The Frontier, May 1926 — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

ing after us like so many enraged wolves in sight of quarry. Twice I paused to wheel and fire my double-barreled pistols, Killifer also fired; but, for all we could tell in the darkness, our shots did not take ef- fect. On the contrary, the flashes of our pistols seemed only to serve in lo- cating us more nearly so that the an- swering shots whistled perilously close. Twice I was showered with sand from hits close to my heels, We had, of course, the advantage of a fair start; yet we had run but a short distance southward along the hard-packed sand below the high-tide mark when I heard one runner pound- ing along behind me and gaining with every step. He had an obstruction in one nostril which caused a_ shrill, whistling sound whenever he breathed rapidly; and I knew him for the man Martin. ~ All in vain were my efforts to leave him behind. He came up on me like an antelope, overhauling me, so to speak, hand over hand. I had not a shot left; at any minute I expected a pistol ball in the back. But he also had discharged his pistols, it appeared, for as he came up close behind me, he aimed a cut at me with his heavy cut- las. He panted as he struck, and the blade sung as it sliced through the air, I lunged forward barely in time; the point nicked my right shoulder and slashed a rent in the back of my shirt, The cut must have thrown him off his stride an instant, for he lost a bit of ground. But he soon regained it. And again he cut at me with all his strength, the blade fairly whistling in its vicious, downward whip. I avoided it only by a desperate leap aside, and the point seemed to miss my neck by a bare inch. Killifer, meantime, was a good ten feet in the lead. It was useless to call on him for assistance; we could not stop to engage the man for long, for his comrades were not far behind; so, realizing that another cut might reach the mark, I gained several steps by a terrific burst of speed. This lit- tle gain enabled me to grasp the muzzle of my musket in both hands. Then, as Martin closed in once. more, with his cutlas raised aloft, I wheeled and swung the gun with all my strength. Stock and cutlas met with a ringing crash. The hanger was knocked from his hand, and went sailing toward the treetops; and as his impetus carried THE DEVIL'S CALDRON him forward I raised my right foot and planted it savagely full in the stomach. He staggered backward, bent over, and gasped in agony. I gave him no chance to recover. Whip- ping the musket aloft, I brought every thew into play as I brought it down. The stock beat down his upflung arms, caught him fair, with a sickening crunch, on the side of the head, and broke off short. Martin struck the sands with a plop like that of a heavy- Jaden sack, A hoarse yell not twenty feet away, followed by another pistol shot, now lent me wings, and I flew along the sands once more after Killifer, throw- ing aside the useless barrel as I went. None of the remaining buccaneers overtook us. After a half dozen more futile shots, they gave over the pur- suit; and at last, panting and sobbing for breath, we reached the cavern in safety. “God!” cried Uncle George, throw- ing his arms around me. “God!” He seemed unable to find any other word to express his thankfulness for my escape, and nearly choked me in his embrace. Once we had regained our breath, our story was soon told. Thereupon the captain ordered immediate steps taken for defence against a possible attack, Angered by the death of Mar- tin and Latham, and excited with brandy, it seemed altogether likely that they would be upon us as soon as the moon had risen; so all muskets were loaded, cutlases and pistols laid ready to hand, and six of us posted at the barricade. O’Donnell, who had suffered a deep gash on the head, and the negro, Sam, were told off to aid the skipper in reloading. How anxiously we peered into the darkness you may well imagine. The two deaths had left Gentry with twenty-three men; he was more than likely to use eighteen or twenty in the attack; and we were now nine in num- ber. The list included Johannsen, Killifer, the judge, my uncle, the skip- per, the negro slave, O’Donnell, a sea- man named Suggs, and me. “Vun ting,” said the captain. “Ve can now count on all here. Iff dey gome, aim goot, und I know ve lick ; em ¥ To prevent being silhouetted against the firelight, the skipper had reduced the embers to a few coals. But, when the moon came up and bathed the slope before ts in a sheen of beautiful sil- ver, we saw no sign of movement. 28 Nor were we disturbed during the next two weary hours, “I guess id iss he figgers to get der dreasure abort first,” said the captain, then. Forthwith the fire was rekind- led, and we were divided into two watches—Johannsen, Killifer, Sam, and I in the one, and the judge, Uncle George, Suggs and O’Donnell in the other. My uncle’s watch was left on guard, with one sentry posted, and we lay down to sleep. About four in the morning the cap- tain roused all hands. “Surbrise iss der t’ing,” he declared, and outlined briefly a daring plan. The mutineers, he reasoned, would do one of two things—attack us, or go for the treasure. In either case he proposed to get in the first telling blow. To do this, he now ordered us to take two muskets and two pistols apiece, and follow him. We were soon trooping after him, munching a breakfast of raisins and cheese as we marched. The sky overhead was still dark as, pitch, but in the western fringe of that black bowl hung the morning moon of the tropics, a great round yellow disk,' resembling a lighted port-hole in a solid wall of ebony. It gave light enough for us to pick our way rapidly through the palms above the tide mark; and within a half hour we had found a position in the thickets over-, looking the anchorage and the river’s mouth, We did not sight a single pi- rate on the way; for only the smoul- dering embers of their fire remained, and apparently all had gone aboard ship. “Not a man shall fire till I gifs der vord,” said the captain, “If dey pulls in for der shore, dot means dey vill attack, If dey pulls py der river, dot means treasure. Vateffer der case, ve haf plendy time to fire und get back py der cavern.” SSS) E HAD not long to “Y wait. Soon the first fi flaming rays of the sun shot up, like a 4 great forest blaze, high into the west- ern sky behind us; soon the mists of the bay were rising and floating over the ridge on Blackbeard’s Boot; and soon the beautiful white ship was re- vealed on the smooth, clear water. A whistle blew aboard her; men were seen moving about her deck; and be- fore another half hour had passed by Gomicbooksacom