CHAPTER XIX

AT ARM'S LENGTH

Within the mazes of the forest the little party had no fear of pursuit, and they marched rapidly homeward with the alacrity of men conscious of success. They had gone only a few miles when Trentham heard the unmistakable purring of the seaplane's engine. At that spot the trees formed a canopy overhead through which the sky could scarcely be seen; but at his bidding Lafoa ordered one of the natives to climb a lofty trunk and discover if possible in what direction the machine was flying. The sound had long been inaudible when the man came to the ground again and reported that the strange bird had not soared within sight.

They pushed oh, and were met some little distance from the village by Hoole himself.

'Been scalp-hunting?' he said with a smile.

'No; playing bowls. But what's your news?' asked Trentham. 'Ours will keep.'

'Well, I guess it might be worse. I made Wilhelmshafen, and had to run the gauntlet of a score or so of rifles. It seems they 'd heard a thing or two about the seaplane, and had already reported to one of your warships that's cruising somewhere east. I didn't dare land till I 'd dropped a note telling 'em who I was. There's no warship within miles; but as soon as they had heard my story they rose to the occasion; they 're some sports. The only vessel they had around was a tramp; she might make ten knots in the ordinary way, but could be speeded up to twelve, perhaps, by frantic stoking; so the engineer said. The skipper started coaling at once; he had her cleared of everything that could be spared, and the crew volunteered to a man.'

'But, my dear fellow, a tramp! She 'd no more offensive weapon, I suppose, than a hose.'

'That's correct; but, of course, the skipper had no notion of fighting the Raider. His idea was to steal up along the coast and lie doggo while his men came across country and got you away. At the same time he did what was possible by way of armament. There was a number of machine-guns on shore, left by the Germans when they hauled down their flag to the Australians. He put them aboard, and some Australian gunners were keen to join in this stunt, along with a crowd of young fellows who swore they were all crack shots, and a trader or two. Altogether there are between thirty and forty men coming along. She wasn't ready, of course, when I left; but with good luck she 'll lie off the shore eastward by sunrise to-morrow. Stealing up through the night she 's a good chance of escaping notice, and unless the Raider makes an early morning trip you 'll get away without trouble. Of course, if she is spotted--well, we know what the Raider's guns can do.'

'The tramp has only to keep out of range; the Raider 's crippled.'

'You don't say! Did she run aground?'

Trentham related the morning's events.

'Bully!' cried Hoole. 'Say, what's to prevent our making a good bag of Germans? You think the Raider will sink?'

'There can't be much question of that. They had carried most of their arms on board, and probably those went down with the vessel; the men would waste their time trying to save her. But there were some armed men still on shore, and they might rescue a certain number of rifles before the ship went down. As I came along I tried to decide what I 'd do myself in the Germans' place. They are marooned; they must guess that you flew off for help, and expect to have to deal with some sort of force. The question is, will they surrender or fight?'

'Well, I don't know the inside of a German's mind, so I can't say; but I know what I 'd do. I wouldn't surrender without a fight; and if I saw the odds against me, I 'd make tracks inland, live on the country, and hold out. The Germans are so cocksure of winning the war that I guess they 'll do that.'

'I came to the same conclusion. It's not as if they were traders; they 're naval men, and I can't imagine their giving in tamely. Well, then, we shall have to prepare for a fight.'

'How do you mean?

'They 've lost the greater part of their provisions, and will have to replace them. What better chance than to quarter themselves by main force on the nearest village, which is our friend Flanso's, and compel the people to provide for them? Incidentally also take vengeance for the smashing of their vessel. We can't leave Flanso in the lurch.'

'I guess you 're right. Some of those young fellows at Wilhelmshafen were spoiling for a fight, and were real disgruntled when the skipper showed 'em they 'd have no chance against a well-armed raider. They 'll be ready enough to take a hand in beating off the Germans if they attack the village.'

'If they arrive in time. We may have to face the music before they get here, and I don't much like the prospect. Thanks to Grinson, we did very well against Hahn's handful this morning, but it will be quite another thing to deal with fifty or sixty, perhaps more, a good proportion armed with rifles. Your revolver ammunition is all spent; we 've got the revolvers of the two prisoners, that's all.'

'I brought three revolvers along and a few rounds of cartridges; very little good they 'll be against two or three score rifles. We 'll be back of the wall, of course, which is something to the good.'

'By the way, we heard your seaplane. Where is it?'

'Away yonder. I came down on that pond the Germans failed to strike. I guess they heard her too, and may waste time trying to find her, which will give us a chance to set our defences in order. Say, shall we get along?'

