and
disappear, his passing through the opening being followed by the dull
sound of a heavy fall.

"You've killed him, Tom!" cried Murray again, with his face
drawn-looking and strange.

"Nay, sir," grumbled the sailor, "but 'twouldn't ha' been my fault, sir,
if I had. Some un had to have it, and it was my dooty to see as it
warn't my orficer, sir. I do know that."

Murray was silent.

"Why, I say, sir, you'd ha' tapped one on 'em pretty hard on the head if
you'd ha' seen him coming at me; now wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I should," said Murray, with something like a sigh. "Look here,
Tom," he added hastily, "we have too many holes to keep closed. I want
some of the pieces of furniture crammed into these places. It ought to
have been done before."

"It was done, sir," grumbled the man. "That's what the first luff said,
sir, and we've been doing nothing else; but as fast as we stopped up the
beggars kep' on shoving the stuff out again with bamboos."

The high narrow window was, however, once more pretty securely blocked,
and for many hours to come the defenders of the place had their work cut
out to repel the attacks that were made, the two blacks proving
invaluable in keeping up a supply of water to drench the woodwork that
the enemy attacked with fire, so that pretty well a day had glided by
without much change having taken place.

It was evident that the slaving chief had a strong force at his disposal
in carrying on a desultory kind of siege of the plantation house, while
at the same time it seemed to the besieged that a sort of running fight
was being carried on with the _Seafowl_, whose guns were heard pretty
constantly, though during the afternoon that followed Murray's arrival
at the plantation it seemed that the brig must have followed the slaving
craft to the opposite side of the island, where firing was still going
on.

During a lull in the attack upon the planter's house, Lieutenant
Anderson busily inspected his defences, and, like a prudent officer, saw
to his supplies and examined as to whether he could not take further
measures for their protection and the setting at defiance of the enemy
for some time to come.

"He ought to have driven us out or taken us prisoners hours ago, Mr
Murray," he said, "for he has five times our force."

"Yes, sir; he seems to have," replied Murray.

"And yet we have managed to keep him at bay. He has the advantage of
being able to set scores of blacks to work fe