Chapter 28 Chapter Thirteen Victory Fruits

It was dawn, and Evans, Bryant, and Gordon came out of the cave and looked around carefully.The sun rose, the clouds cleared, and the lake was visible, rippling with a gentle east wind. Around Frenchman's Cave, by the Zeeland River, and around Trap Wood, there was silence.The poultry in the enclosure walked around the pen as usual, and the dogs showed no signs of distress. Evans carefully observed the footprints on the ground, and found that there were many, especially near the Frenchman's Den. The footprints criss-crossed. It seemed that Walston and his men must have reached the river at night, waiting to open the door.There was no blood on the beach, proving that Locke was not injured.

But there is still a question that has not been answered.Did Walston come from the south side of the lake, or from the north side?If it came from the north, Locke must have fled to the trap woods. It's important to get this straight.They decided to interrogate Forbes.Does Kate save his life, and he should be grateful for it, awaken his humanity?Would he not forget that he had tried to deceive them and then begged for their mercy? Evans went back into the cave, opened the cupboard where Forbes was held, untied him, and led him into the hall. "Forbes," he said, "your scheme is bankrupt. You know, it is very important to me to have a grasp of Walston's plans. Will you answer my question?"

Forbes lowered his head and lowered his eyes, not daring to look at Evans, Kate and the children standing in front of him.He said nothing. Kate chimed in. "Forbes," she said to him, "when the mutiny happened on board, you showed a little sympathy and prevented your accomplice from killing me. Would you not do something to save these children? They faced Even more horrific killings." Forbes remained silent. "Forbes," Kate said more sincerely, "they let you go when you should have been executed! Has all your humanity been destroyed? You've done so much bad, why can't you do something Good thing?"

Forbes half suppressed a sigh. "What can I do?" he almost whispered. "Can you tell us," Evans said to him, "what was going to happen last night? What is going to happen now? Did Walston wait outside until a door opened?" "Yes," admitted Forbes. "Then these children who welcome you will be killed?" Forbes lowered his head again. "Which way did the others come in?" Evans asked. "From the north side of the lake," replied Forbes. "And you and Locke came from the south of the lake?" "yes." "Have they ever been to the west of the island?"

"not yet." "Where are they now?" "I have no idea." "Is there anything else you can tell us?" "No, not anymore." "Do you think Walston will come back?" "I think so." Apparently, as soon as Walston heard the gunshots, he knew his ruse had failed.He must have thought it best to drop all plans until there was no better time. Evans thought that he could get no more information from Forbes, so he tied him up and locked him in the cupboard. Things are serious now.where is wolstonHad he camped in a dense trap forest?They had to grasp the situation, so Evans decided to take the risk of doing some reconnaissance in that direction.

It was almost noon when Moko delivered meals to the prisoners.Forbes barely touched the food, and he looked frustrated.What is he thinking?Had his conscience tormented him with remorse? After lunch, Evans told the boys that he wanted to trap Lynn to see if the pirates were still around the Frenchman's Cave.Proposals were passed unanimously, followed by careful arrangements to make the operation safer. Since the capture of Forbes, there are now only six of Walston and his cohorts left, and there are fifteen in the little colony, not counting Kate and Evans; Direct action little guy.Therefore, it was finally decided that Evanson, Jenkins, Toney, Kate, and Jack would stay in the hole, with Baxter in charge.The older kids, Bryant, Gordon, Donagan, Cross, Sauvis, Webb, Wilcox and Garnett, went out with Evans.It seemed unfair to pit eight children against six adults, but they each had a rifle and a revolver, and Woolston had only five rifles from the ship, so a long-distance struggle might have Give them a chance, especially since Donagan, Wilcox, and Cross are much better marksmen than the American sailors.Plus, they had plenty of ammunition, and Walston was running low on bullets.

