Chapter Thirty Nine.A dark Exploit.“It seems so stupid, Pete, going all this way round in the black darkness to get at the bungalow, when ten minutes at the outside would have taken us there.”“That’s right, Mister Archie. What was it—five hundred yards?”“Somewhere about; but if we had tried to walk there, how far should we have got before we had spears through us?”“About five-and-twenty, sir, or thirty; and then we shouldn’t have got the cartridges. But, I say, this is about the darkest dark night I ever remember. Glad I ain’t on sentry-go. Can you make out where we are?”“Yes. Can’t you?”“No, sir; we come such a long way round. But as far as I can make out, we are somewhere at the back of them big trees where they fed the helephants on Sham-Fight Day.”“Yes, I think that’s right,” whispered Archie, as they knelt together whispering. “But let’s get on; we must hit the river somewhere.”“Hope so, sir. It will be softer than hitting your head against trees. I did get a poke just now when I went down, and it has made my nose bleed wonderful.”“How tiresome! Let’s get to the river, and the cold water will soon stop it.”“All right, sir.”They had been creeping along for the most part on all fours for the past hour since starting, so as to avoid friends and enemies, for they had been expecting at any moment to hear a challenge from one of their own outposts or receive a thrust from a Malay spear. But so far success had attended them, and Peter had just caught hold of his officer’s arm to whisper that he could smell the river, but he said instead:“’Ware hawk, Mister Archie!”And the next moment there was a rush of feet, a rough-and-tumble scuffle, the sound of blows, and Archie was down on his knees, panting and trying hard to get his breath silently so that he should not be heard.“It’s all over,” he thought, “unless I can do it myself. Poor old Pete! I wonder where he is.”He crouched a little lower as he heard the rustling of bushes a short distance away, and he did not stir till the sounds died out, when, guessing more than knowing where the river was, he made a slight movement, and felt himself seized by the throat.“You stir, and—”“That you, Pete?”“Mister Archie! My! You have done me good! Let’s lie down, put our heads together, and whisper. There were three of them, I think, and one may have stopped back.”“It was our fellows, wasn’t it?”“Yes, sir; and I know who one of them was. Didn’t you get a crack on the back?”“Yes. Drove me forward on my face. I think it was done with a rifle-butt.”“That was it, sir. You know who it was—Scotch Mac. He always says ‘Hech’ when he hits out.”“Yes, of course.”“Well, wait a bit, sir. Some day I’ll pay him back. I’ll make him say ‘Hech’ out louder. Hurt you much, sir?”“Only made my arm feel a bit numb. Stop a minute and listen. What’s that?”“A splash!”“Some one rowing?”“Croc, perhaps, sir, with his tail.”“Then we are close to the river.”“Splendid, Mister Archie! Then it’s going to be easy, after all.”At the end of a few cautiously taken paces the two lads found their progress arrested by bushes, and they stopped short, trying hard to pierce the gloom; but it seemed darker than ever.“Can you tell where we are, Pete?” whispered Archie, with his lips close to his companion’s ear.“No, sir; but take care, or we shall step right off the bank into the water somewhere. Think I might strike a match, sir, and chuck it before us?”“No. If you do we shall be having a spear this time instead of a rifle-butt.”“Right, sir; but I don’t see how we are going to find a boat unless we wade in and chance it.”“Let’s get on, and creep through the bushes. It may seem a little lighter close to the water’s edge.”Hand-in-hand they pressed on, the bushes brushing their faces but yielding easily for a few minutes, and then, as if moved by one impulse, they checked an ejaculation and stood staring straight before them, for all at once a bush they had reached sent forth a little scintillation of light, and as Peter struck out with one hand, he started a fresh sparkle of tiny little lights, as a flight of fire-flies flashed out for a moment, and left the surroundings blacker than ever.“That’s done it, sir,” whispered Peter. “I saw two quite plain.”“I saw quite fifty, Pete,” whispered back Archie.“Boats, sir! Stuff—fire-flies!”“Do you mean to say that you saw boats?”“That’s right, sir. Just a glimpse—tied up, not half-a-dozen yards out in the river. Come on, sir; I’ll lead; only keep hold of hands and be ready to step down into the water. These bushes hang quite over, you know how. Ready, sir?”“Yes.”“Then come on.”Two or three cautious steps were taken, which disturbed the occupants of one of the clumps of low growth, which sparkled vividly as the nocturnal insects were disturbed, and then the two adventurers were standing breathing hard, hip-deep in the cool water which was flowing by them.“Hear anything, Pete?”“Only the ripple-pipple of the water, sir. You see the boats this time?”“Yes, for a moment, quite plainly, away to your left.”“We can reach them easy, sir; but it will get deeper. You must be ready to swim. Say the word, sir, and I will lead.”“No, no; I’ll go first.”“That’s wasting time, sir.”“Right. Go on.”The words had hardly passed the subaltern’s lips when he felt a sudden snatch and a wallow in the water as if Peter had stepped out of his depth; but the lad recovered himself directly and stood firm, panting.