CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
THE SINGLE COMBAT.
PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE--A DEMAND AND REFUSAL--THE TWO CHAMPIONS.
"On many a bloody field before-- Man of the dark and evil heart!-- We've met--pledged enemies of yore, But now we meet no more to part-- Till to my gracious liege and lord, By thee of broad domains bereft, From thy red hand and plotting brain, No fear of future wrong is left."
The sense of surrounding danger with which we laid down that night uponour beds of fern beneath the Aoa, continued to press darkly upon ourminds even in sleep, and awake us at an early hour to confront anew, theperplexities and terrors of our situation.
Arthur, in whose better understanding of the habits and character of thesavages we confided, far from affording us any additional encouragement,spoke in a manner calculated to overthrow the very hopes, upon which wehad been resting.
We had supposed that they could have no motive but the desire ofrevenge, for seeking or molesting us, and as none of their number hadbeen killed, or in all probability even dangerously injured in therencontre with us, we trusted that this motive would not prove strongenough to incite them to any earnest or long-continued search. ButArthur hinted at another object, more controlling in the mind of theirstrange leader than any desire to prosecute a petty revenge, which wouldimpel him to seek for and pursue us, for the purpose of getting Eiuloagain into his power. This enmity--so fixed and implacable--against amere child, seemed incredible, even after all that had been said orsuggested in explanation of it, and the explanations themselves werefar-fetched, and almost destitute of plausibility.
And how could we hope to escape a pursuit so determined and perseveringas Arthur anticipated? Whither could we flee for safety? To think ofsuccessful resistance to Atollo and his band, if discovered by them,seemed idle. Max suggested Palm-Islet as the most secure retreat withwhich we were acquainted. But Arthur now broached a more startlingplan. "Nowhere upon this island," said he, "can we longer considerourselves secure. The only step that holds out any prospect of safetyis to leave it in the yawl, and sail for Tewa."
"Is there any certainty," said Browne, "that we can find it? Do we evenknow positively where, or in what direction from this place it is; andshall we not incur the risk of getting lost again at sea?"
"I would rather take that risk," said Max, "than remain here, withinreach of these savages--any thing is preferable to falling into theirpower."
"I confess," said Arthur, "that we know nothing certainly in regard tothe distance, or even the direction of Tewa, but I think we have goodreason to believe that it lies about forty or fifty miles to thenorthward."
We could not, however, bring ourselves thus suddenly to adopt aresolution so momentous, and it was at last tacitly decided to continuefor the present, at least, at the islet.
"If we are to remain here," said Arthur, on perceiving that there was nodisposition to act immediately upon any of the suggestions which hadbeen made, "let us make such preparation as we can, to defend ourselvesif it shall be necessary."
This surprised us all; it seemed worse than useless to think of forcibleresistance to a party as numerous as that of Atollo; coming from Arthursuch a suggestion was to me doubly surprising.
"I see," said he, "that the notion of attempting to defend ourselves, ifdiscovered, seems to you a desperate one--but I believe it to be ouronly course--we can expect no mercy from Atollo."
"Surely," said Morton, "they can have no sufficient motive for murderingus in cold blood. But, fresh from another conflict with them, we couldnot perhaps look for forbearance, if in their power. Against _us_ theycannot now, it seems to me, cherish any feelings so vindictive as youimply."
"And suppose it to be so? Suppose that they merely aim at Eiulo's life,without wishing to molest us?"
"I don't fear that I shall be misunderstood, if I speak plainly,"answered Morton, after a pause. "It seems, from what you haveintimated, that for some reason they wish to get Eiulo into their hands;they are his own people, and their leader is his own uncle; have we anyright to refuse him to them?"
"Why, Morton!" interposed Browne, warmly, "what cold-blooded doctrine isthis?"
"Have patience, a minute, and hear me out--I cannot bring myself tobelieve that they actually intend him harm; I think there must be somemistake or misapprehension in regard to this alleged design against hislife, utterly improbable as it is in itself."
"But Arthur understands all that, far better than you or I," interruptedBrowne, once more, "and it is clear that the poor child stands in mortaldread of this man."
