For what could so few men do against the
unseen watchers who sent up the thirty-four smoke columns she had
counted?
Ah, trust a woman to read the unspoken thought! Courtenay and
Christobal and Tollemache need not have striven to couch their warnings
in ambiguous words. Elsie could have told them all that was left
unsaid at breakfast. The ship had fought her own enemies; now the
human beings she had saved must defend themselves from a foe against
whom the ship was helpless.
CHAPTER IX
A PROFESSOR OF WITCHCRAFT
Quickly as Elsie had reached the deck, the warlike sounds which
disturbed her rest had ceased. Save for the footsteps of men whom she
could not see, the prevalent noises were caused only by wind and sleet.
While she was hurrying forward as rapidly as the darkness permitted,
the lights were switched on with a suddenness that made her gasp. The
dog began to bark again, but it was easy to distinguish his sharp yelps
of excitement and defiance from the earlier notes of alarmed suspicion.
In fact, Joey himself was the first to discover the stealthy approach
of the Indians.
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