Chapter Seventeen.Dr Pegg muses.“Poor chap!” said Pegg, with a long-drawn sigh, as, utterly exhausted, Archie sank back upon his rough resting-place amongst the palm-leaves, and fell off at once into a deep, swoon-like sleep. “Oh! if he only won’t wake again for hours and hours, for all this worrying and talking must be dreadful for him. Poor girl! She must be here somewhere, a prisoner too. If I could only find out!”He had been bending over Archie, and was drawing away as softly as could be for fear the rustling of the leaf-bed might wake his companion again, to recommence talking in an excited way about Minnie Heath and her fate, when he heard the sound of voices, the door of the palm and bamboo building was unbarred and thrown open, and a fierce, swarthy-looking, scowling Malay, with the hilt of his kris uncovered, strode swaggeringly in, accompanied by six spear-armed natives of about his own stamp, their leader looking sharply at the two prisoners, and then about the place.“Here, I say, don’t kick up such a jolly row,” said the private in a hoarse whisper. “Can’t you see that the poor fellow has just dropped off to sleep?”The big Malay turned upon him fiercely, and as he took a couple of steps nearer, the crisp, dry leaves rustled more than ever.“Will you be quiet?” whispered the private, springing up, and with one stride planting himself threateningly before the offender, who took a step back and flashed his naked kris from its sheath, while his followers lowered their spears for his protection.“There, put that cook’s skewer away,” growled the lad, as he pointed at the kris. “Can’t you be quiet? Can’t you see that I have got nothing to fight with? Seven on you to one wounded man! Nice, plucky lot, aren’t you? Why, I’m about the youngest chap in my company, but give me my empty rifle and bay’net and fair-play, and I would take the lot on you.”Then, placing his open hands on either side of his lips as if he were about to hail somebody at a distance, he whispered hoarsely:“Look at him. Very bad. Thought he was going to die. Can’t you understand?”Lowering his hands, he first pointed to the insensible officer, and then, treating the bared weapons which menaced him with as much contempt as if they were not there, he stepped on tiptoe close to his young companion, and stood pointing down at his terribly swollen forehead, which was not only cut but discoloured.He stood waiting, but neither of the Malays moved, only looked at their leader as if for orders, and then gazed at one another, till he uttered a low grunt, in response to which the men raised the points of their spears and planted the butts on the ground.Peter Pegg gave vent to a low, sneering laugh as he gazed half-jauntily at the big Malay.“It didn’t skeer me a bit,” he said, “queer as I feel; but, between men—you see how bad my poor officer is—I only want you to keep those jockeys of yours quiet. Well, aren’t you going to say anything when a English gentleman addresses you?”The Malay gazed at him as if wondering at the lad’s impudence, and then, scowling fiercely, he said, in a hoarse, guttural way, and trying to display his scorn for the sun-burnt, thin-featured lad, “Ingles—Ingles!”“That’s right, comrade—I mean, enemy. Well, ain’t you going to say any more?”The man made no sign, and Peter Pegg continued:“Can’t you understand plain English? Well, then, take this—apa boleh booat.”“Apa boleh booat,” said the Malay, with his face relaxing a little; and he nodded his head slowly, before turning to one of his followers and pointing to the big water-jar standing near the door, which the man immediately took up and bore out as if to fill, while his leader pointed again to a neatly woven bamboo basket in which lay three or four bananas and a half-eaten cake of bread.This too was borne out, the contents sent flying amongst the trees close by, and the basket brought back, like the big jar, replenished.“Apa boleh booat,” growled the big Malay, and he bowed his head slowly at the young soldier.“All right; I quite agree with you,” said Peter; “and now good-morning, or good-day, and don’t come and bother me any more, my Royal Highness, or whatever you are, for I want to think.”The Malay leader scowled at him again, and then followed his men out of the door, which was closed loudly, and as heavy bars seemed to be fitted into sockets, Peter Pegg limped up, as if partly lamed, put his lips close to a crack, and whispered:“Thank you. Much obliged. A little louder next time, please, for my officer’s asleep.”Then he stood peering through the crack till the footsteps died away.“Can’t see much,” he said; “but I wonder whatapa boleh booatmeans. I meant it for something nasty, but the ugly beggar took it quite pleasant. It’s what those sampan chaps say when they come back without catching any fish. To be sure, and I heard another chap say it when the Doctor had done strapping up his cut that time when there was a fight between the two Rajahs’ men. I’ve picked up a lot more, too, of their lingo, but it’s all mixed up together somewheres, and my head’s about as muddled as poor Mister Archie’s. Poor old chap! I got it too, but I’d a deal rather I’d had his topper and he’d had mine, and that’s honest; for though he’s a gentleman and I have only been a rough recruity, he’s always been a good chap to me, and I never liked him so much as I do now when he’s in such trouble. I wonder where poor Miss Minnie is.”Phoonk! came from somewhere outside, and there was a rattling as of an iron chain.“Oh, there you are, are you?” said Peter. “The Doctor said in that lecture he gave us chaps that helephants is the most intelligent beasts there is—more so than dogs—that they get to understand all sorts of words that are spoken to them. That therephoonk, or whatever it was, sounded just like an answer to something I had said; but, of course, it couldn’t be. These ’ere are Malay helephants, and ’tisn’t likely they could understand English. I wish, though, this was the one that I got to be so chummy with on the sham-fight day. I’d give him half these ’ere bananas and some of the cake, for I don’t feel ready to eat much, and I don’t believe that when the governor wakes up he will take anything but some more water. Well, anyhow, he’s better than he has been since we’ve been here. How long is it?”The lad raised his hand wearily to his aching brow, and held it there for some minutes, before shaking his head sadly.“I d’know,” he said. “It’s all getting mixed up again. Oh, my poor nut! How it do ache! I know what would do it good—lie down and try to go to sleep. But I can’t; for so sure as I did, Mister Archie would wake up and want some water, and begin to talk about Miss Minnie. Oh dear! It’s far worse than mutiny—to go to sleep when you are on sentry; and it would be ten times worse to begin to snooze now, with that poor, half-cranky chap in such a state. So I’ll have one or two of them finger-stall fruit things and a good drink of water, and then lean back against the side and see how many Malay words I can remember; and if that don’t keep a poor fellow awake, nothing will.”He stepped softly amongst the rustling leaves and bent down over Archie, to find that he was breathing freely, and evidently plunged in the deep sleep of exhaustion.“That’s better,” he muttered; “but I should like to dip his handkerchy in that fresh, cold water and lay it on his head.”His hand was reached out to where he could just catch a glimpse of the scrap of linen in the lad’s breast pocket; but he snatched his extended fingers back, and stepped away to where the basket and jar had been placed.“Do more harm than good,” he muttered. “When I was in orspittle, I remember old Morley said that sleep was the something that did something to set wounded fellows up again, and if I got sopping his head, poor chap! it would wake him up as sure as eggs is eggs.” Then he went down on his knees, picked up the cocoa-nut cup, filled it to the brim, and very slowly trickled the contents down his throat. “Hah!” he sighed. “Lovely!” as he held up the empty cup. “That’s just the sort of stuff as would do old Joe Smithers a world of good.—Thankye; yes, I will take another, as you are so pressing;” and with a contented grin upon his dirty face, grimed with perspiration and the dried stains from a cut, he refilled the shell cup, drank the contents, replaced the little vessel balanced upside-down upon the edge of the rough earthen jar, and then swung himself round into a sitting position, wincing and half-groaning with pain as he did so, leant his aching head against the thickly plaited palm wall, and reached out for the basket, from which he picked one of the largest golden plantains.“There’s plenty,” he said softly, “and three of them just about ought to set me up.”Then methodically breaking off the end of the one he had chosen, he began to strip off the thick skin, letting each portion hang over his hand, as the creamy, white, vegetable-like fruit became bared half-way down; and then, with a sigh, he took a bite.“That second cup of Adam’s ale was better than the first,” he said appreciatively, “and this ’ere’s the best banana I ever nibbled. We used to say at home that they was like tallow candle and sleepy pear, but this one—my word, it’s heavenly!”He took another bite, munching it slowly, with his head sinking down gently as if to meet his hand, which came up with some effort, ready for the next bite; and then, with his lower jaw impeded by resting upon his chest, it ceased to move, the hand that held the banana sank into his lap, the half-peeled fruit escaped from his fingers, and not one of the many Malay words that he was about to remember obtained utterance, for after the watching and disturbed sleep of nights, Nature would do no more, and Peter Pegg was sleeping more deeply than he had ever slept in his life before.
“Poor chap!” said Pegg, with a long-drawn sigh, as, utterly exhausted, Archie sank back upon his rough resting-place amongst the palm-leaves, and fell off at once into a deep, swoon-like sleep. “Oh! if he only won’t wake again for hours and hours, for all this worrying and talking must be dreadful for him. Poor girl! She must be here somewhere, a prisoner too. If I could only find out!”
He had been bending over Archie, and was drawing away as softly as could be for fear the rustling of the leaf-bed might wake his companion again, to recommence talking in an excited way about Minnie Heath and her fate, when he heard the sound of voices, the door of the palm and bamboo building was unbarred and thrown open, and a fierce, swarthy-looking, scowling Malay, with the hilt of his kris uncovered, strode swaggeringly in, accompanied by six spear-armed natives of about his own stamp, their leader looking sharply at the two prisoners, and then about the place.
“Here, I say, don’t kick up such a jolly row,” said the private in a hoarse whisper. “Can’t you see that the poor fellow has just dropped off to sleep?”
The big Malay turned upon him fiercely, and as he took a couple of steps nearer, the crisp, dry leaves rustled more than ever.
“Will you be quiet?” whispered the private, springing up, and with one stride planting himself threateningly before the offender, who took a step back and flashed his naked kris from its sheath, while his followers lowered their spears for his protection.
“There, put that cook’s skewer away,” growled the lad, as he pointed at the kris. “Can’t you be quiet? Can’t you see that I have got nothing to fight with? Seven on you to one wounded man! Nice, plucky lot, aren’t you? Why, I’m about the youngest chap in my company, but give me my empty rifle and bay’net and fair-play, and I would take the lot on you.”
Then, placing his open hands on either side of his lips as if he were about to hail somebody at a distance, he whispered hoarsely:
“Look at him. Very bad. Thought he was going to die. Can’t you understand?”
Lowering his hands, he first pointed to the insensible officer, and then, treating the bared weapons which menaced him with as much contempt as if they were not there, he stepped on tiptoe close to his young companion, and stood pointing down at his terribly swollen forehead, which was not only cut but discoloured.
He stood waiting, but neither of the Malays moved, only looked at their leader as if for orders, and then gazed at one another, till he uttered a low grunt, in response to which the men raised the points of their spears and planted the butts on the ground.
Peter Pegg gave vent to a low, sneering laugh as he gazed half-jauntily at the big Malay.
