The Blue Raider Part 25

'Now, Grinson, I must cut,' said Hoole. 'I 'll start towards them; that will diddle them, I hope; and before they make up their minds I 'm an enemy, I guess I 'll be out of range. Ready?'

Grinson whirled the propeller; Hoole made contact and switched on, the engine started with a roar, and the seaplane glided forward in the direction of the approaching boat. Cries of wonder broke from the throng of natives as the strange bird rose into the air. When clear of the water it turned suddenly eastwards, and flew rapidly at a low alt.i.tude along the coast. The boat stopped. A signal was fired from the vessel in the offing. The seaplane continued on its eastward course. There was a loud report which sent the natives scurrying to the foot of the cliff, and a sh.e.l.l burst a few yards behind the seaplane. A few moments later a sh.e.l.l dropped on the beach, sending up a great shower of sand and rocks. The natives scattered, some making for the chimney, others taking cover among the rocks and undergrowth. Grinson stood for a while with arms akimbo at the edge of the beach, as though defying the gunners; then a crackle of rifle fire from the boat sent him too rushing for the chimney. He had only just reached it when a sh.e.l.l fell plump into the wreck, scattering its timbers far and wide. A howl of wrath and dismay burst from the natives, and they began to swarm up the chimney, full in view of the occupants of the boat, but concealed from the Raider by a bulge in the cliff. Bullets rained on the rocks, but the rolling of the boat rendered marksmanship difficult, and only one or two of the men suffered slight wounds as they climbed up. Grinson was the last to leave the beach. When he reached the summit he stood for a moment or two on the platform, gazing with a grim smile at the Raider.

'Blue you are, and well you may look it!' he cried. 'Row back, you lubbers; such darned bad shooting I never did see, and I 'll take my davy as your goose 'll soon be cooked. Mr. Hoole has gone to fetch the sauce. Ahoy, ugly mugs! Wait for me! I don't want to be marooned in this 'ere forest.'

And he set off at a trot to overtake the natives, who were already disappearing among the trees.

CHAPTER XVII

THE ATTACK ON THE VILLAGE

In the haste of their flight from the dangerous beach the natives had left drums, cooking-pots, and other impedimenta behind, and had now nothing but their weapons to carry. Marching light, they showed a most ungentlemanly want of consideration for Grinson. 'They 're no gentlemen, Ephraim, me lad, that's flat,' he said later (they had gone several miles before he overtook them), 'and me panting and sweating like any think! I must 'a lost five pounds, if an ounce.'

As soon as he had recovered breath, he took place by Flanso's side at the head of the procession, and quite unaware that he was transgressing etiquette, kept pace with the chief, conversing by the way.

'What I can't make out, Flanso, old man,' he said, 'is what this Mr.

Hoole is--what he was brought up to, like. He 's only a nipper, so to speak it, 's far as years go, and by his own account he was just larking round these 'ere seas, with more money than wits, _I 'd_ say. Well, then, what I want to know is, how does he know about these 'ere airyplanes or seaplanes, or whatever you call 'em, handles 'em as easy as I might handle a ship's boat, and no gammon? I know you don't understand a word of what I'm saying, matey, not being born such; but I 'm just letting off steam, d' ye see? In course I wouldn't say all this to the young gent's face, my manners being good as a general rule; but it ain't good to keep your thoughts bottled up, like, 'cos they might bust out sudden like the cork out of a bottle o' beer that's stood too near the fire, and then where 'd we be, Flanso, me boy?'

Flanso appeared to be gratified by the seaman's speech, and smiled amiably.

'You ain't half a bad-looking chap, Flanso, and if you 'd take that stick out of your nose and learn to wash yourself you 'd be quite handsome. 'Tis a strange world, and no mistake. There 's my Ephraim, a good lad as cleans hisself regular like a true Christian, and speaks English as well as I does myself, but n.o.body could say he 's a beauty; and then there 's you--'orrible dirty, speaks like a monkey, and yet got a face on you as would make your fortune if so be you went into the Guards.

'Things is arranged very rum, Flanso, and there 's no understanding of 'em. Them two Germans, now--they 're pretty enough with their blue eyes and flaxen hair, just the sort the girls go silly over; but their 'earts, Flanso--their 'earts is blacker than you, old man. Yet I don't know--p'r'aps--but what's the good o' spekylatin'? Things is a puzzle, and we ain't got the brains for to work it out.'

