The Castaways of the Flag (27 page)

           
But there was
matter of new anxiety in the fact that the
Unicorn,
due to arrive in
September or October, made no appearance off New Switzerland. In vain did Jack
go many times to the top of Prospect Hill to look out for the return of the
corvette. On each occasion he had to come back to Rock Castle without having
seen her.

           
It should be
mentioned here that the ship observed by Mr. Wolston, Ernest, and Jack from the
summit of Jean Zermatt peak was no other than the
Flag,
as could be
proved by comparison of dates. Yes, it was the three-master which had fallen
into the hands of Robert Borupt. After approaching the island, she had sailed
to the Pacific Ocean, through the Sunda Seas, never to be heard of again.

           
The last
weeks of the year brought them to despair. After the lapse of fifteen months,
all abandoned hope of ever seeing the
Unicorn
again. Mme. Zermatt, Mrs.
Wolston, and Hannah mourned their lost ones. None had courage left for
anything. Nothing seemed of any use.

           
It was only
after this long delay, that they took it for granted that the
Unicorn
had
been wrecked, lost with all hands, and that nothing more would ever be heard of
her, either in England or in the Promised Land!

           
For if the
corvette had accomplished her outward voyage without mishap, after a call at
the Cape of Good Hope lasting a few days, she would have reached Portsmouth,
her destination, within three months. From there, a few months later, she would
have sailed for New Switzerland, and several emigrant ships would have been despatched
soon after her to the English colony. The fact that no ship had visited this
portion of the Indian Ocean meant that the
Unicorn
had foundered in the
dangerous seas that lie between Australia and Africa before she had reached her
first port of call, Cape Town; it meant, too, that the existence of the island
was still unknown, and would remain unknown, unless the chances of navigation
brought some other ship into these remote seas which, at this period, lay
within none of the maritime routes.

           
During the
first half of the dry season neither M. Zermatt nor Mr. Wolston thought of
leaving Rock Castle. As a rule they spent the finest part of the year at
Falconhurst, reserving a week each for the farms at Wood Grange, Sugar-cane
Grove, Prospect Hill, and the hermitage at Eberfurt. On this occasion they
limited themselves to the brief visits necessitated by their duty to the
animals. They made no attempt to explore the other portions of the island
outside the district of the Promised Land. Jack contented himself with hunting
in the immediate neighbourhood of Rock Castle, leaving Whirlwind and Storm and
Grumbler idle. Various works which Mr. Wolston had planned to do, to which his
engineering instinct had moved him, were left unattempted.

           
What was the
use? In those four little words was summed up a volume of despondency.

           
So when they
came to celebrate the festival of Christmas—kept with joy so many years— tears
were in the eyes of all, and prayers rose for those who were not with them!

           
Thus the year
1817 opened. In that splendid summer season Nature was more lavish with her
gifts than she had ever been before. But her generosity far exceeded the
requirements of seven persons. The great house seemed empty, now that those
they had expected could be looked for no longer!

           
And yet there
came at times faint hopes that everything was not lost irreparably. Could the
delay of the
Unicorn
be explained in no other way than by shipwreck with
loss of all hands! Perhaps she had prolonged her stay in Europe. Perhaps quite
soon they would see her topsails on the horizon, and the long pennon streaming
from her mainmast.

           
It was in the
second week of January of this most gloomy year that M. Zermatt saw a flotilla
of pirogues round Cape East, and making for Deliverance Bay. Their appearance
caused no great surprise, for after Jack had fallen into their hands, the
savages could no longer be unaware that the island was inhabited.

           
In less than
two hours the tide would bring the pirogues to the mouth of Jackal River.
Manned by something like a hundred men, for, of course, the whole party that
had landed on the island must have joined in this expedition,
how would it be possible to offer them serious
resistance?

           
Would it be well to take refuge at Falconhurst, Wood Grange, Prospect
Hill, Sugarcane Grove, or even at the hermitage at Eberfurt? Would they be any
safer there? As soon as they had set foot on this rich domain of the Promised
Land, the invaders would be sure to go all over it! Ought they to seek a more
secret shelter in the unknown regions of the island, and would there be any
certainty that they would not be discovered even there?

           
Then Mr. Wolston suggested that they should abandon Rock Castle in
favour of Shark's Island. If they put off in the long boat behind the point of
Deliverance Bay, and went along the Falconhurst shore, they might perhaps be
able to get to the island before the pirogues arrived. There, at any rate,
under the protection of the two cannon in the battery, they might defend
themselves, if the natives attempted to set foot on the island.

           
Besides, if there were not time to take over the stores and provisions
needed for a long stay, the store-house had beds and could accommodate the two
families. The boat could be laden with articles of prime necessity. And
further, as has been related before, Shark's Island had been planted with
mangroves, palms, and other trees and was used as a park for a herd of
antelopes, while a limpid stream
assured an abundant supply of water,
even during the very hottest season.