"I was going to add," resumed Morton, "that even if this danger doesexist, it is entirely out of our power to afford him protection againstit: we should merely throw away our lives, in a desperate andunprofitable attempt. It may seem unfeeling to talk of giving him up;but will not these people be far more likely to act with cruelty, bothtowards him and us, after being excited and enraged by a fruitlessopposition? I have spoken frankly: but whatever is soberly determinedupon, however unwise in my view, I will abide by."
"I admit," answered Arthur, "that there is little prospect of success ina conflict with them: but I regard our fate as certain if we submit, andwe can but be slain in resisting. I am so fully satisfied of Atollo'sdesigns in respect to him, that I should feel in giving him up, as if Iwere an accessary to his murder."
"Let us rather defend ourselves to the very last extremity," saidBrowne, earnestly, "if we are so unfortunate as to be found."
"If," said Max, with an excited air,--"if I really believed they wouldkill Eiulo, I should say, never give him up, whatever the consequencesmay be;--and I do think this Atollo must be an incarnate fiend. I don'tbelieve it will make any difference in their treatment of us whether weresist or not."
"O no!" cried Johnny, who had been listening eagerly to thisconversation, while Eiulo stood looking wistfully on, as if he knew thatit concerned him. "O no! don't give him up to that wicked man. I wouldfight, myself, if I had my bow and arrows, but they took them away fromme: can't we hide ourselves in the banyan tree?--they never will thinkof looking for us there?"
"That is not a bad suggestion," said Morton, "and if we should bediscovered, it is a strong place to defend. We can move easily andquickly about on that strong horizontal framework of branches, and itwill be a hazardous undertaking to climb those straight smooth trunks,in our faces."
It seemed, in fact, as if a party stationed upon the roof, (as it mightbe termed), of this singular tree, would occupy a vantage-ground fromwhich it would require strong odds to dislodge them, and the assailants,unless provided with fire-arms, or missile weapons, would labour underalmost insurmountable difficulties.
Arthur discovered a place where it was easy to climb quickly into thetree, and requested us all to note it particularly, in order that wemight effect a retreat without loss of time, if it should becomenecessary. Johnny and Eiulo were to take refuge there at the firstalarm.
Browne proceeded to cut a number of bludgeons from stout saplings, whichhe then deposited in different places among the branches, ready to beused, in defending ourselves, if pursued thither. Max collected aquantity of large stones, and fragments of rock, along the shore, andfrom the bed of the brook, and wrapping them in parcels of leaves, hehoisted them into the roof of the grove-tree, and secured them there.
Morton surveyed these preparations with a grave smile, and none of us, Ithink, placed much reliance on their efficacy. We trusted that therewould be no occasion to resort to them.
The supply of provisions which we had brought with us was exhausted, butthe painful suspense, and constant apprehension incident to our presentcircumstances, long prevented any thought of hunger. It was not untilthe day had passed without any alarm, and it was beginning to grow dark,that we experienced any inclination to eat. Arthur and I then went insearch of food, but could obtain none, except a quantity of pandanuscones which we gathered from a group of trees near the waterfall. Thekernels of these were
the only food that any of us tasted that day.
At night, it was deemed best to keep a watch, in order to guard againstany surprise. As we made our arrangements for this purpose, my thoughtsreverted to the time of our sufferings at sea in the boat. But in ourpresent position, sought and pursued by malignant human beings, bentupon taking our lives, and who might at that moment be prowling near,there was something more fearful than any peril from the elements, oreven the dread of starvation itself.
But the night passed without disturbance or alarm of any kind, and inthe morning we began to indulge the hope that Arthur had overrated thestrength of the feelings by which Atollo was actuated, and to shake offin some degree the profound depression of the preceding evening.
