Help came only just in time. Their friends had seen their plight and were doing their utmost to come to their assistance. Pirouet, Jake, Jenny and Clarissa had run back across the bridge. The two men joined Fergusson, Catamole and a ragged dark-haired stranger who had just emerged from the forest to fight beside them. Led by Fergusson, they all fell upon two pirates who were still trying to force the bridge, killed one and drove the other off with a great gash in his sword arm.
Jenny had found a pistol somewhere and Clarissa a knife. Wide-eyed but determined they remained to guard the crossing against the pirates' molls who, close by, had just thrown the negresses into the pool; while Fergusson and his companions ran towards Roger. Another frightful melee ensued; Catamole was cut down by a stroke that half severed his head from his neck, but the others succeeded in reaching the bridge.
One by one they backed across- the plank. Roger went last and a great bearded swashbuckler attempted to follow him, slashing at his head with a cutlass at every backward step he took. But using both hands, Jenny let off her pistol at him, and, by good luck, the bullet tore away part of his left ear. The shock caused him to lower his guard for a second and Roger promptly ran him through. With a loud groan he heeled over sideways and fell into the foaming water twenty feet below. Next moment Roger was safely on the far bank of the gully. Before any of the other pirates could attempt to cross; Dan had wrenched the plank from its lodgment and drawn it in.
Roger was streaming with sweat and so breathless that he could hardly utter, but he managed to gasp: "Get up the path all of you. Some of them have fire-arms. Now they are no longer mixed up with us they will not hesitate to use them."
At that moment a shot rang out Missing his neck only by a finger's-breadth, it snicked away a fragment from the collar of his coat Needing no further warning they all ran up the path until a bend in it hid them from their enemies' view. Panting and moaning as a result of their terrible exertions, they flung themselves down on the ground to rest their aching limbs and get their breath back.
Georgina and Amanda had- already been carried up there, and as soon as Roger had recovered a little he went over to them. Amanda was sitting up, but with her head hanging down and nursing an injured arm. It had been badly wrenched by a pirate who had twisted it and thrown her to the ground. He had then kicked her in the stomach, causing her acute pain and vomiting, but her case gave no cause for immediate alarm. Georgina had fared worse. A pirate had slashed at her head with a cutlass, and only the fact that she had at that instant sprung forward to strike, him in the face had saved her life. Her movement had resulted in her being struck down by the hilt of the weapon instead of its blade, but she was still unconscious.
Doctor Fergusson came over to them and, after examining her head, relieved their fears by saying that her thick hair had saved her from the worst effects of the blow. He could find only a slight fracture under it and thought that although she might suffer from concussion she was in no great danger.
Going over to Dan, Roger thanked him and the others for all they had done, then said he thought it would be best for the party to move farther up the path. There was still a risk that the pirates might find a way to cross the gully, and should they do so the more warning the party had of their approach the more time it would have to get well hidden in the undergrowth.
It was therefore decided that they should proceed until they came upon another clearing, or should they fail to find one within half a mile, halt there while Roger remained behind to watch for any attempt that might be made to follow them.
Meanwhile Fergusson was doing the best he could for the injured.
Shirt tails were torn off to serve as bandages, a sling made for Amanda's
arm, and a rough stretcher constructed from branches on which to
carry Georgina. When these first-aid measures were completed Roger
watched them set off slowly up the hill, then walked down it back
to the entrance of the path.
The twilight had now almost faded into night. He could see enough to be certain that the pirates had withdrawn from the far side of the gully, and just to make out that there were still people moving about farther off, in the clearing. Sitting down he thought over the frightful fight
Less than half an hour had passed since he had sent the Vicomte to a well-deserved death in the pool. During that time at least a score of other people must have died and as many more been seriously injured. The pirates, having been taken by surprise, had suffered much more heavily than their opponents, and they had also lost a number of their slaves who had seized the chance to run off into the forest; but they were still a formidable body, whereas of the Circe's men only Jake and Kilick had succeeded in getting away with the escapers. Several others had attempted to but had been struck down before they could join either of the parties led by Dan or Fergusson. Considering the odds against them Roger thought it little short of a miracle that any of them should have got away, and it still seemed to him almost unbelievable that he should be alive and free himself.
For a good two hours he sat keeping watch. By then it was a long time since the last of the wounded had been carried away, and no sound, save the croaking of the tree-frogs, broke the silence of the dark, deserted clearing. Feeling that no attempt to cross the gully was now likely to take place while the darkness lasted, he got to his feet and began to make his way up the path.
It was no easy matter, as although his eyes had become accustomed to the darkness he could hardly see a yard in front of him and every few paces blundered into the undergrowth. But at length he heard the murmur of voices a little way ahead and emerged from the tunnel -of foliage into a small open space faintly lit by starlight
The party had been getting anxious about him so were much relieved by his appearance. They had, too, been waiting for him to rejoin them before discussing how they might best keep their new-won liberty, and as soon as he had sat down among them they proceeded to do so.
It seemed fairly certain that they would be able to evade recapture by remaining in the forest. To do so presented no problem of hunger or thirst, as there was an abundance of fruit to be had for the picking. There were also any number of wild pigs and game that could be trapped, and an inexhaustible supply of fuel for fires on which to cook them. But to remain there could be only a temporary expedient, and the real question was—how could they get back to civilization?
The man who had joined Fergusson towards the end of the affray proved to be an American trader named Wilson. Nine months before, while on his way from Boston to Jamaica, he had been captured by de Senlac and, with three other passengers who had since died, forced into slavery. On learning this. Roger said to him:
"You must know more of the island than ourselves, Mr. Wilson. What is the name of the nearest town, and how far distant is it?"
"There is only one, Sir," replied Wilson, "and that a miserable place, although it has quite a good harbour. It is called Cayona, and was for many years a very minor post for a French Governor. The force he controlled was so insignificant that he could do no more than protect the handful of planters established nearby on the south coast of the island: so generations of buccaneers have always been the masters of nine-tenths of it, and Cayona a port where they met to enter into every sort of villainy."
"Still, think you we could get a ship there?"
"Not one with an honest master. Soon after France declared herself a Republic, the slaves revolted. They murdered the Governor and the more prosperous of the planters. Since then Cayona has been entirely lawless. It would mean a gruelling march through the forest to reach it, and when we did we should stand a great risk of falling victims of another gang of freebooters; so I certainly do not advise going there."