CHAPTER XXVIII
THE RESCUE
Returning to the cave, Mr. McKay awoke the lads and hurriedly explainedthe nature of the threatened attack.
"We must quit this shelter and keep in the open as long as we possiblycan," said he. "A long-range fire may keep them at bay. Only as alast resource must we return to the cave."
Barely had the defenders left the cavern than they were assailed fromabove by a shower of stones and spears. Several of the savages hadtaken up a position on the summit of the cliff overhanging the mouth ofthe white men's retreat, so as to make the advance of the main bodyeasier.
Thrown into confusion by this unlooked-for attack, the four defendersfled headlong for the cave they had just left, narrowly escaping thefalling missiles. Then, finding that the jutting rocks protected themso long as they kept close to the base of the cliff, the wearied menplucked up courage, and opened fire upon the dense masses of thenatives as they advanced rapidly with their burdens.
Many of the savages fell, but others immediately took up their loads,and working from cover to cover with admirable cunning the natives camewithin throwing distance of their spears.
The rifle-fire, hot as it was, was unable to stop the fan-likeformation of the crafty warriors, and, assailed by stones and spears,the defenders were once more compelled to retire to the cave.
Repeated repulses had taught the natives caution, and without riskingthemselves by appearing in front of the death-dealing tunnel, theythrust their bundles of wood and grass into the mouth of the cave bymeans of long poles. Then a torch was flung upon the heap ofinflammable material, and the next instant it burst into flames.
"Throw some water on it," grasped Terence, as the heat began to takeeffect.
"Useless," replied Mr. McKay. "It would only cause more smoke," andlifting a case of ammunition he rushed towards the blazing pile.
"Lie down!" he ordered sharply, as he regained his comrades.
Crouched in the remotest part of the cave, they awaited the explosion.Then with a roar, followed by a series of minor reports, the cartridgesexploded, filling the cave with pungent fumes.
As the last detonation ended, Mr. McKay leapt to his feet, and,revolver in hand, dashed through the scattered and still burningembers. His companions followed his example, and gained the open.Even as they drank in the deliciously cool air they were compelled toresume the unequal combat, though the savages, alarmed by the explosionand the sudden appearance of their foes, gave back in terror.
Edging along the base of the cliff, for the darts and stones stilldescended, regardless of friend or foe, the defenders blazed away attheir enemies, till the latter recovered from their fright and returnedto the attack.
Not till they were in grave danger of being cut off did Mr. McKay andhis companions return to the cave once more to endure the torments ofthe smoke-laden atmosphere.
This time the savages did not leave them in peace. With poised weaponsthe wily warriors waited on either side of the entrance, while othersdescended from the terrace and procured fresh fuel.
Splashing their faces with water, and fanning the noxious fumes withportions of their clothes, the defenders strove to cool their parchedand heated bodies, realising that another half-hour would doubtless seethe end of the unequal struggle.
"I'm not going to be smoked out like a rat in a hole," exclaimedEllerton. "I'll make a dash for it and die in the open."
"It's the only way," replied Mr. McKay. "If we are to die we must dielike Britons, fighting to the last."
Hardly had the forlorn party made this desperate decision, when a sharpear-splitting explosion, followed almost immediately by another, washeard without the cave. Yells of terror and noisy surprise arose, andthe savages fled right and left.
For a moment the defenders were unable to grasp the meaning of theinterruption, till Andy shouted: "Hurrah! A rescue!" and overcome bymental and bodily strain, he fell on the floor in a swoon.
Terence and Ellerton were about to rush to the mouth of the cave, butMr. McKay restrained them.
"Lie down!" he exclaimed. "They're firing with shell, and we shall beblown to atoms if we go outside."
It was, to a certain extent, unfortunate that the inhabitants ofMcKay's Island were unable to observe the means by which they were soopportunely rescued from what appeared to be a terrible and remorselessfate.
While the preparations for the smoking-out of the still-resisting whitemen were in progress, H.M.S. _Blazer_ was steaming straight for theisland.
Unnoticed by the natives, she gained the entrance to the lagoon, theleadsmen in the chains, and the decks cleared for action.
The alert commander had already observed the smouldering ruins of whatwas obviously at no remote time a civilised settlement, and the shoutsof the desperate savages told him that resistance was still being made.
H.M.S. _Blazer_ was but a third-class cruiser, mainly engaged insurveying duties in the Pacific. Her armament consisted of two4.7-inch guns, one mounted fore and aft, six twelve-pounders, and tenMaxims, and these were amply sufficient for the work in hand.
Rounding to in seven fathoms, and less than three hundred yards fromthe scene of the desperate encounter, the _Blazer_ opened fire. Hercommander had noted the actual locality of the defenders' retreat, andcarefully avoiding the spot for fear of harming friend as well as foe,he had a couple of shells planted in the fringe of the attackingnatives.
Those two shells were sufficient. Madly the survivors fled along theterrace in the direction of the defile leading to the ulterior, and asthey ran they were subjected to a raking fire by the quick-firers andMaxims, till only a small remnant gained the shelter of the palm-groves.
"Man and arm boats!" came the order.
But ere the landing-party gained the shore, not a living savage was tobe seen. Panic-stricken they fled to the far side of the island, wherethey embarked in their canoes.
"We're too late, it seems," remarked the lieutenant in charge, as hegazed upon the devastated scene.
"Those brutes were running from up yonder, sir," observed apetty-officer, pointing towards the upper terrace. "Maybe there'ssomeone up there among the rocks."
"Party, fall in!" ordered the officer, and giving the word to march, heled the way over the open ground, which was littered by the victims ofthe _Blazer's_ fire.
"Strike me; wot's this?" ejaculated the petty-officer, as four batteredspecimens of humanity appeared above the crest of a rise of ground andfloundered painfully towards their rescuers, who gave them a heartycheer.
"We were certainly in the nick of time," remarked Commander Bulwark,as, five hours later, Mr. McKay and the three lads were seated in the_Blazer's_ wardroom. "We received a telegraphic message from Tahitiwhile we were lying off Suva, to the effect that a French traderreported that she had communicated with British castaways; but wasunable, owing to the high seas that were running, to render assistance.So we came at full speed, and, I am glad to say, with fortunateresults. We are leaving here to-morrow for Sydney. I suppose youdon't object to being landed there?"
"By no means," replied Mr. McKay. "I think we've had enough of theisland to last us a lifetime."
In a few words Mr. McKay told the commander of the finding of thetreasure, and how it was hidden under the floor of the house.
"Treasure, eh? Well, you're lucky in more than one way. There areplenty of islands in the Pacific where treasure is supposed to behidden. We usually regard these stories as a myth, but you'veevidently proved that such things do exist. Let me congratulate youonce again. I'll send ashore at once."
Before nightfall the treasure chests were conveyed safely on board thecruiser.
The bluejackets also placed a pile of stones over the grave of thebrave mulatto, a simple inscription setting forth his name and themanner of his death; while for the benefit of possible futurecastaways, a paper giving particulars of the stores deposited in thetreasure cave was placed in an air-tight case and lashed to a post in aconspicuous po
sition on the shore.
Shortly after daybreak on the following day Mr. McKay and the threelads watched from the poop of the _Blazer_ the rapidly receding landwhich for so many months had been their home; and in silence they stoodgazing with wistful eyes till the summit of the peak of McKay's Islandsank beneath the horizon.
THE END
_The Mayflower Press, Plymouth, England_. William Brendon & Son, Ltd.