De Sylva smiled gloomily.
"You are courageous, senhora, and, in some respects, you are wise," he
said. "Yet . . . I must admit it . . . I would urge you to select the
boat--in preference . . ."
Marcel, the Brazilian who had come to tell them of the drifting
life-boat, turned away from the mouth of the cavern, and scrambled down
the ravine.
"Wot's 'e after?" demanded Coke, suddenly suspicious.
"He and Domingo are keeping a lookout," said De Sylva. "If the
soldiers intend to visit us we should at least be warned. The boat is
hidden among the rocks on the landward side," he added, not without a
touch of scorn.
"That man has taught us our own duty," cried Iris. "The boat that
brought these men to this rock can bring nineteen men and a woman to
Fernando Noronha. We must land there to-night. With those to guide us
who know the coast, surely that should be possible. We have a right to
struggle for our lives. We, of the _Andromeda_, at least, have done no
wrong to the cruel wretches who sought to kill us without mercy to-day.
Why should we not endeavor to defend ourselves? There is food there,
and guns in plenty. Let us take them. Above all, let us not dream of
any such useless device as this proposal to send three to drown
somewhere in the sea and leave seventeen to perish miserably here.
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