The Missing Ship Part 33

Quashie being called, he without hesitation undertook to do what was required of him. He begged only that he might take his own time and mode of proceeding, and grinned when some one remarked that he might be caught by the rebels.

"Me git in and me come back, neber fear," he answered.

The only question was how to send a note. Mrs Pemberton proposed writing what was necessary, and, the paper being rolled up tightly and covered with black stuff, to conceal it among his thick crop of woolly hair. "Were he caught, the rebels might search him thoroughly and not discover it in the way that I will manage," she said.

Quashie was perfectly content with the proposal, and was evidently proud of the confidence placed in him. He confessed that he had heard of the intended outbreak, and had given his mother the information which she had sent to her master and mistress.

Quashie, having had a good supper, declared that he should be ready to set out that night if required; but as it was hoped that during the next day a plan might be organised more effectually to help their friends than could be then done, it was agreed that it would be better to wait till the following evening. From Jack's report they were at present, at all events, in no distress, and were likely to hold out against any attack.

Another night went by, and the next morning Jack and his companions expressed their wish to set off again to ascertain how their friends at Bellevue were getting on; but Mr Pemberton would not allow them to go.

The risk, he said, was far too great for the advantage to be obtained.

They could render no a.s.sistance, and would run a great chance of falling into the hands of the rebels and being put to death. In the course of the day, he hoped that Major Malcolm, with some troops, or at all events a body of militia, would appear, and that their first task would be to attack the rebels besieging Bellevue and relieve their friends. In that case, it would not be safe to leave Walton without a garrison, as the fugitives, if they found it unguarded as they made their way to the mountains, would to a certainty in revenge destroy it. "We must wait patiently till the evening, and then Quashie shall go and bring us word what they are about," he added. He spoke with more confidence perhaps than he felt, yet on one point he had made up his mind, that he would not allow his son to run the risk of losing his life.

The day drew drearily on. The feelings of the ruined inmates of the mansion can better be imagined than described. Their friends slaughtered, their crops and houses destroyed, and their slaves (the most valuable part of their possessions) in revolt, and, if not killed, possibly never again to be reclaimed--what the future had in store for them no one could say. The more confident a.s.serted that the rebellion would quickly be quelled, but others thought that the slaves, joined by the maroons and other free coloured and black people, might overrun the country, and compel all the whites who might escape slaughter to quit it for ever.

Mr Pemberton laughed at such a notion. "Depend on it, as soon as the troops and militia can be collected, the slaves will fly from them as chaff before the wind, or will, if they resist, to a man be cut to pieces," he observed. "It will be a bad look-out for us, I confess, for we shall become bankrupt; but our estates will remain, and we must procure fresh labourers from other countries, Irish or Germans, who would stand the climate almost as well as blacks, and do twice as much work."

Though the worthy planter talked and went about trying to keep up the spirits of others, he felt his own sinking when darkness came on, and no troops appeared.

Quashie was sent for, and Mrs Pemberton secured the note, done up, as proposed, in his woolly head. She had written it at her husband's dictation, in a small, delicate hand, so that it occupied little more s.p.a.ce than a quill.

It mentioned Major Malcolm's arrival, the attack and defence of the house, the flight of the rebels, the fact that the major had gone to collect troops who might be expected every hour, Jack's visit to the neighbourhood of Bellevue, and his having witnessed Archie's expedition to obtain water. "We conclude," it continued, "that you are well able to hold out; but if not, send us word, and, should the military fail to arrive, we will make an expedition to your relief, and will advise you to sally forth and cut your way through the savages. They will not for a moment stand our united attack, and there will be but little or no danger in the undertaking. We cannot leave Walton unprotected, but we can muster twenty well-armed men. Be prepared, and directly you see our signal--a flag flying on the top of the hill--dash out of the house, with the women and children in your centre. Should the rebels threaten to attack you, we will charge down upon them; if not, we will be ready to protect your retreat, and keep the savages at bay till you have got to a safe distance. I propose this in the possibility of your not having a sufficient store of provisions, or being unable to obtain water to stand a long siege. We have an ample supply of food for several weeks. Our love to f.a.n.n.y. We were much pleased with Major Malcolm, who appears to be greatly struck by her."

Quashie evidently felt the importance of the message confided to him, and was proportionately proud.

"Neber fear, ma.s.sa, I git into de house and out again, and no one see me," he said, strutting about after the note had been concealed in the top of his woolly pate. "Look here, ma.s.sa, you no see it now, or neber anybody else till moder get it."

"Well, then, away you go, my boy, and a dollar shall be yours when you come back," said Mr Pemberton.