He shook his head, and fell into a reverie from which he was suddenly awakened by a distant rifle shot. Instantly he became the man of action again. He swung round, signed to the natives to halt, and put his fingers to his lips enjoining silence. Then he hastened down the line until he had discovered Lafoa.

'Here, you!' he said. 'You makee all fellas hold their jaw and come bunko arter me, see? Bad fellas fightee; we go see what's up. See?'

The interpreter nodded, and hurried to Flanso, who gave orders in his own tongue. It was clear that he looked to Grinson for leadership. More shots rang out ahead.

'That's a revolver,' murmured Grinson. 'Mr. Trentham! Spears. Bows and arrows.' He looked round at the natives. 'May be some good. Fust thing is to find out exactly what's what. Here, you, how far off--how muchee way--your village?'

The interpreter did not understand him. Grinson groaned.

'Well, makee all black fellas hidee in bushes, so no one can see.

Savvy?'

This appeared clear, for the natives, at a word from Lafoa, scattered, and in a few moments were invisible.

'Now come alonga me,' continued Grinson. 'Flanso too. Come on!'

Flanso leading, they wormed their way stealthily through the forest growth. The sounds of conflict grew as they progressed. Presently they were conscious of the smell of burning, and thin trails of smoke were wafted among the trees. Coming to the outskirts of the village, they beheld several huts blazing. At first they saw no human being, but advancing cautiously through the thick bushes that spread behind the huts, they came upon a Papuan squatting on the ground and rocking himself with pain. A question from Flanso elicited an account of what had happened. An hour or two before, the outlying scouts had discovered a number of white men marching towards the village. They had hastened back with the news, and the white men in the village had ordered all the people to withdraw into the inner enclosure. The enemy had come upon them before they were all within the wall. Some of the people had been killed, some wounded, others had escaped into the forest. The huts had been fired, and the enemy had rushed towards the gate, but had hurriedly retreated before a shower of arrows and the fire-magic that met them.

They had posted themselves among the trees, and a little while before had begun to shoot their hot stones over the wall.

Lafoa interpreted this as well as he could to Grinson, who, however, seemed to understand the position instinctively. He bade Lafoa hasten back to the men halting in the forest a quarter of a mile behind, and bring up all the young warriors. While the man was absent Grinson sat down at the foot of a tree, stretched out his legs, folded his arms, and pondered. There had not been time for the Raider to reach the cove and land her crew, therefore the attackers must be relatively few in number.

They were armed with rifles; probably the rifles had bayonets; therefore, though few in number, they were much more than a match for a throng of untrained savages with no better weapons than bows and arrows and spears.

'Which I mean to say,' said Grinson to himself, 'that is if we don't come to close quarters, whereas and however 'tis numbers what tells in a rush, such as boarding a vessel when you 're close alongside and Admiral Nelson piped all hands to repel boarders--or t'other way about, for 'twas us what boarded the enemy, must 'a been, being British. That's one point settled, Flanso, old man; we 've got to board 'em, take 'em abaft, otherwise about the rump or stern, and lively too, not forgetting that Mr. Trentham is for'ard banging away with his revolver, and we stand a good chance of being bowled over in mistake, and apologies are no use, and it's our look-out, and no blame to anybody. Now I come to think of it, that point's fust and last, for if we rush 'em and don't win, why, then nothing matters no more, and we 're all booked for the pearly gates and no mistake. Things are getting pretty hot by the sound of it, and I 'm afraid that there revolver have give out, and--ah! here come the boarding party.'

Lafoa stole through the brushwood followed by twenty or thirty young men of the higher caste, all moving as silently as wild animals.

'Tell 'em to lay snug--otherwise doggo--while you and me and the chief go for'ard and do a bit of spying,' said Grinson.

He crept forward with the two men, and came presently to a spot among the trees where it was possible to get a fairly clear view of the fighting. A number of Germans were laying piles of brushwood at the foot of the wall; others were breaking holes in it, or enlarging slight gaps between the logs; others were bringing up more brushwood from the forest, while reports and flashes high up in some trees overlooking one side of the enclosure showed that snipers had been posted to pick off the garrison. For the moment none of the defenders were visible.

Grinson guessed that Trentham, having exhausted or all but exhausted his ammunition, was reserving himself for the inrush which without firearms it was impossible to prevent.

