CHAPTER XIII.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1604, 14 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XIII.

" That was Billy's !" returned Walter, also in a whisper. " The blacks have fallen foul of him ! Did the fellow you saw appear to be watching us ?" " No ; he only showed himself for a moment, but I don't think" — " Whiff I—something1 — something darted past my cheek, °tiuck the roof of the cave, and fell rattling to the floor. " Back, for your life 1" exclaimed Walter, dragging me inwards by the arm. "We are bssicged ! — that spear came from amongst the feins below there !" " Had we not better fight our way out !" I asked. " The longer we stay here, the worse !" " Not so." said Walter. "If we were to make a sally now we should be riddled with spears without even seeing an enemy to fire ! at. If Billy Bacca has escaped, we shall soon | have assistance from the station. If not, we must try to steal away during the night. Not that I think there's much chance of that," he added, with a shake of his head — " these fellows are wonderfully shrirp of eye and ear ! There's another spear! — I must tiy to ■ get a shot at them." Dragging the rifle with him, Walter was creeping on all-fours towards the entrance, when the' savage I had seen before made his appearance again on the top of the opposite cliiT, and, shading his eyc3 with his hand, sent a spear whi/zing into the cave. It passed over our heads, but, as the blackfellow was in the very act of fitting another to the throwingstick, the deafening report of the rifle filled the cavern, and, with a wild spring upwards, he fell — lay for a moment on the edge of the rock — and then, with a convulsive movement, rolled over and fell to the bottom. " That'll check them for a bit 1" said Walter, as he reloaded. "Let us get as far back as possible. If we had food and ammunition enough we could keep them at bay for a twelvemonth !" Near the end of the cave, which extended about fifty feet inwards, was a slight lateral recess, and in this we ensconced ourselves — not a moment too soon, as we learnt from the shower of spears which clattered into our stronghold immediately afterwards. " There must be a lot of them," I said. " Yes," replied Walter. " Looks bad for our chance of getting away to-night. I hope Billy has escaped ; if ho hasn't, it may be days before they take the alarm at the station. If we are not relieved before night I to to for a sortie. What say you ?" " Agreed ! What ammunition have you for the rifle?" "Thirty rounds. No— twenty-nine 1 Our savage friend had the benefit of the thirtieth somewhere in the vicinity of his sable stomach, if my aim did not fail me. How do you stand for revolver cartridges?" " I have about fifty." "(rood! But the rifle will be our trump ' caid, if it should come to a fight in the open ; we may bo able to keep them out of spearrange with it." Hour after hour went by, without a sight or a sound to vary our iiksome durance, and we had almost begun to flatter ourselves that the enemy had withdrawn, when, just as the light of the sinking Bun was beginning to turn crimson on the opposite rock, Walter laid a warning hand upon my arm. "Try your pistol!" he whispered, and, taking deliberate aim at a dark head Avhich was slowly laising itself above^the threshold of the caye — I fired. The head disappeared ; a moment of silence was followed by a hideous yell, and rushing suddenly to the entrance, I fired the five remaining chambers into a cluster of blacks who had climbed upon the boulder by, which we had ourselves ascended. I saw two fall, as the otheis scampered into the ferns, and darting back to avoid the spears, I urged Walter to seize the opportunity of making a rush down the valley. To Ijhis, however, he Would not agree, and deferring to his * greater knowledge of the enemy's habits, I consented to wait until nightfall. But, unfortunately, nightfall did not, in this instance, mean darkness ; we had forgotten that the moon was at the full, and it was with anything but pleasure that, just as we had made up our minds for a start, we saw her broad red disc climbing the east. " There's no help for it, though," said Walter. "Go we must, and it is better to start at once, while the moon is still low. I should feel comparatively easy if we were once out of this cul-de-sac." "Do you think we could manage to scale , the cliff?" I asked. " No, the rock is as smooth as glass. The blackfellows themselves couldn't do it. Let us slip down the valley as noiselessly as we can, and, if we are discovered, push ahead with a rush. There is nothing to be gained by turning back in any case. Now, then — follow me and keep close. Cautiously we clambered down into the darkness, and began slowly and silently to thread our way through the ferns, many of which stretched far above our heads. Save for the occasional grunt of a native bear, all was still as death, and after half-an-hour's tardy progress we found ourselves approaching the entrance of the valley, without having seen anything of the blacks. Mentally congratulating ourselves on our good luck, we crept more cautiously than ever towards the opening, and then stopped short in dismay, as our eyes encountered the glare of a fire. Burning on the open ground, right in front of the gully and about a hundred yards away, it was surrounded by a party of over a hundred blackfellows, and we saw at once that it was impossible to steal away unobserved. The scene was a weird and striking one.. The moon, shining brilliantly across the dim levels of the east, united strangely with the red glow of the fire to reveal the ghastly skeleton-marked forms of the blacks — some jabbering to each other as they moved to and fro, others stretched on the ground with their spears and clubs beside them, and the remainder busy cooking and eating something, of which the savoury smell was explained by the carcase of a bullock lying close by. " That's one of my father's beasts, I suppose," whispered Walter. This is ,a , warparty. They have been on an expedition against another tribe, and have dropped across us in returning. "I don't see anything of Billy or the horses," I answered in the same tone — " so I suppose he must- have escaped." "I don't know about that," was the reply.' " The horses would bolt away from them like mad, and as for poor Billy— perhaps they've eaten him t" «• Ugh ! The brutes, ! , Let us fire into them first and scatter thorn ; then we> can make a rush for it." ' - • v _ " Yes ; that's our best plan. Hold yourself ready — I'll pot that big fellow to begin with. I ,' The man referred to was standing on the other side of tne^iire, with his tall, whitestriped figure in strong ijlumiriation. We could even see.riis teeth , and. eyeballs, glitter^ as, grasping 1 a tomahawk' in ] one s »han^,' /with, the" other he , appeared to* W laying,, dowjji the 4aw' to ,Jiis 'companions: * TJ^en thg rifle ' rang/ 'sharply- Jo&t ; 'Jaiid'J'|lie t * Ravage. fnVAffliflff tin I nil] < CLlTTlfl TtnTrV'fL Hrll*l lit ftrtTV3ft Wl \i

ckiiily undecided, as to tho direction from wliicli the shot had been fired. In a few moments, ho\vever, 'they concluded that it must have come from the ravine, and, yelling like fiends, they rushed towards us in a body. Invisible in the deep shadow, however, we escaped the few random spears which they threw as they came on, and when they "were within about thirty yards of us Walter fired again and knocked over the foremost. The others paused irresolutely, and while I discharged my revolver twice — bringing down another man, Walter reloaded. "Now is our time for a bolt! " he said excitedly, and, rushing swiftly from our concealment; we made a couple of hundred yards before the savages had recovered from their panic. Then, on they came again, but before they got within spear-throwing distance Walter fired and checked their advance' once more. * And thus matters went on for some time ; the blacks every now and then making a rush — only to stop short when they saw the deadly tube levelled to receive them. But at last they changed their tactics, and, spreading out in all directions, some of them made a wide circuit in order to get ahead of us. ' " They are- going to take ua on every side at once!" I said. " Yes," answered Walter, between his set teeth. " They begin to fear we shall escape. Use your revolver well, for they'll charge home this time. Here they" — His words aro lost in the apalling yell which the savages raise, as they rush in upon us once more. Oneo — twice — thrice — Walter fires as they come on ; down go two of them, but on rush the rest. -Now they are within spearrange, and one after another pauses to throw. The missiles come hurtling around us, and again the rifle is raised, but only to explode harmlessly in the air, as Walter falls to the ground with a spear in his side, while at tho same moment another passes through my leg and brings me to my knee. With redoubled yells the savages close in upon us, and I feel that we are lost, but, raising my revolver, I discharge the six chambers at them in succession. My aim is taken with the coolness of desperation — every shot tells, and, astounded at so much execution by one pistol, our assailants turn tail once more. To reload is the work of a moment, but before I can fire again I hear the tread of galloping horses — several^ shots ring out in rapid succession — and, to' my joy, I behold in the bright moonlight a party of mounted men bearing swiftly down upon the blacks. Par- away across the plain the savages are pursued ; an occasional report, followed by a death-scream, telling the tale of retribution, while, extracting the spear from my leg, I raise my more seriously wounded companion from the ground. He is in great pain, and the weapon is too firmly fixed in his side for me to risk withdrawing it by force. Anxiously, therefore, 1 wait for the return of the avengers, and in about a quarter of an hour back they come, to the number of a dozen, with Mr. Addison at the head of them. Springing off his horse, he examines Walter's injury with a tenderness and solicitude for which I should not have given him credit; extracts the spear, binds up the wound, and in a few minutes we are again on our way to Yaramboona. Billy Bacca, it appeared, had been surprised by the blacks, but, notwithstanding two spearwounds, he contrived to reach the horses and escape. Before reaching the station, however, he had fainted from loss of blood, and hence the delay vihich had so nearly cost us our lives.