Chapter X. The Siege of the Round-House

by Robert Louis Stevenson

　　But now our time of truce was come to an end. Those on deck hadwaited for my coming till they grew impatient; and scarce hadAlan spoken, when the captain showed face in the open door."Stand!" cried Alan, and pointed his sword at him. The captainstood, indeed; but he neither winced nor drew back a foot."A naked sword?" says he. "This is a strange return forhospitality.""Do ye see me?" said Alan. "I am come of kings; I bear a king'sname. My badge is the oak. Do ye see my sword? It has slashedthe heads off mair Whigamores than you have toes upon your feet.Call up your vermin to your back, sir, and fall on! The soonerthe clash begins, the sooner ye'll taste this steel throughoutyour vitals."The captain said nothing to Alan, but he looked over at me withan ugly look. "David," said he, "I'll mind this;" and the soundof his voice went through me with a jar.Next moment he was gone."And now," said Alan, "let your hand keep your head, for the gripis coming."Alan drew a dirk, which he held in his left hand in case theyshould run in under his sword. I, on my part, clambered up intothe berth with an armful of pistols and something of a heavyheart, and set open the window where I was to watch. It was asmall part of the deck that I could overlook, but enough for ourpurpose. The sea had gone down, and the wind was steady and keptthe sails quiet; so that there was a great stillness in the ship,in which I made sure I heard the sound of muttering voices. Alittle after, and there came a clash of steel upon the deck, bywhich I knew they were dealing out the cutlasses and one had beenlet fall; and after that, silence again.I do not know if I was what you call afraid; but my heart beatlike a bird's, both quick and little; and there was a dimnesscame before my eyes which I continually rubbed away, and whichcontinually returned. As for hope, I had none; but only adarkness of despair and a sort of anger against all the worldthat made me long to sell my life as dear as I was able. I triedto pray, I remember, but that same hurry of my mind, like a manrunning, would not suffer me to think upon the words; and mychief wish was to have the thing begin and be done with it.It came all of a sudden when it did, with a rush of feet and aroar, and then a shout from Alan, and a sound of blows and someone crying out as if hurt. I looked back over my shoulder, andsaw Mr. Shuan in the doorway, crossing blades with Alan."That's him that killed the boy!" I cried."Look to your window!" said Alan; and as I turned back to myplace, I saw him pass his sword through the mate's body.It was none too soon for me to look to my own part; for my headwas scarce back at the window, before five men, carrying a spareyard for a battering-ram, ran past me and took post to drive thedoor in. I had never fired with a pistol in my life, and notoften with a gun; far less against a fellow-creature. But it wasnow or never; and just as they swang the yard, I cried out: "Takethat!" and shot into their midst.I must have hit one of them, for he sang out and gave back astep, and the rest stopped as if a little disconcerted. Beforethey had time to recover, I sent another ball over their heads;and at my third shot (which went as wide as the second) the wholeparty threw down the yard and ran for it.Then I looked round again into the deck-house. The whole placewas full of the smoke of my own firing, just as my ears seemed tobe burst with the noise of the shots. But there was Alan,standing as before; only now his sword was running blood to thehilt, and himself so swelled with triumph and fallen into so finean attitude, that he looked to be invincible. Right before himon the floor was Mr. Shuan, on his hands and knees; the blood waspouring from his mouth, and he was sinking slowly lower, with aterrible, white face; and just as I looked, some of those frombehind caught hold of him by the heels and dragged him bodily outof the round-house. I believe he died as they were doing it."There's one of your Whigs for ye!" cried Alan; and then turningto me, he asked if I had done much execution.I told him I had winged one, and thought it was the captain."And I've settled two," says he. "No, there's not enough bloodlet; they'll be back again. To your watch, David. This was buta dram before meat."I settled back to my place, re-charging the three pistols I hadfired, and keeping watch with both eye and ear.Our enemies were disputing not far off upon the deck, and that soloudly that I could hear a word or two above the washing of theseas."It was Shuan bauchled[15] it," I heard one say.[15]Bungled.And another answered him with a "Wheesht, man! He's paid thepiper."After that the voices fell again into the same muttering asbefore. Only now, one person spoke most of the time, as thoughlaying down a plan, and first one and then another answered himbriefly, like men taking orders. By this, I made sure they werecoming on again, and told Alan."It's what we have to pray for," said he. "Unless we can givethem a good distaste of us, and done with it, there'll be naesleep for either you or me. But this time, mind, they'll be inearnest."By this, my pistols were ready, and there was nothing to do butlisten and wait. While the brush lasted, I had not the time tothink if I was frighted; but now, when all was still again, mymind ran upon nothing else. The thought of the sharp swords andthe cold steel was strong in me; and presently, when I began tohear stealthy steps and a brushing of men's clothes against theround-house wall, and knew they were taking their places in thedark, I could have found it in my mind to cry out aloud.All this was upon Alan's side; and I had begun to think my shareof the fight was at an end, when I heard some one drop softly onthe roof above me.Then there came a single call on the sea-pipe, and that was thesignal. A knot of them made one rush of it, cutlass in hand,against the door; and at the same moment, the glass of theskylight was dashed in a thousand pieces, and a man leapedthrough and landed on the floor. Before he got his feet, I hadclapped a pistol to his back, and might have shot him, too; onlyat the touch of him (and him alive) my whole flesh misgave me,and I could no more pull the trigger than I could have flown.He had dropped his cutlass as he jumped, and when he felt thepistol, whipped straight round and laid hold of me, roaring outan oath; and at that either my courage came again, or I grew somuch afraid as came to the same thing; for I gave a shriek andshot him in the midst of the body. He gave the most horrible,ugly groan and fell to the floor. The foot of a second fellow,whose legs were dangling through the skylight, struck me at thesame time upon the head; and at that I snatched another pistoland shot this one through the thigh, so that he slipped throughand tumbled in a lump on his companion's body. There was no talkof missing, any more than there was time to aim; I clapped themuzzle to the very place and fired.I might have stood and stared at them for long, but I heard Alanshout as if for help, and that brought me to my senses.He had kept the door so long; but one of the seamen, while he wasengaged with others, had run in under his guard and caught himabout the body. Alan was dirking him with his left hand, but thefellow clung like a leech. Another had broken in and had hiscutlass raised. The door was thronged with their faces. Ithought we were lost, and catching up my cutlass, fell on them inflank.But I had not time to be of help. The wrestler dropped at last;and Alan, leaping back to get his distance, ran upon the otherslike a bull, roaring as he went. They broke before him likewater, turning, and running, and falling one against another intheir haste. The sword in his hands flashed like quicksilverinto the huddle of our fleeing enemies; and at every flash therecame the scream of a man hurt. I was still thinking we werelost, when lo! they were all gone, and Alan was driving themalong the deck as a sheep-dog chases sheep.Yet he was no sooner out than he was back again, being ascautious as he was brave; and meanwhile the seamen continuedrunning and crying out as if he was still behind them; and weheard them tumble one upon another into the forecastle, andclap-to the hatch upon the top.The round-house was like a shambles; three were dead inside,another lay in his death agony across the threshold; and therewere Alan and I victorious and unhurt.He came up to me with open arms. "Come to my arms!" he cried,and embraced and kissed me hard upon both cheek. "David," saidhe, "I love you like a brother. And O, man," he cried in a kindof ecstasy, "am I no a bonny fighter?"Thereupon he turned to the four enemies, passed his sword cleanthrough each of them, and tumbled them out of doors one after theother. As he did so, he kept humming and singing and whistlingto himself, like a man trying to recall an air; only what he wastrying was to make one. All the while, the flush was in hisface, and his eyes were as bright as a five-year-old child's witha new toy. And presently he sat down upon the table, sword inhand; the air that he was making all the time began to run alittle clearer, and then clearer still; and then out he burstwith a great voice into a Gaelic song.I have translated it here, not in verse (of which I have noskill) but at least in the king's English.He sang it often afterwards, and the thing became popular; sothat I have, heard it, and had it explained to me, many's thetime."This is the song of the sword of Alan;The smith made it,The fire set it;Now it shines in the hand of Alan Breck."Their eyes were many and bright,Swift were they to behold,Many the hands they guided:The sword was alone."The dun deer troop over the hill,They are many, the hill is one;The dun deer vanish,The hill remains."Come to me from the hills of heather,Come from the isles of the sea.O far-beholding eagles,Here is your meat."Now this song which he made (both words and music) in the hour ofour victory, is something less than just to me, who stood besidehim in the tussle. Mr. Shuan and five more were either killedoutright or thoroughly disabled; but of these, two fell by myhand, the two that came by the skylight. Four more were hurt,and of that number, one (and he not the least important) got hishurt from me. So that, altogether, I did my fair share both ofthe killing and the wounding, and might have claimed a place inAlan's verses. But poets have to think upon their rhymes; and ingood prose talk, Alan always did me more than justice.In the meanwhile, I was innocent of any wrong being done me. Fornot only I knew no word of the Gaelic; but what with the longsuspense of the waiting, and the scurry and strain of our twospirts of fighting, and more than all, the horror I had of someof my own share in it, the thing was no sooner over than I wasglad to stagger to a seat. There was that tightness on my chestthat I could hardly breathe; the thought of the two men I hadshot sat upon me like a nightmare; and all upon a sudden, andbefore I had a guess of what was coming, I began to sob and crylike any child.Alan clapped my shoulder, and said I was a brave lad and wantednothing but a sleep."I'll take the first watch," said he. "Ye've done well by me,David, first and last; and I wouldn't lose you for all Appin --no, nor for Breadalbane."So I made up my bed on the floor; and he took the first spell,pistol in hand and sword on knee, three hours by the captain'swatch upon the wall. Then he roused me up, and I took my turn ofthree hours; before the end of which it was broad day, and a veryquiet morning, with a smooth, rolling sea that tossed the shipand made the blood run to and fro on the round-house floor, and aheavy rain that drummed upon the roof. All my watch there wasnothing stirring; and by the banging of the helm, I knew they hadeven no one at the tiller. Indeed (as I learned afterwards)there were so many of them hurt or dead, and the rest in so ill atemper, that Mr. Riach and the captain had to take turn and turnlike Alan and me, or the brig might have gone ashore and nobodythe wiser. It was a mercy the night had fallen so still, for thewind had gone down as soon as the rain began. Even as it was, Ijudged by the wailing of a great number of gulls that went cryingand fishing round the ship, that she must have drifted prettynear the coast or one of the islands of the Hebrides; and atlast, looking out of the door of the round-house, I saw the greatstone hills of Skye on the right hand, and, a little more astern,the strange isle of Rum.