The Island School — page 216: what you’re looking at

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

a 5 ef Fa bay Wes ee it ide va) aa Te Tae es eT ‘ 3) Lyle Je RALLYING HIS But the great fact remained, they had got the eable ashore, and there they piled upon the end of at such a. mass of big stones, quite a cairn, and so wound the smaller rope about, that it seemed next door to impossible for the “ Orsini” t7 give them the slip. By this time the sun was dipping for the night, and darkness would soon be there. So they hurried back to the vessel to get some creature comforts— food and drink and the means of obtaining fire. Lal was delighted when he came across a small oil-stove, something like the modern “ Beatrice” pattern, on which they could heat water and do their cooking without creating a flaring light that could be seen at a distance of a hundred yards, especially when it was screened by a small bank of sand erected round it, at the distance of a foot or so. Having slept so long during the day, they were not disposed for sleep during the early part of the night. Indeed, they kept vigil until the small hours of the morning were far advanced. It was an experience they were never hkely to for- set—the stillness of night, the faint lapping of the sea, the refulgent stars, the utter loneliness of their position, combined to fix the time indelibly on their memory. They talked in whispers of home and friends, of their recent experiences on the island, and then told stories they had read in books to each other—of travellers lost in jungles and castaway seamen, not forgetting that dear old impossible Robinson Crusoe. Once near the midnight hour they heard a far-off ery, but whether of man, bird, or beast they could not tell. At last they slept again on this the second night since they left their companions of the castle, but only for an hour or two. Lal was aroused by a hand upon nhl arm gently shaking him. It was Stiff who was kneeling by him. “Don’t get up,” he said, “but just look along the shore and tell me what you see on the top of the furthermost rock.” “It looks like a small monument,” said Lal after staring at the object, which was more than a mile away, “or astone post, or the trunk of a tree stripped of its branches.” “Tt is neither one nor the other,” said Stiff, “but aman. Isaw him come to the top of the cliff, rising, as he would seem to do at that distange, out of the ground.” “He is looking this way,” said Lal “Sothink. But it isn’t easy to say. There he goes, down again.” _“ Perhaps he is coming this way.” “Can't say. He can’t be seen against the dark rock if he is. What shall we do?” J oe f y vy if id e ’ a 7 i J AMT Re Coe LAY yt ve ii ““ Keep ashore, of course, and see if he comes this way. We had better hide somewhere.” ““Wouldn’t aboard the ship be safer ?” “Not if he has others with him. We should be | boxed up on board, and they could lay us by the heels as they willed at any moment. No. If that fellow comes along and turns outto be a Spaniard, we had better—what shall we do >” “Tf he is alone,” was the cool reply, “we had better tackle him.” They retired to a short distance from the sea and hid themselves among the rocks, from whence they occasionally peeped forth. For some time they saw nothing. Half an hour had elapsed, or it might bea little more, when Lal suddenly, after one of the peeps out, exclaimed: “Here he comes. Itis one man alone. Get hold of a handy-sized stone, and when he is near enough let fly at him. Hit him in the wind; it will be better than killmg him. We ought to be able to take him prisoner.” - CHAPTER XCVIII. RALLYING HIS FORCES.—A WOMAN IN BONDAGE. WMA NCAMPED upon the my | old spot by the mouth of the chine, the > Spaniards gambled i i ie ee and drank and swore “AZ| iz as they had done , eae Mil) previous to their route Y ie \ to the castle. Hard Va i ) by, walking to and fro, was their chief, Hspardo. Reonardo, i in close conversation with one of his most trusted followers, a tall, lithe young man, attired m the dress of an Andalusian peasant. “Lorenzo,” said Reonardo, “I know not what to make of the puny forces we are contending with. Excepting a mere handful of men, they are boys— children.” ‘Lorenzo shrugged his shoulders. « Chief,” he said, “ they must have allies outside the castle—men armed.” “A whole day,” said Reonardo, “ we have scouted, and seen no living man. We have even ventured to bury the dead, and no one has hindered us.” “For all that,” insisted Lorenzo, “ we were fired upon that night.” “When you fled at the sound of some wretched piece of ordnance the cubs have obtained possession of.” “At the sound, e ili i Ml . indeed!” returned Lorenzo. 00 ( @f @ ) m CS co