CHAPTER XX.
VARIOUS SUBJECTS TREATED OF, AND A GREAT FIGHT DETAILED.
It was the habit of Robin and his friends at this time, the weather being extremely fine and cool, to sit at the month of their cavern of an evening, chatting about the events of the day, or the prospects of the future, or the experiences of the past, while old Meerta busied herself preparing supper over a fire kindled on the ground.
No subject was avoided on these occasions, because the friends were harmoniously minded, in addition to which the sweet influences of mingled star-light and fire-light, soft air, and lovely prospect of land and sea—to say nothing of the prospect of supper—all tended to induce a peaceful and forbearing spirit.
"Well, now," said Robin, continuing a subject which often engaged their intellectual powers, "it seems to me simple enough."
"Simple!" exclaimed Johnson, with a half sarcastic laugh, "w'y, now, you an' the doctor 'ave tried to worrit that electricity into my brain for many months, off an' on, and I do believe as I 'm more muddled about it to-night than I was at the beginnin'."
"P'raps it 's because you hain't got no brains to work upon," suggested Slagg.
"P'r'aps it is," humbly admitted the seaman. "But look here, now, doctor," he added, turning to Sam with his brow knotted up into an agony of mental endeavour, and the forefinger of one hand thrust into the palm of the other,—"look here. You tells me that electricity ain't a substance at all."
"Yes, that 's so," assented Sam with a nod.
"Wery good. Now, then, if it ain't a substance at all, it's nothin'. An' if it's nothin', how can you go an' talk of it as somethin' an' give it a name, an' tell me it works the telegraph, an' does all manner of wonderful things?"
"But it does not follow that a thing must be nothing because it isn't a substance. Don't you see, man, that an idea is something, yet it is not a substance. Thought, which is so potent a factor in this world, is not a substance, yet it cannot be called nothing. It is a condition—it is the result of brain-atoms in action. Electricity is sometimes described as an 'invisible imponderable fluid,' but that is not quite correct, because a fluid is a substance. It is a better definition to say that electricity is a manifestation of energy—a result of substance in action."
"There, I 'm muddled again!" said Johnson, with a look of hopeless incapacity.
"Small blame to you, Johnson," murmured Slagg, who had done his best to understand, while Stumps sat gazing at the speakers with an expression of blank complacency.
"Look here, Johnson," said Sam, "you 've often seen men shaking a carpet, haven't you?"
"In coorse I have."
"Well, have you not observed the waves of the carpet that roll along it when shaken?"
"Yes, I have."
"What are these waves?"
"Well, sir, I should say they was the carpet," replied Johnson.
"No, the waves are not the carpet. When the waves reach the end of the carpet they disappear. If the waves were the carpet, the carpet would disappear. The same waves in a whip, soft and undulating though they be, result in a loud crack, as you know."
"Muddled again," said Johnson.
"Ditto," said Slagg.
"Why, I 'm not muddled a bit!" suddenly exclaimed Stumps, with a half-contemptuous laugh.
"Of coorse you 're not," retorted Slagg. "Brainless things never git into that state. You never heard of a turnip bein' muddled, did you?"
Stumps became vacant, and Sam went on.
"Well, you see, the waves are not substance. They are a condition—a result of atoms in motion. Now, when the atoms of a substance are disturbed by friction, or by chemical action, they get into a state of violent commotion, and try wildly to fly from, or to, each other. This effort to fly about is energy. When the atoms get into a very intense state of commotion they have a tendency to induce explosion, unless a way of escape is found—escape for the energy, not for the atoms. Now, when you cause chemical disturbance in an electric battery, the energy thus evolved is called electricity, and we provide a conductor of escape for it in the shape of a copper or other metal wire, which we may carry to any distance we please, and the energy runs along it, as the wave runs along the carpet, as long as you keep up the commotion in the battery among the excited atoms of copper and zinc."
"Mud—no, not quite. I have got a glimmer o' su'thin'," said Johnson.
"Ditto," said Slagg.
"Supper," said old Meerta.
"Ha! that 's the battery for me," cried Stumps, jumping up.
