In the
calm glory of the sunlit estuary, he might have been bent on a pleasant
picnic. It was outrageous to think of Good Hope Inlet as a place of
skulls; yet she knew that the sea floor beneath the ship was already
littered with bodies of the dead. Women would wait in vain for their
men to return; why should she be spared?
At last she appealed to Mr. Boyle, who was nearest to her.
"Who is sitting next to Captain Courtenay?" she asked, and she had a
fleeting impression that he was anxious for her to speak, so quickly
did he answer.
"Tollemache. He shinned down the ladder as the first volunteer; the
skipper ordered him to get out, but he said he was deaf. Anyhow, I'm
glad he is there. Courtenay ought to have one sure enough white man by
his side."
"And what are they attempting?"
"Huh, it's a bold plan, an' I'm not goin' to condemn it on that
account. Have you heard this morning's news--how Suarez found out from
the Indians that eleven of our crew are hiding in a cave on Guanaco
Hill?"
"Something of it, not all. But why--why has Captain Courtenay gone off
in such a hurry?"
"Well, Miss Elsie, he figures that an open effort by daylight is the
only way to rescue them.
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