“It didn’t skeer me a bit,” he said, “queer as I feel; but, between men—you see how bad my poor officer is—I only want you to keep those jockeys of yours quiet. Well, aren’t you going to say anything when a English gentleman addresses you?”
The Malay gazed at him as if wondering at the lad’s impudence, and then, scowling fiercely, he said, in a hoarse, guttural way, and trying to display his scorn for the sun-burnt, thin-featured lad, “Ingles—Ingles!”
“That’s right, comrade—I mean, enemy. Well, ain’t you going to say any more?”
The man made no sign, and Peter Pegg continued:
“Can’t you understand plain English? Well, then, take this—apa boleh booat.”
“Apa boleh booat,” said the Malay, with his face relaxing a little; and he nodded his head slowly, before turning to one of his followers and pointing to the big water-jar standing near the door, which the man immediately took up and bore out as if to fill, while his leader pointed again to a neatly woven bamboo basket in which lay three or four bananas and a half-eaten cake of bread.
This too was borne out, the contents sent flying amongst the trees close by, and the basket brought back, like the big jar, replenished.
“Apa boleh booat,” growled the big Malay, and he bowed his head slowly at the young soldier.
“All right; I quite agree with you,” said Peter; “and now good-morning, or good-day, and don’t come and bother me any more, my Royal Highness, or whatever you are, for I want to think.”
The Malay leader scowled at him again, and then followed his men out of the door, which was closed loudly, and as heavy bars seemed to be fitted into sockets, Peter Pegg limped up, as if partly lamed, put his lips close to a crack, and whispered:
“Thank you. Much obliged. A little louder next time, please, for my officer’s asleep.”
Then he stood peering through the crack till the footsteps died away.
“Can’t see much,” he said; “but I wonder whatapa boleh booatmeans. I meant it for something nasty, but the ugly beggar took it quite pleasant. It’s what those sampan chaps say when they come back without catching any fish. To be sure, and I heard another chap say it when the Doctor had done strapping up his cut that time when there was a fight between the two Rajahs’ men. I’ve picked up a lot more, too, of their lingo, but it’s all mixed up together somewheres, and my head’s about as muddled as poor Mister Archie’s. Poor old chap! I got it too, but I’d a deal rather I’d had his topper and he’d had mine, and that’s honest; for though he’s a gentleman and I have only been a rough recruity, he’s always been a good chap to me, and I never liked him so much as I do now when he’s in such trouble. I wonder where poor Miss Minnie is.”
Phoonk! came from somewhere outside, and there was a rattling as of an iron chain.
“Oh, there you are, are you?” said Peter. “The Doctor said in that lecture he gave us chaps that helephants is the most intelligent beasts there is—more so than dogs—that they get to understand all sorts of words that are spoken to them. That therephoonk, or whatever it was, sounded just like an answer to something I had said; but, of course, it couldn’t be. These ’ere are Malay helephants, and ’tisn’t likely they could understand English. I wish, though, this was the one that I got to be so chummy with on the sham-fight day. I’d give him half these ’ere bananas and some of the cake, for I don’t feel ready to eat much, and I don’t believe that when the governor wakes up he will take anything but some more water. Well, anyhow, he’s better than he has been since we’ve been here. How long is it?”
The lad raised his hand wearily to his aching brow, and held it there for some minutes, before shaking his head sadly.
“I d’know,” he said. “It’s all getting mixed up again. Oh, my poor nut! How it do ache! I know what would do it good—lie down and try to go to sleep. But I can’t; for so sure as I did, Mister Archie would wake up and want some water, and begin to talk about Miss Minnie. Oh dear! It’s far worse than mutiny—to go to sleep when you are on sentry; and it would be ten times worse to begin to snooze now, with that poor, half-cranky chap in such a state. So I’ll have one or two of them finger-stall fruit things and a good drink of water, and then lean back against the side and see how many Malay words I can remember; and if that don’t keep a poor fellow awake, nothing will.”
He stepped softly amongst the rustling leaves and bent down over Archie, to find that he was breathing freely, and evidently plunged in the deep sleep of exhaustion.
“That’s better,” he muttered; “but I should like to dip his handkerchy in that fresh, cold water and lay it on his head.”
His hand was reached out to where he could just catch a glimpse of the scrap of linen in the lad’s breast pocket; but he snatched his extended fingers back, and stepped away to where the basket and jar had been placed.
“Do more harm than good,” he muttered. “When I was in orspittle, I remember old Morley said that sleep was the something that did something to set wounded fellows up again, and if I got sopping his head, poor chap! it would wake him up as sure as eggs is eggs.” Then he went down on his knees, picked up the cocoa-nut cup, filled it to the brim, and very slowly trickled the contents down his throat. “Hah!” he sighed. “Lovely!” as he held up the empty cup. “That’s just the sort of stuff as would do old Joe Smithers a world of good.—Thankye; yes, I will take another, as you are so pressing;” and with a contented grin upon his dirty face, grimed with perspiration and the dried stains from a cut, he refilled the shell cup, drank the contents, replaced the little vessel balanced upside-down upon the edge of the rough earthen jar, and then swung himself round into a sitting position, wincing and half-groaning with pain as he did so, leant his aching head against the thickly plaited palm wall, and reached out for the basket, from which he picked one of the largest golden plantains.
“There’s plenty,” he said softly, “and three of them just about ought to set me up.”
Then methodically breaking off the end of the one he had chosen, he began to strip off the thick skin, letting each portion hang over his hand, as the creamy, white, vegetable-like fruit became bared half-way down; and then, with a sigh, he took a bite.
“That second cup of Adam’s ale was better than the first,” he said appreciatively, “and this ’ere’s the best banana I ever nibbled. We used to say at home that they was like tallow candle and sleepy pear, but this one—my word, it’s heavenly!”
He took another bite, munching it slowly, with his head sinking down gently as if to meet his hand, which came up with some effort, ready for the next bite; and then, with his lower jaw impeded by resting upon his chest, it ceased to move, the hand that held the banana sank into his lap, the half-peeled fruit escaped from his fingers, and not one of the many Malay words that he was about to remember obtained utterance, for after the watching and disturbed sleep of nights, Nature would do no more, and Peter Pegg was sleeping more deeply than he had ever slept in his life before.
Chapter Eighteen.Peter’s Friend.Phoonk! Then a peculiar squeal and grunting sound, and then once again,Phoonk!Peter Pegg started up into a sitting position, vacant of face and staring at the straightly streaked rays of sunshine that made their way through the plaited and latticed sides of the stable-like building in which he had dropped to sleep.“What’s all that row?” he muttered. “Where am I?”He rubbed his eyes; and then, as the grunting, snorting noise continued, “What does it all mean?” he went on. “Why, I’ve been asleep, and was dreaming something about old Bobby Hood’s pigs at home, grunting. Am I dreaming now? Them ain’t pigs. Here, I know—helephants!”He turned his face to the side of the place against which he had been leaning, drew himself up, and applied his eyes to one of the cracks, just as a voice seemed to be calling out in the Malay tongue at three of the great cumbrous-looking beasts which were about a couple of yards away from the building.“Driving of them, and they won’t go,” thought the watcher; and the speaker, a stunted-looking Malay with a short, iron-spiked implement, somewhat like the iron of a boat-hook, in his hand, came into sight between the huge pachyderms and the door, shouting and growling at his charge as he waved the hook and progged the nearest beast as if trying to drive them away.“What a fool I was not to have learned this precious lingo! They want to come in, and he’s telling them to get on. Well, there ain’t no room for them here.—Ah, he don’t like that!” For the dumpy Malay made use more freely of the goad he carried, and the nearest beast gave vent to an angry half-squeal, half-grunt, as, shrinking from the prod delivered at its flank, it made a rush at two companions, driving its great head first at one and then at the other, and with a good deal of grumbling, squealing, and waving of trunks, they shuffled out of sight.“Why, I must have been asleep,” cried Pegg, as he made for another opening where the sun streamed in; “but my head—oh, my head, how it aches! I can’t seem to understand what it means. It’s all of a—” He turned slowly round, staring vacantly, till his eyes fell upon the basket and jar almost at his feet. “’Nanas—water! Why,”—he turned his eyes in another direction, and then, with a faint cry of dismay, he shuffled across the place, making the dry leaves with which the floor was covered rustle loudly, as he sank upon his knees beside Archie. “I’ve got it now,” he said to himself. “I remember; but my head’s as thick as wool. He went to sleep, and I sat down to watch till he woke. Nice watch I’ve kept! Well, it’s a good job those great brutes come along and woke me up. This must have been their old stable, and if I don’t look out, one of these times they will be shoving that door down and walking in a-top of us. Poor old chap! He’s sound enough now. Mustn’t touch him. It would be a pity to wake him. I couldn’t have been asleep many minutes.”Peter drew away silently and stood for a few moments watching the bright rays of sunshine that streamed in through the side of the building; and unconsciously he raised one hand and made a peculiar motion with it as if he were following the streaks of light from right to left with his index-finger.“Seems rum,” he muttered; “but it’s my head being so thick, I suppose. Oh, there’s that banana I began to eat;” and he stooped down, picked it up from where it lay amongst the leaves, and then dipped the cocoa-nut cup into the water, and took a deep draught of the refreshing beverage.“Ah!” he sighed, as he set down the shell. “Seems to wash the cobwebs out of one’s head. Wonder where those helephants were being driven.”As he muttered he stepped to the door and applied his eye tooneof the cracks through which the sun was streaming, and then drew back, for the glare affected his eye.“Shines hot,” he muttered; “and it wasn’t coming in like that when I looked through just now, before beginning to eat that banana. Well,” he ejaculated, “it’s a rum ’un! I’ve got it now! Why, I must have been asleep hours and hours and hours. It ain’t this evening. When I looked it was all turning red because the sun was going down. It’s to-morrow morning, and I’ve been asleep all night. I’m a nice sort of a chap, I am, to go on duty and leave my officer in the lurch like that! Well, he must have been asleep too. There’s no gammon about it, for it is to-morrow morning, and he could not have woke up, because I should have heared him; so that’s all right. Poor chap! And it must have done him good. But now I can think again, and my head don’t ache so much. I feel better, and there’s been no old Job Tipsy to drop upon me.—I wish there was, and a lot of our fellows with him,” said the poor fellow dismally.He crossed softly to where Archie lay breathing calmly, and then, as if feeling satisfied, he went back to the great earthen jar, refreshed himself with another draught of water, and seated himself by the basket, from which he took one of the bananas and began to eat.