Across the Spanish Main, Harry Collingwood [100 books to read txt] 📗

done so had it not been for the fortunate circumstance of Roger being sent aloft.

He threw another glance to seaward, to see if he could count the canoes, and found that there must be quite a hundred of them; then he took a survey of the brushwood inland, and found that his suspicions as to savages being present there were only too true. At his greater elevation he found himself looking down upon quite a horde of them armed with spears, bows and arrows, and clubs. They were advancing slowly through the bush, and their stealthy movement forward had occasioned the swaying to and fro of the foliage that Roger first, and Harry afterwards, had observed.

Roger could not tell whether or not the natives had seen him, and were aware that they were discovered, but hurried down from the main-top with such speed that, when he had reached the last ratline of the rigging, he lost his footing and fell on his back on the sand at the very feet of Cavendish.

Fortunately for him the sand was soft, and he was not much hurt, though a good deal shaken. Pulling himself together, he got on his feet and at once told Cavendish what he had seen.

There was no time to lose; a boat was promptly sent away with messengers to the two vessels afloat, the Good Adventure and the Elizabeth, to warn them to be in readiness; and the trumpet sounded for the men to cease work and muster. Arms were hurriedly served out; men were stationed at the guns, which the captain was now very glad he had loaded and arranged according to Harry’s advice; and very soon they were as ready for the attack as was possible in the short time at their disposal.

Meanwhile the two vessels afloat had lifted their anchors, and were standing closer in, the better to defend their now helpless consorts.

It was evident that the natives in the bush were waiting for their friends in the canoes to approach closer before they attacked, and this hesitation saved the English the loss of a number of men; for had the savages attacked while the men were at work on the ships, the latter would have been taken at a serious disadvantage, and the loss would have been very heavy.

As the first canoe made its appearance round the point, a perfect pandemonium of savage and ear-splitting yells arose from the bush, and a loud noise of crashing and crackling announced that the enemy there were coming along at their utmost speed. The outcry was answered from seaward as the canoes came pouring into the inlet.

“Now, stand steady, lads!” shouted the captain. “As they come in upon us give them a round from the guns, and load again if you have time; then a volley from the muskets; and after that we must trust to our good swords. But keep cool, and do not throw away a shot.”

As he finished speaking the enemy burst from the bush like a swarm of angry bees, and charged at full speed at the little band of white men opposed to them; whereupon a perfect storm of grape-shot, old nails, rusty bolts, pieces of scrap-iron, and even stones, with which the cannon had been hastily loaded, went hissing through their close ranks; and, from the piercing screams and yells of agony that at once arose from them, the execution must have been terrible. Yet they poured out, checked only for a moment.

“Fire again!” roared the captain; and the muskets crashed out in a rattling volley, the bullets mowing the natives down in swathes.

This second discharge checked them and caused them to waver; but a tall man, gaily bedecked with feathers, instantly sprang from the ranks, and, haranguing them, called to his comrades to follow him, he himself leading the charge.

They soon reached the guns, and, leaping over them before they could again be loaded, were at once among the English, who had now to fight for dear life.

Howling with fury, they stabbed and slashed and struck with spear and club; and from the other side of the little circle came a shower of well-placed arrows, and many a brave seaman fell writhing his life out on the sand, which by this time was assuming a sinister crimson hue.

Roger and Harry, each armed with an excellent sword borrowed from the ship’s armoury, were here, there, and everywhere, but always together, doing much execution, and repeatedly saving each other’s lives.

Cavendish, in the front of his men, swept his long blade from side to side, and as it fell, flashing meteor-like in the brilliant sunshine, the naked warriors sank before it in heaps.

Now from seaward came the crashing discharges of heavy guns, followed by renewed shrieks and cries, as the Elizabeth and the Good Adventure poured their broadsides into the closely-packed canoes.

“God grant,” muttered Cavendish, “that those other vessels of ours may keep the canoes off; for if these fellows are reinforced, we can never hold out against them.”

But nobody had time to see how the other action was progressing, for all were too busy with the work in hand, which was the task of defending their own lives.

Twice had the gallant little band of Englishmen driven the savages back over the barricade formed by the ships’ guns, and twice had the enemy, led by the tall savage, forced their way in again.

At last, seeing clearly that all hinged upon this man’s downfall, Cavendish made many strenuous efforts to reach him; but for some time he failed, owing to the press. At length, however, an opening occurred, and Cavendish, rushing forward, stood face to face with his arch-enemy.

The chief was a man of mighty stature, and evidently of enormous strength, standing nearly seven feet high; and at first sight the disparity between the two adversaries seemed enormous. But what the English captain lacked in height he made up in strength and agility.

