Schillie.—"Upon my life! if they are not going to let that mad woman come up here. You may be sure, June, they have some motive for this gratuitous kindness. I dare say they think such an ass of a woman will be more likely to do us harm than good by her presence. Well! any body may help her up that likes, I won't."
"Nor I, nor I," sounded on all sides.
But there was no need for us to offer, for the amiable pirates were kindly assisting her up themselves. Little did Mrs. Hargrave dream that they were making a convenient shield of her most precious self and that if we hoped to execute our former manœuvre we should have to send our bullets through her first. She thought of nothing but being again amongst us, and scrambled and struggled towards us, screaming the whole time.
Oscar.—"Mother, I must shoot her, there is no help for it. If one of those fellows gets footing on here, we may as well give ourselves up. You see he is close behind her."
Mother.—"We will just make one effort. Wait till she is so near that I can grasp hold of her, and then shoot; she must take her chance."
With the greatest coolness the brave boy did as he was bid; and I had no sooner grasped the woman than he fired. With a squall that no one could think proceeded out of human lips, she lost her footing and held on by me, and if Schillie had not had firm hold of me, Serena and Sybil of her, I must have gone over with Hargrave and the pirate. As it was, he fell dead, and we dragged her up, and, pulling her to some distance, we never stayed to enquire if she was wounded or not, but ran back to our posts. They were swarming up, just under a ledge, ready to make a bolt out upon us if we looked off one moment. "Get stones, little ones," whispered Serena, "they will help us, perhaps." Now they bolt. We all fire simultaneously. They retreat again, some wounded, but none dead. We took up the second relay of guns, Schillie carrying off the others to reload.
"In the name of all that's horrible," we heard her say, in a loud angry voice, "what are you doing here?"
Hargrave.—"I am not going to be shot at and killed by those dreadful guns any more, and, besides, the pirates gave me to understand down there as the sun would soon set the powder in a blaze, and we should all be blown up. Look at me, bleeding like a pig, and half my ear and one of my best ear-rings gone. No, no, though I was dead, as I thought, I was determined to throw the powder and shot over the rock, that you might be safe, if I died the next minute."
"Bring me that rope, Lilly," said Schillie, in a voice of concentrated rage. Gatty sprung to help her, and in two minutes the foolish woman was tied, with her hands behind her back, to one of the palm trees, and they returned to help us, as best we could be helped. We trusted that Smart would hear the firing, and come to our assistance before all hope was gone. But the pirates themselves ceased their warfare against us, finding the stones quite as destructive as the guns; besides, they seemed to be in a great state of uncertainty and trouble among themselves, and had so many consultations, and talked at such a rate, that we lost ourselves in conjectures as to what it could be all about. "They are in a mighty rage against us, I think, for killing the two men," said Oscar. "They don't want to hurt us, apparently," said Serena, "as they never fixed their guns at us." "Why, my dear child, don't you see that is against their interests to hurt any of us," said Schillie, "they want to sell us, or some such blessed thing."
Gatty (demurely).—"I don't think the king will sell you, little Mother."