“I’m quite peckish,” he said to himself, “and, my word, they are good! I don’t know how long it is since I felt like this. It must be a good sign. Well, there’s plenty of them,” he continued, and he took another, and another. “Not half bad,” he went on, “as there’s no commissariat coffee. Must leave plenty for Mr Archie, though. But ’nanas don’t seem the sort of tack for a poor chap with his complaint. Wishing ain’t no good, or I’d do it with both hands, and wish old Jollop was here to look at his tongue and to strap up that head of his. It ought to have all the hair cut off, but one can’t do that with a blunt knife. Hullo! what’s that?” he muttered, after satisfying himself with the fruit from the basket. “I believe it’s one of those two-tailed pigs grunting and chuntering.”He went to the opening through which he had peered before, and looked out.“Can’t see anything,” he muttered, “but it sounds like one of them coming back. Yes, I can! It is—just coming through the trees. Why, he’s all wet, and dripping with mud and water. That’s it. They have been driven down by their keeper to the river. Yes, there must be a river; and I say, lad, there’s something to recollect. This ’ere place is somewhere up the river, or down it. Yes, down it, because up the river the water’s clear, and down it, it gets muddy. Oh, I don’t know. I dare say there’s muddy places up the banks. There, stop that chuntering row. Just like a drove of pigs. He’s coming back to his stable somewhere. Why, he’s coming straight here, just as if he meant to knock the door down and get in. Well, if he did he wouldn’t hurt us. He’s only a tame one. That little chap made three of them shuffle off. But what a chance to cut if he opens the door! Oh dear!” he added, with a sigh. “Talk about cutting, with the young governor like he is! And even if he could walk, we don’t know the way. Wonder where we are. It must be the Rajah’s place somewhere right up in the jungle where he keeps his helephants, and that there Frenchman put him up to keeping his hostriches, as he called them, up here too.”Peter Pegg’s mutterings and musing were brought to a sudden end by the elephant, which seemed to be quite alone, coming close up to the doorway, grunting and chuntering, as the young private called it, just as if the animal were talking to itself, mingling its remarks with a low squeal which might have meant either anger or satisfaction.“I believe,” thought Peter, “it’s one of them that came to the sham-fight, and I could almost fancy it’s the chap I had a ride on. But they are all alike, only one’s bigger than another, and t’other’s more small. If he had got his toggery on with gold fringes and the big bamboo clothes-basket full of cushions on his back, I should know him directly. But he’s what they call disguised in mud.—Here, I say, don’t! What you doing on?”It was plain enough, for the great elephant had seized hold of a portion of the woven, basket-like wall, which began to crack and give way as a piece was torn out.“I say, don’t—don’t be a fool! You’ll wake the poor governor,” whispered Peter, who began to tremble now with alarm.—“Oh, don’t I wish I could remember what the mahout said to him!—Here, I say, don’t!—I believe he’s gone mad, and if he gets at us— Here, I say, what shall I do?” And he backed away from where the light was beginning to show more brightly through the woven wall, and took up his position as if to protect his wounded officer. “If I had only got my rifle and bayonet, I could keep him off, perhaps, with a good dig. Here, they have left me my knife, though,” he said joyously, as he drew it out and opened the blade.The possession of even this contemptible weapon seemed to give the poor fellow some confidence, and he took three or four steps towards the hole the huge beast was making, just as there was torn away another piece of the elastic palm or bamboo of which the wall between the uprights was formed.And then the light opening was suddenly darkened.“Blest if it ain’t just like a great horse-leech such as we used to find in the water-crease beds, only about ten million times as big;” and the lad stood helplessly staring as he saw the monster’s trunk thrust right in through the wall and beginning to wave up and down and from side to side, wondrously elastic, the nostrils at the end in this semi-darkness looking like a pair of little wet eyes, between which the prehensile part moved up and down like a tiny pug-nose.Sniff, snuff, snort, and then a little squeal as, after waving here and there for a few moments, the curious member was stretched out straight in the direction of the lad, emitted a deep, damp sigh, and then began to wave up and down and to and fro again, before curling up, to some extent uncoiling, and shooting out straight and stiff again in the same direction.“Oh Lor’!” groaned Peter, “it’s just like one of them there big boa-constructors, and he’s coming for me. He means me. There’s a sniff! And this knife not a bit of good. If I cut it off it would only make him more wild. Look at it, with its two little eyes seeming to stare at me. Boa-constructor! It’s more like an injy-rubber pipe gone mad.”There was another faint squeal, and the great trunk slowly changed its position, and stretched itself out in the direction of the bamboo basket.“Here, I say,” thought Peter, “does he mean them?”The lad hesitated for a minute or two while the elephant continued its low, almost purring, muttering sound, as the trunk turned once more in his direction, and then became stiffly pointed out again towards the basket, while the wall about the height of the elephant’s head gave forth a loud crack.“He’s a-leaning ag’in it, and it’s coming through!” gasped Peter. “Here, there’s nothing for it.—All right, mate; wait a minute: you shall have the whole blessed lot. Murder! Don’t!” roared the poor fellow; for as he made a dash to reach the basket, as quick as lightning the trunk was curled round his neck, and held him fast as he dropped upon his knees.“It’s all over, Mister Archie, sir,” he groaned. “And you lying there asleep and taking not no notice! Wouldn’t have catched me ’listing if I’d ha’ known it meant coming to this!—Oh, I say, do leave go!”As if his captor thoroughly grasped the meaning of his piteous appeal, the trunk began slowly to loosen its hold; and then, as the poor fellow prepared himself for a dash to get beyond its reach, he found it begin to smooth him over and stroke him gently down from shoulder to arm, playing about as if caressing him, after the fashion in which he had seen the animals treat their mahout when about to be fed.“Oh dear!” groaned Peter; “I thought it was all over with me. Does he mean he wants one of them bananas?”The lad’s hand trembled as he reached out, picked up one of the bananas—the largest he could see—and held it in the direction of the end of the trunk.There was a loud sniff; the trunk curled round the fruit, curved under, and was drawn back through the hole. The sun shone brightly in, and Peter felt conscious that the banana was disappearing into the great brute’s wet mouth. Then in the most deliberate manner the end of the trunk reappeared, gliding towards him like some serpent. The light was pretty well shut out, and as the wall creaked again, Peter somehow omitted to dash right off as far away as he could go, and found himself picking up another banana, which was deliberately taken, disappeared slowly to make way for the light to pass in, and then the process was repeated once more.“Here, who’s afraid?” said the lad, mastering the oppression and panting from which he suffered, as he picked up a fourth banana. “He means friends, and I’m blessed if I don’t believe it’s the same one as I tackled at the sham-fight, I wish I knew.—Want another, mate?” he continued, as the trunk-end curled towards him again; and as it slowly took the banana from his hand, he passed his fingers beyond the grasped fruit, and gave the quivering member a quick stroke or two.To his surprise, the trunk remained motionless, and a faint snorting sound or grunt came from beyond the wall.“All right. Paid for!” said Peter as he withdrew his hand, and the trunk disappeared. “I do believe it’s the same one,” repeated the lad, “and I shall be all right as long as these ’ere ’nanas last; but when they are done, suppose he comes through to see why the rations have stopped. Well, I must make them last as long as I can; and he’s very cool over it, and not in a hurry. Wonder whether it is that one I knew, and he smelt me and come to see. Yah! Stuff! He smelt the fruit. Oh! here he is again.”The next time the trunk reappeared Peter Pegg was ready with one of the oat-cakes broken in half. This was taken just as readily, and was being drawn through the hole when its awkward semicircular shape caused it to be caught against the sides, and it dropped inside instead of disappearing like the fruit. The trunk was withdrawn unsupplied, and Peter was in the act of stooping to pick up the piece of cake, when the light was obscured again, making the lad glance upwards and catch sight of the serpent-like, coiling member descending slowly upon him.“Here, no larks!” cried the lad, dropping upon his knees and preparing to crawl out of reach; but the thought of what he had suffered before unnerved him for the moment, and he could not stir.He uttered a faint cry as he felt the touch of the elastic organ; but it only began to stroke him caressingly, and recovering himself, he drew a deep breath, held out the piece of cake, which was smelt directly, taken, and this time disappeared in safety.It was all done very slowly, and poor Peter thought to himself, “I suppose he’s enjoying of it all—but think of me!” He grew more confident, however, and went on and on, presenting the generous supply of bananas till only four were left, and these and the other cake he thrust farther away, and stripping off his flannel jacket, he covered the remainder in the bottom of the basket.This he had just done when the trunk reappeared as usual, and summoning up his courage to meet the disappointment and perhaps anger of his visitor, Peter cried aloud:“There! All over, comrade! No more to-day. Off you go!”Just as if the huge beast understood him from the tone of his voice, it raised its trunk and passed it about his shoulders and breast; and then the poor fellow uttered a faint groan of despair.“What a fool I was!” he thought, for he felt the trunk curl round his neck and tighten gently; and his heart began to fail, when it was uncurled, and stretched out again; the wall overhead creaked loudly, and the end of the trunk was dipped in the big earthen jar.There was a sucking noise, the trunk disappeared slowly, and Peter drew the jar so that it stood just below the opening the elephant had made. As this was done there came the loud squirting sound of the water being sent down the huge beast’s throat.Then the trunk descended, to be recharged and disappear again, and Peter, as the trunk was withdrawn, seized the supply-vessel and drew it right away.“Don’t believe there’s half a pint left,” he grumbled. “What about Mister Archie?—There, no more!” he cried aloud, as the trunk was thrust back, passed over his shoulders again, and finally withdrawn, Peter half climbing up to peer through the hole and see his visitor go slowly muttering away.“And him grumbling, too,” said the lad—“ungrateful beast! He did give me a fright. But, my eye, what a game! Look at him!” he continued, as the hind-quarters of the monster concealed the rest of its form. “Just like an awful great pair of trousers walking by theirselves!”
Phoonk! Then a peculiar squeal and grunting sound, and then once again,Phoonk!
Peter Pegg started up into a sitting position, vacant of face and staring at the straightly streaked rays of sunshine that made their way through the plaited and latticed sides of the stable-like building in which he had dropped to sleep.
“What’s all that row?” he muttered. “Where am I?”
He rubbed his eyes; and then, as the grunting, snorting noise continued, “What does it all mean?” he went on. “Why, I’ve been asleep, and was dreaming something about old Bobby Hood’s pigs at home, grunting. Am I dreaming now? Them ain’t pigs. Here, I know—helephants!”
He turned his face to the side of the place against which he had been leaning, drew himself up, and applied his eyes to one of the cracks, just as a voice seemed to be calling out in the Malay tongue at three of the great cumbrous-looking beasts which were about a couple of yards away from the building.
“Driving of them, and they won’t go,” thought the watcher; and the speaker, a stunted-looking Malay with a short, iron-spiked implement, somewhat like the iron of a boat-hook, in his hand, came into sight between the huge pachyderms and the door, shouting and growling at his charge as he waved the hook and progged the nearest beast as if trying to drive them away.
