“Yes,” Frank went on, “it must have been your father, Dolly, who had
that notion and carried it out.”
“Oh!” said Dolly. “But I expect your brother Ernest had a finger in the
pie!”
“No doubt--our learned Ernest!” Fritz agreed.
“And why not the intrepid Jack--and M. Zermatt too?” Captain Gould
enquired.
“Everybody, then,” said Jenny, laughing.
“Yes, every one of both the families, which now are really one,” Fritz
answered.
The boatswain broke in, as was his way, with a very just remark:
“If those who cut this canal did well, those who threw a bridge across
it deserve quite as much praise. So let us go over and march on!”
They crossed the bridge and entered into the more thickly wooded
district, where rose the little stream that ran out near Falconhurst,
just below Whale Island.
Fritz and Frank listened intently, trying to catch some distant sound of
barking or of guns. What was Jack, the enthusiastic sportsman, about,
that he was not hunting this fine morning? Game was rising in every
direction, scampering away through the brakes and scattering from tree
to tree. If the two brothers had had guns, they could have let fly with
both barrels over and over again. It seemed to them that fur and feather
had never been more plentiful in the district, so plentiful that their
companions were genuinely astonished by it.
But, besides the twittering of little birds, the call of partridges and
bustards, the chattering of parrots and sometimes the howling of jackals
were all that could be heard, and to these sounds was never added the
report of firearms or the whimper of a dog on the scent.
After crossing the Falconhurst river they only had to go up the right
bank as far as the edge of the wood, where grew the gigantic mangrove
tree with the aerial dwelling-place.
A profound silence reigned underneath these immense trees--a silence
which awakened vague uneasiness. When Fritz looked at Jenny he read in
her eyes an anxiety for which, however, there was no justification as
yet. Frank, too, felt some nervousness, walking on in front and then
retracing his steps. This uneasiness was shared by all. In ten minutes
they would be at Falconhurst. Ten minutes! Was not that much the same as
being there already?
“It’s a sure thing,” said the boatswain, who wanted to cheer them up,
“it’s a sure thing that we shall have to go down this fine avenue of
yours to Rock Castle! A delay of an hour, that’s all. And what’s an
hour, after so long an absence?”
They put on pace. A few moments later they came within sight of the edge
of the wood, and then of the enormous mangrove tree in the middle of the
court-yard, enclosed by palisades fringed with a quickset hedge.
Fritz and Frank ran to the gate contrived in the hedge.
The gate was open, and had been torn half off its hinges.
The two brothers went into the court-yard and stopped beside the little
central basin.
The place was deserted.
Not a sound came from the poultry-run or the sheds built against the
palisade, although these were generally full of cows and sheep and
poultry during the summer season. In the out-houses were various things,
boxes and hampers and agricultural implements, all in a disorder very
foreign to the careful habits of Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. Wolston and her
daughter.
Frank ran to the cattle-sheds.
There was nothing in them but a few armfuls of hay in the racks.
Did it mean that the animals had broken out of the enclosure? Were they
straying loose about the country? No; for not one had been seen anywhere
near Falconhurst. It was just possible that, for some reason or other,
they had been penned in the other farms, and yet that was hardly an
explanation.
As has been said, the farmstead of Falconhurst comprised two
dwelling-places, one built among the branches of the mangrove tree, the
other among the roots which were buttressed round its base. Above the
latter was a terrace with a railing of bamboo canes, which supported the
roof of tarred moss. This terrace covered several rooms, divided by
partitions fixed among the roots, and large enough for both families to
inhabit them together.
This first dwelling was as silent as the outbuildings in the yard.
“Let us go inside!” said Fritz, with trouble in his voice.
All followed him, and a cry broke from them--an inarticulate cry, for not
one of them could have uttered a word.
The furniture was upset. The chairs and tables had been thrown down, the
chests opened, the bedding thrown on the floor, the utensils into the
corners. It was as if the rooms had been given over to pillage for the
mere sake of pillage. Of the stores of provisions, generally kept fully
supplied at Falconhurst, not a scrap remained. There was no hay in the
loft; in the cellar the casks of wine and beer and spirits were empty.
There were no weapons, except one loaded pistol which the boatswain
picked up and thrust in his belt. Yet carbines and guns were always left
at Falconhurst during the hunting season.
Fritz, Frank, and Jenny stood overwhelmed before this most unexpected
disaster. Were things in the same state at Rock Castle and Wood Grange,
and Sugar-cane Grove and Prospect Hill? Of all the farms, had the
hermitage of Eberfurt alone been spared by these pillagers? And who were
the pillagers?
“My friends,” said Captain Gould, “some disaster has happened; but it
may not be as serious as you fear.”
