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Surrender! You swabs," called Ward from below, "or we'll string the last mother's

son of you to the yardarm."

For reply Blanco hurled a heavy fragment of rock at the assaulters. It grazed

perilously close to Ward, against whom Blanco cherished a keen hatred. Instantly

Ward's revolver barked, the bullet whistling close by Divine's head. L. Cortwrite

Divine, cotillion leader, ducked behind Theriere's breastwork, where he lay

sprawled upon his belly, trembling in terror.

Bony Sawyer and Red Sanders followed the example of their commander. Blanco

and Wison alone made any attempt to repel the assault. The big Negro ran to

Divine's side and snatched the terror-stricken man's revolver from his belt. Then

turning he fired at Ward. The bullet, missing its intended victim, pierced the

heart of a sailor directly behind him, and as the man crumpled to the ground,

rolling down the steep declivity, his fellows sought cover.

Wison followed up the advantage with a shower of well-aimed missiles, and then

hostilities ceased temporarily.

Have they gone?" queried Divine, with trembling lips, noticing the quiet that

followed the shot.

Gone nothin', yo big cowahd," replied Blanco. "Do yo done suppose dat two men

is a-gwine to stan' off five? Ef yo white-livered skunks 'ud git up an' fight we

might have a chanct. I'se a good min' to cut out yo cowahdly heart fer yo, das wot

I has--a-lyin' der on yo belly settin' dat kin' o' example to yo men!"

Divine's terror had placed him beyond the reach of contumely or reproach.

"What's the use of fighting them?" he whimpered. "We should never have left

them. It's all the fault of that fool Theriere. What can we do against the savages of

this awful island if we divide our forces? They will pick us off a few at a time just

as they picked off Miller and Swenson, Theriere and Byrne. We ought to tell Ward

about it, and call this foolish battle off."

"Now you're talkin'," cried Bony Sawyer. "I'm not a-goin' to squat up here any

longer with my friends a-shootin' at me from below an' a lot of wild heathen

creeping down on me from above to cut off my bloomin' head."

"Same here!" chimed in Red Sanders.

Blanco looked toward Wison. For his own part the Negro would not have been

averse to returning to the fold could the thing be accomplished without danger of

reprisal on the part of Skipper Simms and Ward; but he knew the men so well

that he feared to trust them even should they seemingly acquiesce to any such

The Mucker