“Yes. He was right upon us and about to grab the frame when I let go at him. Didn’t you hear me shoot?”
“Yes, but I was busy with the machine. I’m rather sorry for Attero,” I answered, regretfully.
“My opinion is that the Crooked One has planned this onslaught,” continued Joe, “and that he is bound to get us this time at any sacrifice. He’s a wily old fox.”
We were too busy after that for further conversation. The smoke and din of battle was something terrifying, and even now I wonder that the savages were not disheartened by the noise and the sight of their comrades falling on all sides of them. When we consider how unused they were to firearms we must admit their courage was wonderful.
I think we all began to realize that the situation was serious. On deck Alfonso was fighting as well as he could with his broken arm, while his father stood at his side and rendered an excellent account of himself. Below in the cabin Madam de Alcantara had first fainted and then gone into convulsions. Her shrill screams were not the least disheartening sounds that reached our ears, yet I knew Lucia and Madam de Jiminez were with her and that the poor lady was only frightened and not in a dying condition.
The constant tax on our nerves and the need to be constantly alert was fast wearing out the strongest of us. Bryonia, who had fought nobly, came over to me presently and suggested that we get the women into one of the small boats and launch it while all of us covered the retreat with our guns. He thought they might escape in that way, whereas we were almost certain to be overcome at length by sheer force of numbers, and then all would be doomed.
I did not approve of the attempt myself, but counseled with my father and Uncle Naboth, who promptly turned down the proposition. Just then four Faytans succeeded in leaping aboard, and were engaged in a hand to hand fight with Nux and Bry, who met them, when Ned got a sword through one and Joe disposed of another with a pistol shot. That evened the numbers and our blades were not long in ridding themselves of their opponents.
But this temporary invasion was a warning that we were losing ground and our enemies gaining confidence, so we redoubled our activity and found plenty to do in protecting ourselves from the boarders.
CHAPTER XIX
A CAPRICIOUS EARTHQUAKE
The fight was still raging fiercely when blackness fell upon us once more, and for the first time I became panic-stricken. The sky had not been clear all day, but we had managed to see until now, ever since the fight began, but with a black pall hanging all around us and thousands of enemies marking us for death the outlook was absolutely terrifying. The Faytans had not been afraid of the dark before, and if now they had the temerity to continue the attack we could not hope to resist them long.