“My duty,” replied Ayrton. Then he went to the window, and his eager gaze sought to penetrate the foliage. It was then half-past 7 o’clock. The sun had set behind Granite House twenty minutes before, and the eastern horizon was darkening. The brig was nearing Union Bay. She was now about eight miles away, and just abreast of Prospect Plateau, for having tacked off Claw Cape, she had been carried in by the rising tide. In fact she was already in the bay, for a straight line drawn from Claw Cape to Mandible Cape would have passed to the other side of her. Was the brig going to run into the bay? And if so, would she anchor there? Perhaps they would be satisfied with taking an observation. They could do nothing but wait. Smith was profoundly anxious. Had the pirates been on the island before, since they hoisted their colors on approaching it? Might they not have effected a descent once before, and might not some accomplice be now concealed in the unexplored part of the island. They were determined to resist to the last extremity. All depended on the arms and the number of the pirates. Night had come. The new moon had set a few moments after the sun. Profound darkness enveloped land and sea. Thick masses of clouds were spread over the sky. The wind had entirely died away. Nothing could be seen of the vessel, for all her lights were hidden—they could tell nothing of her whereabouts. “Who knows?” said Pencroff. “Perhaps the confounded ship will be off by morning.” His speech was answered by a brilliant flash from the offing, and the sound of a gun. The ship was there, and she had artillery. Six seconds had elapsed between the flash and the report; the brig, therefore, was about a mile and a-quarter from the shore. Just then, they heard the noise of chain-cables grinding across the hawse-holes. The vessel was coming to anchor in sight of Granite House! CHAPTER XLIV. DISCUSSIONS—PRESENTIMENTS—AYRTON’S PROPOSAL—IT IS ACCEPTED—AYRTON AND PENCROFF ON SAFETY ISLET—NORFOLK CONVICTS—THEIR PROJECTS—HEROIC ATTEMPT OF AYRTON—HIS RETURN—SIX AGAINST FIFTY. There was no longer room for doubt as to the pirate’s intentions. They had cast anchor at a short distance from the island, and evidently intended to land on the morrow. Brave as they were, the colonists felt the necessity of prudence. Perhaps their presence could yet be concealed in case the pirates were contented with landing on the coast without going up into the interior. The latter, in fact, might have nothing else in view than a supply of fresh water, and the bridge, a mile and a half up stream, might well escape their eye. The colonists knew now that the pirate ship carried heavy artillery, against which they had nothing but a few shot-guns. “Still,” said Smith, “our situation is impregnable. The enemy cannot discover the opening in the weir, so thickly is it covered with reeds and grass, and consequently cannot penetrate into Granite House.”