"Now, Mr. Lippincott, I shall be obliged if you will go and ascertain how the affair is proceeding, and whether the batteries are keeping the insurgents well in check. I am about to start for the battery on this side, where I shall get a fair view of the country round, and see how matters stand.
"You will remain here, Mr. Thompson," he went on to the boatswain, "in charge of the party. I shall take Newman with me in case I have any orders to send to you. Will you come with me also, Doyle?"
The two officers, followed by an active young seaman, started. On arriving near the end of the native town, Nat was glad to see a group of the volunteers in front of him. They saluted as he came up.
"What force have you here, gentlemen?" he asked.
"Fifty men, captain."
"It would have been better if it had been a hundred and fifty. If they come here in force you will not be able to keep them at bay long. Where is your main body?"
"They are gathered in front of the municipal offices in readiness to move wherever their services may be most required."
"That is quite satisfactory. I was afraid that most of them might be at the batteries at the other side of the town, where the troops ought to be quite able to hold their own against the blacks."
At this moment another gentleman, with a red sash over his shoulder, came up. He was the commander of the company stationed there.
"I am afraid that we are rather out of it, monsieur," he said, after exchanging salutes with Nat.