Chapter 25 Chapter 10 The Enemy Near At Hand

It wasn't until late the next morning that the boys became agitated, ready to discuss the unsettled state of affairs.As Gordon pointed out, Walston had been on the island for two weeks, and if he still hadn't repaired the boat, it was simply because of a lack of tools. "That must be the reason," agreed Donagan, "because his ship wasn't badly damaged. If our sailboat hadn't been so badly damaged, we would have taken it to sea in the shortest possible time. fix it." Although Walston didn't leave the island, he didn't seem to have any intention of staying on Charman Island.If he wanted to, he would have explored the island many times before, and he must have discovered the Frenchman's cave long ago.

Bryant then told the others that he had seen land, not far to the east. He added: "I'm sure you remember that when we went to the East River, I saw a white dot a little above sea level, and I couldn't explain it at all at the time." "Wilcox and I don't see anything like that," Donagan retorted, "though we try..." "Moko saw the white dot as clearly as I did," Bryant said. "Well! There may be," Donagan admitted grudgingly, "but how do you think we're near a landmass or an archipelago?" "Well," said Bryant, "yesterday, when I looked at the sea level in this direction, I saw a long line of fire on the far side of our island, which could only have come from an erupting volcano. Yes. So I guess there must be some island not far away. Now, the crew on the 'Severn' must know this too, so they are trying to get to that island."

"Indeed," interrupted Baxter, "they don't want to stay long here either. Obviously, the only reason they're still on our island now is because they can't get their ship to sail. " Bryant's news was crucial to the small colony.It clearly shows that Charman Island is not as lonely as they think floating in the Pacific Ocean.But Walston complicated things by building up his turf on the East River.If he gave up his present residence on the coast, and advanced twelve miles to their camp, as long as he went up the river to the lake, and if he followed the south shore of the lake, sooner or later he would find the French den.

To prevent this from happening, Bryant had to take every precaution.From now on, boys are not allowed to go out unless necessary.Baxter covered the enclosure with a bush, and in the same way camouflaged the hall and storeroom entrances, and no one was allowed in the clearing between the lake and Oakland Hills. Adding to these difficulties, there are now other elements of anxiety.Costa fell ill with a high fever and was dying.Gordon had to prescribe medicine for him from the medicine chest on the sailboat. He was very nervous, for fear that he might prescribe the wrong medicine!Luckily Kate was there, she was like a mother to the poor sick child.Out of a woman's instinct, she guarded him meticulously day and night.Thanks to her, Costa finally had a fever and recovered quickly shortly thereafter.

During the first two weeks of November, thunderstorms are frequent.But on the 17th, the temperature rose slowly and remained the same, and the long-term warm season came.The big trees and shrubs, and all the other plants, were soon putting on new leaves and flowers. Birds from the southern wilderness also flew back to their nests in large numbers.Not being able to cross the swamp to hunt made Donagan miserable. Poor Wilcox was about the same.For he cannot cast nets to catch birds either.Not only did the birds fly back to the island in flocks, but other animals also fell into traps near the Frenchman's Den.

One day Wilcox spotted a messenger bird, the same flock of birds forced to fly to an unknown country in the north during the winter.The swallow still had a small strip of cloth on its wing.Is this a letter to the survivors of the sailing ship?Oh no!The news just came back without reply. Much of the time during these long, dreary days was spent in the hall.Baxter, who was in charge of keeping the voyage's diary, found that he had nothing to remember now.In less than four months, the colonists on Charman Island are heading for their third winter 2 How frustrating it was for these energetic young men, the boys thought anxiously!Only Gordon was always concerned with the details of management.

Even Bryant was on the verge of losing heart a few times, but he did his best to keep it under wraps.He tried to inspire his peers to continue studying, resuming discussions and reading aloud.He keeps making them think about their hometown and friends and promises that one day they will go back.He tried his best to cheer them up, but with little success.What he is most afraid of now is this kind of discouragement and disappointment. But in fact, it's not!Immediately excited about something very important 2 It was around 2 p.m. on November 21, and while Donagan was fishing by the lake, his attention was drawn to the discordant calls of many birds circling the left bank of the river.If those birds were not crows, they obviously belonged to a closely related species like crows.Because they are so alike.