'There 's Trousers!' thought Grinson, catching sight of Hahn, who appeared to be superintending operations. 'If I don't give him a dusting----'

He stole back to the waiting natives, whispering instructions to Lafoa on the way. Half a dozen men were told off to creep through the bush and deal with the snipers in the trees, Grinson judging that in the dense undergrowth a native with a bow and a spear should be a match for a white man in a tree, even though armed with a rifle. The rest of the men were ordered to follow him noiselessly to the edge of the clearing in front of the wall, and to dash at the enemy when he gave the word.

The slight sounds of their movements were smothered by the reports of the rifles and the hacking at the wall.

On reaching the spot, Grinson perceived that the Germans were ma.s.sing for a determined push. At the sound of Hahn's whistle they sprang on to the piles of brushwood and attempted to swarm up and over the wall.

Grinson could just see Trentham above the top, swinging a huge native club. While he was looking, the pendulum swing of the weapon disposed of two Germans who had come within its formidable sweep. To right and left, however, several of the enemy had got a footing on the wall, in spite of the spears hurled by the older and weaker natives who alone had remained in the village.

Then Grinson let out a bellow like the blast of a fog-horn, and sprang from the shelter of the trees with a spear in each hand, followed by the horde of natives, yelling and screeching. The Germans turned in alarm to discover what was threatening them, dropped to their knees, and raised their rifles. Only a few of them fired; the rest, disconcerted by the shower of arrows and spears which the natives let fly at them as they ran, dropped their rifles and fled helter-skelter among the trees, Flanso leading his men in hot pursuit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRINSON LET OUT A BELLOW LIKE THE BLAST OF A FOG-HORN, AND SPRANG FROM THE TREES, FOLLOWED BY A HORDE OF NATIVES.]

Grinson had made straight for Hahn, hurled one of his spears at him, which missed, and coming to close quarters, lunged at him with the other. But as he reached forward, a bullet from one of the snipers who had not yet been dislodged from his tree struck the boatswain on the arm. He spun round and fell on his face, just as Trentham, with Meek and a score of natives, came rushing out at the gate. Hahn had raised his revolver to shoot the fallen seaman, but catching sight of Trentham, he snapped an ill-aimed shot at him, then took to his heels and followed his men into the forest.

Trentham dispatched Lafoa to recall the natives, fearing that the Germans would rally and outmatch them in a running fight; then he returned to Grinson, who had sat up, and was trying to pull off his coat.

'Just a tickler, sir,' said the boatswain, grinning. 'I 'd a sort of feeling that I 'd be wounded in the house of my friends, as you may say, them being Bible words and all correct. Easy all! That's off. My goose is all right, praise be! Missed it by an inch, your lucky shot did, sir.'

'My shot? I didn't fire.'

'I 'm sure I beg your pardon, and won't say no more about it, though I 'd a notion you fired at Trousers and missed. This 'ere scratch won't spoil my beauty sleep, anyway. Mr. Hoole, sir? He got off like a bird, not but what they didn't have a go at him; the Raider, sir--most unfortunate, she come up just as we was getting ready for the kick-off, as you may say. The old wreck's blown to blazes, but no more harm done, and I lay Mr. Hoole by this time have got somewhere, though where that may be remains to be seen.'

'Thankful I am as you 're not killed, Mr. Grinson,' said Meek, who had come up from behind.

'Same to you, Ephraim, me lad. The only fly in my gizzard is that Trousers has got off; but we 'll dust him yet, Ephraim. No, I don't want no help; I 'm sound on my pins, and my arm don't hurt so bad as vaccination. What I _would_ like is a pint o' beer, but I might as well cry for the moon. Things is a great puzzle, Ephraim!'

CHAPTER XVIII

THE AVALANCHE

'What I'd like to know, sir,' said Grinson, as they re-entered the enclosure, 'what I 'd like to know is, why them Germans, Trousers and the rest, took it into their heads to try this little game when our backs was turned, meaning Mr. Hoole and me?'

'You think they wouldn't have tried it if they hadn't known you were away?' said Trentham, checking a smile.

'Well, sir, two 's two; you can't get over that. If the whole crew had come, 't 'ud 'a been different; but with the Raider away, Trousers hadn't got enough men for the job, unless he knew we were short-handed, and I don't see nohow he could have known that.'