“What a fool I was not to have learned this precious lingo! They want to come in, and he’s telling them to get on. Well, there ain’t no room for them here.—Ah, he don’t like that!” For the dumpy Malay made use more freely of the goad he carried, and the nearest beast gave vent to an angry half-squeal, half-grunt, as, shrinking from the prod delivered at its flank, it made a rush at two companions, driving its great head first at one and then at the other, and with a good deal of grumbling, squealing, and waving of trunks, they shuffled out of sight.
“Why, I must have been asleep,” cried Pegg, as he made for another opening where the sun streamed in; “but my head—oh, my head, how it aches! I can’t seem to understand what it means. It’s all of a—” He turned slowly round, staring vacantly, till his eyes fell upon the basket and jar almost at his feet. “’Nanas—water! Why,”—he turned his eyes in another direction, and then, with a faint cry of dismay, he shuffled across the place, making the dry leaves with which the floor was covered rustle loudly, as he sank upon his knees beside Archie. “I’ve got it now,” he said to himself. “I remember; but my head’s as thick as wool. He went to sleep, and I sat down to watch till he woke. Nice watch I’ve kept! Well, it’s a good job those great brutes come along and woke me up. This must have been their old stable, and if I don’t look out, one of these times they will be shoving that door down and walking in a-top of us. Poor old chap! He’s sound enough now. Mustn’t touch him. It would be a pity to wake him. I couldn’t have been asleep many minutes.”
Peter drew away silently and stood for a few moments watching the bright rays of sunshine that streamed in through the side of the building; and unconsciously he raised one hand and made a peculiar motion with it as if he were following the streaks of light from right to left with his index-finger.
“Seems rum,” he muttered; “but it’s my head being so thick, I suppose. Oh, there’s that banana I began to eat;” and he stooped down, picked it up from where it lay amongst the leaves, and then dipped the cocoa-nut cup into the water, and took a deep draught of the refreshing beverage.
“Ah!” he sighed, as he set down the shell. “Seems to wash the cobwebs out of one’s head. Wonder where those helephants were being driven.”
As he muttered he stepped to the door and applied his eye tooneof the cracks through which the sun was streaming, and then drew back, for the glare affected his eye.
“Shines hot,” he muttered; “and it wasn’t coming in like that when I looked through just now, before beginning to eat that banana. Well,” he ejaculated, “it’s a rum ’un! I’ve got it now! Why, I must have been asleep hours and hours and hours. It ain’t this evening. When I looked it was all turning red because the sun was going down. It’s to-morrow morning, and I’ve been asleep all night. I’m a nice sort of a chap, I am, to go on duty and leave my officer in the lurch like that! Well, he must have been asleep too. There’s no gammon about it, for it is to-morrow morning, and he could not have woke up, because I should have heared him; so that’s all right. Poor chap! And it must have done him good. But now I can think again, and my head don’t ache so much. I feel better, and there’s been no old Job Tipsy to drop upon me.—I wish there was, and a lot of our fellows with him,” said the poor fellow dismally.
He crossed softly to where Archie lay breathing calmly, and then, as if feeling satisfied, he went back to the great earthen jar, refreshed himself with another draught of water, and seated himself by the basket, from which he took one of the bananas and began to eat.
“I’m quite peckish,” he said to himself, “and, my word, they are good! I don’t know how long it is since I felt like this. It must be a good sign. Well, there’s plenty of them,” he continued, and he took another, and another. “Not half bad,” he went on, “as there’s no commissariat coffee. Must leave plenty for Mr Archie, though. But ’nanas don’t seem the sort of tack for a poor chap with his complaint. Wishing ain’t no good, or I’d do it with both hands, and wish old Jollop was here to look at his tongue and to strap up that head of his. It ought to have all the hair cut off, but one can’t do that with a blunt knife. Hullo! what’s that?” he muttered, after satisfying himself with the fruit from the basket. “I believe it’s one of those two-tailed pigs grunting and chuntering.”
He went to the opening through which he had peered before, and looked out.
“Can’t see anything,” he muttered, “but it sounds like one of them coming back. Yes, I can! It is—just coming through the trees. Why, he’s all wet, and dripping with mud and water. That’s it. They have been driven down by their keeper to the river. Yes, there must be a river; and I say, lad, there’s something to recollect. This ’ere place is somewhere up the river, or down it. Yes, down it, because up the river the water’s clear, and down it, it gets muddy. Oh, I don’t know. I dare say there’s muddy places up the banks. There, stop that chuntering row. Just like a drove of pigs. He’s coming back to his stable somewhere. Why, he’s coming straight here, just as if he meant to knock the door down and get in. Well, if he did he wouldn’t hurt us. He’s only a tame one. That little chap made three of them shuffle off. But what a chance to cut if he opens the door! Oh dear!” he added, with a sigh. “Talk about cutting, with the young governor like he is! And even if he could walk, we don’t know the way. Wonder where we are. It must be the Rajah’s place somewhere right up in the jungle where he keeps his helephants, and that there Frenchman put him up to keeping his hostriches, as he called them, up here too.”
Peter Pegg’s mutterings and musing were brought to a sudden end by the elephant, which seemed to be quite alone, coming close up to the doorway, grunting and chuntering, as the young private called it, just as if the animal were talking to itself, mingling its remarks with a low squeal which might have meant either anger or satisfaction.
“I believe,” thought Peter, “it’s one of them that came to the sham-fight, and I could almost fancy it’s the chap I had a ride on. But they are all alike, only one’s bigger than another, and t’other’s more small. If he had got his toggery on with gold fringes and the big bamboo clothes-basket full of cushions on his back, I should know him directly. But he’s what they call disguised in mud.—Here, I say, don’t! What you doing on?”
It was plain enough, for the great elephant had seized hold of a portion of the woven, basket-like wall, which began to crack and give way as a piece was torn out.
“I say, don’t—don’t be a fool! You’ll wake the poor governor,” whispered Peter, who began to tremble now with alarm.—“Oh, don’t I wish I could remember what the mahout said to him!—Here, I say, don’t!—I believe he’s gone mad, and if he gets at us— Here, I say, what shall I do?” And he backed away from where the light was beginning to show more brightly through the woven wall, and took up his position as if to protect his wounded officer. “If I had only got my rifle and bayonet, I could keep him off, perhaps, with a good dig. Here, they have left me my knife, though,” he said joyously, as he drew it out and opened the blade.
The possession of even this contemptible weapon seemed to give the poor fellow some confidence, and he took three or four steps towards the hole the huge beast was making, just as there was torn away another piece of the elastic palm or bamboo of which the wall between the uprights was formed.
And then the light opening was suddenly darkened.
“Blest if it ain’t just like a great horse-leech such as we used to find in the water-crease beds, only about ten million times as big;” and the lad stood helplessly staring as he saw the monster’s trunk thrust right in through the wall and beginning to wave up and down and from side to side, wondrously elastic, the nostrils at the end in this semi-darkness looking like a pair of little wet eyes, between which the prehensile part moved up and down like a tiny pug-nose.
Sniff, snuff, snort, and then a little squeal as, after waving here and there for a few moments, the curious member was stretched out straight in the direction of the lad, emitted a deep, damp sigh, and then began to wave up and down and to and fro again, before curling up, to some extent uncoiling, and shooting out straight and stiff again in the same direction.
“Oh Lor’!” groaned Peter, “it’s just like one of them there big boa-constructors, and he’s coming for me. He means me. There’s a sniff! And this knife not a bit of good. If I cut it off it would only make him more wild. Look at it, with its two little eyes seeming to stare at me. Boa-constructor! It’s more like an injy-rubber pipe gone mad.”
There was another faint squeal, and the great trunk slowly changed its position, and stretched itself out in the direction of the bamboo basket.
“Here, I say,” thought Peter, “does he mean them?”
The lad hesitated for a minute or two while the elephant continued its low, almost purring, muttering sound, as the trunk turned once more in his direction, and then became stiffly pointed out again towards the basket, while the wall about the height of the elephant’s head gave forth a loud crack.
“He’s a-leaning ag’in it, and it’s coming through!” gasped Peter. “Here, there’s nothing for it.—All right, mate; wait a minute: you shall have the whole blessed lot. Murder! Don’t!” roared the poor fellow; for as he made a dash to reach the basket, as quick as lightning the trunk was curled round his neck, and held him fast as he dropped upon his knees.
“It’s all over, Mister Archie, sir,” he groaned. “And you lying there asleep and taking not no notice! Wouldn’t have catched me ’listing if I’d ha’ known it meant coming to this!—Oh, I say, do leave go!”
As if his captor thoroughly grasped the meaning of his piteous appeal, the trunk began slowly to loosen its hold; and then, as the poor fellow prepared himself for a dash to get beyond its reach, he found it begin to smooth him over and stroke him gently down from shoulder to arm, playing about as if caressing him, after the fashion in which he had seen the animals treat their mahout when about to be fed.
“Oh dear!” groaned Peter; “I thought it was all over with me. Does he mean he wants one of them bananas?”
The lad’s hand trembled as he reached out, picked up one of the bananas—the largest he could see—and held it in the direction of the end of the trunk.
There was a loud sniff; the trunk curled round the fruit, curved under, and was drawn back through the hole. The sun shone brightly in, and Peter felt conscious that the banana was disappearing into the great brute’s wet mouth. Then in the most deliberate manner the end of the trunk reappeared, gliding towards him like some serpent. The light was pretty well shut out, and as the wall creaked again, Peter somehow omitted to dash right off as far away as he could go, and found himself picking up another banana, which was deliberately taken, disappeared slowly to make way for the light to pass in, and then the process was repeated once more.
“Here, who’s afraid?” said the lad, mastering the oppression and panting from which he suffered, as he picked up a fourth banana. “He means friends, and I’m blessed if I don’t believe it’s the same one as I tackled at the sham-fight, I wish I knew.—Want another, mate?” he continued, as the trunk-end curled towards him again; and as it slowly took the banana from his hand, he passed his fingers beyond the grasped fruit, and gave the quivering member a quick stroke or two.
To his surprise, the trunk remained motionless, and a faint snorting sound or grunt came from beyond the wall.
“All right. Paid for!” said Peter as he withdrew his hand, and the trunk disappeared. “I do believe it’s the same one,” repeated the lad, “and I shall be all right as long as these ’ere ’nanas last; but when they are done, suppose he comes through to see why the rations have stopped. Well, I must make them last as long as I can; and he’s very cool over it, and not in a hurry. Wonder whether it is that one I knew, and he smelt me and come to see. Yah! Stuff! He smelt the fruit. Oh! here he is again.”
The next time the trunk reappeared Peter Pegg was ready with one of the oat-cakes broken in half. This was taken just as readily, and was being drawn through the hole when its awkward semicircular shape caused it to be caught against the sides, and it dropped inside instead of disappearing like the fruit. The trunk was withdrawn unsupplied, and Peter was in the act of stooping to pick up the piece of cake, when the light was obscured again, making the lad glance upwards and catch sight of the serpent-like, coiling member descending slowly upon him.
