“We’ve already got our weapons in good condition,” Benton went on, “and we don’t need to pay much more attention to them. But the odds against us are heavy and we’ve got to employ strategy. In the first place we’ll strengthen our barricades. Then we’ll put into play something that I learned in the war. It’s a mighty lucky thing that we brought along plenty of blasting powder and dynamite when we started on this trip.”
“Going to use the sticks of dynamite as sort of hand grenades?” asked Dick.
“Better than that,” Benton answered. “I’m going to concentrate them in a mine that I hope will blow the rascals to kingdom come.
“Now here’s what I have in mind. We’ll dig a pit about three feet deep at a place twenty-five or thirty feet in front of the cave. This we’ll stack with blasting powder and dynamite. Then we’ll dig a small conduit, along which we’ll run a wire connecting with the explosives and running back to the cave. When the proper moment comes and the largest crowd is just above the pit, we’ll send a spark along the wire. And I think that will be about all. It’ll probably put a lot of them out of business, and the rest will be so terrified and confused that they’ll probably make tracks to the other end of the island and get away from it as soon as possible. What do you think of it?”
“It’s a dandy plan,” cried Phil with enthusiasm.
“It sure ought to turn the trick,” exclaimed Dick.
“It’ll be an artificial earthquake that will be worse for those scoundrels than the real thing,” jubilated Tom.
“I’m glad we’re all agreed,” said Benton with a gratified smile. “Now then let’s pitch in and get the thing started. There’s a good deal to be done, and we’ve got to be especially careful about connecting the explosives with the wire so that there won’t be any fizzle when the time comes. We’ll work in relays and stand guard turn and turn about. We’ve got to keep a strict watch, for while I don’t think they’ll attack us before nightfall, you never can tell.”
They started in to work at once, and toiled under the tropical sun until the perspiration rolled from them in streams. By the early afternoon, the work was completed to their satisfaction. The mine was laid, as was also the wire leading through a narrow trench to the cave, where it was connected with the battery of the radio set. Great care was taken to restore the ground to its former apparent condition, for although it was unlikely that in the night it would be under special scrutiny they could afford to take no chances. Leaves were scattered over the pit and the path of the wire, and by the time they were through they could not themselves have detected anything unusual in the appearance of the ground.
“A good job,” pronounced Benton, as he scanned it with a critical eye. “Now let them come as soon as they like, and I imagine they’ll go away quicker than they came. That is, those of them who can get away.”