"Not a bad one either," said Robin, as they entered the cave; "alternate plates of beef and greens, steeped in some such acid as lemonade, cause a wonderful commotion in the atoms of the human body.,"
"True, Robin, and the energy thereby evolved," said Sam, "sometimes bursts forth in brilliant sparks of wit—to say nothing of flashes of absurdity."
"An' thunderin' stoopidity," added Slagg.
Further converse on the subject was checked at that time by what Sam termed the charging of the human batteries. The evening meal went on in silence and very pleasantly for some time, but before its close it was interrupted in an alarming manner by the sudden entrance of Letta with wild excitement in her eyes.
"Oh!" she cried, pointing back to the entrance of the cave, "a ship!—pirate ship coming!"
A bombshell could scarcely have produced greater effect. Each individual leaped up and darted out, flushing deep red or turning pale, according to temperament. They were not long in verifying the statement. A ledge of rocks concealed the entrance to the cavern from the sea. Over its edge could be seen the harbour in which they had found the vessel whose total destruction has been described; and there, sure enough, they beheld a similar vessel, though considerably smaller, in the act of furling her sails and dropping anchor. There could be no doubt as to her character, for although too distant to admit of her crew being distinguished by star-light, her rig and general appearance betrayed her.
"Not a moment to be lost, Robin," said Sam Shipton hurriedly, as he led the way back to the cavern, where old Meerta and blind Bungo, aided by Letta, had already cleared away all evidence of the late feast, leaving only three tin cups and three pewter plates on the table, with viands appropriate thereto.
"Ha! you 're a knowing old lady," exclaimed Sam, "you understand how to help us, I see."
"Me tink so!" replied Meerta, with an intelligent nod. "On'y us free here. All de pyrits gone away. Dem sinners on'y come here for a feed—p'r'aps for leetil poodre. Soon go away."
"Just so," said Sam, "meanwhile we will hide, and return after they are gone, or, better still, if you, Letta, and Bungo will come and hide with us, I 'll engage to lay a train of powder from the barrels inside to somewhere outside, and blow the reptiles and the whole mountain into the sea! There 's powder enough to do it."
"You tink me one divl?" demanded the old woman indignantly. "No, some o' dem pyrits not so bad as each oder. You let 'em alone; me let you alone."
This gentle intimation that Meerta had their lives in her hand, induced Sam to ask modestly what she would have him do.
"Go," she replied promptly, "take rifles, swords, an' poodre. Hide till pyrits go 'way. If de finds you—fight. Better fight dan be skin alive!"
"Unquestionably," said Sam, with a mingled laugh and shudder, in which his companions joined—as regards the shudder at least, if not the laugh.
Acting promptly on the suggestion, Sam armed himself and his comrades each with a good breech-loading rifle, as much ammunition as he could conveniently carry, and an English sword. Then, descending the mountain on the side opposite to the harbour they disappeared in the dark and tangled underwood of the palm-grove. Letta went a short distance with them.
"They won't kill Meerta or blind Bungo," she said, on the way down. "They 're too useful, though they often treat them badly. Meerta sent me away to hide here the last time the strange bad men came. She thinks I go hide to-night, but I won't; so, good-night."
"But surely you don't mean to put yourself in the power of the pirates?" said Robin.
"No, never fear," returned the child with a laugh. "I know how to see them without they see me."
Before further remonstrance could be made, the active child had bounded up the pathway and disappeared.
Not long after Sam and his comrades had taken their departure, the pirates came up to the cavern in a body—about forty of them—well armed and ready to fight if need be. They were as rascally a set of cut-throats as one could desire to see—or, rather, not to see—of various nationality, with ugly countenances and powerful frames, which were clothed in more or less fantastic Eastern garb. Their language, like themselves, was mixed, and, we need scarcely add, unrefined. The little that was interchanged between them and Meerta we must, however, translate.
"What! alive still!" cried the ruffian, who appeared to be the leader of the band, flinging himself down on a couch with the air of a man who knew the place well, while his men made themselves at home.
Meerta merely smiled to the salutation; that is to say, she grinned.