           
There would
thus be nothing to fear on the score of food for several months. Whether or not
the two four-pounder carronades would be sufficient to repulse the flotilla if
it made an attack in full force upon Shark's Island, nobody could say. The natives,
of course, could have no knowledge of the power of these arms, whose reports
would spread panic among them, not to mention the bullets and balls which the
two guns and the carbines would rain upon them. But if even half of them
succeeded in landing on the island there would, be little hope.

           
There was not
a moment to lose. Jack and Ernest brought round the boat to the mouth of Jackal
River. Boxes of preserves, cassava, rice and flour, and also arms and
ammunition were taken down to it. Then M. and Mme. Zermatt, Mr. and Mrs.
Wolston, Ernest and Hannah got into it, while Jack took his seat in his canoe
which would enable him, if need arose, to establish communication between the
island and the shore. The animals, except the two dogs, had to be left at Rock
Castle. The jackal, ostrich, and the onager were set at liberty. They would be
able to find their own food.

           
The boat left
the mouth of the river just as the pirogues came into sight off Whale Island.
But it ran no risk of being seen in this portion of the sea lying between Rock
Castle and Shark's Island.

           
Mr. Wolston
and Ernest rowed, while M. Zermatt steered in such a way as to profit by
certain backwaters which enabled them to make headway against the rising tide
without excessive exertion. Nevertheless, for a mile they had to struggle hard
not to be carried back towards Deliverance Bay, and it was three quarters of an
hour before the boat slipped in among the rocks and anchored at the foot of the
battery knoll.

           
They at once
unloaded the chests, arms, and various articles brought from Rock Castle, which
they deposited in the store-house. Mr. Wolston and Jack went to the battery,
and took up their posts there to keep watch over the approaches to the island.

           
The flag
flying from the signal mast was immediately pulled down. Nevertheless, it was
to be feared that the savages had seen it, since their canoes were not more
than a mile away.

           
Thus they had
to remain on the defensive in anticipation of an immediate attack.

           
The attack
did not take place. When the pirogues were off the island, they turned
southwards and the current took them in towards the mouth of Jackal River.
After the savages had landed, the canoes were taken into shelter in the little
creek where the pinnace lay at her moorings.

           
This was the
position of affairs. For a fortnight the savages had been in possession of Rock
Castle, and it did not appear that they had sacked the house. It was different
at Falconhurst, and from the top of the knoll M. Zermatt had seen them chasing
the animals, after they had wrought havoc in the rooms and store-houses.

           
But there was
soon no doubt that the band had discovered that Shark's Island was serving as a
refuge for the inhabitants of the island. On several occasions half-a-dozen of
the canoes came across Deliverance Bay and made towards the island. Several
shots sent among them by Ernest and Jack sank one or two and put the others to
flight. But from that moment it was necessary to watch day and night. A night
attack would be very difficult to repulse.

           
M. Zermatt
hoisted the flag at the top of the hill again, for the improbable might happen,
and a ship might come within sight of New Switzerland!

           
THE last
hours of this night of the 24th of January were spent in conversation. The two
families had so much to say, so many memories to recall, so many fears for the
future to discuss! No one thought of going to sleep, except little Bob. But
until daybreak M. Zermatt and his companions did not relax their keen
vigilance, relieving one another on duty near the two carronades, one loaded
with ball, the other with grape-shot.

           
Shark's
Island was larger than Whale Island, which lay two and a half miles away to the
north, to the entrance to Flamingo Bay. It was an oval, about half a mile long
and a quarter of a mile across at its widest part, thus having a circumference
of something under two miles. By day it had been comparatively easy to keep
watch over it, and as it was of the utmost importance that equally effective
watch should be maintained from sunset to sunrise, it was decided, on Captain
Gould's suggestion, that the whole of the shore should be patrolled.

           
Dawn came,
and no alarm had been raised. Although the savages knew that the island was held
by a little garrison, they had no idea that it had been reinforced and was in a
position to offer them sterner resistance. But it would not be long before they
discovered that one of their canoes had disappeared—that which had taken
Captain Gould and his party from Falconhurst beach to Shark's Island.

           
"They
may think," Fritz suggested, "that the canoe has been carried away by
the outgoing tide."

           
"Anyhow,"
M. Zermatt replied, "let us keep a careful lookout. As long as the island
is not invaded we have nothing to fear. Although there are fifteen of us, we
have plenty of food for a long time, with the reserves in the storehouse, not
to mention the herd of antelopes. The spring is inexhaustible, and of
ammunition we have enough, provided we are not attacked very often."

           
"What
the deuce!" John Block exclaimed. "These tailless apes surely won't
stay for ever on the island!"

           
"Who can
tell?" Mme. Zermatt answered. "If they have settled down in Rock
Castle, they will never leave it. Oh! our poor dear house, prepared to receive
all of you, my children, and now in their power!"

           
"Mother,"
said Jenny, "I do not think they have destroyed anything at Rock Castle,
for they have no interest in doing so. We shall find our home in good
condition, and we shall resume our life together there, and with the
help of God    "