With the abatement of our fears and the partial return of tranquillityof mind, we became more sensible to the demands of hunger. Max andMorton ventured a little way into the adjoining forest in search ofbirds, and returned in less than half an hour with about a dozenpigeons, which they had knocked down with sticks and stones. Arthur hadin the meantime caught quite a string of the yellow fish which had soperseveringly rejected all Max's overtures a couple of days since.Morton then kindled a fire to cook our food, though we felt somehesitation about this, being aware that the smoke might betray us to thesavages, if they should happen to be at the time in the neighbourhood.But Max declared that falling into their hands was a fate preferable tostarvation, and that rather than eat raw fish and birds, he would incurthe risk of discovery by means of the fire. In the absence of cookingutensils, we hastily scooped out a Polynesian oven, and covered thebottom with a layer of heated stones, upon which the food, carefullywrapped in leaves, was deposited: another layer of hot stones was placedon top, and the whole then covered with fresh leaves and earth. This isthe method adopted by the natives for baking bread-fruit and fish, andwith the exception of the trouble and delay involved, it is equal to anything that civilised ingenuity has devised for similar purposes, fromthe old-fashioned Dutch-oven to the most recent style of "improvedkitchen ranges", with which I am acquainted. The heat being equallydiffused throughout the entire mass, and prevented from escaping by thewrapping of leaves and earth, the subject operated upon, whether fish,fowl, or vegetable, is thoroughly and uniformly cooked.
Max had just opened the oven, and was busily engaged in taking out anddistributing the contents, while the rest of us were gathered in a grouparound the spot, when Eiulo suddenly uttered a shrill cry, and springingup, stood gazing towards the west side of the brook, as if paralysed byterror.
Looking up, we saw two natives standing at the edge of the wood quietlywatching us. One of them I at once recognised as the lithe and activeleader, whom I had seen upon the shore in swift pursuit of thefugitives.
Our first impulse, was to spring at once into the Aoa, according to theunderstanding to which we had partially come, as to what we were to doif discovered. But a second glance showed that there were but twoenemies in sight, and as Arthur, to whom we looked for an example, gaveno signal for such a retreat, we hastily snatched up our weapons, andplaced ourselves beside him.
Atollo's quick eye--for it was he--ran from one to another of us, untilit rested upon Eiulo, when coming down to the margin of the brook, hepronounced his name in a low, clear voice, and beckoned him with hishand to come over to him.
Pale and trembling, like a bird under the charm of the serpent, Eiulomade two or three uncertain steps towards him, as if about mechanicallyto obey the summons: then, as Johnny seized the skirt of his wrapper,and called out to him, "not to mind that wicked man," he paused, andlooked round upon us with a glance, half appealing, half inquiring,which said more plainly than words--"Must I go?--Can you protect me--andwill you?"
Arthur now stepped before him, and addressed some words to Atollo in hisown language, the purport of which I could only guess.
The other listened attentively without evincing any surprise, and thenmade answer, speaking rapidly and by jerks as it were, and scanning usall the while with the eye of a hawk.
When he had finished, Arthur turned to us. "This man requires us, hesaid, to give up Eiulo to him; he claims him as his brother's son, andsays that he wishes to convey him home to Tewa. He promises to leave usunmolested if we comply, and threatens us with death if we refuse: yousee it concerns us all--what do you say?"
Arthur was very pale. He looked towards Morton, who said nothing, butstood leaning against one of the pillars of the Aoa, with his eyessteadfastly bent upon the ground.
"Ask Eiulo," said Browne, "if this man is his uncle."
The question was accordingly put, and the trembling boy answeredhesitatingly, that he did not know--but he believed that he was.
"Ask him," pursued Browne, "if he is willing to go with him."
Arthur put the question formally, and Eiulo, grasping his arm, whileJohnny still held fast by his skirt, answered with a shudder that he wasafraid to go with him.
"Ask him why he is afraid," continued Browne.
The answer was, that he believed his uncle would kill him.
These questions were put loud enough to be easily heard by Atollo, andArthur deliberately repeated the answers first in Tahitian, and then inEnglish.
"Well," said Browne, "I am now quite ready with an answer, as far as Iam concerned. I never will consent to give up the poor boy to bemurdered. He is old enough to choose for himself and I think it wouldbe right to resist the claim even of a father, under suchcircumstances."
"Is that to be our answer?" said Arthur, looking round.
It was a bold stand to take, situated as we were, and we felt it to beso; but it seemed a hard and cruel thing to yield up our littlecompanion to the tender mercies of his unnatural relative. Though therewere pale cheeks and unsteady hands among us, as we signified ourconcurrence in this refusal, (which we all did except Morton, whoremained silent), yet we experienced a strange sense of relief when itwas done, and we stood committed to the result.
Arthur now motioned Johnny and Eiulo to climb into the tree, thenturning to Atollo, he said that as the boy preferred remaining with us,we were resolved to protect him to the extent of our ability.
By this time we had somewhat regained our self-possession, and stoodgrasping our weapons, though not anticipating any immediate attack.Much to my surprise, Atollo had during the conference manifested neitheranger nor impatience. When Arthur announced our refusal to comply withhis demand, he merely noticed with a smile our belligerent attitude, andadvanced into the brook as if about to come over to the islet, swinginga long curving weapon carelessly by his side, and followed by the othersavage.
Browne, holding his club in his left hand, and a heavy stone in hisright, stood beside me, breathing hard through his set teeth.
"The foolish heathen!" exclaimed he, "does he expect to subdue us by hislooks,--that he comes on in this fashion?"
It did, in fact, seem as though he supposed that we would not dare tocommence an attack upon him, for he continued to advance, eyeing ussteadily. Just as he gained the middle of the brook, three or four moresavages came out of the forest, and one of them ran towards him, with anexclamation which caused him to turn at once, and on hearing what theother eagerly uttered, with gestures indicating some intelligence of anurgent and exciting character, he walked back to the edge of the wood,and joined the group gathered there.
A moment afterwards, Atollo, attended by the messenger, as he appearedto be, plunged into the forest, first giving to the others, who remainedupon the shore, some direction, which from the accompanying gesture,appeared to have reference to ourselves.
Johnny and Eiulo had already climbed into the Aoa, whither we stoodready to follow, at a moment's notice. The group of savages opposite usseemed to have no other object in view than to prevent our escape, forthey did not offer to molest us. Soon after Atollo disappeared, twomore of his party came out of the wood, and I immediately recognised oneof them, who walked stiffly and with difficulty, seeming but just ableto drag himself about, as t
he scarred savage with whom Browne had had sodesperate a struggle. We now thought it prudent to effect our retreatinto the tree without further loss of time, but at the first movementwhich we made for that purpose, the natives set up a shout, and dashedinto the water towards us, probably thinking that we were about to tryto escape by getting to the further shore.
They pressed us so closely that we had not a moment to spare, and hadbarely climbed beyond their reach when they sprang after us. One activefellow caught Browne, (who was somewhat behind the rest), by the foot,and endeavoured to drag him from the trunk he was climbing, in which hewould probably have succeeded, had not Max let fall a leaf-basket ofstones directly upon his head, which stretched him groaning upon theground, with the blood gushing from his mouth and nose.
At this moment Atollo himself, with the rest of his party, joined ourbesiegers below, and at a signal from him, the greater part of themimmediately commenced scaling the tree at different points. Ourassailants numbered not more than thirteen or fourteen, includingBrowne's former foe, who did not seem to be in a condition to climb, andthe man recently wounded, who was still lying upon the ground,apparently lifeless. We felt that we were now irrevocably committed toa struggle of life and death, and we were fully determined to fightmanfully, and to the very last. We stationed ourselves at nearly equaldistances among the branches, armed with the bludgeons previously placedthere, so as to be able to hasten to any point assailed, and to assistone another as occasion should require. The savages yelled andscreeched hideously, with the hope of intimidating us, but without anyeffect, and we kept watching them quietly, and meeting them so promptlyat every point, that they were uniformly obliged to quit their hold anddrop to the ground before they could effect a lodgment among thebranches. Occasionally we addressed a word of encouragement to oneanother, or uttered an exclamation of triumph at the discomfiture ofsome assailant more than ordinarily fierce and resolute. But with thisexception, we were as quiet as if industriously engaged in some ordinaryoccupation. This lasted for full fifteen minutes, without our enemieshaving gained the slightest advantage. Atollo himself had not, thusfar, taken any part in the attack, except to direct the others.
