for the sake, seemingly, of tormenting his father."

Henderson groaned aloud in sheer bitterness of spirit at hearing this.

"It's awful, isn't it, sir?" continued Manners, grinding his teeth with
rage. "Nicholls here wanted to open fire upon them, there and then, and
board in the smoke--dash in among them in the midst of the confusion,
you know, sir, and see if we couldn't cut the two of them adrift and
bring them off with us. There's nothing would have suited me better,
for it made me fairly mad to see the brutes striking that poor little
innocent child, and he and his father lashed to the trunks of a couple
of trees; but it wouldn't do; it _wouldn't_ do, sir; there were too many
of them for us. I counted twenty-seven of them, all told, after the
second party had come ashore from the proa; we couldn't have done any
good. And, besides, there was you and the ladies to be thought of. So,
after we had watched them for some time, I thought our best plan would
be to come back here and consult with you, especially as they seemed to
be getting ready to beat up our quarters. But we're determined,
Nicholls and I, to have a slap at them some time to-night in some shape
or form; and the only question is, how it is best to be done?"

Henderson stretched out a hand to each of them, which was cordially
grasped, as he said, huskily:

"Thank you; thank you, my staunch and trusty friends, both; we _will_
have a slap at them, as you say. But we must do nothing hastily or
without careful consideration; the issues involved are too many, the
stake too great for us to risk anything by over-rashness. Let us each
think the matter over carefully. And, meanwhile, as we shall need all
our strength, you, Nicholls, go down and bring us up here something to
eat and drink, as this may be our only chance to snatch a morsel of
refreshment. And whilst he is doing that, perhaps you, Manners, will
kindly go down and bring up all the arms and ammunition you can find, so
that if the Malays come this way we may be prepared to give them a warm
reception. I will keep watch here for the present."

In another minute Henderson was alone upon the parapet, with the deep
violet star-studded sky above him, and on every hand the black outline
of the high land and the dense growth of trees and bush which hemmed in
the fort. Not a sound met his ear save the continuous _chirr_ of the
myriads of insects with which the island abounded, the distant wash and