It was 2 o'clock when Evans and his troops set off.Baxter, Jack, Moko, Kate, and the younger boys immediately went back into the cave and closed the doors, but neither door was reinforced for fear that the scouts should withdraw for cover.The south and west sides are nothing to be afraid of, because to get there, Walston has to go to Sailboat Bay and then the Zeeland River Gorge, which takes a lot of time.Besides, Forbes had told them that they had come down from the shore of the lake and knew nothing of the Westlands, so Evans need not worry about an attack from behind. The children walked cautiously along the foothills of Oakland.Low-story bushes and large trees outside of captivity allow them to reach the woods without exposing themselves.

Donagan always wanted to be first, and to suppress his enthusiasm, Evans stepped forward.When they passed the little mound where the poor Frenchman lay, they crossed diagonally to the shore of the lake. The little fan seems to be searching for something.Gordon tried his best but couldn't grab it.It pricked up its ears and sniffed the ground with its nose, apparently following some trail. "Wait!" Bryant yelled. "Yes," said Gordon, "you can tell by the way the dog walks that someone is passing in this area." "Crawl through the bushes," Evans ordered. "You, Donagan, you have a good shot, and if you see that guy show up, you don't let him go."

After a few seconds, they reached the first clump of trees.It was just the edge of the woods.There were still signs of the camp, and the branches were still burning, and the ashes were still hot. "Wolston spent the night here last night," Gordon said. "Maybe he was here not so long ago, I think we'd better go back," Evans added. Before he could finish his sentence, he heard gunshots from the right.A bullet "swelled" past Bryant's ear and hit a tree.Another shot was fired almost simultaneously, and then, not fifty yards away, there was a scream and something fell hard in the bushes.

It turned out that Donagan fired immediately where the first shot smoked. The dog rushed ahead, and Donagan followed excitedly. A moment later they were at Donagan's, standing together around a dead body in the grass. "It's Peake!" Evans said. "The guy's dead, and it's all thanks to you, Donagan." "The others don't go very far," Cross said. "Yes, children, continue to hide, you all quickly lower your body, and lower yourself!" A third shot is fired, this time from the left.Sovis didn't have time to dodge, and the bullet grazed her forehead.