"Ki! dat's good," exclaimed Quashie, eager to be off.

The planter took him down to a back-door, by which he let him out that he might creep away, lest any prowling foe might be watching the house; not that there was much risk of that, or Jack and his friends would not have performed their expedition so securely.

Quashie ran on along the well-accustomed road till he got near his own village, when, taking off the few clothes he wore, he did them up in a bundle and stowed them away in the hollow of a tree to be ready for his return, leaving only a piece of black stuff round his waist, with which Mrs Pemberton had supplied him at his request. The sharpest of eyes only could have detected Quashie as he crept along under the hedges: he felt confident there was very little risk of his being discovered. Few of his age could outstrip Quashie, and making good use of his legs, he got over the ground in a third of the time Jack Pemberton had taken to accomplish the distance. He now moved more cautiously, stopping to listen every now and then for the sound of voices which might warn him of the whereabouts of the rebels.

At first he began to fancy that they must have decamped. Creeping down the hill, he suddenly found himself close to a group of men lying stretched on the ground fast asleep, while as he peered over a bush he observed others in the same position. He stole silently back, making his way to the left at a cautious distance from the besieging force, if they could be dignified by such a t.i.tle. Presently, again he drew near, looking out for some opening in their line through which he might make his way, but they appeared to have extended themselves so as completely to encircle the house. Again and again he got up close to the line; still he was not to be daunted. He had undertaken to get through them, and he intended by some means or other to do so. Suddenly he heard a shot, followed by several others. The blacks close to him started to their feet, and hurried off in the direction from whence the shot came.

Now was his opportunity. He darted forward down the hill, springing up the opposite declivity like a hunted hare, at the same time keeping his body almost bent to the ground; and before he was perceived, he was close to the _chevaux-de-frise_. In vain, however, he endeavoured to find his way through it. The garrison were too much occupied with what was going forward on the other side of the house to observe him; indeed, his small, black, lithe body could scarcely have been perceived. He ran on like a mouse, looking for a hole through which to escape, and considering whether he should not cry out for a.s.sistance and ask to be taken in. At last he got to an opening, and in he darted, just as two men rushed up from the lower ground, no one in the darkness perceiving him. As soon as the men were in the inside, several persons filled up the gap, and he made his way undiscovered within the palisades and through the door of the house.

The first person he met was Martha, who had come out to learn what was going forward. Their delight was mutual. Tears streamed from the eyes of his mother as she pressed him to her heart. The planter who had lately expressed an opposite opinion would have acknowledged that the slaves, degraded as they were, were capable of human affection.

His errand was soon told, and Martha, proud of his performance, took him to her master, who was naturally very much surprised at seeing him.

"I bring message from Ma.s.sa Pemberton," he said.

"Where is it?" asked Mr Twigg.

"Here, ma.s.sa," answered Quashie, presenting his woolly pate. "You take it out, please."

Martha, however, performed the operation; and the note being eagerly read, a consultation was held on its contents, which considerably raised the spirits of the besieged party, lowered as they had been by the loss of Archie Sandys.

None of them, however, were disposed to attempt cutting their way through the rebels. Lieutenant Belt was almost disabled--for though, in spite of much suffering, he still continued the command in the fortress, he could not use his sword--while the gallant young Scotchman was lost to them. Mr Ferris was willing to make the attempt if others wished it, but he feared the risk to which the ladies would be exposed; and it was finally determined to hold out till the arrival of the troops.

"The small quant.i.ty of yams we have secured will not last us long,"

observed Mr Twigg, "and we must remember that we are threatened with starvation, as well as with another attack from the savages."

"We have food sufficient for another day," remarked Lieutenant Belt; "before the end of that time, relief may be sent to us."

"But should it not come, what then are we to do?" inquired Mr Ferris.

"Act as our friend Pemberton suggests," said Mr Twigg. "To-morrow evening, as soon as it is dark, we will send off Quashie. We must take care in the mean time that the rebels do not see him, or they will know that by some means or other he got in, and will be on the watch for him.

We may depend on Pemberton's carrying out his plan, and I should advise that the attempt be made in the night-time."

Quashie was rather disappointed at finding that he was not to set off at once, as he was eager to get his dollar. His mother consoled him by a.s.suring him that he would be allowed to go the following night, and Mr Twigg made him perfectly happy by at once giving him a dollar, so that he would become the possessor of two dollars, should he accomplish his return journey.

The garrison were not allowed to rest in quiet. The blacks, growing impatient, made several attempts to surprise them, but, in consequence of the severe punishment they had received, were more wary than at first. Each time, on finding that they were discovered, they retreated so rapidly that few, if any, of them were shot.