“Here, no larks!” cried the lad, dropping upon his knees and preparing to crawl out of reach; but the thought of what he had suffered before unnerved him for the moment, and he could not stir.
He uttered a faint cry as he felt the touch of the elastic organ; but it only began to stroke him caressingly, and recovering himself, he drew a deep breath, held out the piece of cake, which was smelt directly, taken, and this time disappeared in safety.
It was all done very slowly, and poor Peter thought to himself, “I suppose he’s enjoying of it all—but think of me!” He grew more confident, however, and went on and on, presenting the generous supply of bananas till only four were left, and these and the other cake he thrust farther away, and stripping off his flannel jacket, he covered the remainder in the bottom of the basket.
This he had just done when the trunk reappeared as usual, and summoning up his courage to meet the disappointment and perhaps anger of his visitor, Peter cried aloud:
“There! All over, comrade! No more to-day. Off you go!”
Just as if the huge beast understood him from the tone of his voice, it raised its trunk and passed it about his shoulders and breast; and then the poor fellow uttered a faint groan of despair.
“What a fool I was!” he thought, for he felt the trunk curl round his neck and tighten gently; and his heart began to fail, when it was uncurled, and stretched out again; the wall overhead creaked loudly, and the end of the trunk was dipped in the big earthen jar.
There was a sucking noise, the trunk disappeared slowly, and Peter drew the jar so that it stood just below the opening the elephant had made. As this was done there came the loud squirting sound of the water being sent down the huge beast’s throat.
Then the trunk descended, to be recharged and disappear again, and Peter, as the trunk was withdrawn, seized the supply-vessel and drew it right away.
“Don’t believe there’s half a pint left,” he grumbled. “What about Mister Archie?—There, no more!” he cried aloud, as the trunk was thrust back, passed over his shoulders again, and finally withdrawn, Peter half climbing up to peer through the hole and see his visitor go slowly muttering away.
“And him grumbling, too,” said the lad—“ungrateful beast! He did give me a fright. But, my eye, what a game! Look at him!” he continued, as the hind-quarters of the monster concealed the rest of its form. “Just like an awful great pair of trousers walking by theirselves!”
Chapter Nineteen.Prisoners.“There’s a pretty go!” he cried, as he lifted the now light basket and put it down again, and peered once more into the earthen jar. “Suppose they meant the rations and water to last for two or three days! There was a good supply, and that great beast has wolfed and drunk all. Well, it has made him friends, anyhow. He will be coming again. Yes; but who wants a friend like that to keep coming again?”The lad glanced in the direction of his fellow-prisoner, to find that he was still sleeping; and his next proceeding was to go gingerly about, disturbing the dry leaves as little as possible, and making a more thorough examination of the place.“Must have been a helephant stable once upon a time,” he concluded at last, “for here’s the great post that one of the big pigs was chained to by the leg so that he could not get at the walls. Walls! They are nothing better than so many fences. Talk about shutting up a helephant! Why, I could pull them down myself if I wanted to get away—leastways I could climb up the side and make a hole through the roof. Can’t call one’s self a prisoner. Yes, I can, because I am regularly chained by the leg; for who’s going to leave his comrade? Poor old chap!”At that moment there was a deep sigh, followed by a loud rustling amongst the leaves, as Archie made an effort to change his position, slightly raising his head, but letting it fall back with a low groan, while the young private stepped softly to his side, knelt down, and bent over him.“Hurt you much, Mister Archie, sir?” the lad whispered quietly, and one hand played over the injured head, hesitated, and was then withdrawn. “Hurt you, Mister Archie, sir?” he said again, a little louder, for there was only a weary sigh. “Wish he’d speak,” said the lad to himself, “for he ought to have something, if it’s only a drop more water. What a fool I was to let that great indiarubber thing suck it all up! Why, I couldn’t even use some of it now to bathe his poor head.”The poor fellow seemed to Pegg to be sleeping as heavily as ever, and after he had looked at him carefully for a few minutes, there was a deep, buzzing hum as of some insect, and a great fly flashed across the golden rays which streamed in through the thatch, and hovered around for a few moments as if about to settle upon the sleeping lad’s head.“Would you?” ejaculated Peter Pegg, striking out so fiercely and exactly that he struck the insect with a sharp pat and drove it against the woven wall, with which it was heard to come in contact, to fall directly, buzzing and rustling among the dried leaves. “That’s settled you,” said Peter. “I know your little game—lay eggs and make a poor fellow’s wound go bad. Not this time!”“Cowards!” came excitedly from Archie, and he once more tried to raise his head, but only for it to sink back wearily. “Burning—always burning! Oh, how hot—how hot!”“Like some water, Mister Archie, sir?”“Water! Who said water?”“Me, sir. There is a little. Let me give you a taste.”There was no reply, so Peter quickly tilled the cocoa-nut shell, bore it to his companion’s side, and knelt down.“Now then, sir, you let me hyste you up a little. Don’t you try—I can do it, and hold the nut to your lips. You will have nothing to do but drink.”At the first touch Archie started violently.“Who’s that?” he cried.“Only me, sir. Steady, or you will upset the whole blessed apple-cart, and make yourself wet.”“Only me—only me,” said Archie, and directly after the poor fellow sank back again with a weary sigh.“Look at that, now!” said Peter. “Oh! his head must be awfully bad inside as well as out. Why, if he isn’t asleep again!”It was growing dusk, when, feeling faint, hot, and exhausted, Peter Pegg stood over the basket, looked into it longingly, and then glanced at his wounded companion.“He’s sure not to want anything to eat,” he said to himself. “A drop of water’s about all he will touch when he comes to; and it’s lucky I held that cocoa-nut shell tight, or it would all have gone.” He turned to the jar, into which he had poured back the contents of the nearly full shell. “Oh dear! To think I let that great, gorging fire-hose of a hanimal suck up nearly all that beautiful water, when this place has been like an oven and made me as thirsty as if I had been living on commissariat bacon. Can’t help it. He’s sure to want a drink when he wakes up. I must leave that.”As he spoke he turned the jar sideways, and the ruddy light which filtered in through the cracks showed him the cool, clear fluid in the dark bottom of the vessel. He dipped in the shell, and found he could fill it easily.“More than I thought,” he said joyfully. “Why, I might have half-a-shellful, and then there would be quite a shell and a half left for the young governor. Can’t help it; I must,” he cried impatiently. “My throat’s as dry as a sawpit.”Dipping the shell as he still held the jar sideways he brought it up again more than half-full.“Too much,” he said softly. “Fair-play’s a jewel;” and carefully and slowly he let a portion of the precious water trickle back into the bottom of the jar.“That’s about half,” he said, with a judicial look. “Now then, sip it, mate, and make it go as far as you can.”Raising the cup to his lips, he slowly imbibed the tepid liquid till the very last drop had been drained out of the shell. Then replacing it where it had been before, he uttered a deep sigh.“I never used to think water was so beautiful,” he said softly. “I forget what them people asked for when they had three wishes, but I know what I should wish for now. It would be for that there jar brim-full of cold water, and me to have a throat as long as a boa-constructor, so that I could feel it all go gently down.”His eyes fell upon the basket again, and the slight draught of water having turned his faintness into a strong desire for food, he could hardly restrain himself from taking one of the remaining bananas. In fact, after resisting the temptation for some minutes, he darted his hand down, caught up one of the soft, gold-tinted fruits, raised it towards his mouth, and dashed it down again.“Hanged if I do!” he cried angrily; and thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he had another look at Archie, and then raised himself up so as to peer through the opening the elephant had made, and try to get some better idea of his position.“Trees, trees, trees,” he said; “trees everywhere; but there’s a path off to the left, and one goes off to the right, and there’s another goes straight away. Let’s see: off to the right must be down to the river, because that’s where the helephants went; and those other paths must go to where somebody lives; but there’s no sign of a house—nothing but trees. Not a sound! Oh, what a lonely place it is! And here’s all the long, dark night coming. The sun’s going down fast. I sha’n’t sleep a wink to-night after snoozing as I did. And here I’m going to lie thinking about that upset with poor Mister Archie’s boat, and—yes, I shall be thinking more about what’s become of Miss Minnie. Here, I say, what a row there’s going to be when the Major and Sir Charles know of it all! And me shut up here instead of being with the lads when the governor lets them slip at these Malay jockeys, for I am a bigger fool than I thought for if one of these Rajahs isn’t at the bottom of this job. I don’t know but what it might be that there smooth young ’un who dosses hisself up to look like an English gent. If it ain’t him, it’s that queer-eyed, big, fat fellow; only I suppose it can’t be him, because old Tipsy Job says he’s friends. How comes it, then,” he continued, speaking with energy, “that the Frenchman has had to do with our being prisoners? Here, I can’t think. It’s making my head ache and things get mixed again. What’s that?” he half-whispered excitedly. “It’s somebody coming;” and pressing his face closer to the opening, he strained his eyes round so as to gaze to the left, and then dropped lightly down before throwing himself upon the dried palm-leaves close to where Archie lay, and listening to the coming steps. “That chap can speak English ’most as well as I can,” he thought to himself, “and I am going to ask him plump and plain what’s become of Miss Minnie.”A gruff voice uttered what was evidently a command to halt, the wooden bars were lowered and the door thrown open to admit the deep sunset glow, and the stern-looking Malay with his following marched in, their steps rustling amidst the leaves that covered the floor; and the leader bent down curiously over Archie, scowling at him fiercely, before turning his lurid eyes searchingly upon the young private, who now lay back with his lids half-lowered, apparently gazing down into his chest.The Malay rose again, then turned and gave an order to his followers, two of whom stepped outside, one of them first standing up the spear he carried in the dark corner behind the door, while their chief growled out something as he pointed at the freshly torn opening in the side. One of the men grunted—it sounded like a grunt to Peter Pegg—and raising his spear, he passed it through the opening, rattled it to and fro, and then stepped outside to pick up two or three torn-out pieces of palm-fibre, brought them in, showed them to his chief, and uttered a half-laugh.Just then the two men who had passed outside returned, one bearing a fresh jar brim-full of water, the other a basket of fruit and another of the big, roughly made cakes, which were set down.Then the leader stepped forward, stooped down suddenly over Pegg, his right hand resting upon the fold of the sarong which covered the hilt of his kris, and with his left thumb he roughly raised the young private’s eyelids one after the other.Peter Pegg did not so much as wince.