No one answered. What answer could Fritz or Frank or Jenny have given?
Their hearts seemed broken. They had set foot within the Promised Land
with so much joy, only to find ruin and desolation!
But what had happened? Had New Switzerland been invaded by a band of
those pirates who were so numerous at that period in the Indian Ocean,
where the Andamans and Nicobars offered them a safe place of refuge? Had
the Zermatts and Wolstons been able to leave Rock Castle in time, and
retire elsewhere, or even flee from the island? Had they fallen into the
hands of the pirates--or had they lost their lives in an attempt at
self-defence?
And, one last question, had all this happened a few months ago, or a few
weeks ago, or a few days ago, and would it have been possible to prevent
it if the -Unicorn- had arrived within the time arranged?
Jenny made a brave effort to keep back her tears, while Susan and Dolly
sobbed together. Frank wanted to rush to find his father and mother and
brothers, and Fritz was obliged to hold him back. Captain Gould and the
boatswain went out several times to examine the ground near the
palisade, but came back without having found anything to throw light on
the matter.
Some decision, however, had to be arrived at. Was it better to remain at
Falconhurst and await events there, or to go down to Rock Castle
ignorant of how matters stood? Should they make a reconnaissance,
leaving the women and Bob in James’s protection, while Fritz, Frank, and
Captain Gould, and John Block went to investigate either along the shore
or across country?
In any case they had to dispel this uncertainty, even though the truth
should leave them without hope!
Fritz was voicing the general wish when he said:
“Let us try to get to Rock Castle.”
“And let us go at once!” Frank exclaimed.
“I will come with you,” said Captain Gould.
“And so will I,” said John Block.
“Good!” Fritz replied. “But James must stay with Jenny, Dolly, and
Susan, who will be out of harm’s way at the top of Falconhurst.”
“Let us all go up first,” John Block suggested, “and from there,
perhaps, we shall see--”
It was only reasonable to do that before going to reconnoitre outside.
From the aerial dwelling-place, and especially from the top of the
mangrove tree, the view extended over much of the Promised Land and the
sea to the east, and also over nearly eight miles of coast between
Deliverance Bay and False Hope Point.
“Up! Up!” Fritz answered, to the boatswain’s suggestion.
The habitation among the branches of the tree had escaped the general
devastation, thanks to the dense foliage of the mangrove, which almost
concealed it from view. The door giving access to the winding staircase
inside the trunk bore no marks of violence. Frank found it shut, and
wrenched at it so that the lock-bolt came away.
In a few moments they had all climbed up the staircase, lighted by
narrow loopholes in the tree, and set foot on the circular balcony,
which was almost completely screened behind a curtain of leaves.
The instant Fritz and Frank reached the platform they hurried into the
first room.
Neither this room nor the rooms next it presented the least sign of
disturbance. The bedding was all in good condition, the furniture all in
place. So it was obvious that the original Falcon’s nest had been
respected. The marauders could not have found the door below. The
foliage had become so very much thicker in the course of these twelve
years that it would have been as impossible to see the dwelling from the
yard below as it was from the edge of the neighbouring wood.
It really looked as if Mme. Zermatt and Mrs. Wolston had set everything
in order only the day before. There were preserved meat, flour, rice,
preserves, and liquor, enough of everything to last for a week, in
accordance with the usual custom observed at Falconhurst as at the other
farms.
Nobody now, of course, gave a thought to the question of food. What
occupied their minds to the exclusion of all else, filling them with
despair, was the deserted condition of Falconhurst in the height of the
summer, and the pillage of the lower dwelling.
Directly they returned to the balcony Fritz and the boatswain clambered
up to the top of the mangrove tree, to get as wide a view as possible.
To north ran the line of coast bounded by False Hope Point at the little
hill where the villa of Prospect Hill stood. Nothing suspicious could be
detected in this part of the district.
To west, beyond the canal connecting Jackal River with Swan Lake, spread
the country watered by the little Falconhurst river, through which Fritz
and his companions had walked after they had crossed the bridge. This
was as deserted as the country which ran still further to the west as
far as the defile of Cluse.
To east, the vast arm of the sea spread out between False Hope Point and
Cape East, behind which lay Unicorn Bay. There was not a sail to be seen
at sea, not a boat along the shore. Nothing was visible but the vast
plain of water, from which, to north-east, projected, the reef upon
which the -Landlord- had struck long ago.
Turning towards the south, the eye could only see, about two miles and a
half away, the entrance into Deliverance Bay, near the wall of rock
which sheltered the dwelling of Rock Castle.
Of that house, and its annexes, nothing was visible except the green
tops of the trees in the kitchen garden, and, a little more to
south-west, a line of light which indicated the course of Jackal River.
