"watch and watch, li fu," said barnes, when night settled down on the islet, the river-mouth and the booming surf. "i'm done in. wake me at midnight; they'll not come until then."
"not then, i think," said li fu. "china boys not like night devils. plenty devils in liver."
"all right," barnes laughed as he stretched out in the warm sand. "let the river-devils fight for us, then!"
about midnight the quartermaster wakened him. there had been no alarm, no sound or sight of the enemy. only the continuous rolling crash of the surf, regular and unceasing, conflicted with the noises of nightbirds from the jungle. the starlight and thin glow of the sickle moon faintly illumined the white sands and the glittering waters, where the waves curled and broke in running lines of phosphorescent radiance.
at first barnes found li fu's conviction incredible. it was hard to believe that lim tock's lascars and chinese, the latter probably predominating, would relinquish the opportunity to sweep in upon the islet with their boats and finish everything with one determined rush. the chinese firmly credited the existence of water-devils, however, and river-devils in particular, whose power at night was invincible.
barnes sat through his lonely watch, stiff and aching from his wound, and found no indication of alarm out on the surging waters, where a heavy ground-swell kept the rollers tumbling in along the shoreline. he began to think that he had wasted himself, despite all. had he stayed in the boat, it by this time would be far up the river.
he laughed and shook off the thought. after all, he had no assurance of that! the boat, with only two oars, might be a day or two in reaching the main river above the delta, where the dutch post would be placed. with dawn, the pirates would sweep down on the island. if they found it deserted, they would go up the river with a rush. no, the effort was not wasted; was far from wasted!
toward dawn he roused li fu, and lay down once more to get all the rest possible. when the quartermaster again wakened him, it was to point out dark dots on the waters, now overcast with the graying dawn. the boats, four of them, were scattered a quarter-mile from the river mouth, up and down from the bar. jim barnes laughed softly.
"they think we'll come out with the first breath o' wind; that we've been waiting here for the breeze! and they're waiting to riddle us with their rifles, then close in. good! let 'em wait. every minute gained puts the whaleboats farther up the river. suppose we make some tea, li fu. the fire will show that we're here and encourage 'em to wait."
chuckling at all this, li fu gathered wood and soon had a fire going. hot tea and biscuit invigorated barnes hugely, and he was much himself again by the time the reddening dawn and freshening daylight betrayed to the waiting boats that the fugitives were not setting forth from shore. no doubt they considered that barnes had laid up the whaleboat and was prepared to fight it out.
"they're closing in," said barnes suddenly. "oars are out. the junk is coming down the coast, too. she'll probably anchor off the river, and they'll pour in a hot rifle-fire before making a rush. dig for cover, li!"
grasping the idea, li fu took his knife to the sand and prepared two long, deep depressions at the edge of the brush.
meantime, one of the boats drew in closer than the others as though to test the presence of those on the islet. barnes sighed unavailingly for a rifle, as his pistols were of small value at such distance. he tried two shots, however, and by sheer luck dropped the boat's helmsman, so that she sheered off promptly. the boats opened a dropping rifle-fire, and barnes retired to the position prepared. lying beside li fu, he waited. he had three automatics and several spare clips. the quartermaster had two revolvers and a handful of loose cartridges.
under the urge of the ground-swell, surf was now breaking in a heavy line at the bar, an outer line of breakers stretching twenty yards farther seaward. while the boats kept up their intermittent fire, bullets crashing across the island, the junk came slowly along with the morning breeze. outside the first line of surf she dropped anchor and hauled down the brown matting sails, and the boats converged upon her. streamers and fingers of flame were reaching across the whole eastern sky.
"plenty of men aboard her," said barnes. "they'll crowd into the boats and pull for us. catch the first boat as she rises, li, like we did last night. if one of them goes over in that surf, not a man will reach shore. good gosh, look at her rise up! they're fools if they try it."
to the two men lying on the sandy islet, the surf promised indeed to be an excellent protection. the roaring breakers swept on and hurled up into a great wall of white and crimson spray, against the sunrise, a ten-foot wall of curling, foaming water whose impact as it came down made the islet shake and sent a booming roar echoing along the coast. the tide was coming in, and there was a strong rip along the bar.
now the sun was up, in a gleaming splendor of golden glory.
as each glittering line of surf swept up and curled, it hid from sight the boats and all save the upper masts of the junk herself. between the surges, the rifle-fire was maintained steadily, but li fu and barnes were well protected against the ripping storm of lead that devastated the foliage above and ploughed the sand into ripples of dancing grains.