If it weren't for their strange behavior, Donagan would not have noticed their calls. They formed a large circle in the air, and when they approached the ground, they narrowed the radius of the circle again, until they swiftly pounced into a piece of lush grass and trees. Then, the screams became louder than before.But Donagan couldn't see a single movement of the birds.Because the bushes in the place where they disappeared are thicker. An idea flashed into his mind.There must be a dead animal there.As he was very curious to know what it was, he returned to the French Cave and asked Moko to take him by boat to the other side of the Zeeland.

They paddled out of the bank and were in the woods on the bank 10 minutes later.Immediately, the birds all flew off the ground, screaming in protest that they had interrupted their lunch. There lay the carcass of a colt, which had evidently died only a few hours before, for the body had not yet cooled completely. Donagan and Moko didn't want to take the bird's leftover lunch back to the cave for storage, so they were leaving.Suddenly remembered why this camel horse died by the swamp?It was too far from the forest to the east, and llamas seldom left there. Donagan examined the llama carcass carefully.There is a wound on the belly of the alpaca, and this wound was not bitten by a tiger, nor was it bitten by any other beast.

"The camel was shot," he concluded. "Here's the proof!" he said, removing one of the bullets with his pocket knife.The bullet was more the size of a sailing rifle than the guns they used for hunting.It must have been the shot by Woolston or his companions. Donagan and Moko left the swarming birds and returned to Frenchman's Den, where they told their mates. Obviously, the camel horse was killed by a person on the "Serge".Because neither Donagan nor anyone else had fired a gun in over a month.But the problem is to figure out when and where the camel was shot.

