“Do you think it is just safe to stand here while more of the party can jump in on you by the same way these came?” Nelse asked, and this question put a very sudden end to the mate’s sport.
“Wait while I have a look around,” he said, as he handed the torch to the boy and disappeared in the darkness.
Before Nelse could explain the cause of his delay to Gil, the mate returned, saying, in a tone of satisfaction:
“They’ve shut the door tight, to keep us out in case these fellows failed, I reckon, an’ it won’t be a bad idea for me to keep watch there while you an’ Gil divide the work here. We must stop any nonsense at the beginnin’, an’ then they can’t get the upper hands of us.”
“Is there a real necessity of watching this crowd?”
“Of course; otherwise they could soon manage to wriggle out by climbin’ on each other’s shoulders. Stand by and shoot the first who rises to his feet,” Jenkins replied, and then he added, in a stern tone to the trembling blacks, as if believing they could understand him: “Don’t you so much as move, or we’ll kill the whole boilin’ the same as we would mosquitoes. Lay down, an’ the first one who raises his head shall serve as an example for the rest.”
It was evident that the fellows understood the purport of his words, for they crouched yet lower, and he added to Nelse:
“Don’t hesitate to shoot if they make any show of tryin’ to get out, for our lives depend upon holdin’ the whole crowd.”
“You ought to tell Gil where I am.”
“He’s got sense enough to know that at such a time as this he must remain at his post, so do as I tell you, an’ don’t take your eyes off the gang for a single minute.”