“They will go for a whole day on this,” Kennedy told him, “and still be with us when the day is done.”
When Johnny told of the green arrow’s message and the trail Mildred had sworn to follow, the old man’s brow wrinkled.
“I suspected something of the sort,” he rumbled, “but this is worse than I figured. There may be a number of those spies—all well armed. And we—” he went on, with a touch of sadness, “these people here are not warlike. We have two heavy rifles of ancient make, half a dozen light, hunting rifles, two or three shotguns, and a hundred machetes. But these natives—” There was a rumble of admiration in his voice. “You should see what these men can do with those two-foot blades of theirs! There are two grindstones out behind the house—and they haven’t stopped turning for hours!”
Johnny felt a tingle course through his veins as the old man finished. It was, he thought, like the days of old, like something he had read in a book. They were to storm an ancient castle to rescue a fair lady!
There were men among that loyal throng who knew every trail leading to the old castle.
“The men say it will take about three hours to reach the place,” said Kennedy, when just after dawn, they prepared to break camp. “We shall have to march in silence, as sound travels far. I only hope,” his brow wrinkled, “that these spies did not guess the meaning of those drums. I hated that. But there was no other way to get the men together, nor,” he added in an undertone, “to put the real, fighting spirit into them. For more than a hundred years, the beating of these drums has meant battle!”
“And how they respond to it!” Johnny enthused.
“Yes, Johnny,” the old man rumbled. “These are faithful, loyal people. Think what it would mean to have these islands taken over by a foreign power—cannon and bombing planes everywhere. If war came, think how these beautiful islands would be torn to bits by bursting bombs! Just think Johnny! Try to imagine it!”
For a moment after that, there was silence. Kennedy’s voice was husky when he spoke again. “Johnny, my boy—I’ve come to like you a heap. Promise me, Johnny, that if anything should happen to me this day, you’ll see the girl safely back to her own land where she rightly belongs.”
“Nothing can happen to you,” Johnny declared, stoutly. “You could handle four of those cowards, single-handed.”