Fritz and John Block came down to the balcony again, after spending some
ten minutes in the first examination. Making use of the telescope which
M. Zermatt always kept at Falconhurst, they had looked carefully in the
direction of Rock Castle and the shore.
No one was to be seen there. It seemed that the two families could not
be on the island now.
But it was possible that M. Zermatt and his people had been led by the
marauders to some farmstead in the Promised Land, or even to some other
part of New Switzerland.
To this suggestion, however, Captain Gould raised an objection which it
was difficult to meet.
“These marauders, whoever they may be,” he said, “must have come by sea:
must even have landed in Deliverance Bay. Now we have observed none of
their boats. The conclusion would seem to be that they have gone away
again--perhaps taking--”
He stopped. No one ventured to make answer.
Certainly Rock Castle did not seem to be inhabited now. From the top of
the tree no smoke could be seen rising above the fruit trees in the
kitchen garden.
Captain Gould then suggested that the two families might have left New
Switzerland voluntarily, since the -Unicorn- had not arrived at the
appointed time.
“How could they have gone?” Fritz asked, who would have been glad to
have this hope to cling to.
“Aboard some ship that came to these waters,” Captain Gould replied;
“one of the ships which must have been sent from England or perhaps
another vessel which arrived off the island in the ordinary chances of
navigation.”
This theory was possible. And yet there were many grave reasons to
suppose that the desertion of New Switzerland was not due to any such
circumstance.
Fritz spoke again.
“We must not hesitate any longer. Let us go and look!”
“Yes, let us go!” said Frank.
Fritz was just preparing to go down again when Jenny stopped him.
“Smoke!” she said. “I think I can see smoke rising above Rock Castle.”
Fritz seized the telescope and turned it towards the south; for more
than a minute his eye stayed glued to the instrument.
Jenny was right. Smoke was passing across the curtain of green, above
the rocks which enclosed Rock Castle to the rear.
“They are there! They are there!” cried Frank. “And we ought to have
been with them already!”
This assertion nobody denied. They all had such dire need to recover
hope that everything was forgotten, the solitude that lay round
Falconhurst, the pillage of the yard, the absence of the domestic
animals, the empty sheds, the ruin of the rooms at the foot of the
mangrove tree.
But cold reason came back, to Captain Gould and John Block at least.
Manifestly Rock Castle was occupied at this moment--the smoke proved
that. But might it not be occupied by the marauders? At any rate, it
would be necessary to approach it with the utmost caution. Perhaps it
would be best not to go along the avenue which led to Jackal River. If
they went across fields, and, as much as possible, from wood to wood,
they might have a chance of getting to the drawbridge without being
sighted.
At last, as all were getting ready to leave the aerial dwelling, Jenny
lowered the telescope, with which she had been scanning the coast of the
bay.
“And the proof that both families are still here,” she said, “is that
the flag is flying over Shark’s Island.”
The white and red flag, the colours of New Switzerland, was indeed
waving over the battery.
But did that make it absolutely certain that M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston,
and their wives and children, had not left the island? Did not the flag
always float at that spot?
They would not argue the point. Everything would be explained at Rock
Castle, and before an hour had passed.
“Let us go! Let us go!” said Frank again, and he turned towards the
staircase.
“Stop! Stop!” the boatswain suddenly said, lowering his voice.
They watched him crawl along the balcony, to the side overlooking
Deliverance Bay. Then he moved the leaves aside, put his head through
them and drew it back precipitately.
“What is the matter?” Fritz asked.
“Savages!” John Block replied.
CHAPTER XIII
SHARK’S ISLAND
It was now half-past two in the afternoon. The foliage of the mangrove
was so dense that the rays of the sun, though almost vertical, could not
penetrate it. Thus Fritz and his companions ran no risk of being
detected in the aerial dwelling of Falconhurst, of the existence of
which the savages who had landed on the island had no idea.
Five men, half naked, with the black skins of natives of Western
Australia, armed with bows and arrows, were coming along the path. They
had no notion that they had been seen, or even that there were other
inhabitants of the Promised Land besides those of Rock Castle.
But what had become of M. Zermatt and the others? Had they been able to
make their escape? Had they fallen in unequal combat?
Of course, as John Block remarked, it could not be supposed that the
number of aborigines who had landed on the island was limited to these
few men. Had they been so inferior numerically, they could not have got
the better of M. Zermatt and his two sons and Mr. Wolston, even if they
had made a surprise attack. It must have been a large band that had
invaded New Switzerland, whither they must have come in a fleet of
canoes. The fleet was doubtless lying at the present moment in the
creek, with the boat and the pinnace. It could not be seen from the top
of Falconhurst because the view in that direction was cut off by the
point of Deliverance Bay.
