Page:A Sailor Boy with Dewey.djvu/73

Rh "I—I can't keep it up—no use of tryin'!" he gasped.

"Neither can I," I returned. "But if we are caught"

"I don't believe they will dare do much to us."

"We must go on!" urged Gory. "Thim haythins—listen to that!"

The Irish sailor broke off short, as a cry from the beach reached our ears. A yell followed, and then came several pistol shots.

"The other party has arrived, or is trying to break away," I burst out. "Maybe we had better go back."

"I think so myself," answered the first mate. "We count three and if there are three more that will give us six, and six white men ought to be able to subdue four times that number of such wretches."

We turned on our tracks, just as a crashing in the brush to our left came to our ears. Soon we were making for the beach with all of the strength left to us.

When we came out into the open we found Watt Brown, Vincent, and Sandram in a hand-to-hand fight with four natives that had been left to watch the wreck. So far the contest had been an even one, but more natives were hurrying in the direction, and soon the second mate and his