The Island School — page 313: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

; 6 bey eet i uk VAX oF Nau gi bee ks 147") yi ry ¥ Ah Ay ti i Honea cit isi i my a ay Ruthie yy? u f 1 TTS Tne Ve lan AALS aN SN Na fF NAN a , LA "we 1 hi \ 4 \ P i “ Eton ought to be SntaHed F tl Jim 45 Moron : “So far Iam,” he replied. | be to shell the camp below.” He ealled his rocket-firing shelling, and no doubt ae something of that nature in it. b task he was engaged upon when Chorker vanished a the wood. Surrounded by an admiring group of friends, b Morse’ fired his first shell. Down it rushed hissing & screaming, but when it was still a hundred feet «from the camp it burst. | eX was afraid of that,” he said; “the fuse of the a est must be altered. if" i He had four more left, and he intimated that he > would rather do the work of altermg the fuses alone. A “Tt is a habit I’ve got into. The presence of other i _ people makes me nervous. Go down tothe ramparts, VG oe Jim, you might kill the time by seeing what our _ friends are doing.” 4 By “They are buzzing about like a lot of bees,” said Jim, who had been watching them through his glass. By ‘He closed it, and with the rest, a score or so of Ee men and boys, went down to the Ss a os *T like the idea of Morse being nervous,” | B ‘Felton. : i _ “What is there in that ?” asked Martin. : “ He is as brave as a Jion.” a “So he may be, and yet nervous. Nervousness is as ae another term for sensitiveness. A nervous man > when he gets over the first shock is very often a man ae of steel.” “That is true enough, ” said Sleery, the carpenter. | ae a « eT had a brother-in-law whom we all thought a “Ne _ coward, even his sister, my poor wife who is dead and | gone. She used to say that her brother hadn’t an oe as ounce of pluck in him, and when he ‘listed we all eB _ asked how long 1t would be before he deserted. None of us ever dreamt he would fight.” _ “And did-he?” asked Jim, as he surveyed the ____ disturbed camp below. | “He fought against the hill tribes in India,” said “gH _ Sleery, “and for doing something uncommonly brave 4 sare some officers’ lives at the risk of his own— = a he got the Victoria Cross.” * hoe ~“T can well believe it,” said Martin. b “That lot below,” said Jim, “doesn’t know what to o Bente of the shells. They are looking up here as if in expectation of another.” (Which they will get i in due time,” said Felton; 6 ‘there it goes!” - Morse could not have wasted much time in altering the fuses. The second shell pitched right over the * 4 | camp into one of the boats near the shore, eRplouins as it struck. a ig BR remarked | mapidly, not a vestige ne the boat was to be seen. , “My next move will That was the | would have. i. - When the smoke had cleared away, as it did eds die cliff for ae — ae his thro: ugl: ‘the class, ‘by the aid of which he : Gates hp hon ‘ very expression of terror on the faces of the men, aN ee “Shall we go up again ?” suggested Terry. eae Be “No,” replied Jim. “ Morse, if he oe ie Tuy called. Perhaps he ee be tg | alone.” j ae There were three more salle to fire, and thee 1 9 departure was waited for with breathless interest. bes Presently a shot was fired and pitched right. a into the heart of the camp, bowling over one of the tents, and shooting ahead to the verge of the sea, fc where it ea ode Vy ea “Improving,” muttered Jim. “Morse will get one right home presently.” | | Re : There was a delay of ten minutes ere the next was fired, and it went almost direct to the mark, striking — the enenind on the verge of the camp, and, exploding, ne a: it tore a tent to fragments, in addition to scooping a out a deep hole, twenty feet across, in the sand. — i “What is the idea of shooting now?” asked Rain- ri a stone. : i Me ‘To wreck the stores of the enemy,” replied Finn, ‘ a “Morse did not tell me so, but I judge that is his. a aim” aa : The last shell was fired, and it found a home: — : right in the heart of the camp, where it burst, and. scattered the tents and stores in every direction. % Only three of the tents remained erect, and one of 3 them belonged to Lucia di Valo. Pn There was a great cheering from the ramparts, pak 3 it ceased suddenly when a woman was seen to emerge from a tent. It was Lucia di Valo. She stood for a moment looking up towards the ‘ castle. Then, with a cesture of contempt, she slowly walked across the open ground between the wrecked, camp and the cliff, and disappeared. | “ Plucky,” said Martin. ea “ A woman’s pra said Sleery. ath ee ‘“ Whatever it is,” remarked Jim, as he closed the glass, “she will gain her point, and that is to obtain = i unswerving influence over her men. | They fled, she remained, and her coolness will inspire them. As I i) said once before, there 1s all the courage of a Joanof Arc in her.” 7 hy sate i “ And like the ancient Joan,” said Morse, as he emerged from the entrance to the bowers ‘She will have to succumb to a superior power.” FS ‘‘T think we shall win the day, but there is a ee: of to be done yet. By the way,” he added, in an under- tone, “I forgot to feed the lions this morning.” RN A His words went no further than Jim’s ear, and he at once volunteered to go to the three omies, indmg | in the cave, | Lia ad sll t es a