“Let him think I’m asleep if he likes—an ugly Eastern beast!”The Malay turned now to Archie to look fixedly at the poor fellow’s head, before touching the injured scalp with one brown finger, with the effect of eliciting a deep-drawn sigh of pain.Then the man rose, and apparently satisfied with the helplessness of the prisoners, he uttered a low, abrupt order, and his little train shouldered their spears and marched out, one of them carrying the empty basket, his companion shouldering the heavy earthen jar.Peter Pegg lay back motionless, to listen to the barring of the door, half-wondering the while at the great change that the closing door made upon the interior: one moment the last rays of the setting sun were flooding the great stable with a deep, blood-red glow; the next the place seemed by comparison quite dark.The lad listened till the last retiring steps had died away, and then he sat up suddenly, with the recollection of a little knife and fork given to him years before by his grandmother, and chuckling softly to himself, he half-whispered:“A present for a good boy!—Of course,” he said, after a pause to make sure that no one was going to return; “I am not going to bounce, but I was a very good boy for not pitching into that ’nana. Oh my! Ain’t it splendid!” he continued, turning over on hands and knees and scrambling like a quadruped to where the jar and basket had been placed. “There’s going to be such a supper! But don’t I wish I was going to have company! Oh, you beauty!” he cried hoarsely, as he hugged the great jar to his chest, bent down till he could press his lips to the thick edge, and then tilting it slightly, drank and drank and drank.At last he lowered the jar till it stood firmly in its place, raised himself upon his knees, and uttered a long, deep sigh.“Oh, ain’t it splendid!” he said. “They have got water here! Talk about a horse drinking—well, I suppose any one would say I drank like a hass or a pig. No, I didn’t, because I’ve only been drinking the helephant’s share if he comes again—not yours, Mister Archie. I do wish you were awake.—Here, I say, let’s have some of that bread,” he said, half-aloud now; and breaking the cake in four, he placed himself in a comfortable position and took a bite.“That ain’t quite comfortable, though,” he muttered, and raking a lot of the leaves into the corner of the place, he seated himself so that he could rest his back in the angle.“Not quite right,” he muttered. “These ’ere big feathers have got a lot of quill in them. Let’s have some more.”He stretched out his left hand in the darkness to draw an armful more of the dried palm-leaves beneath him, when his hand came in contact with something which rasped against the matted wall and fell heavily in the direction of where his fellow-prisoner lay.“What’s that?” said the lad sharply, as, sweeping his hand round over the leaves, his fingers closed almost spasmodically upon what felt like a bamboo cane.The next moment Pete was upon his feet, staring in the direction of the dimly seen door.“My!” he whispered hoarsely; and using the cane like a walking-stick, he stepped on tiptoe right to the door, and then whispered softly beneath his breath:“Hi! Hi! Hi! I say, old ’un, you’ve forgot your spear.—Think of that, now,” he continued, half-aloud. “Why, of course; he stood it up there before he went out to fetch that precious jar. Forgot it! I say—talk about discipline in the Rajah’s army, and a chap forgetting his piece! Fancy old Tipsy, and it was me and my rifle! Plenty of water, plenty of bread and fruit, and a present of one of them spears, as will be handier than a fixed bay’net. Why isn’t Mister Archie awake to enjoy all this? Now then, if that chap will only come to-morrow night, and forget another of these sharp-pointed toothpicks for Mister Archie, I shall be very much obliged. But here am I playing the fool like this, and at any moment he may be coming back to fetch this one away. Well, if he expects he’s going to get it, poor chap, I’m sorry for him;” and obeying his first impulse, he carried the keen-pointed weapon across the floor, lowered the head, and felt gently to find where it was bare; and the next moment his lingers were playing about over what was evidently a short piece of bamboo of about the same circumference as the shaft, and which fitted tightly over the keen blade like a sheath.Then going down upon one knee, he thrust the spear carefully in beneath the bed of leaves at the foot of the wall, behind where Archie lay. Not satisfied at once, he withdrew and thrust in the weapon again, feeling if it was well covered; and then going to the far end, and scraping up and bringing a double armful of the dried leaves, he carefully covered his treasure more deeply.“Ah!” he ejaculated, panting a little with his exertion, “I don’t think it’s likely.—What say, sir?” he added, addressing an imaginary Malay fighting-man. “Have I seen your spear? No, sir. Haven’t set eyes upon it, honour bright.—‘Always tell the truth, Pete,’ granny used to say. Well, ain’t that the truth? Why, I don’t believe a cat could have seen it; and if I hadn’t knocked it down I shouldn’t have known it was there. Now, between ourselves, I do think I deserve something to eat after that,” muttered the poor fellow. “Here, where did I put that there piece of cake? It must be lost amongst those leaves. Dropped it when I was feeling for the spear. What! plenty more in the basket? No, I won’t. Wilful waste makes woeful want. Why, here it is in my trousers pocket all the time! So, now then, let’s have another try; and I will treat myself to a banana afterwards. No, I won’t; I’ll have two.” And hurrying to the basket, he helped himself to the fruit, and then made himself comfortable in the corner where he had knocked over the spear, and began to eat with a splendid appetite.“Oh, don’t I wish you was here to help me, Mister Archie, sir!” he said, half-aloud and rather piteously. “Poor, dear chap! I’d feed you if I dared wake you up; but I’m sure it’s right to let you sleep. But won’t you be glad when you know about that spear? If we could only get another, and a couple of them krises, we should be regular set up if it come to a scrimmage, as it shall, as sure as my name’s Peter. We are going to escape—somehow; and if anybody stops us it’s a fight. We sha’n’t be able to throw the spears like these Malay beggars do, but me and Mister Archie can do bay’net practice with them in a way that will open some of their eyes. Oh, how good!” half-whispered the lad, as he finished his frugal supper of bread and banana. “Don’t it seem to put life in a fellow! Now, what am I going to do? Sit and think of how to escape? No hurry, lad. I want Mister Archie’s orders, and I’ll do the work. Seems to me that the first thing will be for me to get out of here somehow in the dark to go and reconnoitre, and then steal—no, it’s capture, being enemies—another spear and two krises. How? Knock down an enemy somewhere and take what he’s got. I’m game. And then—”That was as far as Peter Pegg got, for he could not partake of so hearty a meal, after refreshing himself in a way that thoroughly quenched his thirst, without obeying Nature afterwards; and this he did, lying prone, fully stretched out, and not in the painful, cramping position of the previous night.
“There’s a pretty go!” he cried, as he lifted the now light basket and put it down again, and peered once more into the earthen jar. “Suppose they meant the rations and water to last for two or three days! There was a good supply, and that great beast has wolfed and drunk all. Well, it has made him friends, anyhow. He will be coming again. Yes; but who wants a friend like that to keep coming again?”
The lad glanced in the direction of his fellow-prisoner, to find that he was still sleeping; and his next proceeding was to go gingerly about, disturbing the dry leaves as little as possible, and making a more thorough examination of the place.
“Must have been a helephant stable once upon a time,” he concluded at last, “for here’s the great post that one of the big pigs was chained to by the leg so that he could not get at the walls. Walls! They are nothing better than so many fences. Talk about shutting up a helephant! Why, I could pull them down myself if I wanted to get away—leastways I could climb up the side and make a hole through the roof. Can’t call one’s self a prisoner. Yes, I can, because I am regularly chained by the leg; for who’s going to leave his comrade? Poor old chap!”
At that moment there was a deep sigh, followed by a loud rustling amongst the leaves, as Archie made an effort to change his position, slightly raising his head, but letting it fall back with a low groan, while the young private stepped softly to his side, knelt down, and bent over him.
“Hurt you much, Mister Archie, sir?” the lad whispered quietly, and one hand played over the injured head, hesitated, and was then withdrawn. “Hurt you, Mister Archie, sir?” he said again, a little louder, for there was only a weary sigh. “Wish he’d speak,” said the lad to himself, “for he ought to have something, if it’s only a drop more water. What a fool I was to let that great indiarubber thing suck it all up! Why, I couldn’t even use some of it now to bathe his poor head.”
The poor fellow seemed to Pegg to be sleeping as heavily as ever, and after he had looked at him carefully for a few minutes, there was a deep, buzzing hum as of some insect, and a great fly flashed across the golden rays which streamed in through the thatch, and hovered around for a few moments as if about to settle upon the sleeping lad’s head.
“Would you?” ejaculated Peter Pegg, striking out so fiercely and exactly that he struck the insect with a sharp pat and drove it against the woven wall, with which it was heard to come in contact, to fall directly, buzzing and rustling among the dried leaves. “That’s settled you,” said Peter. “I know your little game—lay eggs and make a poor fellow’s wound go bad. Not this time!”
“Cowards!” came excitedly from Archie, and he once more tried to raise his head, but only for it to sink back wearily. “Burning—always burning! Oh, how hot—how hot!”
“Like some water, Mister Archie, sir?”
“Water! Who said water?”
“Me, sir. There is a little. Let me give you a taste.”
There was no reply, so Peter quickly tilled the cocoa-nut shell, bore it to his companion’s side, and knelt down.
“Now then, sir, you let me hyste you up a little. Don’t you try—I can do it, and hold the nut to your lips. You will have nothing to do but drink.”
At the first touch Archie started violently.
“Who’s that?” he cried.
“Only me, sir. Steady, or you will upset the whole blessed apple-cart, and make yourself wet.”
“Only me—only me,” said Archie, and directly after the poor fellow sank back again with a weary sigh.
“Look at that, now!” said Peter. “Oh! his head must be awfully bad inside as well as out. Why, if he isn’t asleep again!”
It was growing dusk, when, feeling faint, hot, and exhausted, Peter Pegg stood over the basket, looked into it longingly, and then glanced at his wounded companion.
“He’s sure not to want anything to eat,” he said to himself. “A drop of water’s about all he will touch when he comes to; and it’s lucky I held that cocoa-nut shell tight, or it would all have gone.” He turned to the jar, into which he had poured back the contents of the nearly full shell. “Oh dear! To think I let that great, gorging fire-hose of a hanimal suck up nearly all that beautiful water, when this place has been like an oven and made me as thirsty as if I had been living on commissariat bacon. Can’t help it. He’s sure to want a drink when he wakes up. I must leave that.”
As he spoke he turned the jar sideways, and the ruddy light which filtered in through the cracks showed him the cool, clear fluid in the dark bottom of the vessel. He dipped in the shell, and found he could fill it easily.
“More than I thought,” he said joyfully. “Why, I might have half-a-shellful, and then there would be quite a shell and a half left for the young governor. Can’t help it; I must,” he cried impatiently. “My throat’s as dry as a sawpit.”
Dipping the shell as he still held the jar sideways he brought it up again more than half-full.
“Too much,” he said softly. “Fair-play’s a jewel;” and carefully and slowly he let a portion of the precious water trickle back into the bottom of the jar.
“That’s about half,” he said, with a judicial look. “Now then, sip it, mate, and make it go as far as you can.”
Raising the cup to his lips, he slowly imbibed the tepid liquid till the very last drop had been drained out of the shell. Then replacing it where it had been before, he uttered a deep sigh.
