Page:The crater; or, Vulcan's peak.djvu/284

44 THE CRATER; an island that stretched away for miles, and which had formed the original range for the swine, after the changes that succeeded the eruption. It was composed of merely two long ship s planks, the passage being only some fifty or sixty feet in width. The governor, now, seldom ate with his people. He knew enough of human nature to understand that authority was best preserved by avoiding familiarity. Besides, there is, in truth, no association more unpleasant to those whose manners have been cultivated, than that of the table, with the rude and unrefined. Bridget, for instance, could hardly be expected to eat with the wives of the seamen ; and Mark naturally wished to eat with his own family. On that occasion he had taken his meal in the cabin of the Rancocus, as usual, and had come down to the awning to see that the hands turned-to as soon as they were through with their own breakfasts. Just as he was about to issue the necessary order, the air was filled with frightful yells, and a stream of savages poured out of an opening in the rocks, on to the plain of the " hog pasture," as the adjoin ing field was called, rushing forward in a body towards the crater. They had crept along under the rocks by follow ing a channel, and now broke cover within two hundred yards of the point they intended to assail. The governor behaved admirably on this trying occasion. He issued his orders clearly, calmly, and promptly. Call ing on Bigelow and Jones by name, he ordered them to withdraw the bridge, which could easily be done by haul ing over the planks by means of wheels that had long been fitted for that purpose. The bridge withdrawn, the chan nel, or harbour, answered all the purposes of a ditch; though the South Sea islanders would think but little of swimming across it. Of course, Waally s men knew no thing of this bridge, nor did they know of the existence of the basin between them and their prey. They rushed di rectly towards the ship-yard, and loud were their yells of disappointment when they found a broad reach of water still separating them from the whites. Naturally they looked for the point of connection ; but, by this time, thp planks were wheeled in, and the communication was sev ered. At this instant, Waally had all his muskets dis