“All right, sir,” he whispered. “Bay’nets!”In his excitement Archie had forgotten the crocodiles, and he now tore the sharp, triangular blade from his belt, his imagination turning the ripple and plap of water against the nearest boat into the movement of an advancing reptile.But all the time, short as it was, Peter, with extended arm, was moving sideways in the direction where the boats had been seen, with the bayonet-holding hand stretched out in the direction of his goal, the other clutching Archie’s left with a force that seemed crushing to the owner’s fingers.Step after step was taken sideways, with the water each minute growing deeper, and as they passed quite clear of the bushes they had left, the water pressed more and more strongly against their breasts, so that they could hardly keep their feet; while as the darkness above the flowing stream seemed to be growing more transparent, Archie turned his head to gaze back in the direction of the overhanging bushes, in the full expectation of feeling a thrust from a spear, when he felt another sudden snatch and tightened his grasp of his comrade’s hand, for Peter had reached deeper water and was borne off his feet, dragging Archie sideways.Then there came a sharp sound as of metal against wood, a splashing or wallowing that suggested the rush of one of the loathsome reptiles, and Peter gasped out in a gurgling way, as if he had been under water:“All right, sir. I’ve got hold. Let yourself float down, and make a snatch at the side.”How it was done Peter did not know, and did not want to. It was enough for him in the darkness that he could feel that his companion had hold of the side of the boat, which had careened over so that the surface of the rippling river was within a few inches of the edge; and there they clung, listening with straining ears, trying to make out whether they had been heard.“It’s all right, sir,” said Peter softly, as they now rested with their arms over touching the bottom of the boat.“I don’t know,” said Archie. “I think the stern’s covered in. Is anybody on board?”“Like enough, sir; but chance it;” and raising himself with a sudden movement which made a loud wallowing and sent a shudder of horror through his companion, Peter drew himself over the rough gunwale, rolled into the bottom of the boat, in company with a gush of water, and then, bayonet in hand, crept over the thwarts and under the attap-covered stern.“All right, sir,” whispered the lad; and he crept to the far side of the boat, trimming it so that it made Archie’s task of joining him easier to achieve. “Ready, sir?”“Yes. What about the moorings?”“I was going to cut the rope, sir,” whispered Peter, “but I won’t. Perhaps it’s a grapnel, and we shall want it again.”Creeping right to the bows, he began to haul on a roughly made fibre line, which came in readily as the water rippled more loudly against the stem, and the line became more and more perpendicular, till something struck against the frail woodwork of the bows, and, panting with his exertion, Peter drew a little, clumsily made anchor into the big sampan.“That’s done it,” he whispered. “Hear anything, sir?”“No; but we are floating down.”“Lovely, sir. Now then, we shall have to look out, for we mustn’t pass the Doctor’s garden.”Crack—creak—scrape!The two lads dropped at full length into the water that was washing about the bottom of the boat, and lay motionless till they had scraped past a boat that seemed similar to the one they had boarded. But it was evidently unoccupied, and they raised themselves up into a sitting position again, and strained their eyes to gaze in the direction of the shore they had left, where all was perfectly still. Then Archie felt his companion’s hand touch his arm.“Talk about a lark, Mister Archie!” whispered Peter.“A lark?”“Yes, sir. I forgot all about the crocs. They must have been asleep.”Plash—wallow! came from just ahead, as there was a slight jar as if something had been encountered, and a tiny shower of water flew over them.“Doesn’t seem like it, Pete,” said Archie softly.“No, sir; and the brute needn’t have done that. I was quite wet enough before. I suppose you are a bit damp?”“Don’t, Pete—don’t!” whispered Archie. “This is no time for trying to be funny.”“All right, sir. I thought it was, for I’m in precious low spirits. Think we can manage to stop opposite the Doctor’s garden?”“We must, Pete; but I can make out nothing. I suppose we are a long way above the landing-place.”“Oh yes, sir; and perhaps it’s all for the best as we can’t see, for if we could, whoever’s ashore would see us; and that would mean spears, for none of our chaps would be about here.”“Look here, Pete, we must both watch; but you get right in the bows with the grapnel in your hand, ready to drop it over silently when I sayNow!”“Right, sir; but we must have ever so far to go yet, eh?”“I am not sure, Pete.”“No, sir; but you will have to chance it.”Archie uttered an angry ejaculation, and then clutched sharply at the side of the boat, which shivered from end to end and nearly capsized as it glided up the slanting rope of a larger vessel with which it had come violently in contact. But it righted itself quickly, and scraped along the side, with the lads crouching lower as they listened to the angry, muttering of voices and the scuffling of people moving. But the next minute the river had borne them clear, and the muttering died away.“That must have been a naga, Pete, from the size of it, and having men on board.”“Suppose so, sir. I thought it meant a swim for us. But, I say, it must have spoilt somebody’s beauty snooze. But look there, sir! That must mean gardens.”“What, Pete?”“Can’t you see them glow-worm things sparkling?”“Yes.”“Well, sir, ain’t you going to sayNow?”