Led by old Eloi, the eight negro house slaves said that, as in previous emergencies, they were willing to stay with their master. The others all looked towards Roger for guidance, and he found himself in a very difficult position.
Had he had only to think of himself he would at once have declared his intention of staying, as he felt under an obligation to help de Boucicault defend his property should the need arise; but he had also to think of the women, and their best interests must be placed before all other considerations. Although a night in the woods would be far from good for the still convalescent Georgina, and if they took Tom with them might cause him a serious setback, that was not a very high price to pay for an almost certain prospect of escaping Toussaint's men. But there remained the very unpleasant thought that the hungry pack, once loose, might attack white humans as well as blacks; so the crux of the matter was—could they get far enough from the house to be out of danger from the dogs in the limited time before de Boucicault would consider it imperative to release them? It was a very nasty decision to have to take and, after moistening his lips, he asked his host:
"At what time do you intend to let out your wild dogs, Monsieur?"
De Boucicault glanced at the Louis Seize clock on the mantelpiece and replied: "It is twenty-five minutes past two. By now this column must have advanced to between one and two miles of us. I have good hopes that they are not making for the house, but should they be they may arrive here any time after a quarter to three. I dare not leave the freeing of the pack later than twenty to; so if it is your intention to leave us, Monsieur le Gouverneur, you must hurry."
"Nay," Roger shook his head. To get the women out and with himself only able to hobble, a quarter of an hour was too slender a margin. With a glance round the men of his own party he added: "The ladies and myself will remain here, and I recommend you to do so also."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n," muttered Dan, and the others nodded in agreement
Quickly now they set about preparing to defend the house. Fergusson went upstairs to warn the women what was afoot while de Boucicault unlocked a big cupboard under the main staircase and began to hand out weapons. There were more than enough muskets and pistols for all, with a plentiful supply of powder shot and side arms. Every window on the ground floor had stout shutters and they already had loopholes bored through them. Old Eloi and his companions took up the positions they had been allotted in similar emergencies, while de Boucicault posted the others to the best advantage, and impressed upon them that they were not to fire until he gave the word.
As it was still bad for Roger to stand for any length of time without support, he had a small table, on which he could sit, placed for himself opposite one of the shuttered slit windows on either side of the front door. He had hardly done so when Tom, pale and shaky but resolute, came downstairs and insisted that he was strong enough to lend a hand. He was followed by the women, who declared their intention of acting as loaders for the men. The next ten minutes passed in giving them a demonstration of how to handle the weapons swiftly and safely. Then de Boucicault went out to release the pack.
Five minutes later Roger was endeavouring to reassure the girls, when their host came running back and burst in upon them, his ruddy face a picture of consternation.
"We are betrayed!" he cried, striking his fist in furious anger against the jamb of the open doorway in which he stood panting. Many of the dogs are dead; the rest are vomiting and useless. Earlier tonight someone must have thrown poisoned meat in to them over the courtyard wall."
"That settles it, then," said Roger grimly. "An attack is definitely intended. But how could this column while still several miles distant nave known aught of your pack?"
"Everyone in the district knows of it," came the prompt reply, "and Toussaint has spies everywhere. As I have told you he far surpasses in intelligence the other negro generals. While planning his advance he would have learned about my dogs, and he must have sent some men ahead to ensure their destruction."
It was too late to take to the woods, as they now had reason to suppose that the house was under observation, and the column might arrive on the scene within the next ten minutes; so to leave the house would have been to risk running right up against trouble in the open.
All they could do was to make a final check up on their defences and pray that after a first assault so small a force might decide that the house was too tough a nut to crack. After barring the big door and loading every available fire-arm, they put out most of the candles and masked others, so that the rooms should appear to be in darkness; then stood at their posts anxiously awaiting the appearance of the enemy.
The moon was up and brightly lit the wide sweep of the drive in front of the house, so they had a good field of fire on that side and there was an even better one at its back across a balustraded terrace to the garden; but they thought it unlikely that the attack would come from that direction as the depth of the garden was a bare hundred feet, ending in another balustrade, beyond which the ground dropped almost sheer to the sea. There remained the sides of the house, both of which were flanked by outbuildings; but Dan and Jake were up on the roof with two negroes named Chrysostome and Clovis, and from their greater height could shoot down on anyone who clambered up to the lower roofs on either side of them.
Three o'clock came without sound or sign disturbing the moonlit vistas that the inmates of the house were watching with ever-growing tension. But at five past they caught the rustle and snap of broken bushes, and a moment later a body of men emerged from between the tall palms that fringed the long drive.
They halted about a hundred yards from the house, but one of them continued to walk forward. De Boucicault, who had stationed himself near Roger behind the shuttered window on the other side of the front door, quickly passed the word that everyone should pick his man but refrain from firing until he did. The negro who was approaching was clad in a gaudy uniform with a tricolour sash draped across it, so was obviously an officer. Halting when he reached the foot of the steps, he cried m a high-pitched voice:
"Open up! There are chinks of fight showing from some of your windows, so I can see you must be expecting us. I have wagons with me full of wounded, and require this house to shelter them. Open up now, or it will be the worse for you!"
De Boucicault's only reply was to fire his musket Shot at point-blank range through the chest the officer fell dead at the foot of the steps. A second later a volley crashed out from the defenders of the house. Several of the negroes in the main body sank to the ground killed or wounded. Screams and curses suddenly made the night hideous. Those unhit replied with a ragged volley, then dashed for cover in the nearby bushes. The glass of broken windows crashed and tinkled, and bullets thudded into the shutters. There followed a brief silence while both sides reloaded and sought fresh targets.