"Where are they?" demanded the pirate-chief, referring of course to those who, the reader is aware, were blown up.
"Gone away," answered Meerta.
"Far away?" asked the pirate.
"Yes, very far away."
"Goin' to be long away?"
"Ho! yes, very long."
"Where's the little girl they took from Sarawak?"
"Gone away."
"Where away?"
"Don't know."
"Now, look here, you old hag," said the pirate, drawing a pistol from his belt and levelling it, "tell the truth about that girl, else I 'll scatter your brains on the floor. Where has she gone to?"
"Don't know," repeated Meerta, with a look of calm indifference, as she took up a tankard and wiped it out with a cloth.
The man steadied the pistol and pressed the trigger.
"You better wait till she has given us our grub," quietly suggested one of the men.
The leader replaced the weapon in the shawl which formed his girdle, and said, "Get it ready quick—the best you have, and bring us some wine to begin with."
Soon after that our friends, while conversing in low tones in the grove, heard the unmistakeable sounds of revelry issue from the cave.
"What think you, boys," said Sam suddenly, "shall we go round to the harbour, surprise and kill the guard, seize the pirate-ship, up anchor and leave these villains to enjoy themselves as best they may?"
"What! and leave Letta, not to mention Meerta and Bungo, behind us? Never!"
"I forgot them for the moment," said Sam. "No; we can't do that."
As he spoke the noise of revelry became louder and degenerated into sounds of angry disputation. Then several shots were heard, followed by the clashing of steel and loud yells.
"Surely that was a female voice," said Robin, rising and rushing up the steep path that led to the cavern, closely followed by his comrades.
They had not gone a hundred yards when they were arrested by hearing a rustling in the bushes and the sound of hasty footsteps. Next instant Letta was seen running towards them, with glaring eyes and streaming hair. She sprang into Robin's arms with a convulsive sob, and hid her white face on his breast.
"Speak, Letta, dear child! Are you hurt?"
"No, O no; but Meerta, darling Meerta, she is dead! They have shot her and Bungo."
She burst again into convulsive sobbing.
"Dead! But are you sure—quite sure?" said Sam.
"Quite. I saw their brains scattered on the wall. Oh, Meerta!—"
She ended in a low wail, as though her heart were broken.
"Now, boys," said Johnson, who had hitherto maintained silence, "we must go to work an' try to cut out the pirate-ship. It 's a good chance, and it 's our only one."
"Yes, there 's nothing to prevent us trying it now," said Robin, sadly, "and the sooner the better."
"Lucky that we made up the parcels last night, warn't it?" said Jim Slagg, as they made hasty arrangements for carrying out their plan.
Jim referred to parcels of rare and costly jewels which each of them had selected from the pirate store, put into separate bags and hid away in the woods, to be ready in case of any sudden occasion arising—such as had now actually arisen—to quit the island. Going to the place where these bags were concealed, they slung them over their shoulders and set off at a steady run, or trot, for the harbour, each taking his turn in carrying Letta, for the poor child was not fit to walk, much less to run.
Stealthy though their movements were, however, they did not altogether escape detection. Two bright eyes had been watching Letta during all her wanderings that night, and two nimble feet had followed her when she ran affrighted from the pirates' stronghold. The party was overtaken before half the distance to the harbour had been gained, and at length, with a cry of satisfaction, Letta's favourite—the small monkey—sprang upon her shoulder. In this position, refusing to move, he was carried to the coast.
As had been anticipated, the pirate vessel was found lying in the pool where the former ship had anchored. Being considerably smaller, however, it had been drawn close to the rocks, so that a landing had been effected by means of a broad plank or gangway instead of a boat. Fortunately for our friends, this plank had not been removed after the pirates had left, probably because they deemed themselves in a place of absolute security. As far as they could see, only one sentinel paced the deck.
"I shouldn't wonder if the guard is a very small one," whispered Sam to Robin, as they crept to the edge of the shrubs which lined the harbour, and surveyed their intended prize. "No doubt they expected to meet only with friends here—or with nobody at all, as it has turned out,—and have left just enough to guard their poor slaves."
