round and squeezing a little, you came to
a sort of slit or cleft in the rock and that led to the cavern. But even
when there we had innumerable holes and hiding places, and it would have
been a good week's work to ferret us all out from thence. In case,
however, of discovery, we organised a plan and arranged our places of
retreat, and we practised ourselves in quick hiding, and, to get our
lesson perfect, in every now and then calling out "The pirates are
coming." Whereupon, as a matter of course, every one ran for their lives
to their appointed place. Each place had a communication with another,
so that we could telegraph all round. The place from whence we made our
observations was on a ledge up in the cavern, from whence some of the
light came in; it might be about twenty feet from the ground, and we
looked down on them. Dreadful wretches.

CHAPTER XXIX.

We were up, had had our shower bath after careful examination, had
breakfasted, and yet there lay our enemies in stupid and heavy sleep
still.

"Now then," said Gatty, "now is our time."

"Yes," said Otty, "I'll engage to kill them all."

"With my help," said Master Felix consequentially.

"No, no, children, don't be so absurd," said I, "drunken people are not
so helpless as you imagine, and, besides, they may not be all so. Some
may be watching elsewhere, some others may still be in the ship; they
will soon be tired of looking for us, and leave us in peaceable
possession of our dear little island."

_Schillie._--"I am not quite sure if it would not be a good plan to pick
them off one by one, when we can find them at an advantage."

_Mother._--"For heaven's sake don't be mad. The report of a gun would
bring them all on us, and the smoke betray us."

_Sybil._--"Besides, little Mother, they may after all be good people,
and we have no right to kill them until they have tried to hurt us."

_Hargrave._--"Oh Miss Sybil, whatever can you go for to say they 'ave
not 'armed hus. I never, no never saw such wickedness! My mistress's
best lace dress! I shall never forget it to my dying day, no nor never
forgive it. The 'eathens, the monsters, I am willing to 'old any
hinstrument for my young master while he shoots the dreadful
scrummagers."

_Gatty._--"You don't say so! Hargrave, then take hold of this."

Hargrave shuddered as she grasped the gun, but she resolutely held it at
arms length. Gatty having put her to the proof, applauded her, and we
went on