So Suarez spoiled a pretty bit of romance by his ruffling agitation
over some bawl of savage frenzy, for Courtenay, of course, would have
laughed away the girl's protests that she was usurping another woman's
place. It was really a pity that the man from Argentina had not found
something else to occupy his mind at that precise juncture in the
affairs of two young people who were obviously mated by the
discriminating gods. A good deal of suffering and heartburning would
then have been avoided; but perhaps it was just the whim of fate that
the captain's love affair should follow the irregular course mapped out
for his ship, and the Kansas was not yet re-launched on the ocean
high-road to London, no, not by any manner of means.
In fact, if the confident demeanor of the paddling warriors in the
canoes were destined to be justified, the big steamer was in parlous
state. Her vast bulk and sheer walls of steel did not daunt them.
They came on steadily against the rapid current, and spread out into a
crescent when within a few hundred yards of the ship. Then three men,
crouching in the bows of different canoes, produced rifles hitherto
invisible and began to shoot. The bullets ricochetted across the
ripples, and Courtenay saw that the savages did not understand the
sighting appliances. They were aiming point-blank at the vessel, in so
far as they could be said to aim at anything, and the low trajectory
caused the first straight shot to rebound from the surface of the water
and strike a plate amidships. The loud clang of the metal was hailed
by the Alaculofs with shouts of delight. Probably they had no fixed
idea of the distance the tiny projectiles would carry. Joey began to
bark furiously, and the Indians imitated him. The hammer-like blow of
the bullet, the defiance of the dog, and the curiously accurate yelping
of the men in the canoes, mixed in wild medley with the volleyed echoes
of the firing now rolled back from the opposing cliffs. In such wise
did the battle open. Courtenay, more amused than anxious, did not
silence the terrier, and Joey's barking speedily rose to a shrill and
breathless hysteria. Some savage, more skilled than his fellows,
reproduced this falsetto with marvelous exactness. There never was a
death struggle heralded by such grotesque humor; it might have been a
tragedy of marionettes, a Dutch concert on the verge of the pit.
The long-range firing was kept up for several minutes, much to
Courtenay's relief, as Suarez was certain that the Indians' stock of
cartridges did not amount to more than four hundred at the utmost. The
canoes crept gradually nearer, and bullets began to strike the ship
frequently. One glanced off a davit and shattered a couple of windows
in the chart-house. This incident aroused even greater enthusiasm than
the first blow of the attack. There was renewed activity among the
paddle wielders. Two canoes were not fifty yards from the most
southerly floating mine. Courtenay commenced to haul in the slack of
one among the half-dozen thin cords: he turned to tell Suarez to be
ready for the duty which had been entrusted to him, when his glance
happened to travel towards the mouth of the bay.