<h3 class="newchapter2">WHILE VICTORY HANGS IN THE BALANCE.</h3>
<p>The cry rang through the Grove like a trumpet call, and the fight was
stayed instantly. Every eye flashed upon the bringer of the news, and
behind him stood Pascherette, partly hidden by the trees, her small,
eager face peering from behind a trunk. And as she took in the scene, a
great terror stole into her eyes and her lips opened in a gasp.</p>
<p>The octoroon had played her great coup. She had carried a lie to the
pirate, hoping that his telling of the treasure to his fellows would
precipitate such an assault upon Dolores that nothing could survive it.
Now she saw the attack already launched without her connivance; she saw
the pirate, dead, and saw Stumpy and one of the strangers stoutly
defending the queen.</p>
<p>As she stared, at a loss, Caliban staggered out in front again,
clutching at his wound, and screamed:</p>
<p>"Satan seize ye if that witch escapes ye now! Tear her down! Tear her
down! Then none can keep the treasure from ye."</p>
<p>His last word ended in a sob. From the hidden giant another dart was
sped truer, and Caliban pitched headlong on the steps of the altar. And
Pascherette, terrified now that they would leave their work incomplete,
swarm after the false treasure report, and thus leave her at the mercy
of the enraged Dolores, frantically sought for Milo among the press. She
knew nothing of his secret duty with the blow-pipe: seeing nothing of
him among the defenders, she surmised he was inside on other duty bent.
In desperation she placed all upon a single hazard, and, running out
into the Grove she screamed:</p>
<p>"The man lies! It is a lie, to make ye forego thy vengeance. There is no
treasure taken away. Make thy work complete!"</p>
<p>A medley of conflicting cries arose as the pirates again separated into
three parties. Hanglip's crew, with those of the fallen Caliban,
detached themselves from the rest and from two sides threatened the
altar, where Dolores stood like a statue, glaring at her maid with
deadly fury. Hanglip himself seemed irresolute in the face of the maid's
denial; he stood with cutlas raised, not yet sure whether to attack or
first see to the treasure story. The decision was made for him; for the
pirate bringing the news, seized Pascherette in a fierce grip, and with
knife at her breast shouted:</p>
<p>"This little snake told me the loot was going, lads! Get the job over,
as I do this!"</p>
<p>Pascherette squirmed in the pirate's grasp, but all her cunning now
could not avail her. The knife flashed downward, and she fell to her
knees, her tiny golden hands pressed to her side, blood trickling
through her fingers. And her face froze in a mask of horror when from
behind Dolores stepped Milo, armed with a great broad-ax, and bent his
deep black eyes full upon her with terrible accusation in them.</p>
<p>The giant saw the coming storm, and knew the futility of trying to stem
it with his blow-pipe. He emerged, armed with his ax, at the moment when
the pirates, answering their mate's cry with a shout, surged up the
altar steps with blood in their eyes.</p>
<p>Dolores now shook off her seeming unconcern, and with alert vision took
in the tremendous crisis. Stumpy's band, with Pearse at their leader's
side, had been driven back in the first attack to the rock itself; and
now stood with their backs to it grimly waiting for the second onset.
They had fought hitherto for her; she saw to it that they did not change
their allegiance. Leaping up to the ledge behind the altar, she cried:</p>
<p>"Stumpy! Thou'rt my man. Bring thy fellows up here; one man may hold a
score here. Milo! Make way for my faithful ones!"</p>
<p>With Stumpy on the ledge, and his score of men, the battle became dead
for the moment. Few of the pirates had firearms, except on forays, and
then their ammunition was doled out to them. By this means they had ever
been kept in subjection; and now the plan was to prove their undoing;<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_716" id="Page_716">[Pg 716]</SPAN></span>
for they could not reach their prey, whose cutlas points presented an
insurmountable barrier to their storming the rock. And with John Pearse
up there among the defenders, Tomlin and Venner found themselves
wondering just what their own position was. They, unblinded by the rage
of the pirates, saw the futility of storming that rocky wall with steel,
and in the momentary hush and indecision they withdrew from the mob and
stood apart, thinking over what was to come.</p>
<p>To Dolores, the hesitation of her foes was something she could not
brook, for her great hope now was to set her rascals at each other's
throats to their ultimate annihilation. She whispered into Milo's ear.</p>
<p>"Get thy blow-pipe again. Send a dart into Hanglip's black throat, and
let every man see how 'tis done."</p>
<p>The giant obeyed. The slender, six-inch dart sped fair to its mark, and
Hanglip dropped. But as he fell his eyes saw, as did his men, whence had
come the mysterious death that had already taken heavy toll among them.
