Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve The Children Are Captured

Chapter Twelve The Children Are Captured The raid by the pirates was a mere surprise; and this was proof enough of Hooker's misconduct, for a surprise attack on the Indians was beyond the intelligence of the white man. According to the unwritten law of half-civilized peoples, the Indians are always the first to attack; and the Indians are very cunning, and they always strike before dawn, because they know that is when the fighting courage of the white man is at its lowest.At the same time, the white men built a crude fence on the highest point of the rolling hills.At the foot of the mountain, a small river flows; because one cannot live if one is too far away from the water.There they are, waiting to strike.The inexperienced walk back and forth on dead branches with their pistols gripped tightly; the veterans sleep peacefully.Sleep till dawn.In the long dark night, the Indian scouts crawled like snakes in the grass, without moving a blade of grass, like the sand closing silently after a mole has burrowed into it.Not a sound could be heard, except for an occasional mournful howl from them, in perfect imitation of the coyote.This howl was echoed by others, some better than the coyote who was not good at howling.The cold night passed gradually like this, and the long-term fear was really hard for those white people who experienced it for the first time; The eerie silence only shows how the night travels.

Hooker was well aware of this situation, and if he ignored it, he could not be forgiven for his ignorance. As for the Indians, who had no doubt that Hooker was abiding by his principles, their actions on this night were the exact opposite of Hooker's actions.They did everything that made their tribe famous.They have a keen sense that civilized people both admire and fear, and as soon as a pirate tramples on a dry branch, they know at once that the pirates are on the island;From the shore where Hooker's party landed to the underground home under the big tree, every inch of the ground was secretly surveyed by them wearing moccasin shoes with the heels facing forward.They found only a mound with a small river at its foot, so Hook had no choice but to stay here and wait for the morning.After the Indians had arranged everything with great treachery, their main body wrapped up their blankets and waited above the children's houses with the composure most precious in the manhood of their race, waiting for the austere moment to fight to the death.

Although they are awake, they are dreaming sweet dreams, dreaming of torturing Hook at dawn; but unexpectedly they are discovered by the treacherous Hook.According to an Indian scout who had escaped from the massacre, Hooker never stopped before the mound, although he must have seen it in the gray night light.It was never in his mind to wait for the Indians to attack, he could not wait for the night to pass; his policy was nothing but to strike at once.The bewildered Indian scouts, who were proficient in various tactics, were caught off guard by his move, so they had no choice but to follow behind Hook.When they let out a coyote wail, they finally revealed themselves.

Twelve of the strongest and most powerful warriors gathered around the brave Tiger Lily, and they suddenly found that scheming pirates were attacking them.The veil of dreaming of victory was immediately torn away from their eyes.It was impossible to torture Hook, and now it was time for them to hunt happily.They knew this very well; however, they behaved just like the descendants of Indians.Had they gathered quickly in close formation, it would have been very difficult to break; but the traditions of the Indian race forbade them to do so.They have a written code that all noble Indians should not show panic in front of white people.Frightened as they were by the sudden appearance of the pirates, they stood for a moment without moving a muscle, as if the enemy had been invited to visit them.After this heroic observance of the custom, they took up their arms and let out a loud cry of murder, but it was too late.

What kind of battle is this? It's actually a massacre. We won't go into details.Many excellent warriors of Indian tribes were wiped out in this way.But they did not die in vain without vengeance, for, with the fall of the pirate Lean Wolf, Alf Mason died, never to infest the coast of Spain; and George Scully, Charlie Tory , and the Alcerian Fogarty and others also died.Toli died under the ax of the dreaded leopard, and the leopard, tiger lily, and the few remnants of the army finally fought their way out and escaped. How much of Hooker's strategy was to blame in this battle is for the historian to decide.Had he stayed on the mound and waited for the right moment to fight, he and his men might have all been killed; and this must be taken into account to be justified in judging his merits or demerits.What he should probably do is to give the other party advance notice of his new strategy.But in that case, it would be impossible to catch him by surprise and catch him off guard, thus making his strategic plan come to nothing.Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions on this issue.Nevertheless, we cannot help admiring, if we begrudgingly, his intellect to conceive such a daring plan, and his malevolent genius to carry it out.

What was Hooker's own mind at that moment of triumph?His men wished they knew.Panting and wiping their knives, they dodged far away from his iron hook; their thieves sneaked sideways glances at this strange eccentric.Hook must be full of self-satisfaction in his heart, but he doesn't have to show it on his face.In spirit and in reality, he was always remote from his men, always a dark and lonely enigma. But the night's work was not done; Hooker had not come out to kill the Indians, who were but smoked bees, for honey.His target was Peter Pan, and Wendy and their gang, but mainly Peter Pan.

Peter was such a small boy that it was impossible to understand why Hook hated him so much.It is true that he once threw Hook's arm to the crocodile; and because the crocodile was chasing after him, Hook's life was even more uncertain.However, it is also difficult to explain why Hook's revenge is so cruel, ruthless and vicious.The truth is, there was something about Peter that drove the pirate captain to a rage.It wasn't Peter's bravery, it wasn't his cuteness, it wasn't... We needn't guess, because we knew what it was too well not to say it.It was Peter's haughty arrogance.

It was this that irritated Hook's nerves, made his iron hook tremble, and at night, like a bug, disturbed his sleep.As long as Peter lived, the tormented man felt like a lion in a cage into which a sparrow had flown. The problem now is how to get into the tree hole, or how to put his minions into the tree hole.He raised his greedy eyes and scanned them, looking for the thinnest one.The minions writhed uneasily, knowing that he would not hesitate to stick them down. Meanwhile, what about the kids?At the sound of the sword, we saw them motionless as stone statues, with their mouths open and their arms stretched out in supplication to Peter; look back now.I saw that they closed their mouths and lowered their arms.The tumult overhead ceased abruptly, and came as suddenly as it had at first, like the passing of a gust of wind; but they knew that where it passed, their fate had been sealed.

Which side is victorious? The pirates crawled over the tree hole and listened breathlessly, hearing each child's question and, unfortunately, Peter's answer. "If the Indians win," said Peter, "they'll beat the drums; that's the sign of their victory." Smith had found the war drum, and he was sitting on it now. "You'll never hear the drums again," Smee jeered, in a low voice that no one could hear.Because Hook strictly ordered not to make a sound.To his great astonishment, Hooker gestured to him to beat the drums; and Smith slowly realized the insidious nature of this order.Perhaps this simple-minded person had never admired Hook so much.

Smith struck the drum twice and listened delightedly to the response. "Boom the drums," the pirates heard Peter shout, "the Indians are victorious!" The unfortunate children responded with a whoop, and to the Black Wolf above it was sweet music.Immediately afterwards, the children said goodbye to Peter in succession.The pirates were baffled; but all their emotions were overshadowed by base joy, for the enemy was about to climb up from the hole in the tree.They smiled at each other, gearing up.Hook quickly and quietly gave the order: one person guards a tree hole, and the rest line up in a row, with one person standing two yards apart.