They hurried on. The natives of their party had preceded them, and were surrounded by groups of excited villagers to whom they were expounding the method by which the white men had destroyed the enemy's vessel. A noisy throng followed Trentham and his friends to the gate of the inner enclosure, and when they had disappeared, started a victory dance up and down the broad path.

Lafoa's aid was once more enlisted by Trentham in explaining the situation to the chief. More intelligent than his subjects outside, Flanso was under no illusion about the danger that threatened his village. His own experiences while in the hands of the Germans left him in no doubt as to the fate in store for his people if the enemy got the better of them, and he was ready to accept Trentham's suggestion that all but the fighting men should be at once sent away southward into the forest, where they would be at least out of harm's way until the issue was determined. But when he consulted some of his counsellors he at once encountered the strenuous opposition of the medicine-man, who had not forgiven Hoole for having made him cut so sorry a figure at the duk-duk dance. He protested that the new danger threatening the village was due to the stupidity of the white men. Why had they destroyed the blue vessel, and prevented the enemy from going away? They were already responsible for the destruction of the wreck that had been preserved and cherished by the chief's forefathers from the beginning of the world. They had prevented the human sacrifice customary at the inauguration of a new chief. They were meddlers, and all the misfortunes that had befallen the village were due to them.

Such was the gist of the medicine-man's harangue, though these few sentences by no means represent the torrent of words which poured from his lips. Nor could any one but a cinematograph operator properly depict the extraordinary grimaces of his features and the violent gestures with which he emphasised his denunciations. His right hand wielded a heavy nail-studded mace, and as his excitement grew he stepped, or rather danced, nearer to the group of white men, twirling the mace, tossing it in the air, striking the ground with it. Ignorant though they were of his language, the white men could not mistake the purport of his speech, and two of them noticed with some anxiety that he was making an impression on some members of his native audience. Grinson, however, felt nothing but amusement. A broad grin spread over his face as he listened and watched, and the more excited the medicine-man became the more pleasure the seaman took in the performance, giving utterance now and then to his sentiments with sundry ejaculations and cat-calls.

At last a sudden change came over his expression. The medicine-man in his frenzy had drawn very near to Hoole, and to give point to one of his statements he thrust his mace forward at the full length of his arm, so that Hoole only escaped a blow by stepping quickly back. It was uncertain whether the man had intended to attack him, but the suspicion was too much for Grinson. His lips snapped together; with a great roar he hurled himself at the orator, struck the mace from his hand, and caught him round the waist and hoisted him above his head. The sinews of the seaman's arms cracked; for some seconds he held the native aloft, as if hesitating whether to cast him to the ground. Terrified into silence, the man wriggled; the spectators looked on open-mouthed. Grinson grew purple with exertion; then he laughed. Gradually he lowered his arms, stretched to full length, and gently laid the man at Hoole's feet.

'Windbag!' he muttered, passing his hand across his sweating brow, then setting his arms akimbo and looking down at the still figure.

Gasps of amazement broke from the natives. The medicine-man lay for half a minute; when Grinson stooped and picked up the fallen mace he closed his eyes as if expecting a blow.

'A very neat little bobby's bludgeon, sir,' said Grinson, sticking the mace under his arm. 'Move on, there!'

The medicine-man opened his eyes, and seeing that Grinson had turned aside he crawled slowly away, rose to his feet, and sidled into his hut.

The colloquy he had interrupted was resumed. So great was the impression made by Grinson's display of strength that the natives were ready to agree to anything the white men proposed. It was arranged that the non-combatants should be sent away; a number of huts and trees near the wall on the outside should be razed, provisions brought into the inner enclosure. A few weak spots in the wall were strengthened, and by nightfall everything that was possible had been done to prepare for attack. Scouts meanwhile had been sent out in the direction from which attack might be expected. These were withdrawn as soon as it became dark, and the whole able-bodied population was brought within the wall.

Trentham recognised the futility of attempting any definite tactical measures with a rabble of undisciplined natives.

'They must fight in their own way, if there is to be a fight,' he said to Hoole. 'Let alone the impossibility of giving orders with only one interpreter, we should only worry them by trying to lick them into shape. We must rely on their common sense.'

'Just so. It's up to them to keep the enemy out, and that's all that matters. A word as to not exposing themselves--that's all we can do, except set 'em a good example.'

'As to that, you 'd be useful here, old man; but I fancy you 'd be even more useful if you went off in the seaplane and guided the steamer into the cove. With the Raider sunk, she could quite well run in and land her crew on the Germans' beach; they 'd get here quicker then than if they landed at a spot we don't know the way from.'

'Well, I guess we 'll wait and see,' said Hoole. 'We 'll take turns to do sentry-go through the night. If nothing happens, I 'll very likely take a run out in the morning. The tramp won't be far away then, anyhow.'