And Dolores saw her plan work to amazing effect; for Hanglip, with his
last wheezing breath, raised himself on his elbow, and barked:</p>
<p>"Now ye see the magic! 'Tis but a man's breath. Up, lads, and take pay
for me!"</p>
<p>The assault started in grim, silent fury. In waves the attackers mounted
the altar; men gave comrades backs, flung them upward, only to catch
them again as they recoiled from the steel of the defense like broken
seas at a rock base.</p>
<p>But as the fight advanced, and stricken men were piled high on the great
altar, attacking steel reached higher and began to reap results.
Stumpy's men, now fully persuaded of their queen's regard for them,
fought like paladins, roaring out their rough sea-cries as they cut and
stabbed with increasing gusto. Even Pearse fell under the spell of
fierce action; his rapier played among the heavier strokes of cutlas and
broad-knife like summer lightning. And did a hardy pirate gain the ledge
in spite of all, there stood Milo, like a bronze Fate, with deadly ax
poised to turn success into death. Yet Stumpy's little band grew less;
and Dolores, standing over all like an Angel of Doom, saw that something
must be done speedily unless she was to be left with too great a number
of survivors from this lucky conflict.</p>
<p>"Make a swift assault, Stumpy. Milo, swing that great ax of thine for
only five minutes," she said. Then when the fight raged higher yet, she
drew Pearse by the arm into the secret entrance.</p>
<p>"Here, friend, are muskets and pistols. Load them while I pass them out.
We shall see how hungry for our blood these wolves are."</p>
<p>She showed him the store of arms, in a small cave next to the powder
store, and musket powder and bullets were also there. As he loaded the
weapons, she passed them out in armfuls, then gave Stumpy a flask of
powder for priming, and told him to hold out until Milo could bring up
other resources as yet unknown.</p>
<p>"And," she said, leading Stumpy inside for a moment, "here you see a
powder-train. There, on the floor. Now hear me, my faithful one, should
thy foes still beat thee back, bring all thy men along this passage, but
before ye come, touch a fire to this train. I shall await thee at the
end, Stumpy, and together we shall see these dogs destroyed."</p>
<p>She called Milo, gave him a command, and then took Pearse with her into
the great chamber. Here she answered his questioning glance with a soft
smile, and seated him in the great chair.</p>
<p>"Thy sword has done nobly, good John," she said, laying her hand on his
head. "The peril is over now. Rest. In a little while Milo will have
that which will fill these hungry dogs to the gullet. Rest here. I'll
soon be with thee." She leaned down, laid her lips lightly on his face,
and whispered: "And be of good cheer; the end is in sight for thee and
me."</p>
<p>She left him sitting there, wrapped in his confused thoughts. Then she
flew to help Milo with his new engine of war which was to decide the
day. From a corner of the apartment the giant dragged a brass culverin,
mounted on a swivel, stolen from the poop-rail of some tall Indiaman in
years gone by. This was charged with powder,<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_717" id="Page_717">[Pg 717]</SPAN></span> and Milo searched for
effective missiles for it. He brought a handful of musket balls to
Dolores; she shook her head decidedly after a moment's thought and
objected: "Those round pellets are too merciful for such cattle. What do
they want? Treasure! Give them treasure, good Milo—their fill of it."