At length, he fixed his eye upon Browne, who stepping about in the topof the tree with an agility that I should not have expected from him,and wielding a tremendous club, had been signally successful inrepelling our assailants. After watching him a moment, he suddenlycommenced climbing a large stem near him, with the marvellous rapiditythat characterised all his movements. Browne had just tumbled one ofthe savages to the ground howling with pain, from a crushing blow uponthe wrist, and he now hastened to meet this more formidable foe. But hewas too late to prevent him from getting into the tree, and he hadalready gained a footing upon the horizontal branches, when Brownereached the spot. Atollo was without any weapon, and this was adisadvantage that might have rendered all his strength and addressunavailing, had not the foliage and the lesser branches of the tree,interfered with the swing of the long and heavy weapon of his adversary,and the footing being too insecure to permit it to be used with fulleffect. As Browne steadied himself and drew back for a sweeping blow,Atollo shook the boughs upon which he stood, so violently, as greatly tobreak the force of the stroke, which he received upon his arm, andrushing upon him before he could recover his weapon, he wrested it fromhis grasp, and hurled him to the ground, where he was instantly seizedand secured by those below.
While Atollo, armed with Browne's club, advanced upon Max and Arthur,who were nearest him, several of his followers, taking advantage of thediversion thus effected, succeeded in ascending also, and in a fewmoments they were making their way towards us from all sides. Leavingthem to complete what he had so well begun, Atollo hastened towards thespot where Johnny and Eiulo were endeavouring to conceal themselvesamong the foliage. Though now outnumbered, and hopeless of success, wecontinued a desperate resistance. The ferocity of our adversaries wasexcited to the highest pitch. There was scarcely one of them who hadnot received some injury in the attack, sufficiently severe toexasperate, without disabling him. We had used our clubs with suchvigour and resolution in opposing their attempts at climbing, that everysecond man at least, had a crushed hand or a bruised head, and all hadreceived more or less hard blows. Smarting with pain, and exulting inthe prospect of speedy and ample revenge, they pressed upon us withyells and cries that showed that there was no mercy for us if taken.But even at that trying moment our courage did out fail or falter. Westood together near the centre of the tree, where the branches werestrong and the footing firm. Only a part of our assailants had weapons,and, perceiving the utter desperation with which we fought, they drewback a little distance until clubs could be passed up from below, andthus afforded us a momentary respite. But we well knew that it was onlymomentary, and that in their present state of mind, these men woulddispatch us with as little scruple as they would mischievous wild beastshunted and brought to bay.
"Nothing now remains," said Morton, "but to die courageously: we havedone every thing else that we could do."
"It does appear to have come to that at last," said Arthur. "If I didunwisely in advising resistance, and perilling your lives as well as myown, I now ask your forgiveness; on my own account I do not regret it."
"There is nothing to forgive," answered Morton, "you did what youbelieved was right, and if I counselled otherwise, you will do me thejustice to believe that it was because I differed with you in judgment,and not because I shrunk from the consequences."
"I never did you the injustice to think otherwise," answered Arthur.
"If our friends could but know what has become of us," said Max,brushing away a tear, "and how we died here, fighting manfully to thelast, I should feel more entirely resigned; but I cannot bear to thinkthat our fate will never be known."
"Here they come once more," said Arthur, as the savages, having nowobtained their weapons, advanced to finish their work, "and now, may Godhave mercy upon us!"
We all joined devoutly in Arthur's prayer, for we believed that deathwas at hand. We then grasped our weapons, and stood ready for theattack.
At this instant a long and joyous cry from Eiulo reached our ears. Forseveral minutes he had been eluding the pursuit of Atollo with awonderful agility, partly the effect of frantic dread. Just when itseemed as though he could no longer escape, he suddenly uttered thiscry, repeating the words, "Wakatta! Wakatta!"--then springing to theground, he ran towards the brook, but was intercepted and seized by oneof the savages below.
