'And that?' asked Alphonse, still as cool as ever, as if this were an everyday matter.
'Will do for me and the four men,' declared David. 'If the main door is shut we will slip in there. Warn the others about it.'
He was gone in a moment, and within the space of half a minute had awakened the Professor and Dick. In a few words he related what was happening.
'Stand by the door and admit Alphonse,' he said. 'I am going for the men we engaged at Hong-Kong; they are to be trusted.'
He took his magazine pistol from the rack in which all the weapons were housed, and slid out on to the deck again. Then, bending low, he ran towards the hatchway which led to the quarters occupied by the men attached to the expedition. He was just disappearing down it when his eyes fell upon some two dozen bent and dusky figures creeping along the deck. A moment later one of them gave a sharp order, and at once, with shouts and cries, the whole party dashed toward the stern of the vessel. The attack on the Professor's party was about to begin. David's retreat was entirely cut off by the enemy.
CHAPTER VII
At Sea on a Chinese Junk
'Steady!' David commanded himself, feeling for the moment as if he were about to give way to panic. 'Go below and get the four men, then make a rush. You couldn't get back to the cabin alone.'
He stood on the narrow steps, with his head just above the level of the hatch and watched for a moment; for the sudden view he had obtained of the attackers, and their unexpected rush aft had taken him unawares. As he stared into the gloom he could see the figures which had passed him at a rush moving about from side to side of the vessel, just outside the huge deck cabin that occupied the whole of the stern. He heard blows struck against the woodwork, and a loud, resounding bang, as the door was locked and bolted. Then the shouts died away. A man stood out prominently from his comrades, and gave a sharp order. A second later there was a blinding flash, a deafening roar rolled along the decks and over the sea, while the flame lit up the surroundings.