"We shall soon find out," returned Sam. "Now, boys," he said, on rejoining the others in the bush, "see that your revolvers are charged and handy, but don't use them if you can avoid it."
"A cut over the head with cold steel will be sufficiently effective, for we have no desire to kill. Nevertheless, don't be particular. We can't afford to measure our blows with such scoundrels; only if we fire we shall alarm those in the cave, and have less time to get under weigh."
"What is to be done with Letta while we attack?" asked Robin.
"I 'll wait here till you come for me," said Letta, with a sad little smile on her tear-bedewed face; "I 'm quite used to see fighting."
"Good, keep close, and don't move from this spot till we come for you, my little heroine," said Sam. "Now, boys, follow me in single file—tread like mice—don't hurry. There 's nothing like keeping cool."
"Not much use o' saying that to a feller that 's red-hot," growled Slagg, as he stood with a flushed face, a revolver in one hand and a cutlass in the other.
Sam, armed similarly, glided to the extreme verge of the bushes, between which and the water there was a space of about thirty yards. With a quiet cat-like run he crossed this space, rushed up the plank gangway, and leaped upon the deck, with his comrades close at his heels. The sentinel was taken completely by surprise, but drew his sword nevertheless, and sprang at Sam with a shout.
The latter, although not a professional warrior, had been taught singlestick at school, and was an expert swordsman. He parried the pirate's furious thrust, and gave him what is technically termed cut No. 1, which clove his turban to the skull and stretched him on the deck. It was a fortunate cut, for the shout had brought up seven pirates, five from below and two from the fore-part of the vessel, where they had been asleep between two guns. With these his comrades were now engaged in mortal combat—three of them having simultaneously attacked Johnson, while two had assailed Jim Slagg.
When Sam turned round the stout sailor had cut down one of his foes, but the other two would probably have proved too much for him if Sam had not instantly engaged one of them. He was a powerful, active man, so that for nearly a minute they cut and thrust at each other without advantage to either, until Sam tried a feint thrust, which he followed up with a tremendous slash at the head. It took effect, and set him free to aid Slagg, who was at the moment in deadly peril, for poor Slagg was no swordsman, and had hitherto foiled his two antagonists by sheer activity and the fury of his assaults. He was quite collected, however, for, even in the extremity of his danger, he had refrained from using his revolver lest he should thereby give the alarm to the pirates on land. With one stroke Sam disposed of one of the scoundrels, and Slagg succeeded in cutting down the other.
Meanwhile our hero, Robin, and Stumps had attacked the two pirates who chanced to be nearest to them. The former thought of Letta and her wretched fate if this assault should fail. The thought filled his little body with such a gush of what seemed to him like electric fire, that he leaped on his opponent with the fury of a wild cat, and bore him backward, so that he stumbled over the combings of a hatchway and was thrown flat on the deck —hors de combat.
But Stumps was not so fortunate. Slow in all his movements, and not too courageous in spirit, he gave way before the villain who assailed him. It was not indeed much to his discredit, for the man was much larger, as well as more active and fierce, than himself. A cut from the pirate's sword quickly laid him low, and his antagonist instantly turned on Robin. He was so near at the moment that neither of them could effectively use his weapon. Robin therefore dashed the hilt of his sword into the man's face and grappled with him. It was a most unequal struggle, for the pirate was, as we have said, a huge fellow, while Robin was small and slight. But there were several things in our hero's favour. He was exceedingly tough and wonderfully strong for his size, besides being active as a kitten and brave as a lion. The way that Robin Wright wriggled in that big man's embrace, hammered his nose and eyes with the iron hilt of his cutlass, stuck his knees into the pit of his stomach, and assaulted his shins with the toes of boots, besides twisting his left hand into his hair like a vice, was wonderful to behold.
It was all Letta's doing! The more hopeless the struggle felt, the more hapless did Letta's fate appear to Robin, and the more furious did the spirit within rise above its disadvantages. In the whirl of the fight the pirate's head chanced for one moment to be in proximity to a large iron block. Robin observed it, threw all his soul and body into one supreme effort, and launched his foe and himself against the block. Both heads met it at the same moment, and the combatants rolled from each other's grasp. The pirate was rendered insensible, but Robin, probably because of being lighter, was only a little stunned.
Recovering in a moment he sprang up, glanced round, observed that the pirates were almost, if not quite overpowered, and leaped over the bulwarks. A few moments later and he had Letta in his arms. Just then a pistol shot rang in the night air. The last of the pirates who was overpowered chanced to use his fire-arm, though without success. It was fortunate the fight was over, for, now that the alarm had been given, they knew that their chance of escaping was greatly lessened.
"Cut the cable, Slagg. Out with a boat-hook, 
ROBIN RESCUES LETTA.—Page 255.
He was almost run down, as he spoke, by Robin with the child in his arms.
"Ha! Robin—well done, my boy. Here, Letta, you understand the language, tell the slaves below to out oars and pull for their lives. It 's their only chance."
The poor creatures, who were bound to the thwarts below deck, had been listening with dull surprise to the fighting on deck—not that fighting was by any means unusual in that vessel, but they must have known that they were in harbour, and that the main body of the pirates were on shore. Still greater was their surprise when they received the above order in the sweet gentle tones of a child's voice.
Whether they deemed her an angel or not we cannot tell, but their belief in her right to command was evinced by their shoving the oars out with alacrity.
A few seconds sufficed to cut the cable, and the gangway fell into the sea with a loud splash as the vessel moved slowly from the land, while Johnson, Robin, and Slagg thrust with might and main at the boat-hooks. The oars could not be dipped or used until the vessel had been separated a few yards from the land, and it was during the delay caused by this operation that their greatest danger lay, for already the pirates were heard calling to each other among the cliffs.
"Pull, pull now for life, boys," shouted Sam as he seized the helm.
"Pull, pull now for life, boys," echoed the faithful translator in her silvery tones.
The oars dipped and gurgled through the water. There was no question as to the energy of the poor captives, but the vessel was heavy and sluggish at starting. She had barely got a couple of hundred yards from the shore, when the pirates from the cavern came running tumultuously out of the woods. Perceiving at once that their vessel had been captured, they rushed into the water and swam off, each man with his sword between his teeth.
They were resolute villains, and swam vigorously and fast. Sam knew that if such a swarm should gain the side of the vessel, no amount of personal valour could prevent recapture. He therefore encouraged the slaves to redoubled effort. These responded to the silvery echo, but so short had been the distance gained that the issue seemed doubtful.
"Give 'em a few shots, boys." cried Sam, drawing his own revolver and firing back over the stern. The others followed his example and discharged all their revolvers, but without apparent effect, for the pirates still came on.
One of the sails had fortunately been left unfurled. At this moment a light puff of air from the land bulged it out, and sensibly increased their speed.
"Hurrah!" shouted Johnson, "lend a hand, boys, to haul taut."
The sail was trimmed, and in a few minutes the vessel glided quickly away from her pursuers.
A loud British cheer announced the fact alike to pirates and slaves, so that the latter were heartened to greater exertion, while the former were discouraged. In a few minutes they gave up the chase with a yell of rage, and turned to swim for the shore.
About a hundred yards from the mouth of the harbour there lay a small islet—a mere rock. Here Sam resolved to leave the pirate guard, none of whom had been quite killed—indeed two of them had tried unsuccessfully to rise during the fight.
"You see," said Sam, as he steered for the rock, "we don't want to have either the doctoring or the killing of such scoundrels. They will be much better with their friends, who will be sure to swim off for them—perhaps use our raft for the purpose, which they will likely find, sooner or later."
They soon ranged up alongside of the island, and in a few minutes the bodies of the pirates were landed and laid there side by side. While they were being laid down, the man who had fought with Robin made a sudden and furious grasp at Johnson's throat with one hand, and at his knife with the other, but the seaman was too quick for him. He felled him with a blow of his fist. The others, although still alive, were unable to show fight.
Then, hoisting the mainsail, and directing their course to the northward, our adventurers slipped quietly over the sea, and soon left Pirate Island far out of sight behind them.