"
"They were armed?" Dyck asked sharply.
"Yes, they were armed," was the reply. "Miss Llyn had a small pistol.
She learned to carry one in Virginia, and she has done so ever since we
came here."
"Listen, Boland," said Dyck with anxiety. "Up there in the hills by
which we came are Maroons hidden, and they will invade this place to-
night. We were ready to fight them, of course, as we came, but it's a
risky business, and we wanted to get them all if possible. We couldn't
if we had charged them there, for they were well-ambushed. My idea was
to let them get into the open between there and here, and catch them as
they came. It would save our own men, and it would probably do for them.
If Mrs. and Miss Llyn come back that way, they will be in greater danger
than were we, for the Maroons were coming here to capture the ladies and
hold them as hostages; and they would not let them pass. In any case,
the risk is immense. The ladies must be got to Spanish Town, for the
Maroons are desperate. They know we have no ships of the navy here now,
and they rely on their raiding powers and the governor's weakness.
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