"Perhaps I was, daughter; but I hardly think so. Some kinds of craft will bear a good deal of ballast. But all our young Brownies are alike; they will have their freaks and larks no matter how serious affairs may be. However, these lads are among the most skillful soldiers in camp, and they will be none the worse either for their fun or their punishment. The rogues! What a lark it was!" And in spite of the heavy burden on his heart, he smiled at the remembrance of the adventures which had been told him. "It seems the climax of absurdity that a mere squad of youngsters should plan an assault upon a strong fort, and actually gain possession of it too, by a freak of fortune!"
Fig. 84.—"They Entered the Leafy Towers."
Now orders were given to raze the empty fort. The Brownies had been keen to enter and destroy the place as soon as Twadeils had reported its abandonment; but MacWhirlie forbade action until Captain Bruce's return. The eager soldiers swarmed over the barricades, through the gates, and along the vacant streets. They entered the leafy towers in search of lurking foemen, and finding none cut the binding threads and let the leaves unroll. They severed the stay ropes of the conning tower of Pixie Thaddeus, and the whole structure collapsed. As the repaired suspension bridge stood intact, and the shore was strewn with the litter of a hasty flight, the manner of the Pixies' escape was easily explained. But the whereabouts of the garrison was not made out on account of the fog that overhung the lake. That however was lifting, and the Pixie fleet would soon be in sight. The soldiers went to work heartily. Breastworks, barricades, gates, towers, walls, ramparts, bridge and piers were assailed with such zeal and vigor, that in a short time the remnants of Fort Spinder were laid in pieces upon the ground, flying in fragments through the air, or floating in broken bits upon the water.
By the time this good work was finished the sun had scattered the fog, and left the face of the lake quite clear. Little columns and clouds of mist still hung here and there, leaving distant objects indistinct, but both fleets were in sight. The Brownies crowded down to the bank, and from every elevation and tree top watched the battle. The Stygians pushing out of Big Cave Harbor, and the Natties coming into sight around the foot of the island; the man[oe]uvring of the vessels under the change of wind; the effect of the davids upon the Pixie craft; the onset, the closing together of the ships, the grappling of hull to hull, all these events the excited soldiers saw. After that, the two fleets were so huddled together that none could say which side was victorious.
Fig. 85.—"They Cut the Binding Threads."
Some of the cavalry mounted and pushed off over the lake to see for themselves. But the Bee and Butterfly ponies dared not come very near the ships, lest their wings should be caught in the rigging and they and their riders destroyed. They came close enough, however, to notice the turn of battle. Couriers passed back and forth bringing to Bruce news, now good now bad. At last they reported the Stygians in full retreat, and that the Natties had gained a great victory. Cheer upon cheer greeted this tidings. The shouts from the shore rolled across the water, and were heard by the Brownie sailors who answered their comrades heartily.
A yacht was dispatched for Captain Bruce, who, accompanied by Blythe and True, crossed to the Emma to consult with Rodney as to future movements. The Stygians had retired to Big Cave Harbor, and there for some time they were likely to stay. They could be seen from the fore-top busy upon deck and rigging repairing the damages of battle, as the Natties, also, were doing. Dinner was now over; a pleasant hum of voices sounded through the fleet. The decks were cleaned from the litter of conflict. The sad rites over their fallen comrades were decently but speedily paid. The sailors awaited eagerly the issue of the officers' consultation.
Captain Bruce returned to the shore. Blythe and True remained with the fleet, and were assigned to the Ken under care of Pipe the Boatswain. Now a rumor ran through the squadron that an immediate attack was to be made upon the Stygians by the whole Brownie brigade; that MacWhirlie had gone around with the cavalry by the inlet to fall upon the Pixie camp, and that Bruce with the infantry was to pass around to the other end of the lake, cross the outlet and cut off retreat from that quarter. However set agoing, the rumor well set forth the main features of the plan agreed upon between army and navy.