CHAPTER XXVIII.
BESIEGERS AND BESIEGED.
Suddenly a bushy bead, with a black face, horribly distorted bypassion, appeared at the window furthest from where Professor Grimckewas standing.
The right hand was raised and in the act of poising a javelin to hurlat the white man; but the latter, with an incredibly quick movement,brought his Winchester to a level and fired.
The bronze skull was shattered as though it were a rotten apple, andthe Murhapa, with a resounding shriek, went backward in the darkness.
A slight rustling at the other window drew the white man's attentionthither, and, without lowering his weapon, he let fly at a group whowere simply peering within, evidently believing there was no call touse their javelins.
Another screech told that the bullet had found its mark, and the otherfaces vanished.
Then Grimcke stepped out from the wall to gain a view of the openingwhich answered for a door. A rustling there told him a crowd weregathering, but they had taken warning just in time to avoid a thirdshot. Then he slipped a couple more cartridges from his belt into themagazine, so as to keep it full, and awaited the next step in thisextraordinary business.
"I've about a hundred left," he reflected, "and that's enough to keepthings on a jump, if I can dodge their javelins."
Meanwhile, Jared Long was not idle. He had but the opening at the rearto watch, and he did the duty well. Almost at the moment that hiscomrade fired his first shot, he descried the figure of a Murhapatrying to steal into the apartment without detection; but just enoughof the moonlight that was shut from the front doors and windows,reached the rear of the building, to disclose the outlines of the headand shoulders, as he began stealthily creeping into the building.
Bippo had discovered the peril at the same moment, and clutched the armof his master with a nervous intensity of terror. Long impatientlyshook him off, and, with the same cool quickness of Professor Grimcke,drove a bullet through the head of the dusky miscreant, who was slainso suddenly that he rolled convulsively backward, without any outcry.
Almost at the same instant, a second native emitted a wild shout. Hewas directly behind the first and the latter lurched against him,causing such fright that he leaped back several feet with theinvoluntary cry fully understood by all whose ears it reached.
Long stood as rigid as a statue for several minutes, waiting foranother chance, but none presented. Then he reflected that hisposition was much more favorable than Grimcke's, for not only had hebut the single opening to guard, but his apartment was so shrouded ingloom that the sharpest-eyed warrior could not locate him from theoutside.
The New Englander stepped to the door communicating with the frontapartment and, barely showing himself, spoke:
"I can attend to the window on the right, Professor; leave that to me,while you watch the door and the other one."
"Thanks," returned his friend; "I think there is a little too muchlight in this part of the house."
Moving quickly to the hearth he heaped the ashes with his foot upon theblazing embers, until they were so smothered that only a few tinytwists of flame struggled through the covering. This left the place insuch darkness that a sense of security instantly came to him.
"Good!" called the New Englander, who could no longer be discerned;"that makes matters more nearly equal!"
Although, as we have said, the moonlight was substantially shut offfrom the front of the heavy structure, yet the moon itself, being full,so illumined the surroundings that it was quite easy to distinguish thehead and figure of any one of their enemies the instant he presentedhimself at one of the openings.
What both the defenders feared was, that the savages would make asudden rush and force themselves within the cabin in spite of thedisastrous reception they were sure to be given. Such an essay wascertain to result in the overthrow of the whites, but the Murhapas musthave realized the cost it would be to them. Brave as they were, theyhesitated to incur the consequences until other means had failed.
Professor Ernest Grimcke now did a most daring thing. The fiercewelcome he had given the attacking Murhapas resulted in their temporarydemoralization. Knowing they would speedily recover, he decided totake advantage of the panic by an attempt to intensify it.
Striding to the door he paused on the very threshold and peered outupon the large space in his field of vision.
Fully a hundred savages were in sight. Apparently they had beencrowding around the entrance when the shots from within caused a hastyscattering. They had halted a dozen yards or so away, where they weretalking excitedly, still frightened and enraged, and with no thought ofrelinquishing the fight.
They had withdrawn so far from the front of the building that they werein the strong moonlight, and consequently in full view of the whiteman, who saw others of the natives hurrying from the right and left.Among them were women and children and the confusion and excitementwere fearful.
Standing thus, Grimcke again raised his repeater and deliberatelyopened fire on the crowd. It seemed cruel, but it was an act ofself-defence, for those people were clamoring for the lives of the twomen within, and would not be satisfied until they were at their mercy.
It was a strange scene that followed. The interior of the buildingbeing dark, while the moonlight failed to touch the front, the figureof the white man was invisible to the dusky wretches howling on theoutside.
All at once, from the black opening of the building, came the crash ofthe repeating Winchester. Spouts of fire shot out into the gloom interrific succession, as if fiery serpents were darting their heads indifferent directions; for the marksman aimed, quickly to the right, tothe left and to the front, never pausing until he had discharged half ascore of shots.