There was an immediate answer to Eiulo's cry, in one of the deepest andmost powerful voices I had ever heard, and which seemed to come from thewest shore of the stream. Looking in that direction I saw, andrecognised at once, the lion-like old man, who had fled along the beach,pursued by Atollo and his party. Several men, apparently his followers,stood around him. He now bounded across the stream, towards the spotwhere Eiulo was still struggling with his captor, and calling loudly forhelp.
Atollo instantly sprang to the ground, and flew to the spot; then, witha shrill call, he summoned his men about him. Eiulo's outcry, and theanswer which had been made to it, seemed to have produced a startlingeffect upon Atollo and his party. For the moment we appeared to beentirely forgotten.
"This must be Wakatta," said Arthur eagerly, "it can be no other. Thereis hope yet." With a rapid sign for us to follow, he glided down thenearest trunk, and, darting past Atollo's party, he succeeded in themidst of the confusion, in reaching the old man and his band, who stoodupon the shore of the islet. Morton and I were equally successful.Max, who came last, was observed, and an effort made to intercept him.But dodging one savage, and bursting from the grasp of another, whoseized him by the arm as he was running at full speed, he also joinedus, and we ranged ourselves beside Wakatta and his men. Browne, Eiulo,and Johnny, were prisoners.
It now seemed as though the conflict was about to be renewed upon moreequal terms. Our new and unexpected allies numbered seven, includi
ngtheir venerable leader. On the other hand, our adversaries were buttwelve, and of these, several showed evident traces of the severe usagethey had recently received, and were hardly in a condition for a freshstruggle.
There was a pause of some minutes, during which the two parties stoodconfronting each other, with hostile, but hesitating looks. Wakattathen addressed a few words to Atollo, in the course of which he severaltimes repeated Eiulo's name, pointing towards him at the same time, andappearing to demand that he should be released.
The reply was an unhesitating and decided refusal, as I easily gatheredfrom the look and manner that accompanied it.
Wakatta instantly swung up his club, uttering a deep gutturalexclamation, which seemed to be the signal for attack, for his peopleraised their weapons and advanced as if about to rush upon the others.We had in the meantime provided ourselves with clubs, a number of whichwere scattered about upon the ground, and we prepared to assist theparty with whom we had become so strangely associated.
But at a word and gesture from Atollo, Wakatta lowered his weapon again,and the men on both sides paused in their hostile demonstrations, whiletheir leaders once more engaged in conference.
Atollo now seemed to make some proposition to Wakatta, which was eagerlyaccepted by the latter. Each then spoke briefly to his followers, whouttered cries of the wildest excitement, and suddenly became silentagain. The two next crossed together to the opposite shore, and whilewe stood gazing in a bewildered manner at these proceedings, andwondering what could be their meaning, the natives also crossed thebrook, and formed a wide circle around their chiefs, on an open grassyspace at the edge of the forest. We still kept with Wakatta's party,who arranged themselves in a semicircle behind him.
"What does this mean!" inquired Morton of Arthur, "it looks as thoughthey were about to engage in single combat."
"That is in fact their purpose," answered Arthur.
"And will that settle the difficulty between these hostile parties?"said Morton, "will there not be a general fight after all, whicheverleader is victor?"
"I rather think not," answered Arthur, "the party whose champion falls,will be too much discouraged to renew the fight--they will probably runat once."
"Then our situation will be no better than before, in case the oldwarrior should prove unfortunate. Can't you speak to his followers andget them to stand ready to attack their enemies if their chief falls."
"I will try what I can do," answered Arthur, "and let us be ready to actwith them."
Meantime the two principal parties had completed their preparations forthe deadly personal combat, in which they were about to engage. Atollotook from one of his followers a long-handled curving weapon, the innerside of which was lined with a row of sharks' teeth, and then placedhimself in the middle of the open space, first carefully kicking out ofthe way a number of fallen branches which strewed the ground. Hismanner was confident, and clearly bespoke an anticipated triumph.
Wakatta was armed with the massive club, set with spikes of iron-wood,which he carried when I first saw him upon the shore. He advanceddeliberately towards his adversary, until they stood face to face, andwithin easy reach of one another's weapons.
