An Awful Secret of the Sea.
Having finished the first line of defence, attention was turned to the inner works.
How best could the Crusoes repel boarders if the palisade were carried, and a rush made down the embankment with the view of attacking the ship?
It was some time before this question could be answered with any degree of satisfaction.
I think that the plan finally adopted was the best under the circumstances.
During such an attack, not only would the defenders have to do all they could to stop a rush down the sloping bank, but protect themselves also from the spears that would be hurled at them from the cliffs above.
An inner palisade was therefore erected, not so strong as the other; and right over the after part of the quarterdeck, and round a portion of its bulwarks, a shed was erected, under which the men could work their rifles and the great gun with comparative safety.
If the outer line should be broken through, the savages would no doubt attack in their fullest force, and a gun loaded with grape-shot would play awful havoc in their ranks; and boiling water from the donkey engine would in all probability suggest to the enemy the advisability of a quick retreat.
Nevertheless, the outlook, even should they be thus repelled, would be a black one, and a state of siege could only have one sad ending.
But let me not be “too previous,” as humourists say.