Sword in hand he circled round and round his gigantic foe, watching like a cat for an opportunity to strike a deadly blow.

But the savage took the initiative, and, raising his spear, darted it at the Englishman with all his force. Cavendish, however, was not to be caught so easily, and, taking the shaft of the spear with the edge of his sword, he parried the thrust, and the weapon merely ripped his shirt instead of piercing his body.

Before the native could recover himself, and guard his body, the English captain thrust with all his strength, quite unprepared for the wily savage’s next move.

Seemingly careless of the wound that he inflicted upon himself, the savage caught the keen blade of his adversary in his left hand, and, although the weapon lacerated his hand in a fearful manner, he succeeded in wresting it from the captain’s grasp, while, at the same time flinging away his spear, he seized Cavendish round the lower part of the body, lifted him clear of the ground, and dashed him to the earth, himself falling with his antagonist.

The pair rolled upon the ground, each striving to obtain a grip of the other’s right arm, to prevent any other weapon being used. Now the savage and now the white man was uppermost, but at length, with a huge effort, Cavendish twisted himself from under his foe, and lay full-length on top of him, feeling for his dagger. The chief, however, had likewise seized a knife which hung at his girdle, and, before the captain could draw his weapon, he plunged his knife into Cavendish’s side.

The Englishman’s grasp relaxed, he slipped from his position, and lay upon his side, writhing on the sand. The native now rose to his knees and raised his arm to deal a fatal blow; but, even as that blow fell, a sword flashed through the air, and arm and knife fell to the ground together.

Roger, for it was he who had thus appeared in the nick of time, at once turned his sword and drove it through the heart of the chief, who rolled over lifeless at his feet. The young hero then raised his captain in his arms, and, staggering out of the press of the battle, laid him down out of sight behind a gun-carriage.

Meanwhile the vessels afloat in the bay had been giving a very good account of the enemy in the canoes. The natives, it was clear, had been watching, and, having seen the preparations for careening the ships, had hoped to find all four hauled up; in which case they would have secured an easy victory from force of numbers alone, as the ships would then have been unable to use their guns against the force in the canoes. But as it was they had to deal with two fully-prepared ships, and, after several fruitless attempts to board, were now hauling off with the remnant of their fleet, most of the canoes having already been destroyed by the broadsides from the Elizabeth and the Good Adventure.

The land force, seeing their companions in the canoes withdrawing, and also having lost their chieftain, now began to waver. Observing this, the English hastily formed up into line, and, with a loud cheer, charged the enemy afresh, hewing right and left with hearty goodwill.

This fierce rally proved altogether too much for the savages, and they broke and fled precipitately.

The English now rushed to their guns, and, hastily completing the loading which had been checked at the first onslaught of the enemy, gave the flying savages another dose of grape and canister that strewed the beach with dead and dying, and further hastened the flight of the survivors, who quickly vanished in the recesses of the thick bush.

The enemy thus disposed off, finally as they hoped, Roger and Harry went off to attend to the captain.

They found him sitting up. He averred that his hurt was only a flesh wound; and after asking for, and obtaining, a draught of water, the gallant fellow got on his feet and went off to survey the scene of carnage.

Over a hundred of the natives lay dead on the sands; and a number of wounded were seen crawling towards the brush, endeavouring to escape. They were allowed to go, as the English could not be burdened with wounded savages, and were indisposed to slay them in cold blood. There were twenty-three of the Englishmen who would never again answer the roll-call; and over forty wounded, who were conveyed on board the Good Adventure and the Elizabeth, afloat in the bay. The dead, both black and white, were, for health’s sake, immediately buried in the sand where they lay.

Cavendish, after having had his wound bound up, ordered a stockade to be at once built, and loopholed for guns and muskets, for their future defence, in the improbable event of the savages not having already received a severe enough lesson.

The seamen were now divided into two parties. One half of them were to continue the work of repairs and overhauling on the two vessels then careened, the Stag Royal and the Tiger, and the remaining half were to work upon the stockade.

Then, this matter arranged, Cavendish called Roger to him, and, first thanking him for his timely rescue and the saving of his life, he put the lad in command of the party who were to build the stockade.

Roger was also publicly thanked, in the presence of officers and men, for the warning he had given, which enabled the party to make their hasty preparations for the reception of the natives, without which the whole party on shore would most likely have been cut off to a man. And if the ships in the bay had not likewise been warned, it was quite within the bounds of possibility that they would have been boarded before the guns could have been loaded and brought to bear on the canoes; in which case there could be little doubt that the savages would have captured the vessels through sheer weight of