The men on both sides remained perfectly quiet, eyeing every movement oftheir respective champions with the intensest interest. In thebreathless silence that prevailed, the gentle murmur of the brooksliding over its pebbly bed, and even the dropping of a withered leaf,could be heard distinctly.
Glancing over to the islet, I saw that Browne, although his handsappeared to be bound behind him, had rolled himself to the edge of thebrook, from which he was watching what was going forward.
Each of the two combatants regarded the other with the air of a manconscious that he is about to meet a formidable adversary; but inAtollo's evil eye, there gleamed an assured and almost exultingconfidence, that increased my anxiety for his aged opponent; his manner,nevertheless, was cautious and wary, and he did not suffer the slightestmovement of Wakatta to escape him.
They stood opposite each other, neither seeming to be willing tocommence the conflict, until Wakatta, with an impatient gesture, warnedhis adversary to defend himself, and then swinging up his ponderous clubin both hands, aimed a blow at him, which the other avoided by springinglightly backwards.
And now the fight commenced in earnest. Atollo made no attempt to guardor parry the blows levelled at him--which would indeed have been idle--but with astonishing agility and quickness of eye, he sprang aside, orleaped back, always in time to save himself. He kept moving around theold man, provoking his attacks by feints and half-blows, but making noserious attack himself. There was a cool, calculating expression uponhis sharp and cruel countenance, and he did not appear to be half soearnest or excited as his antagonist. I saw plainly that the wilysavage was endeavouring to provoke the other to some careless orimprudent movement, of which he stood ready to take instant and fataladvantage.
At length some such opportunity as he was waiting for, was afforded him.The old warrior, growing impatient of this indecisive manoeuvring,began to press his adversary harder, and to follow him up with anapparent determination to bring matters to a speedy issue. Atolloretreated before him, until he was driven to the edge of the brook,where he paused, as if resolved to make a stand. Wakatta now seemed tothink that he had brought his foe to bay, and whirling round his club,he delivered a sweeping blow full at his head with such fury, that whenAtollo avoided it by dropping upon one knee, the momentum of theponderous weapon swung its owner half round, and before he had time torecover himself, his watchful adversary, springing lightly up, broughtdown his keen-edged weapon full upon his grey head, inflicting a ghastlywound.
And now Atollo's whole demeanour changed: the time for caution andcoolness was passed; the moment for destroying his disabled foe hadcome. While his followers set up an exulting yell, he darted forward tofollow up his advantage: the triumphant ferocity of his look is not tobe described. Wakatta was yet staggering from the effect of the blowupon his head, when he received a second, which slightly gashed his leftshoulder, and glancing from it, laid open his cheek. But to myastonishment, the strong old man, cruelly wounded as he was, seemed tobe neither disabled nor dismayed. The keen-edged, but light weapon ofAtollo was better calculated to inflict painful wounds than mortalinjuries. Either blow, had it been from a weapon like that of Wakatta,would have terminated the combat.
Before Atollo could follow up his success by a third and decisivestroke, the old warrior had recovered himself and though bleedingprofusely, he looked more formidable than ever. He at once resumed theoffensive, and with such vigour, that the other, with all his surprisingactivity, now found it difficult to elude his rapid but steady attacks.He was now thoroughly aroused. Atollo seemed gradually to becomeconfused and distressed, as he was closely followed around the circlewithout an instant's respite being allowed him. At last he was forcedinto the stream, where he made a desperate stand, with the manifestdetermination to conquer or perish there. But Wakatta rushed headlongupon him, and holding his club in his right hand, he received upon hisleft arm, without any attempt to avoid it, a blow which Atollo aimed athis head: at the same instant he closed, and succeeded in seizing hisadversary by the wrist. Once in the old man's grasp, he was a merechild, and in spite of his tremendous efforts, his other hand was soonmastered, and he was thrown to the ground. It was a horrible scene thatfollowed. I wished that the life of the vanquished man could have beenspared. But his excited foe had no thought of mercy, and shortening hisclub, he held him fast with one hand, and despatched him at a singleblow with the other.