“I never used to think water was so beautiful,” he said softly. “I forget what them people asked for when they had three wishes, but I know what I should wish for now. It would be for that there jar brim-full of cold water, and me to have a throat as long as a boa-constructor, so that I could feel it all go gently down.”
His eyes fell upon the basket again, and the slight draught of water having turned his faintness into a strong desire for food, he could hardly restrain himself from taking one of the remaining bananas. In fact, after resisting the temptation for some minutes, he darted his hand down, caught up one of the soft, gold-tinted fruits, raised it towards his mouth, and dashed it down again.
“Hanged if I do!” he cried angrily; and thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he had another look at Archie, and then raised himself up so as to peer through the opening the elephant had made, and try to get some better idea of his position.
“Trees, trees, trees,” he said; “trees everywhere; but there’s a path off to the left, and one goes off to the right, and there’s another goes straight away. Let’s see: off to the right must be down to the river, because that’s where the helephants went; and those other paths must go to where somebody lives; but there’s no sign of a house—nothing but trees. Not a sound! Oh, what a lonely place it is! And here’s all the long, dark night coming. The sun’s going down fast. I sha’n’t sleep a wink to-night after snoozing as I did. And here I’m going to lie thinking about that upset with poor Mister Archie’s boat, and—yes, I shall be thinking more about what’s become of Miss Minnie. Here, I say, what a row there’s going to be when the Major and Sir Charles know of it all! And me shut up here instead of being with the lads when the governor lets them slip at these Malay jockeys, for I am a bigger fool than I thought for if one of these Rajahs isn’t at the bottom of this job. I don’t know but what it might be that there smooth young ’un who dosses hisself up to look like an English gent. If it ain’t him, it’s that queer-eyed, big, fat fellow; only I suppose it can’t be him, because old Tipsy Job says he’s friends. How comes it, then,” he continued, speaking with energy, “that the Frenchman has had to do with our being prisoners? Here, I can’t think. It’s making my head ache and things get mixed again. What’s that?” he half-whispered excitedly. “It’s somebody coming;” and pressing his face closer to the opening, he strained his eyes round so as to gaze to the left, and then dropped lightly down before throwing himself upon the dried palm-leaves close to where Archie lay, and listening to the coming steps. “That chap can speak English ’most as well as I can,” he thought to himself, “and I am going to ask him plump and plain what’s become of Miss Minnie.”
A gruff voice uttered what was evidently a command to halt, the wooden bars were lowered and the door thrown open to admit the deep sunset glow, and the stern-looking Malay with his following marched in, their steps rustling amidst the leaves that covered the floor; and the leader bent down curiously over Archie, scowling at him fiercely, before turning his lurid eyes searchingly upon the young private, who now lay back with his lids half-lowered, apparently gazing down into his chest.
The Malay rose again, then turned and gave an order to his followers, two of whom stepped outside, one of them first standing up the spear he carried in the dark corner behind the door, while their chief growled out something as he pointed at the freshly torn opening in the side. One of the men grunted—it sounded like a grunt to Peter Pegg—and raising his spear, he passed it through the opening, rattled it to and fro, and then stepped outside to pick up two or three torn-out pieces of palm-fibre, brought them in, showed them to his chief, and uttered a half-laugh.
Just then the two men who had passed outside returned, one bearing a fresh jar brim-full of water, the other a basket of fruit and another of the big, roughly made cakes, which were set down.
Then the leader stepped forward, stooped down suddenly over Pegg, his right hand resting upon the fold of the sarong which covered the hilt of his kris, and with his left thumb he roughly raised the young private’s eyelids one after the other.
Peter Pegg did not so much as wince.
“Let him think I’m asleep if he likes—an ugly Eastern beast!”
The Malay turned now to Archie to look fixedly at the poor fellow’s head, before touching the injured scalp with one brown finger, with the effect of eliciting a deep-drawn sigh of pain.
Then the man rose, and apparently satisfied with the helplessness of the prisoners, he uttered a low, abrupt order, and his little train shouldered their spears and marched out, one of them carrying the empty basket, his companion shouldering the heavy earthen jar.
Peter Pegg lay back motionless, to listen to the barring of the door, half-wondering the while at the great change that the closing door made upon the interior: one moment the last rays of the setting sun were flooding the great stable with a deep, blood-red glow; the next the place seemed by comparison quite dark.
The lad listened till the last retiring steps had died away, and then he sat up suddenly, with the recollection of a little knife and fork given to him years before by his grandmother, and chuckling softly to himself, he half-whispered:
“A present for a good boy!—Of course,” he said, after a pause to make sure that no one was going to return; “I am not going to bounce, but I was a very good boy for not pitching into that ’nana. Oh my! Ain’t it splendid!” he continued, turning over on hands and knees and scrambling like a quadruped to where the jar and basket had been placed. “There’s going to be such a supper! But don’t I wish I was going to have company! Oh, you beauty!” he cried hoarsely, as he hugged the great jar to his chest, bent down till he could press his lips to the thick edge, and then tilting it slightly, drank and drank and drank.
At last he lowered the jar till it stood firmly in its place, raised himself upon his knees, and uttered a long, deep sigh.
“Oh, ain’t it splendid!” he said. “They have got water here! Talk about a horse drinking—well, I suppose any one would say I drank like a hass or a pig. No, I didn’t, because I’ve only been drinking the helephant’s share if he comes again—not yours, Mister Archie. I do wish you were awake.—Here, I say, let’s have some of that bread,” he said, half-aloud now; and breaking the cake in four, he placed himself in a comfortable position and took a bite.
“That ain’t quite comfortable, though,” he muttered, and raking a lot of the leaves into the corner of the place, he seated himself so that he could rest his back in the angle.
“Not quite right,” he muttered. “These ’ere big feathers have got a lot of quill in them. Let’s have some more.”
He stretched out his left hand in the darkness to draw an armful more of the dried palm-leaves beneath him, when his hand came in contact with something which rasped against the matted wall and fell heavily in the direction of where his fellow-prisoner lay.
“What’s that?” said the lad sharply, as, sweeping his hand round over the leaves, his fingers closed almost spasmodically upon what felt like a bamboo cane.
The next moment Pete was upon his feet, staring in the direction of the dimly seen door.
“My!” he whispered hoarsely; and using the cane like a walking-stick, he stepped on tiptoe right to the door, and then whispered softly beneath his breath:
“Hi! Hi! Hi! I say, old ’un, you’ve forgot your spear.—Think of that, now,” he continued, half-aloud. “Why, of course; he stood it up there before he went out to fetch that precious jar. Forgot it! I say—talk about discipline in the Rajah’s army, and a chap forgetting his piece! Fancy old Tipsy, and it was me and my rifle! Plenty of water, plenty of bread and fruit, and a present of one of them spears, as will be handier than a fixed bay’net. Why isn’t Mister Archie awake to enjoy all this? Now then, if that chap will only come to-morrow night, and forget another of these sharp-pointed toothpicks for Mister Archie, I shall be very much obliged. But here am I playing the fool like this, and at any moment he may be coming back to fetch this one away. Well, if he expects he’s going to get it, poor chap, I’m sorry for him;” and obeying his first impulse, he carried the keen-pointed weapon across the floor, lowered the head, and felt gently to find where it was bare; and the next moment his lingers were playing about over what was evidently a short piece of bamboo of about the same circumference as the shaft, and which fitted tightly over the keen blade like a sheath.
Then going down upon one knee, he thrust the spear carefully in beneath the bed of leaves at the foot of the wall, behind where Archie lay. Not satisfied at once, he withdrew and thrust in the weapon again, feeling if it was well covered; and then going to the far end, and scraping up and bringing a double armful of the dried leaves, he carefully covered his treasure more deeply.
“Ah!” he ejaculated, panting a little with his exertion, “I don’t think it’s likely.—What say, sir?” he added, addressing an imaginary Malay fighting-man. “Have I seen your spear? No, sir. Haven’t set eyes upon it, honour bright.—‘Always tell the truth, Pete,’ granny used to say. Well, ain’t that the truth? Why, I don’t believe a cat could have seen it; and if I hadn’t knocked it down I shouldn’t have known it was there. Now, between ourselves, I do think I deserve something to eat after that,” muttered the poor fellow. “Here, where did I put that there piece of cake? It must be lost amongst those leaves. Dropped it when I was feeling for the spear. What! plenty more in the basket? No, I won’t. Wilful waste makes woeful want. Why, here it is in my trousers pocket all the time! So, now then, let’s have another try; and I will treat myself to a banana afterwards. No, I won’t; I’ll have two.” And hurrying to the basket, he helped himself to the fruit, and then made himself comfortable in the corner where he had knocked over the spear, and began to eat with a splendid appetite.
“Oh, don’t I wish you was here to help me, Mister Archie, sir!” he said, half-aloud and rather piteously. “Poor, dear chap! I’d feed you if I dared wake you up; but I’m sure it’s right to let you sleep. But won’t you be glad when you know about that spear? If we could only get another, and a couple of them krises, we should be regular set up if it come to a scrimmage, as it shall, as sure as my name’s Peter. We are going to escape—somehow; and if anybody stops us it’s a fight. We sha’n’t be able to throw the spears like these Malay beggars do, but me and Mister Archie can do bay’net practice with them in a way that will open some of their eyes. Oh, how good!” half-whispered the lad, as he finished his frugal supper of bread and banana. “Don’t it seem to put life in a fellow! Now, what am I going to do? Sit and think of how to escape? No hurry, lad. I want Mister Archie’s orders, and I’ll do the work. Seems to me that the first thing will be for me to get out of here somehow in the dark to go and reconnoitre, and then steal—no, it’s capture, being enemies—another spear and two krises. How? Knock down an enemy somewhere and take what he’s got. I’m game. And then—”
That was as far as Peter Pegg got, for he could not partake of so hearty a meal, after refreshing himself in a way that thoroughly quenched his thirst, without obeying Nature afterwards; and this he did, lying prone, fully stretched out, and not in the painful, cramping position of the previous night.
