the closing door hid them from his sight; and with renewed energy he clutched his gun, and struck fiercely at the first a.s.sailant that presented himself, shivering the stock to pieces, and laying the man motionless at his feet. But the barrel made no insignificant weapon; and he fought, as did Mr Meadows, fiercely, though in vain; the odds were too great, even though they were ably seconded by the shepherds. Through the beaten-down door the convicts rushed; and in a few moments the defenders were trampled under foot, and lay on the now deeply-crimsoned floor, the women being dragged out of the house into the front.

Then followed the scene of ruin and confusion previously enacted in the next valley. Food was obtained, the shepherd's weeping wife being compelled to provide it, and then it was devoured by the red-handed crew. Wine, spirits, all were seized, and a mad debauch ensued; the ruffians, for the most part, having been deprived of such indulgences for years. But, soon satiated, the eager search for arms and ammunition was continued; men loading themselves, too, with much more plunder than they could bear away.

As for the dead, they lay unnoticed, the wounded receiving but little better treatment, till at last the moon slowly dipped behind the western ridge of hills, causing a deep shadow to creep along the Gap, and up the opposite slope, when, with an oath at the coming darkness, one ruffian thrust a light against some curtains, which caught fire in an instant.

The flame ran up to the dry, boarded ceiling, and in a few minutes it became plain that the settler's pleasant home must become a heap of ruins.

"What are you doing of?" shouted one convict to another, who, regardless of the flames, dragged out two bodies, in which there seemed to be some trace of life. But the man did not answer, and when the other attempted to hinder him, struck the ruffian to the ground in an instant.

But the next moment he was on his feet, knife in hand, and sprang at his a.s.sailant; but only to go down again, as if the fist that struck the blow had been so much lead.

He lay for a few moments, half-stunned, and then rose, slowly muttering, and shaking his head, while the other, in answer, apparently, to the mute appeals of the women, half-dragged, half-carried the wounded men out of reach of the rapidly increasing flames.

The man did it, though, in a coa.r.s.e, rough, brutal way, as if afraid that he might lose caste in the eyes of his companions; and then, after bestowing a contemptuous kick on each, he rejoined his party, loaded himself with such booty as he had secured, and the motley group began to make preparations for returning down the valley.

"Here, carry this!" exclaimed a fellow, seizing one of the women by the arm; but she broke from him to dart to one of the prostrate forms, and lift its head into her lap. The ruffian was at her side the next instant, though, trying to drag her away; but as she resisted, he struck her to the ground, and hurried to join the others.

Poor Mrs Lee sank to the earth, with a wail of misery, and remained motionless; but the other woman, the shepherd's wife, took the load pointed out to her, and followed her captors, trembling, and apparently half beside herself.

The flames had by this time wrapped the greater part of the house; and the convicts were pa.s.sing the lean-to, shingle-roofed outbuilding at the end, when there rang forth a wild, despairing cry; and, dropping his load, as his companions were arrested, the same man who had dragged out the wounded, sprang forward and caught Katie in his arms, and bore her senseless from the flames, just as, with a fierce rush, the wind came careering up the valley, and dark clouds began to gather over head, as if betokening a storm.

"Now, then; we've more than we can carry now!" shouted the one who seemed to be the leader; and then, burdened as they were with plunder and three wounded men who could not walk without a.s.sistance, they slowly made their way to the bright little bay where they had left the schooner moored, to find her struggling, as it were, with the wind; and as they came well in sight they saw her break away, and in spite of the efforts of those left on board she ran on the bar at the mouth of the little harbour, where, it being now low water, a tremendous surf was running, the huge waves leaping over her and sweeping the decks in an instant.

Twice she seemed lifted as if to be borne clear of the sands, but only to be dashed down again, the masts going at the second shock; and then, as if lightened, she lifted again, seemed to shake herself, and plunged, stern forward, farther on to the sand-bars, to lie rolling and wallowing in the midst of the fierce waters--a hopeless wreck.

Ten minutes had been sufficient time to effect the ruin; when seeing their retreat cut off so suddenly, the convicts stood upon the sh.o.r.e, with their ill-gotten booty, staring at one another, and apparently bewildered, till the one who had a.s.sumed the leadership promptly gave his orders, which the men sullenly obeyed, and followed him back towards the Moa's Nest.

STORY THREE, CHAPTER TEN.

AMID THE ASHES.

Edward Murray sank back exhausted, as Katie was s.n.a.t.c.hed from his arms; but the desire for life was yet strong in him, and he tried to force his way along, just as the fierce wind sweeping up the valley drove back the flame and smoke from the doorway, giving him again the breath of life, as he was on the point of suffocation. But he was now scorching; and the little sense left told him that his last moments were at hand, when he felt his extended arms seized, and he was forced from the flaming building, to lie almost insensible for a while, till his eyes unclosed upon the tattooed face of Wahika, the savage lying beside him, until the convicts had turned a ridge of the gap. Then, lifting him in his arms, the native bore the young man a hundred yards into the shade of the trees behind the desolated farm, and scooping water in a broad leaf, poured the cold grateful fluid over his scorched face, and gave him some to drink.

Then he disappeared, but to return after a short time with the body of the poor old settler--Mrs Lee helping him with his burden--which they laid reverently down; when Wahika again took his departure, to help in one of the shepherds who was much injured, but able to lend some aid.

The savage was apparently unhurt, and he busied himself in the dark shadowy dell, where they lay concealed watching the reflection of the fire, by applying cooling leaves to wound and bruise, and bandaging them after the rude surgical fashion of his tribe. He did all, too, in a quiet fashion, with hands as soft and gentle as a woman's, while the sufferers lay in a stunned, helpless state, hardly seeming to realise the horrors of the past night. For the dawn was fast approaching, and as the glow from the burning building slowly sank, far above their heads upon the icy summit of the mountain appeared the first gilding of the rising sun, making the snowy pinnacles to flash and sparkle in the glorious light of another day.

The savage can live where the European would starve; and Wahika soon contrived some food for the three who were in his charge; but when, feeling somewhat revived, Murray would have sought the ruins, Wahika restrained him, laying his hand upon his arm, and listening with bent head and distended nostrils, before gliding silently away to return before many minutes had elapsed, to whisper in his broken English the words, "Come back."

At the same time he pointed down the valley, before helping the wounded shepherd farther back into the little ravine in which they lay, to where the concealment was better; then going forward, once more he crept from tree to tree, till he could peer down from behind a crag, and see the ruffianly crew, trooping back from the bay to the farm, stand in consultation for a few minutes, when one of their number pointing higher up the valley, they resumed their irregular march.

But there was a stoppage directly, and some confusion, and the sharp-eyed savage saw that one of the women, whom he soon made out to be Katie, had fallen, and that some arrangements were being made to carry her, when a fresh start was made, the poor girl having sunk down, partly from exhaustion, partly overcome by emotion at the sight which greeted her.