Deep Down | Page 8

handful of wet earth and
smeared it over Oliver's face, then, clapping his own "sou'-wester" on
his head, he said, with a soft chuckle, "There, your own mother
wouldn't knaw 'ee!"
Just then footsteps were heard approaching, and the shadow of a man
was seen to rest for a moment on the gravel without. The mouth of the
cave was so well hidden, however, that he failed to observe it, and
passed on, followed by several of his comrades. Suddenly one of them
stopped and said--
"Hold on, lads, it can't be far off, I'm sartin' sure; I seed 'em disappear
hereabouts."
"You're right," cried Jim Cuttance, with a fierce roar, as he rushed from
the cavern and fired full at the man who had spoken. The others
followed, and a volley of shots succeeded, while shouts of defiance and
anger burst forth on all sides. Oliver sprang out at the same moment
with the leader, and rushed on one of the boat's crew with such violence
that his foot slipped on a piece of seaweed and precipitated him to the
ground at the man's feet; the other, having sprung forward to meet him
was unable to check himself, tripped over his shoulders, and fell on the
top of him. The man named Maggot, having been in full career close
behind Oliver, tumbled over both, followed by another man named
John Cock. The others, observing them down, rushed with a shout to
the rescue, just as Oliver, making a superhuman effort, flung the two
men off his back and leaped to his feet. Maggot and the boatman also
sprang up, and the latter turned and made for the boat at full speed,
seeing that his comrades, overcome by the suddenness of the onset,
were in retreat, fighting as they went.
All of them succeeded in getting into the boat unharmed, and were in
the act of pushing off, when Jim Cuttance, burning with indignation,
leaped into the water, grasped the bow of the boat, and was about to
plunge his cutlass into the back of the man nearest him, when he was
seized by a strong hand from behind and held back. Next moment the

boat was beyond his reach.
Turning round fiercely, the man saw that it was Oliver Trembath who
had interfered. He uttered a terrible oath, and sprang on him like a tiger;
Oliver stood firm, parried with the piece of driftwood the savage cut
which was made at his head, and with his clenched left hand hit his
opponent such a blow on the chest as laid him flat on the sand. The
man sprang up in an instant, but instead of renewing the attack, to
Oliver's surprise he came forward and held out his hand, which the
youth was not unwilling to grasp.
"Thank 'ee, sur," he said, somewhat sternly, "you've done me a sarvice;
you've prevented me committin' two murders, an' taught me a lesson I
never knaw'd afore--that Jim Cuttance an't invulnerable. I don't mind
the blow, sur--not I. It wor gov'n in feer fight, an' I was wrang."
"I'm glad to find that you view the matter in that light," said Oliver with
a smile, "and, truly, the blow was given in self-defence by one who will
never forget that he owes you his life."
A groan here turned the attention of the party to one of their number
who had seated himself on a rock during the foregoing dialogue.
"What! not hurt, are 'ee, Dan?" said his leader, going towards him.
To this Dan replied with another groan, and placed his hand on his hip.
His comrades crowded round him, and, finding that he was wounded
and suffering great pain, raised him in their arms and bore him into the
cavern, where they laid him on the ground, and, lighting a candle,
proceeded to examine him.
"You had better let me look at him, lads," said Oliver, pushing the men
gently aside, "I am a surgeon."
They gave place at once, and Oliver soon found that the man had
received a pistol-ball in his thigh. Fortunately it had been turned aside
in its course, and lay only a little way beneath the skin, so that it was

easily extracted by means of a penknife.
"Now, friends," said Oliver, after completing the dressing of the wound,
"before I met with you I had missed my way while travelling to St. Just.
Will one of you direct me to the right road, and I shall bid you
good-night, as I think you have no further need of my services."
The men looked at their leader, whom they evidently expected to be
their spokesman.
"Well, sur, you have rendered we some help this hevenin', both in the
way o' pickin' out the ball an' helpin' to