Chapter Twenty.Archie thinks.“Hoomph! Phoonk!”“What say?” cried Peter, springing up in a sitting position, to find it was daylight once more. “Oh, it’s you, is it?” he cried, for there was a crackling by the door, and the great, tapering, serpent-like trunk of an elephant was waving to and fro and reaching towards the water-jar.“Yahhh! Burrrr!” came from outside, and there were steps as if somebody were rushing towards the door to chase the intruder away.The utterer of the yell seemed to have been successful, for the trunk was drawn back quickly, the elephant trumpeted, there were the footsteps of a man, and the shuffling sound of the gait of the great beast, as, springing up, Peter Pegg ran to the door and climbed up to place his eye where the trunk had been, so that he could see what was taking place.“My! Look at that!” cried Peter cheerily. “That ain’t the way to drive a helephant away. You are going all wrong, comrade.” For, instead of suffering himself to be driven, the elephant opened his mouth, curved up his trunk into something the shape of the letter S, and displaying two finely produced, sharply pointed tusks, he was starting in full chase of the stumpy underling who had been driving him down to the river, but only to turn back and make a call on his new friend for refreshment.“What a lark!” said Peter, as the elephant disappeared after his quarry. “It makes me feel as if I should like to keep helephants, if I get to be Field-Marshal and they make me Governor-General of Injy and Malay; for they are such rum beggars. They look just as if when they died they would do to cut up for injy-rubber. And they seem so friendly, too, with any one they like. Sort of things as you can’t drive, but have to lead. I should like a good helephant for a pet, but I suppose he would be expensive to keep; and I don’t suppose that there grubby-looking little chap feels very comfortable with that one chivying him. Here, I never thought of that,” continued Peter, as he dropped down amongst the palm-leaves. “My lord was reaching out that big leech of his after our rations. Lucky he couldn’t get at them. I ought to have remembered to put them away;” and, to guard against any mishap, Peter Pegg hastened to place jar and basket in the right-hand corner of the building, where they would be handy for replenishing, and out of reach and out of sight of his huge visitor. This done, the young private crossed over to where he had thrust and covered over the spear, and, to his intense satisfaction, he found that unless a searcher well turned over the dried leaves, it would be impossible to find the concealed weapon.“Is that you, Pete?” said a faint voice; and Archie’s fellow-prisoner literally rushed to the speaker’s side.“Me it is, sir. England for ever, and hooray! Oh, do say you are better, sir!” cried the lad, ending in a half-squeak as if there were tears in his throat or he was trying to imitate an elephant.“Better? Yes, I think I’m better, Pete,” said the poor fellow feebly. “But my head aches dreadfully, and—and—I’m so weak.”“Ah, I’ve got to bathe that head, sir.”“Yes, I think that would do it good. Yes, I am better, Pete, for I can think. We are prisoners, aren’t we?”“Yes, sir, at present,” said Pete confidently. “Just till we are exchanged, or escape.”“Ah!” ejaculated Archie. “I said I could think now, and I was forgetting. Look here, have you found Miss Minnie?”“Now, now, now, sir,” cried the young private in a tone full of remonstrance; “you have been very ill, and off your head. It’s very horrid, I know, but you have got to get better, and not make yourself worse with thinking about that.”“Yes, yes, I know,” said Archie excitedly. “But you don’t tell me. Have you found out where she is?”“No, sir; not yet. I couldn’t leave you.”“Not leave me, man? You must get out of this place as soon as you can, and either find her or make your way to headquarters, and let the Doctor and Major Knowle—oh, and Sir Charles too—know what has happened.”“Mister Archie, sir,” said the lad, laying a cool hand on his young officer’s burning brow, “don’t, sir—please, don’t! They must know all you want to say long enough ago, and before now they have got all our brave lads out searching the country; and you may lie still, sir, and think to yourself that nobody will rest until Miss Minnie is found.”There was silence for a few minutes, during which Peter Pegg half lay beside his wounded officer, listening to words uttered in command that sounded familiar. They were evidently orders addressed to the elephant, which was shuffling by the great stable, making a whining sound as if protesting against being driven.Then all was still again, till Archie said quietly:“Yes, Pete, you are quite right, and I pray Heaven that she may be quite safe by now. But tell me, do you think I—I mean we—did all we could?”“Mister Archie, sir, once more, don’t, please! I am only a poor, ignorant chap, but I do know this, through having been in horspittle, that you have got to keep quiet and not worry yourself if you are going to get well. First thing, sir, is that you have got to get strong enough so that we can escape.”“Yes, yes, Pete; that’s right! Escape!” cried Archie excitedly.“Take it coolly, sir,” remonstrated the lad.“Well, I will be cool, Pete.”“That’s right, sir. We’ve got to escape, and I have begun preparations already.”“Yes, that’s right. What have you done?”“Got a spear to begin with, sir.”“Ah, well, that’s something.”“Yes, sir—something for you to handle like a bay’net if they won’t let us go quietly.”“Right—right!”“And the next thing, sir, is for you to get strong to handle it.”“Ah, and I am so weak!”“Of course you are, sir, when you have had nothing but a drop of water for days.”“For days!”“Yes, sir; and now your breakfast’s waiting. It’s only bread and fruit and water, but it’s wonderful stuff to put strength in a man, and you have got to begin getting it into you at once.”“No, no; not yet,” pleaded Archie. “Let me lie and think a bit first.”“Not a minute, sir,” cried the poor fellow’s nurse. “You feel as if you couldn’t touch anything, of course, but your horspittle orderly says it is only making a beginning; and here you are—cocoa-nutful clear, fresh water, so tip it down at once.”Archie protested feebly, and then obeyed; and after taking a sip or two from the thick-lipped vessel, he ended by finishing the cooling draught with something like avidity.Shortly after Peter Pegg was watching his patient crumbling some of the bread-cake and dipping pieces in a fresh supply of water and beginning to eat.
“Hoomph! Phoonk!”
“What say?” cried Peter, springing up in a sitting position, to find it was daylight once more. “Oh, it’s you, is it?” he cried, for there was a crackling by the door, and the great, tapering, serpent-like trunk of an elephant was waving to and fro and reaching towards the water-jar.
“Yahhh! Burrrr!” came from outside, and there were steps as if somebody were rushing towards the door to chase the intruder away.
The utterer of the yell seemed to have been successful, for the trunk was drawn back quickly, the elephant trumpeted, there were the footsteps of a man, and the shuffling sound of the gait of the great beast, as, springing up, Peter Pegg ran to the door and climbed up to place his eye where the trunk had been, so that he could see what was taking place.
“My! Look at that!” cried Peter cheerily. “That ain’t the way to drive a helephant away. You are going all wrong, comrade.” For, instead of suffering himself to be driven, the elephant opened his mouth, curved up his trunk into something the shape of the letter S, and displaying two finely produced, sharply pointed tusks, he was starting in full chase of the stumpy underling who had been driving him down to the river, but only to turn back and make a call on his new friend for refreshment.
“What a lark!” said Peter, as the elephant disappeared after his quarry. “It makes me feel as if I should like to keep helephants, if I get to be Field-Marshal and they make me Governor-General of Injy and Malay; for they are such rum beggars. They look just as if when they died they would do to cut up for injy-rubber. And they seem so friendly, too, with any one they like. Sort of things as you can’t drive, but have to lead. I should like a good helephant for a pet, but I suppose he would be expensive to keep; and I don’t suppose that there grubby-looking little chap feels very comfortable with that one chivying him. Here, I never thought of that,” continued Peter, as he dropped down amongst the palm-leaves. “My lord was reaching out that big leech of his after our rations. Lucky he couldn’t get at them. I ought to have remembered to put them away;” and, to guard against any mishap, Peter Pegg hastened to place jar and basket in the right-hand corner of the building, where they would be handy for replenishing, and out of reach and out of sight of his huge visitor. This done, the young private crossed over to where he had thrust and covered over the spear, and, to his intense satisfaction, he found that unless a searcher well turned over the dried leaves, it would be impossible to find the concealed weapon.
“Is that you, Pete?” said a faint voice; and Archie’s fellow-prisoner literally rushed to the speaker’s side.
“Me it is, sir. England for ever, and hooray! Oh, do say you are better, sir!” cried the lad, ending in a half-squeak as if there were tears in his throat or he was trying to imitate an elephant.
“Better? Yes, I think I’m better, Pete,” said the poor fellow feebly. “But my head aches dreadfully, and—and—I’m so weak.”
“Ah, I’ve got to bathe that head, sir.”
“Yes, I think that would do it good. Yes, I am better, Pete, for I can think. We are prisoners, aren’t we?”
“Yes, sir, at present,” said Pete confidently. “Just till we are exchanged, or escape.”
“Ah!” ejaculated Archie. “I said I could think now, and I was forgetting. Look here, have you found Miss Minnie?”
“Now, now, now, sir,” cried the young private in a tone full of remonstrance; “you have been very ill, and off your head. It’s very horrid, I know, but you have got to get better, and not make yourself worse with thinking about that.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” said Archie excitedly. “But you don’t tell me. Have you found out where she is?”
“No, sir; not yet. I couldn’t leave you.”
“Not leave me, man? You must get out of this place as soon as you can, and either find her or make your way to headquarters, and let the Doctor and Major Knowle—oh, and Sir Charles too—know what has happened.”
“Mister Archie, sir,” said the lad, laying a cool hand on his young officer’s burning brow, “don’t, sir—please, don’t! They must know all you want to say long enough ago, and before now they have got all our brave lads out searching the country; and you may lie still, sir, and think to yourself that nobody will rest until Miss Minnie is found.”
There was silence for a few minutes, during which Peter Pegg half lay beside his wounded officer, listening to words uttered in command that sounded familiar. They were evidently orders addressed to the elephant, which was shuffling by the great stable, making a whining sound as if protesting against being driven.
Then all was still again, till Archie said quietly:
“Yes, Pete, you are quite right, and I pray Heaven that she may be quite safe by now. But tell me, do you think I—I mean we—did all we could?”
“Mister Archie, sir, once more, don’t, please! I am only a poor, ignorant chap, but I do know this, through having been in horspittle, that you have got to keep quiet and not worry yourself if you are going to get well. First thing, sir, is that you have got to get strong enough so that we can escape.”
“Yes, yes, Pete; that’s right! Escape!” cried Archie excitedly.
“Take it coolly, sir,” remonstrated the lad.
“Well, I will be cool, Pete.”
“That’s right, sir. We’ve got to escape, and I have begun preparations already.”
“Yes, that’s right. What have you done?”
“Got a spear to begin with, sir.”
“Ah, well, that’s something.”
“Yes, sir—something for you to handle like a bay’net if they won’t let us go quietly.”
“Right—right!”
“And the next thing, sir, is for you to get strong to handle it.”
“Ah, and I am so weak!”
“Of course you are, sir, when you have had nothing but a drop of water for days.”
“For days!”
“Yes, sir; and now your breakfast’s waiting. It’s only bread and fruit and water, but it’s wonderful stuff to put strength in a man, and you have got to begin getting it into you at once.”
“No, no; not yet,” pleaded Archie. “Let me lie and think a bit first.”
“Not a minute, sir,” cried the poor fellow’s nurse. “You feel as if you couldn’t touch anything, of course, but your horspittle orderly says it is only making a beginning; and here you are—cocoa-nutful clear, fresh water, so tip it down at once.”
Archie protested feebly, and then obeyed; and after taking a sip or two from the thick-lipped vessel, he ended by finishing the cooling draught with something like avidity.
Shortly after Peter Pegg was watching his patient crumbling some of the bread-cake and dipping pieces in a fresh supply of water and beginning to eat.