As she spoke she ran swiftly into the treasure chamber and seized
handfuls of gold chains, while at her command Milo followed her with
great gold coins in his huge hands. These they rammed into the cannon,
until links of gold fell from the muzzle; then Dolores regarded the
terrible thing with a mirthless laugh and bade Milo get to work with it.</p>
<p>"Bid thy men fall back into the gallery as if beaten," she said. "And
when the vile bodies of those howling wolves fill the opening, deliver
the treasure to them, and may their souls be shattered with their
bodies! And that none may remain to repeat this day's mischief, when
they break and fly loose, Stumpy and his dogs shall harry them and
pursue them into the depths of the forest. Let the maroons finish what
we so well begin. See thy gun does not harm the— Wait," she cried,
"hold thy artillery until ye see me across the Grove! I shall give thee
a sign, then loose thy hell-blast."</p>
<p>Leaving Milo, she ran again through the great chamber and out by the
rock door, which was rolled aside and standing open. Then around the
mass of the mountain and skirting the grove, past the prostrate
Pascherette she sped, casting a glance of bitter hate at the sorely
wounded octoroon, but never halting until she reached a point of the
underbrush immediately behind the spot where Venner and Tomlin still
ranged back and forth uneasily watching the fight.</p>
<p>She rustled the foliage noisily, and the two men swung around in alarm.
She thrust her head through the leafy screen, and showed them her face
full of tender solicitude. Her great dark eyes were very soft; her
scarlet lips were parted in a rosy smile. Venner glared at her, then
flashed a glance of reawakening distrust at Tomlin, who returned it
tenfold.</p>
<p>"Peace, good friends," she said, softly, laying a finger on her lips and
nodding toward the raging battle. "Come with me. Both of ye. The day
goes badly with me, and I would undo much that I have done toward ye.
Come quickly, and with caution."</p>
<p>A momentary distrust for her made them hesitate; then she whispered
intensely: "Haste. This is your opportunity."</p>
<p>Venner first shook off his moodiness and followed her into the brush;
and Tomlin was close behind him. When she had them in covert, she
stepped out once more, waited to catch Milo's eye at the ledge, then
gave him the sign. And the defenders fell back as if suddenly broken and
beaten. She waited still, until the attackers swarmed over their own
dead, stamping over her altar, and gained the entrance, where they
crowded in a milling, roaring mass. Then she glided back to the
underbrush and said tersely:</p>
<p>"Come!"</p>
<p>Venner and Tomlin walked on either side of her, not caring to meet each
other's eye, for their subjection to Dolores's spell was complete
whenever in close proximity to her. Hurriedly she led them around the
cliff to the great entrance, beyond which they had never stepped. And
they went full of tremendous hopes and suspicions, in which the hope
predominated; they failed even to cast a look at their schooner, then
lying free at anchor, with a few men visible on her decks. Three of the
pirates' long boats lay on the shore abreast of her.</p>
<p>They stood in the entrance to the great chamber, sensing some of the awe
that filled the mysterious place, peering into the gloom where the ruby
lights now failed to cast their glow in the broader light of day
entering the open aperture. Dolores led them in with a gesture and a
smile, and they reached the massive plated sliding door and stood
beneath the yellow lantern, gazing in speechless wonder at the richness
of that barrier. And while they waited, mystified and uneasy, from
beyond the mountain came the crash of Milo's gun, and the tremendous
discharge reverberated through and through the rock, making the passage
where they stood rumble and quake as if the mountain were about to fall.</p>
<p>Their faces went white, and Dolores gave<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_718" id="Page_718">[Pg 718]</SPAN></span> them a reassuring clasp of the
hand while she pressed the side-post of the door and started the pulley
and weight mechanism that would give them entry.</p>
<p>"Welcome, friends. Enter," she smiled, standing aside to permit them to
pass. And Rupert Vernier and Craik Tomlin, forgetting their gloomy
thoughts regarding each other, entered the great chamber, and were
brought to a sudden halt at the sight of John Pearse sitting at his ease
through the strife in the high chair of state.</p>
<p class="continue">TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK. Don't forget this magazine is issued weekly,
and that you will get the continuation of this story without waiting a
month.</p>
<h1><SPAN name="Part_IV" id="Part_IV"></SPAN>The Pirate Woman</h1>
<h2>by Captain Dingle</h2>
<p class="center">Author of "The Coolie Ship," "Steward of the Westward," etc.</p>
<p class="continue2"><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</SPAN></span>This story began in the All-Story Weekly for November 2.</p>
<h2 class="newchapter"><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></SPAN>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />