"That will do, Solly," cried Nic. "He means right. Look here, my lads; that is a king"s ship, the one commanded by my father"s friend; and he has made her look all rough like that so as to cheat the salmon-gang, and it will have cheated them if it has cheated you."
A cheer was bursting forth, but Nic checked it, and the gardener said huskily:
"Master Nic, I beg your pardon. I oughtn"t to ha" said such a word. It was the king"s ship as humbugged me, and not you. Say, lads, we"re going to have a night of it, eh?"
A low buzz of satisfaction arose; and Nic hurried out, to walk in the direction of the signal-staff, where the Captain had gone to look out for their allies.
"Who goes there?" came in the old officer"s deep voice.
"Only I, father."
"Bah!" cried the Captain in a low, angry voice. "Give the word, sir--"Tails.""
"The word?--"Tails!"" said Nic, wonderingly.
"Of course. I told you we must have a pa.s.sword, to tell friends from foes."
"Not a word, father."
"What, sir? Humph, no! I remember--I meant to give it to all at once.
The word is "Tails" and the countersign is "Heads," and any one who cannot give it is to have heads. Do you see?"
"Oh yes, father, I see; but are the sailors coming?"
"Can"t hear anything of them, my boy, and it"s too dark to see; but they must be here soon."
"I hope they will be, father," said Nic.
"Don"t say you hope they will be, as if you felt that they weren"t coming. They"re sure to come, my boy. Jack Lawrence never broke faith.
Now, look here; those scoundrels will be here by ten o"clock, some of them, for certain, and we must have our men in ambush first--our men, Nic. Jack Lawrence"s lads I shall place so as to cut off the enemy"s retreat, ready to close in upon them and take them in the rear. Do you see?"
"Yes, father; excellent."
"Then I propose that as soon as we hear our reinforcement coming you go off and plant your men in the wood behind the fall. I shall lead the sailors right round you to the other side of the pool; place them; and then there must be perfect silence till the enemy has lit up his torches and got well to work. Then I shall give a shrill whistle on the French bo"sun"s pipe I have in my pocket, you will advance your men and fall to, and we shall come upon them from the other side."
"I see, father."
"But look here, Nic--did you change your things?"
"Yes, father; got on the old fishing and wading suit."
"That"s right, boy, for you"ve got your work cut out, and it may mean water as well as land."
"Yes, I expect to be in a pretty pickle," said Nic, laughing, and beginning to feel excited now. "But do you think the sailors will find their way here in the dark?"
"Of course," cried the Captain sharply. "Jack Lawrence will head them."
"Hist!" whispered Nic, placing his hand to his ear and gazing seaward.
"Hear "em?"
Nic was silent for a few moments.
"Yes," he said. "I can hear their soft, easy tramp over the short gra.s.s. Listen."
"Right," said the Captain, as from below them there came out of the darkness the regular _thrup_, _thrup_ of a body of men marching together. Then, loudly, "king"s men?"
"Captain Revel?" came back in reply.
"Right. Captain Lawrence there?"
"No, sir; he had a sudden summons from the port admiral, and is at Plymouth. He gave me my instructions, sir--Lieutenant Kershaw. I have thirty men here."
"Bravo, my lad!" cried the Captain. "Forward, and follow me to the house. Your men will take a bit of refreshment before we get to work."
"Forward," said the lieutenant in a low voice, and the _thrup_, _thrup_ of the footsteps began again, not a man being visible in the gloom.
"Off with you, Nic," whispered the Captain. "Get your men in hiding at once. This is going to be a grand night, my boy. Good luck to you; and I say, Nic, my boy--"
"Yes, father."
"No prisoners, but tell the men to hit hard." Nic went off at a run, and the lieutenant directly after joined the Captain, his men close at hand following behind.
CHAPTER TEN.
A NIGHT OF NIGHTS.
Nic"s heart beat fast as he ran lightly along the path, reached the house, and ran round to the stable-yard, where Solly and the men were waiting.
"Ready, my lads?" he said in a low, husky voice, full of the excitement he felt.
"We"ll go on round to the back of the pool at once. The sailors are here, thirty strong, with their officer; so we ought to give the enemy a severe lesson.--Ah! Don"t cheer. Ready?--Forward. Come, Solly; we"ll lead."
"Precious dark, Master Nic," growled the old sailor in a hoa.r.s.e whisper.
"We shan"t hardly be able to tell t"other from which."
"Ah! I forgot," cried Nic excitedly. "Halt! Look here, my men. Our pa.s.sword is "Tails," and our friends have to answer "Heads." So, if you are in doubt, cry "Tails," and if your adversary does not answer "Heads"
he"s an enemy."
"Why, a-mussy me, Master Nic?" growled Solly, "we shan"t make heads or tails o" that in a scrimble-scramble scrimmage such as we"re going to be in. What"s the skipper thinking about? Let me tell "em what to do."
"You heard your master"s order, Solly," replied Nic.
"Yes, sir, of course; but this here won"t do no harm. Look here, my lads; as soon as ever we"re at it, hit hard at every one who aren"t a Jack. You"ll know them."
Nic felt that this addition could do no harm, so he did not interfere, but led on right past the way down to the falls, which had shrunk now to a little cascade falling with a pleasant murmur, for the draining of the heavy thunder-showers was nearly at an end, and the pool lay calm enough in the black darkness beneath the overhanging rocks and spreading trees--just in the right condition for a raid, and in all probability full of salmon.