And where were the Zermatts and the Wolstons? What inference must be
drawn from the fact that they had not been encountered at Falconhurst or
thereabouts?
That they were prisoners at Rock Castle, that they had had neither time
nor opportunity to seek refuge in the other farms--or that they had been
massacred?
Everything else was explained now--the havoc wrought at Falconhurst, and
the deserted condition in which the Promised Land was found between the
Swan Lake canal and the shore.
How could they cherish any but the faintest hope? So, while Captain
Gould and the boatswain kept the natives in view, the others sorrowed
together.
There was one last chance. Could the two families have taken refuge in
the westward, in some part of the island beyond Pearl Bay? If they had
caught sight of the canoes in the distance, across Deliverance Bay,
might they not have had time to make their escape in the waggon, taking
provisions and arms?
Captain Gould and John Block continued to watch the approaching savages.
Was it their intention to come into the yard? The house had been visited
and pillaged by them already. Now they might discover the door at the
foot of the staircase. In that event, however, they could easily be
disposed of. For when they stepped out on to the platform they could be
surprised, one by one, and hurled over the balustrade, a drop of forty
or fifty feet.
“And,” as the boatswain remarked, “if after a tumble like that they had
legs enough left to get to Rock Castle, the beasts would be more like
cats than the monkeys they resemble!”
But when they reached the end of the avenue, the five men stopped. The
watchers did not miss a single movement they made. What was their
business at Falconhurst? If the aerial dwelling had escaped their
observation so far, were they not now on the point of discovering it,
and the people inside it? And then, they would come back in larger
numbers, and how was the attack of a hundred natives to be withstood?
They came to the palisade and walked all round it. Three of them entered
the yard, and went into one of the out-houses on the left, coming out
again presently with fishing tackle.
“The rascals are a bit too familiar!” the boatswain murmured. “They
don’t only not ask your leave--”
“Can they have a canoe on the beach, and are they going to fish along
the shore?” said Captain Gould.
“We’ll soon find out, Skipper,” John Block replied.
The three men returned to their companions. Then they went down a little
path bordered with a stout thorn hedge, which ran along the right of the
Falconhurst river and passed on to the sea.
They were in sight until they reached the cutting through which the
river flowed to its outlet into Flamingo Bay.
But as soon as they turned to the left, they became invisible, and would
only be seen again if they put out to sea. It was probable there was a
boat upon the beach--probable, too, that they generally used it for
fishing near Falconhurst.
While Captain Gould and John Block remained on the watch, Jenny
controlled her grief and asked Fritz:
“What ought we to do, dear?”
Fritz looked at his wife, not knowing what to answer.
“We are going to decide what we ought to do,” Captain Gould declared.
“But to begin with, it is idle to remain on this balcony, where we are
in danger of being discovered.”
When they were all together in the room, while Bob, who was tired by his
long march, slept in a little closet next to it, Fritz answered his
wife’s question:
“No, Jenny dear--all hope is not lost of finding our people. It is
possible that they were not taken by surprise. Father and Mr. Wolston
are sure to have seen the canoes in the distance. They may have had time
to take refuge in one of the farms, or even in the heart of the woods at
Pearl Bay, where these savages would not have ventured. We saw no trace
of them when we left the hermitage at Eberfurt, after we crossed the
canal. My opinion is that they have not moved away from the coast.”
“That is my opinion, too,” said Captain Gould, “and I believe that M.
Zermatt and Mr. Wolston have got away with their families.”
“Yes, I am sure of it!” said Jenny positively. “Dolly, dear--Susan--don’t
lose heart! Don’t cry any more! We shall see them all again!”
The young woman spoke so stoutly that she brought back hope to them.
Fritz shook her hand.
“It is God who speaks through your lips, Jenny dear!” he said.
On consideration, indeed, as Captain Gould insisted, it was hardly to be
supposed that Rock Castle could have been surprised by attacking
natives, for they could not have brought their canoes by night to land
which they did not know. It must have been by daylight that they
arrived, and some of the islanders must surely have seen them far enough
off to have had time to take refuge in some other part of the island.
“And then again,” Fritz added, “if these natives landed only recently,
our people may not have been at Rock Castle at all. This is the season
when we usually visit all the farms. Although we did not meet them at
the hermitage at Eberfurt last night, they may be at Wood Grange, or
Prospect Hill, or at Sugar-cane Grove, in the midst of those thick
woods.”
“Let us go to Sugar-cane Grove first,” Frank suggested.
“We can do that,” John Block assented; “but not before night.”
“Yes, now, at once, at once!” Frank insisted, declining to listen to
argument. “I can go alone. About twelve miles there, and twelve miles
back; I shall be back in four hours, and we shall know what we are
about.”
“No, Frank, no!” said Fritz. “I do beg you not to leave us. It would be
most foolish. If need be, I order you not to, and I am your elder
brother.”
“Would you stop me, Fritz?”
“I would deter you from doing anything so rash.”
“Frank, Frank!” said Dolly entreatingly. “Do please listen to your
brother! Frank! I beseech you!”
But Frank was set on his plan.
“Very well!” said the boatswain, who thought it his duty to interfere.
“Since a search is to be made, let us make it without waiting until
night. But why should we not all go together to Sugar-cane Grove?”
“Then come along!” said Frank.
“But,” the boatswain went on, addressing Fritz, “is it really Sugar-cane
Grove that we ought to make for?”
“Where else?” Fritz asked.
“Rock Castle!” John Block answered.
The name, thus unexpectedly dropped into the discussion, altered the
whole course of it.
Rock Castle? After all, if M. Zermatt and Mr. Wolston and their wives
and children had fallen into the hands of the natives, and if their
lives had been spared, it was there that they would be, for the smoke
proved that Rock Castle was occupied.
“Go to Rock Castle, eh?” Captain Gould replied. “All right; but go there
all together.”
“All together? No,” said Fritz; “only two or three of us, and after
dark.”
“After dark?” Frank began again, more set than ever upon his idea. “I am
going to Rock Castle now.”
“And how do you expect in broad daylight to escape the savages who are
prowling round about it?” Fritz replied. “And if you do escape them, how
will you get into Rock Castle, if they are there at the time?”
“I don’t know, Fritz. But I shall find out if our people are there, and
when I have found out I will come back!”
“My dear Frank,” Captain Gould said, “I quite understand your
impatience, and I sympathise with it. But do give way to us in this
matter; it is only common prudence that makes us think as we do. If the
savages get you, the hunt will be up; they will come to look for us, and
there won’t be any more safety for us, either at Wood Grange or anywhere
else.”
At last they succeeded in making Frank listen to reason. He had to bow
to the authority of one who already perhaps was the head of the family.
So it was decided that they should wait, and that as soon as darkness
permitted Frank and the boatswain should leave Falconhurst. It was
better that two should make this reconnaissance, fraught with many
dangers. They would glide along the quickset hedge that bordered the
avenue, and both would try to get to Jackal River. If the drawbridge
were withdrawn to the other bank, they would swim across the river and
attempt to get into the court-yard of Rock Castle through the orchard.
It would be easy to see through one of the windows if the families were
shut up inside. If they were not, Frank and John Block would come back
at once to Falconhurst, and they would all try to get to Sugar-cane
Grove before daylight.
Never did the hours drag by more slowly! Never had Captain Gould and his
companions been more profoundly dejected--not even when the boat was cast
adrift upon an unknown sea, not even when it was smashed upon the rocks
in Turtle Bay, not even when the shipwrecked company, with three women
and a child amongst them, saw themselves threatened by winter on a
desert coast, shut in a prison whence they could not escape!
In the midst of all those trials they had, at least, been free from
anxiety on account of those in New Switzerland! Whereas, now, they had
found the island in the power of a horde of natives, and did not know
what had become of their relatives and friends; but had good ground for
fearing that they might all have perished in a massacre!
Slowly the day wore on. Every now and then one or other of them,
generally Fritz and the boatswain, climbed up among the branches of the
mangrove in order to search the country and the sea. What they were most
anxious to ascertain was whether the savages were still in the
neighbourhood of Falconhurst, or had gone back to Rock Castle.
But they could see nothing, except, towards the south, near the mouth of
Jackal River, the little column of smoke rising above the rocks.
Up to four o’clock in the afternoon nothing happened to change the
situation. A meal was prepared from the stores in the house.
When Frank and John Block came back they might all have to set out for
Sugar-cane Grove, and that would be a long march.
Suddenly a report was heard.
“What is that?” Jenny exclaimed, and Fritz drew her back as she was
hastening to one of the windows.
“Could it have been a gun?” Frank asked.
“It was a gun!” the boatswain exclaimed.
“But who fired it?” Fritz said.
“A ship off the island, do you think?” James suggested.
“The -Unicorn-, perhaps!” Jenny cried.
“Then she must be very near the island,” John Block remarked, “for that
report was close at hand.”
“Come to the balcony, come to the balcony!” Frank cried excitedly.
“Let us be careful not to be seen, for the savages must be on the
alert,” Captain Gould cautioned them.
All eyes were turned towards the sea.
No ship was to be seen, although, judging from the nearness of the
report, it must have been off Whale Island. All that the boatswain could
see was a single canoe, manned by two men, which was trying to get in
from the open sea to the beach at Falconhurst.
“Can they be Ernest and Jack?” Jenny whispered.
“No,” Fritz answered, “those two men are natives, and the canoe is a
pirogue.”
“But why are they running away like that?” Frank asked. “Can there be
someone after them?”
Fritz uttered a cry--a cry of joy and surprise combined.
He had just seen a bright flash in the middle of a white smoke, and
almost simultaneously there was a second report which made the echoes
ring round the coast.
At the same time a ball, skimming the surface of the bay, threw up a
great jet of water a couple of fathoms away from the canoe, which
continued to fly at full speed towards Falconhurst.
“There! There!” shouted Fritz. “Father and Mr. Wolston and all of them
are there--on Shark’s Island!”
It was, indeed, from that island that the first report had come, as well
as the second with the ball aimed at the pirogue. No doubt the islanders
had found refuge under the protection of the battery which the savages
did not venture to approach. Above it was the red and white flag of New
Switzerland, while on the topmost peak in all the island floated the
British flag!
Impossible to depict the joy, the delirium to which those so lately in
despair now abandoned themselves! And their emotions were shared by
those true comrades, Captain Gould and the boatswain.
There was no further idea of going to Rock Castle; they would leave
Falconhurst only to go--how, they did not know--to Shark’s Island. If only
it had been possible to communicate with it by signals from the top of
the mangrove, to wave a flag to which the flag on the battery might
reply! But that might have been unwise, unwise too, to fire a few shots
with the pistol, for, though these might be heard by M. Zermatt, they
might also be heard by the savages, if they were still prowling about
Falconhurst.
It was most important that they should not know of the presence of
Captain Gould and his party, for these could not have withstood a
combined attack by all the savages now in possession of Rock Castle.
“Our position is a good one now,” Fritz remarked; “don’t let us do
anything to compromise it.”
“Quite so,” Captain Gould replied. “Since we have not been discovered,
don’t let us run any risk of it. Let us wait until night before we do
anything.”
“How will it be possible to get to Shark’s Island?” Jenny asked.
“By swimming,” Fritz declared. “Yes; I can swim there all right. And
since father must have fled there in the long boat, I will bring back
the long boat to take you all over.”
“Fritz,--dear!” Jenny could not refrain from protesting. “Swim across
that arm of the sea?”
“Mere sport for me, dear wife, mere sport!” the intrepid fellow
answered.
“Perhaps the niggers’ canoe is still upon the beach,” John Block
suggested.
Evening drew on, and a little after seven o’clock it was dark, for night
follows day with hardly any interval of twilight in these latitudes.
About eight o’clock the time had come, and it was arranged that Fritz
and Frank and the boatswain should go down into the yard. They were to
satisfy themselves that the natives were not hanging about anywhere
near, and then were to venture down to the shore. In any case, Captain
Gould, James Wolston, Jenny, Dolly and Susan were to wait at the foot of
the tree for a signal to join them.
So the three crept down the staircase. They had not dared to light a
lantern lest its light should betray them.
There was no one in the house below, nor in the out-houses. What had to
be found out now was whether the men who had come during the day had
gone back to Rock Castle, or if they were on the beach for which the
canoe had made.
Caution was still necessary. Fritz and John Block decided to go down to
the shore by themselves, while Frank remained on guard near the entrance
to the yard, ready to run in if any danger threatened Falconhurst.
The two men went out of the palisade and crossed the clearing. Then they
slid from tree to tree for a couple of hundred yards, listening, and
peering, until they reached the narrow cutting between the last rocks,
against which the waves broke.
The beach was deserted, and so was the sea as far as the cape, the
outlines of which could just be seen in the eastward. There were no
lights either in the direction of Rock Castle, or on the surface of
Deliverance Bay. A single mass of rock loomed up a couple of miles out
at sea.
It was Shark’s Island.
“Come on,” said Fritz.
“Ay, ay,” John Block replied.
They went down to the sandy shore, whence the tide was receding.
They would have shouted for joy if they had dared. A canoe was there,
lying on its side.
It was the pirogue which the battery had greeted with a couple of shots
from its guns.
“A lucky thing that they missed it!” John Block exclaimed. “If they
hadn’t, it would be at the bottom now. If it was Mr. Jack or Mr. Ernest
who was such a bad shot, we will offer him our congratulations!”
This little boat, of native construction and worked by paddles, could
only hold five or six people. Captain Gould and his party numbered
eight, and a child, to be rowed to Shark’s Island. True, the distance
was only a bare two miles.
“Well, we will pack in somehow,” John Block said; “we mustn’t have to
make two trips.”
