“Six hours more of darkness!” thought Roger, and he bounded back to the hut as fast as he could go. He awoke the two seamen, and told them all in a few words. They were naturally overwhelmed with consternation, not knowing what to do. But said Roger: “I have a plan that may possibly save us. We must put all our provisions back in the casks, and bury them in the sand. Then we must hide everything that we brought ashore, leaving out only poor Evans’s belongings. The new hut we must, of course, leave—they will think that Evans built that himself,—but we must remove from it every trace of our own presence on the islet. Then, poor fellow, we must unearth his body and lay it in the hut, covering him up. When they come ashore in the morning, as of course they will, they will see that he is recently dead, and will not dream that he has been once buried already, if we are careful to remove all traces. It will naturally be thought that he died here alone and untended. We must be very careful to efface every sign of our presence here, and leave only such things as Evans had when we arrived, or may be reasonably supposed to have collected from the beach. Then, as to hiding ourselves— At the extreme seaward end of the rocks, where you to-day caught your fish, there is a hollow big enough to conceal a dozen men; I particularly noticed it when I was on the spot. We must take some food and water, and hide there until the pirates leave. They will not attempt to land at that place, for the reason that a boat could not be safely put alongside the rocks; and if we carefully hide everything belonging to ourselves they will not suspect that anyone else is here, and will not search. Now we must be quick, for our lives depend upon it. If we are found we shall certainly die horribly. Quick now, men! we must do everything that has to be done, and be safely hidden before daybreak, or we shall be seen.”
Chapter Twelve.
Narrow Escapes of the Castaways—The Squadron heaves in Sight again.
The seamen needed no second bidding. From Roger’s description it could be none other than the pirate vessel, and both knew what their fate would be if they were so unfortunate as to be discovered by the pirates. Rapidly throwing on their clothes, they came out of the hut, and an examination of the vessel over the top of the bank convinced them that Roger’s statement was only too true.
“How about the flag though, sir?” said Bevan. “If they have seen that—and it is almost certain that they have—they will think there are others here, and will search. It will be no use hiding then; for if they believe anybody else to be here, they will search till they find us.”
“I think we need not greatly trouble about the flag,” responded Roger. “They will imagine that poor Evans set up the staff and flag before he died, in the hope of attracting attention; they will hardly trouble to examine it closely enough to discover that it is made of two red shirts. Besides, for aught that they know, Evans might have taken two red shirts ashore with him in his chest when he was marooned. No, it matters not if the flag has been seen. But come along, men; every moment lost now only increases our danger.”
They forthwith set to work in grim earnest, labouring for their lives. The casks were rolled out of the store, and holes were scooped in the sand for their reception. To bury them was not a long job. They took care, however, to set aside some provisions and water for their use while in hiding. Next came the job of burying their simple utensils, such as they were, and also the shell of the turtle. Then there was the gruesome task of digging up the body of poor Evans. It had to be done, and the sooner the better, as Roger said; so all three went to the unpleasant duty. The mound of sand was removed, the tilling taken out, and they presently came upon the body. The sand was brushed from the hair and clothing of the corpse, and it was then carried to the hut, placed in its previous position, and covered with the blanket in which it had been buried.
This completed their preparations for the pirates’ landing—for it was certain that they would land; otherwise why should they have returned to the island? Their work had lasted longer than they thought, and away to the east the first sign of dawn was apparent by the time they had finished. They knew the marvellous rapidity with which the day comes and goes in those regions, and recognised the need for haste if they were to gain their proposed place of concealment unperceived; for there would certainly be sharp eyes on board the pirate, looking for the first sign of the marooned man. They therefore took, each man, his share of the provisions, and, keeping carefully below the concealing top of the sand-bank, started to run at their utmost speed for the ledge of rocks which was to be their refuge.