Morning at length arrived; the blacks had retreated to their cover, and, except that a few shots were at times wantonly fired from a distance at the house, the day went on as the previous ones had done. Much as they wanted food, it would be evidently a dangerous undertaking to attempt procuring it from the yam ground.

The arrival of Major Malcolm was eagerly looked for, but in vain, and it was resolved to send Quashie off at dark, with an account of their now truly desperate condition. He was confident of being able as before to get through the enemy's lines.

In accordance with Mr Pemberton's suggestion, it was resolved in the mean time to get up a flagstaff at the top of the house, with a flag hoisted half-mast high as a signal of their distressed condition. This would hasten the arrival of friends to their relief, should any be in the neighbourhood. It would not, however, prevent the necessity of sending off Quashie to urge that aid might at once be despatched.

Fortunately a long pole, which Mr Twigg had intended to put up for that purpose on a neighbouring height, had been brought to the house to be prepared by the carpenter. It was at once carried indoors, and, the lower end being fixed in a beam of the ceiling of the upper story, was run through the trap which led to the roof. Here, under the direction of Mr Ferris, who had some nautical knowledge, it was stayed up by ropes to the corners of the house, halliards having previously been rove through the sheave at its summit. The difficulty was to obtain a flag.

None was to be found, till Mrs Twigg remarked that she and the young ladies had some light dresses which would answer the purpose.

"Let us have them at once, then," exclaimed Mr Twigg eagerly; "there is no time to be lost."

Ellen and f.a.n.n.y, hurrying to their room, quickly returned with a couple of cambric dresses, such as are generally worn in that warm climate.

Before they had time to take their scissors and cut them open as they had intended, Mr Twigg seized them, and hurried with them up to the roof, where Mr Ferris was superintending the erection of the flagstaff.

"Here they are," exclaimed Mr Twigg. "Run them up at once; they will tell our tale better than any more perfect flag."

Mr Ferris, with a ball of rope yarn in his hand, fastened the dresses forthwith to the halliards by the skirts, allowing the full sleeves to blow out.

"There!" he exclaimed, with a touch of his native wit. "Faith, they will show that there are ladies in distress, and if there is any gallantry in the heart of the islanders, we shall soon have them running a race to our a.s.sistance."

The dresses thus hoisted flew out to a brisk breeze which blew from the eastward. Just then several shots were heard, and two or three bullets fell on the roof, which, though spent, warned those on it that should the marksmen approach somewhat nearer their position would become dangerous. Mr Ferris, therefore, calling his a.s.sistants down, they all quickly got under shelter.

Notwithstanding the signal flying from the roof, the day pa.s.sed without any one coming to their relief. Their provisions were almost exhausted, and affairs were becoming serious. Another consultation was held, when it was determined to beg Mr Pemberton to come as he proposed, the garrison undertaking to attempt cutting their way through the rebels, and abandoning the house to destruction. A note to that effect was accordingly written, and secured, as the former one had been, in Quashie's woolly head. About an hour after sundown he crept out at the back of the house, and the instant after was lost to sight. Even his mother felt no fear for his safety, and every one believed that he would make his way without difficulty back to Walton.

After he had gone the enemy recommenced their system of annoyance, coming up under cover and firing at the house. Though the garrison aimed in return at the points from which the flashes of the rebels'

muskets were seen, the latter so rapidly retreated that it was supposed none of them were hit. Nothing could be more trying. Sometimes for several minutes together they would remain quiet, when suddenly a shower of shot would come pattering against the walls. The enemy would then again retreat, and single shots would be fired, now from one point, now from another; then again another shower would come, as if the enemy had made a general advance.

"Let them fire away as much as they like," observed Lieutenant Belt, laughing. "I only wish they would fire much oftener at so safe a distance, as they must thus at last expend their powder."

Still those unaccustomed to warfare could not fail to experience uncomfortable sensations as the bullets in rapid succession struck the walls, although as yet they had done but little damage, five of the people only, besides Lieutenant Belt, having been slightly wounded in their shoulders or faces. At length the rebels appeared to have grown tired of that style of amus.e.m.e.nt, and perfect silence reigned around the house.

Towards morning, when most of the little garrison were lying down, worn out with constant alarms and watching, the cry was raised that the blacks were again coming on; and they were seen rushing up the hill, carrying not only f.a.ggots but ladders, evidently intending to attack the house as they had done at Walton, and to set both it and the stockades on fire. Should they succeed, nothing could save the lives of the inmates.