The panic for a minute or two was indescribable. Men, women andchildren shrieked and scattered for the nearest available shelter.Behind the buildings and down the river bank they dashed, stumbled androlled, until, but for the tragic nature of the scene, the white manwould have smiled.
But he had done enough, and he stepped back within the room toreplenish the magazine of his rifle.
Jared Long had been drawn into the room by the furious fusillade, andnow put the startling question whether advantage could not be taken ofthe panic to make a sudden dash for the woods. It would never do tomake for the boat still resting against the shore, for it would befilled with poisoned javelins before they could shove out into theXingu.
"I believe we can," replied the Professor; "it will take them someminutes to get over their panic and that will be enough for us."
"Let us leave by the rear," said Long, "for I don't think that is sowell guarded."
The two turned to attempt the dash for freedom, when a cry from Bippostruck them.
"Stay here," exclaimed the New Englander, fearing that a diversion wason foot; "and I'll attend to him!"
He was back in the apartment in an instant. The light on the hearthhaving been extinguished, the gloom in this portion of the building wasimpenetrable, but a fearful struggle of some kind was going on. Someanimal or person had got within and grappled Bippo who was fightinglike a tiger.
Had the New Englander been able to distinguish the combatants, he wouldhave ended the contest in a twinkling, but though the two rolledagainst his feet, he dared not fire through fear of hurting his friend.
"Are you under or on top?" he asked, bending downward at the moment heknew from the peculiar sounds the foes had become stationary.
"_He on top_," was the doleful response.
Long extended his right hand to learn precisely how matters stood, orrather lay, when it came in contact with the arm of a Murhapa in theact of raising it aloft to bury his knife in the body of the helplessBippo, who was at the mercy of the savage, holding him inextricably inhis grasp.
The American secured a firm hold of the forearm, and with a powerfulwrench, not only jerked the miscreant free, but flung him from one sideof the room clean to the door, where he was visible in the faint lightbeyond.
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Evidently concluding that his mission in that place was over, he nimblycame to his feet and shot like a rocket through the opening.
The New Englander was in no mood for sentimentality, and, he levelledhis weapon with the intention to kill; but quick as he was, he was justa fraction of a minute too late, and, much to his chagrin, the duskywretch got away unharmed.
Long darted into the front room, ready for the proposal he had madejust before.
The Professor was peering out, seemingly debating whether it was notadvisable to re-open his bombardment.
"It beats creation," he remarked, as his friend appeared at his elbow,"how quickly those fellows rally; their heads are popping up in everydirection, and it won't do to try to steal out this way."
"But I suggested the rear," reminded Long.
"Let's see how matters look there."
The survey from the other opening was disappointing. Although all theMurhapas had been affected in a greater or less degree by the panic,yet it was more incomplete at the rear, because the confusing volleyhad not come from that direction.
There seemed to be fully as many warriors on this side, which, with theexception of the river, was quite similar in appearance to the other.The shadowy figures were observed moving noiselessly in a dozendifferent directions, their heads bent down and their bodies crouching,as if in expectation of a shot, but, at the same time, they were not tobe frightened off by any fusilade from within.
"We're just too late," remarked the Professor, quick to take in everypoint of the situation; "we might have done it a minute ago, but theyare watching too closely now."
"Let's open again," suggested the New Englander.
"Better wait awhile; they can be stampeded easier then than now," wasthe reply of the Professor.
During this lull, when it may be said the defenders were becomingaccustomed to the siege, they had time to give a few minutes' thoughtto their absent friends, Fred Ashman and Ziffak, regarding whom it wasnatural to feel great curiosity.
They believed themselves warranted in hoping for the best, so far asAshman was concerned. He had probably strolled some distance, and musthave been warned by the firing of the Professor's Winchester from thefront, of the serious danger in which his friends were involved. Ifall had gone well with the youth up to that time, he ought to be wiseenough to get away without an instant's delay. What was feared was,that in his anxiety to help his comrades, he would run into a perilfrom which he could not extricate himself.
The real hope for the youth was centered on Ziffak. Believing he hadgone forth to look after Ashman, they were confident he would speedilyget upon his track. If so, he would not permit him to return to thevillage.
From what the reader has been told, it will be seen that the defenderswere not far off in their conjectures.
But, when they came to speculate upon the part that the head chieftainwas likely to take, affecting Grimcke and Long, they were all at sea.It would ever be a source of wonder that he had been transformed from arelentless enemy into the strongest of friends, but they fully realizedthat such friendship must have its bounds.
Ziffak might not shrink from using very plain speech when talking faceto face with his brother, but it was hardly to be supposed that hewould raise his arm against his authority. At the time Ziffak madeknown the probability that the explorers might be compelled to taketheir departure that evening, he gave no intimation of any purpose ofhelping them to resist such an order.
Accustomed as he was to lead the warlike Murhapas in battle, he mightwell hesitate to ask them to turn their weapons against the king, andif he should presume on such treason, all the probabilities were thatsuch weapons would be turned against the head chieftain himself.