“There are Maroons now on that hill above your place. They were in ambush when we passed, but we took no notice. It was not wise to invite trouble. Some of us would have been killed, but—”
He then told what had been in his mind, and what might be the outcome—the killing or capture of the whole group, and safety for all at Salem.
When he had finished, she continued her story. “We rode for an hour unchallenged, and then came the Maroons. At first I knew not what to do. We were surrounded before we could act. I had my pistol ready, and there was the chance of escape—the faint chance—if we drove our horses on; but there was also the danger of being fired at from behind! So we sat still on our horses, and I asked them how they dared attack white ladies. I asked them if they had never thought what vengeance the governor would take. They did not understand my words, but they grasped the meaning, and one of them, the leader, who understood English, was inclined to have reason. As it was, we stopped what might have been our murder by saying it would be wiser to hold us as hostages, and that we were Americans. That man was killed—by you. A shot from your pistol brought him down as he rushed forward to enter the ruins. But he took care of us as we went forward, and when I shot one of his followers for laying his hand upon me in the saddle—he caught me by the leg under my skirt—he would allow no retaliation. I knew boldness was the safe part to play.
“But in the end we were bound with ropes as you found us, while they waited for more of their people to come, those, no doubt, you found ambushed on the hill. As we lay, bound as you saw us, the leader said to us we should be safe if he could have his way, but there were bad elements among the Maroons, and he could not guarantee it. Yet he knew the government would pay for our release, would perhaps give the land for which they had asked with no avail. We must, therefore, remain prisoners. If we made no efforts to escape, it would be better in the end. ‘Keep your head steady, missy, try no tricks, and all may go well; but I have bad lot, and they may fly at you.’ That was the way he spoke. It made our blood run cold, for he was one man, with fair mind, and he had around him men, savage and irresponsible. Black and ruthless, they would stop at nothing except the sword at their throats or the teeth in their flesh.”
“The teeth in their flesh!” said Dyck with a grim smile. “Yes, that is the only way with them. Naught can put the fear of God into them except bloodhounds, and that Lord Mallow will not have. He has been set against it until now. But this business will teach him. He may change his mind now, since what he cares for is in danger—his place and his ladies!”
Mrs. Llyn roused herself to say: “No, no, Mr. Calhoun, you must not say that of him. His place may be in danger, but not his ladies. He has no promise of that.... And see, Mr. Calhoun, I want to say that, in any case, you have paid your debt, if you owe one to us. For a life taken you have given two lives—to me and my girl. I speak as one who has a right to say it! Erris Boyne was naught to me at all, but he was my daughter’s father, and that made everything difficult. I could make him cease to be my husband, and I did; but I could not make him cease to be her father.”
“I had no love for Erris Boyne,” said Sheila. Misery was heavy on her. “None at all, but he was my father.”
“See, all’s well still at Salem,” said Dyck waving a hand as though to change the talk. “All’s as we left it.”
There in the near distance lay Salem, serene. All tropical life about seemed throbbing with life and soaking with leisure.
“We were in time,” he added. “The Maroons are still in ambush. The sun is beginning to set though, and the trouble may begin. We shall get there about sundown—safe, thank God!”