That night, as I lay on my bunk, I pondered over the words of the old friar, Pedro Lopez. Surely we had gone through enough bloodshed and fire to fulfil the exacting conditions that had to be carried out ere we recovered the treasure? Would not the facts that a score of our men were awaiting burial on this far-off island, and that over thirty more were groaning on the ballast, serve to appease the wrath of the slaughtered Spaniards? And when I thought of my ordeal by fire, and my terrible position as I waited for the crash of the explosion, I prayed that we had seen the last of our perils.
It must have been about eight bells of the middle watch (4 a.m.), ere it was light, when a sharp rattle of musketry caused me to awaken with a start. Hastily rushing on deck, I found our men already standing to their guns, while on shore a desperate conflict was in progress.
The stockade was attacked on all sides.
CHAPTER XX
The Repulse at the Stockade
Who our new enemies were, and whence they came, we knew not. Judging by the outer ring of flashes, it would seem that they outnumbered the defenders of the stockade by seven to one; for only twenty-five men had been left on shore on the preceding evening.
These were once more under the command of Touchstone, who, on the termination of our fight with the pirate ships, had resumed his post at the base of our operations on land. Yet the handful of men, under the spirited leadership of the master gunner, ought to prove themselves equal to their attackers, as they had the advantage of a stout breastwork.
But while the fight continued we were tormented with doubts and fears. In the darkness we could tell by the rapid spurts of flame that came from the stockade that our men were fiercely contesting their ground, although by the flashes encircling them we knew that the attack was being pushed close home.
Nor could we render any assistance, for our broadsides might do more harm to friend than to foe; while it would be extremely hazardous to attempt to land an armed party on an open beach, as we knew not the numbers of our enemies. Moreover, in the darkness we might fire on, or be fired upon by our own men.
Above the crackle of musketry and the shouts of the combatants we could distinguish the deeper crash of the ordnance that had been landed from the Golden Hope, while now and again would come an ominous lull, only to be broken by another crash of guns and the noise of a hand-to-hand conflict.