“Besides,” Fritz added, “in another hour the flood tide will make itself
felt, and as it sets towards Deliverance Bay, not very far from Shark’s
Island, it will not be a very big job for us to get there.”
“Everything is for the best,” the boatswain replied, “and that is
beginning to become evident.”
There was no question of pushing the boat down to the sea; it would take
the water of its own accord, directly the flood tide overtook it. John
Block satisfied himself that it was firmly moored and was in no danger
of drifting out to sea.
Then both went up the beach again into the avenue, and rejoined Frank,
who was waiting for them in the court-yard.
Informed of what they had found, he was overjoyed. Fritz left him with
the boatswain to keep watch over the entrances to the yard.
The news he brought made joy upstairs.
About half-past nine all went down to the foot of the mangrove tree.
Frank and John Block had seen nothing suspicious. Silence reigned round
Falconhurst. The slightest sound could have been heard, for there was
not a breath of air.
With Fritz and Frank and Captain Gould in front, they crossed the
court-yard and the clearing, and filing under cover of the trees in the
avenue they reached the beach.
It was as deserted as it had been two hours before.
The flood tide had already lifted the boat, which was floating at the
end of its rope. Nothing now remained but to get into it, unmoor it, and
push off into the current.
Jenny, Dolly, Susan, and the child immediately took their places in the
stern. The others crouched between the seats, and Fritz and Frank took
the paddles.
It was just ten o’clock, and, as there was no moon, they hoped they
might get across unseen.
In spite of the great darkness, they would have no difficulty in making
straight for the island.
The moment the pirogue was caught by the current it was carried towards
it.
All kept silence. Not a word was exchanged, even under breath. Every
heart was gripped by excitement.
The flood tide could not be relied upon to take them straight to Shark’s
Island. About a mile from the shore it bore away towards the mouth of
Jackal River, to run up Deliverance Bay.
So Fritz and Frank paddled vigorously towards the dark mass of rock,
where no sound or light could be detected.
But someone would certainly be on guard within the battery. Was there
not a danger of the canoe being seen and shot at, under the
misapprehension that the savages were making an attempt to get
possession of the island under cover of the night?
Actually, the boat was not more than five or six cables’ length away
when a light flashed out at the spot where the guns stood under their
shed.
Was it the flash from a gun? Was the air about to be rent by an
explosion?
And then, caring no longer whether the savages heard him or not, the
boatswain stood up and shouted in stentorian tones:
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”
“Friends--we are friends!” shouted Captain Gould.
And Fritz and Frank together called again and yet again:
“It’s we! It’s we! It’s we!”
The instant they touched the rocks they fell into the arms of their
friends.
CHAPTER XIV
A PERILOUS PLIGHT
A few minutes later the two families--complete this time--with Captain
Harry Gould and the boatswain, were together in the store-house in the
middle of the island, five hundred paces from the battery knoll over
which the flag of New Switzerland floated.
Fritz, Frank, and Jenny were clasped to the hearts of M. and Mme.
Zermatt and covered with kisses; James, Dolly, Susan, and Bob were
unable to extricate themselves from the embraces of Mr. and Mrs.
Wolston; and much hand-shaking was exchanged with Captain Gould and the
boatswain.
Then they had to exchange stories of the fifteen months which had passed
since the day when the -Unicorn- disappeared behind the heights of False
Hope Point, bearing away Jenny Montrose, Fritz, Frank, and Dolly.
But before recalling all these past events, it was necessary to talk of
the present.
For although they were reunited now, the two families were none the less
in a serious and perilous position. The savages must ultimately become
masters of this island when the ammunition and provisions were
exhausted, unless help came. And whence could M. Zermatt and his people
expect help?
First of all Fritz told briefly the story of the -Flag’s- castaways.
“And where are the savages?” Fritz asked, as he came to the end of
telling how they had seen the savages.
“At Rock Castle,” M. Zermatt replied.
“Many of them?”
“A hundred at least; they came in fifteen pirogues--probably from the
Australian coast.”
“Thank God you were able to escape from them!” Jenny exclaimed.
“Yes, indeed, dear child,” M. Zermatt replied. “As soon as we saw the
canoes making for Deliverance Bay, we took refuge on Shark’s Island,
thinking that we might be able to defend ourselves here against an
attack by them.”
“Papa,” said Frank, “the savages know now that you are on this island.”
“Yes, they do,” M. Zermatt answered, “but thank God, they have not
succeeded in landing here yet, and our old flag is still flying!”
The following is a very brief summary of what had happened since the
time at which the first part of this narrative ended.