"they come," said li fu suddenly.
the next surf-interval showed a crowded boat leaving the junk. the craft damaged on the preceding evening by hi john's bullet must have sunk, for it appeared that now there were but two whaleboats among the four approaching craft. one of those, however, would do the business, thought jim barnes grimly.
covered by a hot fire from the rifles, the first boat reached in for the surf, her oars dipping strongly, the other boats following her. she was a bluff-jawed longboat belonging to the junk, dangerously crowded with men, and barnes caught the flame of naked steel as she lifted on a crest. he thrilled to the possibility of sending her over as she struck the white wall to cleave a way through. not a man would reach shore through the pounding maelstrom of those waters.
thundering and shuddering, a long breaker smashed and swirled across the bar, and now the longboat dipped oars and gathered way to rise on the next crest and come over. a whirl of bullets heralded her coming. then, as the riotous crest closed in and lifted her and the shots ceased, barnes came to one knee. he had her position absolutely fixed, and aimed carefully, firing even before she came into sight.
she heaved and lifted, cleaving the water. barnes fired again and again, hearing the bark of li fu's revolver at his side. a mad yell broke from the chinese. barnes lowered his arm and stared, wide-eyed.
that first shot of his, perhaps, had done the work; had sent a rower headlong at the crucial instant. at the very crest of the giant wave, the boat broached, was sent stern-first. a shriek burst from the score of men crowded into her, a fearful, splitting shriek that wrenched through the roar of the surf. then she was picked up, hurled end over end from the crest of the wave, flung sideways, and went upside down beneath the terrific smash of that falling pinnacle of water.
a lather of foam spread out from the sweeping rush of the breaker, but not a man showed in it. they were held down, dragged out with the backlash, gripped and flung about with the mad swirl under the surface. the boat itself, a crushed and broken thing, came into sight, was tugged out and into the next surf-crest, to be whirled horribly aloft and buried again; but no man of all her crew appeared.
the whiff of a bullet made barnes wake up, and he flung himself into the sand. li fu was yelling in an ecstasy of delight. then, at the next interval, barnes realized that the other boats were coming forward—two whale-boats, and a smaller craft.
"lascars!" yelled li fu. "plenty joss along lim tock!"
the malays were rowing these boats; seamen unsurpassed. well, this was the end of it; useless everything that had been done, once these boats came through. barnes caught the arm of the yellow man.
"empty one gun—then reload and wait. savvy?"
li fu nodded hastily. the two whale-boats came on abreast, rowed with precision, a brown malay at each steering crutch, the long oars rising and dipping and hurling her forward with absolute surety. up they rose and up, then forward and down, as though leaping from that high curling wall into the water beyond!
barnes found himself firing mechanically, firing until the hammer clicked on nothing and he slipped one of his extra clips into the weapon. useless! a sudden inarticulate cry escaped his lips. the last bullet had brought down the steersman of the boat to the left. almost through, she broached and swerved. the water swung her about, caught up her keel and spilled her men into the smother. she was sent rolling along, crushing the men beneath her, pounding on the sand until the undertow dragged her out and away.
but the other boat was through. it drove forward toward the islet with a wild yell lifting from the men aboard, and rifles spattering lead. and now the smaller boat was in the surf, and riding it.
"back!" shouted barnes. "back to cover, li! fire and reload while i fire."
from the shelter of the brush, li fu emptied his two revolvers into the boat. he could hardly miss at this distance, as she came foaming to the shore. barnes could see the figure of lim tock crouching amidships, a bandage about his head. men went down, brown and yellow men crowded between her thwarts. rifles and revolvers sent bullets hailing at the trees, and with the impetus that was upon her, she came in and her nose touched the beach.
barnes was ready, cool, imperturbable. the first man that leaped from her, he dropped; and the second, and the third. then the boat tipped, and brown and yellow came ashore in a mass, lim tock heading them. krisses and knives flamed in the sunlight. the smaller boat was reaching into the shore now. the end was at hand.
into the mass barnes planted his bullets steadily. one gun was empty, now the other. no time to reload—he dropped them and seized that of ellen maggs. only three or four men left, lim tock heading them! then a new burst of yells, and from the last boat poured a dozen fresh assailants, with the serang gajah at their head, his unhealed scalp wound red and ominous in the sunlight.
a scream of battle-madness burst from li fu. he leaped forward, out into the open, and ran at the newcomers. pistols barked; krisses glittered. barnes saw the quartermaster come to grips with gajah, and the two men went rolling in the sand. then, smiling, he lifted his weapon and shot.
lim tock took the bullet between the eyes, and sprawled forward. barnes laughed, and shot again. then he ducked back into the brush. an instant later, the brown and yellow men came on in a wave, mad with the battle fury, blind and deaf to everything around them, intent only upon the white man who had eluded them.
from among the trees the weapon of barnes barked out its last shots.
