“No,” said the captain; “it is not playing: we are invaders of a hostile country, and must be on our guard.”
“Good gracious!” cried Aunt Georgic, looking nervously round; “you don’t mean that we shall meet with enemies?”
“I hope not,” said the captain; “but we must be prepared in case we do.”
“Yes; nothing like being prepared,” said Uncle Munday. “Here, give me something to eat, and I’ll go on minding my beasts.”
“They will not stray,” said the captain, “so you may rest in peace.”
It was, all declared, a delightful alfresco meal under the shade of the great tree they had selected, and ten times preferable to one on board the ship, whose cabin had of late been unbearably hot and pervaded by an unpleasant odour of molten pitch.
To the girls it was like the beginning of a delightful picnic, for they had ridden so far on a couple of well-broken horses, their path had been soft grass, and on every side nature looked beautiful in the extreme.
Their faces shone with the pleasure they felt so far, but Mrs Bedford’s countenance looked sad, for she fully grasped now the step that had been taken in cutting themselves adrift from the settlers at the port. She had heard the bantering words of the man when they started, and they sent a chill through her as she pictured endless dangers, though at the same time she mentally agreed with her husband that solitude would be far preferable to living among such neighbours as the people at the port.
She tried to be cheerful under the circumstances, arguing that there were three able and brave men to defend her and her niece and daughter, while the boys were rapidly growing up; but, all the same, her face would show that she felt the risks of the bold step her husband was taking, and his precautions added to her feeling of in security and alarm.
In a very short time Rifle had finished his meal, and looked at their man German, who was seated a little way apart munching away at bread and cheese like a two-legged ruminant. He caught the boy’s eye, grunted, and rose at once.