On the return of the dry season, after the expeditions which resulted in
the discovery of the Montrose River, a reconnaissance was carried out as
far as the range of mountains, where Mr. Wolston, Ernest and Jack
planted the British flag on the summit of Jean Zermatt peak. That
happened some ten or twelve days before the boat arrived on the southern
coast of the island, and if the expedition had been carried beyond the
range they might have met Captain Gould at Turtle Bay. But Mr. Wolston
and the two brothers had not ventured across the desert plateau.
The newcomers were told how Jack, carried away by his wild desire to
capture a young elephant, had fallen into the midst of savages, who made
him prisoner. After escaping from them, he had brought back the grave
news of their presence on the island.
Thoroughly alarmed, the Zermatts and Wolstons made plans in anticipation
of an attack upon Rock Castle, and maintained a watch day and night.
For three months, however, nothing happened. The savages did not appear.
It seemed that they had finally left the island.
But there was matter of new anxiety in the fact that the -Unicorn-, due
to arrive in September or October, made no appearance off New
Switzerland. In vain did Jack go many times to the top of Prospect Hill
to look out for the return of the corvette. On each occasion he had to
come back to Rock Castle without having seen her.
It should be mentioned here that the ship observed by Mr. Wolston,
Ernest, and Jack from the summit of Jean Zermatt peak was no other than
the -Flag-, as could be proved by comparison of dates. Yes, it was the
three-master which had fallen into the hands of Robert Borupt. After
approaching the island, she had sailed to the Pacific Ocean, through the
Sunda Seas, never to be heard of again.
The last weeks of the year brought them to despair. After the lapse of
fifteen months, all abandoned hope of ever seeing the -Unicorn- again.
Mme. Zermatt, Mrs. Wolston, and Hannah mourned their lost ones. None had
courage left for anything. Nothing seemed of any use.
It was only after this long delay, that they took it for granted that
the -Unicorn- had been wrecked, lost with all hands, and that nothing
more would ever be heard of her, either in England or in the Promised
Land!
For if the corvette had accomplished her outward voyage without mishap,
after a call at the Cape of Good Hope lasting a few days, she would have
reached Portsmouth, her destination, within three months. From there, a
few months later, she would have sailed for New Switzerland, and several
emigrant ships would have been despatched soon after her to the English
colony. The fact that no ship had visited this portion of the Indian
Ocean meant that the -Unicorn- had foundered in the dangerous seas that
lie between Australia and Africa before she had reached her first port
of call, Cape Town; it meant, too, that the existence of the island was
still unknown, and would remain unknown, unless the chances of
navigation brought some other ship into these remote seas which, at this
period, lay within none of the maritime routes.
During the first half of the dry season neither M. Zermatt nor Mr.
Wolston thought of leaving Rock Castle. As a rule they spent the finest
part of the year at Falconhurst, reserving a week each for the farms at
Wood Grange, Sugar-cane Grove, Prospect Hill, and the hermitage at
Eberfurt. On this occasion they limited themselves to the brief visits
necessitated by their duty to the animals. They made no attempt to
explore the other portions of the island outside the district of the
Promised Land. Jack contented himself with hunting in the immediate
neighbourhood of Rock Castle, leaving Whirlwind and Storm and Grumbler
idle. Various works which Mr. Wolston had planned to do, to which his
engineering instinct had moved him, were left unattempted.
What was the use? In those four little words was summed up a volume of
despondency.
So when they came to celebrate the festival of Christmas--kept with joy
so many years--tears were in the eyes of all, and prayers rose for those
who were not with them!
Thus the year 1817 opened. In that splendid summer season Nature was
more lavish with her gifts than she had ever been before. But her
generosity far exceeded the requirements of seven persons. The great
house seemed empty, now that those they had expected could be looked for
no longer!
And yet there came at times faint hopes that everything was not lost
irreparably. Could the delay of the -Unicorn- be explained in no other
way than by shipwreck with loss of all hands? Perhaps she had prolonged
her stay in Europe. Perhaps quite soon they would see her topsails on
the horizon, and the long pennon streaming from her mainmast.
It was in the second week of January of this most gloomy year that M.
Zermatt saw a flotilla of pirogues round Cape East, and making for
Deliverance Bay. Their appearance caused no great surprise, for after
Jack had fallen into their hands, the savages could no longer be unaware
that the island was inhabited.
In less than two hours the tide would bring the pirogues to the mouth of
Jackal River. Manned by something like a hundred men, for, of course,
the whole party that had landed on the island must have joined in this
expedition, how would it be possible to offer them serious resistance?
Would it be well to take refuge at Falconhurst, Wood Grange, Prospect
Hill, Sugar-cane Grove, or even at the hermitage at Eberfurt? Would they
be any safer there? As soon as they had set foot on this rich domain of
the Promised Land, the invaders would be sure to go all over it! Ought
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000