"You've been shot!" Gordon charged at him. "It's okay! It's okay!" Sovis reassured him, "It's just a little bit of rubbing!" Children must stay together.Peake was dead, lying on the ground with the children on one side and Woolston and four others on the other.Someone might be hiding behind a tree.So Evans and others squatted in the bushes, forming a tight circle, ready to resist attacks from any direction. Suddenly, Garnett exclaimed, "Where's Bryant?" "I didn't see him," said Wilcox. Bryant was gone.Mimi started screaming like the kid was wrestling with a pirate. "Bryant! Bryant!" Donagan yelled. All the children ran away with the dog.Even Evans couldn't stop them.They run from tree to tree. "Look out, Mr. Evans!" cried Cross, throwing himself down on the ground. The sailor bent instinctively as a bullet whistled inches above his head. He rose quickly and saw one of Walston's men fleeing.It turned out to be Locke, the one who had let him run away the night before. "Rock!" he yelled, aiming and firing.Locke disappeared so quickly, it was as if a crack had opened in the ground beneath his feet. "Miss again, I think!" Evans said. All this happened within seconds, and soon enough, they heard Donagan's voice. "Hold on, Bryant! Hold on!" he yelled. Evans and the others rushed over and saw Bryant and Copp wrestling.Copp threw him to the ground, about to stab him to death with his short sword.But Donagan jumped to his rescue just in time.Copp thrust his sword into Donagan's body, and he fell without a word. Copp saw Evans, Garnett, and Webb about to cut off his retreat, and fled north, being shot in the back.He disappeared all of a sudden, and Xiao Mi didn't catch him, so he came back. Bryant stood up and lifted Donagan's head, trying to revive him.Evans and the others surrounded him as they quickly loaded their guns. Donagan was stabbed deeply in the chest, and from all indications, the sword wound was fatal.He closed his eyes, his face pale as paper.Even when Bryant called him, he didn't respond. Evans knelt down, unbuttoned Donagan's waistcoat, and tore open his blood-soaked shirt.There was a thin wound bleeding near the fourth rib on the left.Has the sword touched the heart?No, because Donagan was still breathing, but probably in the lungs because his breathing was very weak. "We must take him back to the cave!" said Gordon. "It is only in the cave that we can take care of him." "And save him!" pleaded Bryant. "Oh, my poor friend! You risked your life to save me." It seems that the battle has come to an end for the time being.Evans ordered that Donagan be sent back to the French den immediately.Evidently, seeing that the odds were against him, Walston had retreated into the woods.But, strange to say, it made Evans anxious.None of Walston, Brandt, or Cook saw it, and those three were the toughest of them all. Due to Donagan's injuries, don't lift him too wobbly.So Sauvis and Wilcox got some sticks, and they made him lie on them.He still hasn't woken up.The four companions carried him lightly, and the others walked on both sides with loaded guns. They headed straight for Oakland Hills.It's better than walking along the path by the lake.Nothing happened to hinder them on the way.Sometimes Donagan let out a groan of pain, and Gordon ordered him to stop and listen for his breath.But after a while, they continued on their way. Forty-five minutes passed, and although a corner of the cliff covered the cave door, they were very close to the Frenchman's cave. Suddenly, there was a cry from the other side of the Zealand River, and the little fan rushed there. The French den is being attacked by Walston and two of his accomplices.It turned out that while Locke, Cope, and Peake were in ambush in the booby trap, Walston, Brant, and Cooke had climbed the Oakland Hills to the dry bed of Little Dam Creek.Walking along the edge, they descend into a river gorge near the storage room.Then, with a sudden push, the unreinforced door opened. Will Evans come back in time? He had an idea right away.He left Cross, Webb, and Garnett to guard Donagan because it was impossible to leave him alone.He and Gordon, Bryant, Sauvis, and Wilcox took the shortest route back to the cave. After walking a few steps, they saw the flat ground in front of the cave.When they opened their eyes, they almost fainted from fright. Walston was dragging a small child out of the hole, toward the creek. That's Jack.Kate was trying to get him back from Walston, but she couldn't. A moment later, Brandt appeared.He was clutching the young Costa and heading in the same direction. Baxter lunges at Brant, who knocks him to the ground with a punch. No other children were seen.Have they been killed in the hole? Walston and Brant ran quickly to the river, where Cook was waiting for them in a small sailboat by the river.The small sailboat had long been dragged by Cook from the storage room to the river. Once they reached the left bank, they fled.They might return to Bear Rock, taking Jack and Costa hostage, before their retreat was cut off. Evans, Bryant, and three other children hurried over, hoping to reach the bank before Walston and the others crossed.If you shoot at such a distance, you may accidentally injure the hostage. The little fans run much faster than the kids.It rushed forward, straight for Brant's throat, clenching it like a vise.In order to get rid of the dog, Brant had to abandon the child, and at this time Walston dragged Jack to the river. Suddenly, a man rushed out of the hole. It's Forbes. Did he force open the door where he was held and now he was joining his old accomplices?Walston thought so. "Here, Phoebes! Here!" he cried. Evans stopped, ready to shoot.Then he saw Phoebes rushing towards Walston.Horrified, Woolston drops Jack and prepares to defend.Soon he stabbed the dagger at Forbes. Forbes fell at his feet.Walston tried to grab Jack, but Jack drew his revolver and shot Walston in the chest at close range.Brant boarded the boat, and Walston barely followed.Cook pushed the boat.At this time, there was a burst of cannon fire, and all the people on board were shot to death.This is Moko's cannonball fired through the muzzle. Except for the two gangsters who escaped in the trap forest, Charman Island basically wiped out this group of bad guys.