After all consideration they found that the wound had been made five or six hours before, which was the time it took for the camel to reach the bank from the lowlands.So one of Woolston's men must have been to the southern end of Family Lake this morning, and their whole party must have crossed the East River and were getting closer to the Frenchman's Cave. Therefore, although the danger is not urgent, the situation is indeed getting more and more severe.On the south side of the island was a wide flat land, crossed by rivers, dotted with swamps, and dotted with sand dunes, but there were still not enough animals to satisfy the daily diet of the gang.It seemed that Woolston was not ready to venture through there, for they had not heard the sound of weapons, so there was still reason to think that the location of the Frenchman's lair had not been discovered. However, people have no long-term worries, but they must have near-term worries.If they didn't have any chance of fighting back in self-defense, it shouldn't be a surprise that these little colonists were driven out of the cave. Three days later, something more meaningful happened.It affirms their awareness even more, and it also shows that their safety is less guaranteed than before. About 9:00 a.m. on the 24th, Bryant and Gordon came out of the hole and crossed the Zeeland River to see if they could dig something like a ditch in the narrow path between the lake and the swamp.If Walston appears in this trench in the future, it will be more convenient for the ambush of Donagan, the sharpshooter of the small colony. They walked about 300 yards from the river.Suddenly Bryant tripped over something, which was also crushed by his foot.He didn't pay much attention to it, just regarded it as one of countless shells.These shells were washed up when the spring flood flooded the entire plain.But Gordon, who was walking behind him, stopped and shouted, "Look at this, Bryant, look at this!" "what happened?" Gordon stopped and picked up the crushed object. "Look!" he said. "That's not a shell," Bryant replied, "it's..." "pipe!" Gordon was holding a pipe with a broken handle. "None of us smoke," he pointed out. "This pipe must have been taken by..." "It wasn't one of ours, unless it belonged to the Frenchman who stayed here before us." "No! The pipe wasn't Bowding's, he died twenty years ago. And it was recently dropped, for the tobacco smell was still quite distinct. A few days ago, or a few hours ago, Walls Don's associates or Walston himself have been on this side of the lake." Gordon and Bryant quickly returned to the hole.Inside the hole, Kate confirmed that she had indeed seen the pipe before in Walston's possession. There is no doubt that the pirates have moved to the south of the lake.Maybe tonight they could reach the banks of the Zealand.If the French lairs were discovered, and if Walston knew of their colony, would he not have guessed that the tools, equipment, powder, and stores he so badly needed were there?Seven able-bodied men can handle fifteen of the ablest little boys with ease.Especially if he will attack suddenly?In any case, there is now no doubt about it.Walston's gang was now approaching them. In this emergency situation, Bryant agreed with his companions that there should be sentries on duty.During the day a permanent outpost is to be set up on Oakland Hills, overlooking the invasion from all directions.Two older boys stand guard at the entrance of the cave at night.All the doors are also reinforced with some pillars.There are also some large stones piled up in the cave, which may still block them for a while.In the small window opened on the cave wall, two small cannons have been placed.One guarded the Zeilan River side, and the other faced the lake.Rifles and revolvers were placed ready for use at the first alarm. It is now November 27, and for two consecutive days, the temperature has been suffocatingly high, thick clouds have shrouded the entire island, and loud thunder shows that heavy rain is coming.After the preventive work that night, which had been a routine for several nights in a row, they towed the boat into the storage room, Bryant and his mates closed all the doors, and now there was only one thing left to do, That is to wait to sleep, and to kneel in prayer, thinking of the homeland. About 9:30 in the evening, the storm really came.The cave was illuminated by strong lightning, and the mountain top seemed to tremble with the rumbling thunder.It was a windless, rainless thunder and lightning of the most terrible kind, for the motionless clouds carried all their currents to one point, and this lasted all night. Costa, Thone, Evanson, and Jenkins hid in bed, jumping up every time they heard the horrible explosion, which also showed that the lightning was so close here.But they have nothing to fear in the cave.Lightning may strike the top of a mountain 20 times, 100 times, but it is impossible for it to penetrate the thick walls of the Frenchman's Cave.There were several times when Bryant, Donagan, or Baxter tried to open the door halfway, only to back away because the lightning was too blinding.The sky seemed to be lit, and the lake reflected the lightning in the sky, like a sea of ​​fire. From 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock, amidst the lightning and thunder, there is not a moment of peace.It wasn't until almost midnight that the lightning and thunder began to weaken.The interval between the thunderclaps became longer and longer, and as the thunderclaps receded, their power gradually weakened.Then the wind rose, and blew away the dark clouds that had weighed heavily on the ground, and at the same time it began to rain in cats and dogs.So, Xiao BuDian felt less afraid.Although it was time for them to sleep, two or three heads that had been hiding under the sheets also came out, and Bryant and the others were ready to go to bed after taking some daily protective measures.Suddenly Mimi jumped up, ran to the gate and let out a long bark. "Did Mimi smell something?" Donagan asked, trying to calm the dog down. "Has the creature ever done this before?" Baxter reminded them. "It has never made a mistake." Gordon decided, "Before we go to bed, we've got to figure out what that noise means." "Exactly," Bryant agreed, "but no one gets out. Prepare to defend yourself!" Each took his own rifle and revolver.Then Donagan went to the hall door, Moco to the storage room door.They leaned against the door and listened, but outside they heard nothing.Although the little fan kept calling and started shouting.It was the worst of it, and Gordon couldn't make it quiet. Suddenly there was a gunshot.There was no way they could have mistaken it for thunder.And the shot must have been fired within 200 yards of the Frenchman's cave. Donagan, Baxter, Wilcox, and Cross grabbed their rifles and stood by the door, ready to fire at anyone who approached.Others began to pile up rocks to form a shelter.Suddenly, a shout was heard outside: "Help! Help!" Someone must be dying. "Help!" came the voice again, this time only a few yards from the opening. Kate listened by the door. "It's him!" she cried. "Who?" Bryant asked. "Open the door! Open the door!" Kate urged them.The door was flung open.A man rushed among them covered in water.It was Evans of the Severn!