“No, Pete. We cannot have passed the big landing-place yet. If we have, only just. Yes, that must be it, and this must be the spot. Oh! if we could only see a spark of light from the Residency we should know where we are.”“Yes, sir; but it’s no use to look out for lights. Still, we must be getting somewhere near, sir, and I’m ready when you are. I must leave it to you, for you know more about boating on the river than I do. It only seems to me that it can’t be long before we shall be opposite the Doctor’s beautiful garden and the little steps at the bottom, where you used to land.”“Yes, Pete, I must guess, for I can see nothing.”“Nor me neither, sir; but don’t be huffy because I say what I am going to say.”“No. Speak out.”“Then just wait, sir, till you think we are as near as we shall get, and then chance it.”Archie made no reply as he reached over the side, and, unconscious of the fact that the stream had turned the boat completely round so that she was dropping down now bow foremost instead of stern, he suddenly uttered the word “Now!” and his command was followed by a faint splash and the rattle of the rope passing over the bows, till there was a check, and then they were conscious that the sampan was swinging round again, and Archie uttered a low, groan-like sigh.“What’s the matter, sir? Didn’t I do it right?”“Right, my lad? Yes, you were right enough, but I was all wrong. The boat has been gliding along stem first, and I have been confused and looking at the farther shore, seeing nothing but the faint twinkle of the fire-flies.”“Yes, sir; that’s right enough.”“No, no; it’s wrong enough, my lad. I’m quite lost. I don’t know where we are. You will have to haul up the grapnel again.”“But what for, sir? She’s swung round now right enough, head to stream—and look—look!” he whispered. “I can see trees quite plain. We must be close inshore.”“Close inshore; Pete!”“Yes, sir. Can’t that be the Doctor’s garden?”“Hist!” whispered Archie; and there was a sound as if his companion had given his mouth a pat, for from pretty close at hand there was the low babble of voices.“Hear that, sir?” whispered Peter again. “Our chaps?”“No—Malays.”
“It seems so stupid, Pete, going all this way round in the black darkness to get at the bungalow, when ten minutes at the outside would have taken us there.”
“That’s right, Mister Archie. What was it—five hundred yards?”
“Somewhere about; but if we had tried to walk there, how far should we have got before we had spears through us?”
“About five-and-twenty, sir, or thirty; and then we shouldn’t have got the cartridges. But, I say, this is about the darkest dark night I ever remember. Glad I ain’t on sentry-go. Can you make out where we are?”
“Yes. Can’t you?”
“No, sir; we come such a long way round. But as far as I can make out, we are somewhere at the back of them big trees where they fed the helephants on Sham-Fight Day.”
“Yes, I think that’s right,” whispered Archie, as they knelt together whispering. “But let’s get on; we must hit the river somewhere.”
“Hope so, sir. It will be softer than hitting your head against trees. I did get a poke just now when I went down, and it has made my nose bleed wonderful.”
“How tiresome! Let’s get to the river, and the cold water will soon stop it.”
“All right, sir.”
They had been creeping along for the most part on all fours for the past hour since starting, so as to avoid friends and enemies, for they had been expecting at any moment to hear a challenge from one of their own outposts or receive a thrust from a Malay spear. But so far success had attended them, and Peter had just caught hold of his officer’s arm to whisper that he could smell the river, but he said instead:
“’Ware hawk, Mister Archie!”
And the next moment there was a rush of feet, a rough-and-tumble scuffle, the sound of blows, and Archie was down on his knees, panting and trying hard to get his breath silently so that he should not be heard.
“It’s all over,” he thought, “unless I can do it myself. Poor old Pete! I wonder where he is.”
He crouched a little lower as he heard the rustling of bushes a short distance away, and he did not stir till the sounds died out, when, guessing more than knowing where the river was, he made a slight movement, and felt himself seized by the throat.
“You stir, and—”
“That you, Pete?”
“Mister Archie! My! You have done me good! Let’s lie down, put our heads together, and whisper. There were three of them, I think, and one may have stopped back.”
“It was our fellows, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, sir; and I know who one of them was. Didn’t you get a crack on the back?”
“Yes. Drove me forward on my face. I think it was done with a rifle-butt.”
“That was it, sir. You know who it was—Scotch Mac. He always says ‘Hech’ when he hits out.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Well, wait a bit, sir. Some day I’ll pay him back. I’ll make him say ‘Hech’ out louder. Hurt you much, sir?”
“Only made my arm feel a bit numb. Stop a minute and listen. What’s that?”
“A splash!”
“Some one rowing?”
“Croc, perhaps, sir, with his tail.”
“Then we are close to the river.”
“Splendid, Mister Archie! Then it’s going to be easy, after all.”
At the end of a few cautiously taken paces the two lads found their progress arrested by bushes, and they stopped short, trying hard to pierce the gloom; but it seemed darker than ever.
“Can you tell where we are, Pete?” whispered Archie, with his lips close to his companion’s ear.
“No, sir; but take care, or we shall step right off the bank into the water somewhere. Think I might strike a match, sir, and chuck it before us?”
“No. If you do we shall be having a spear this time instead of a rifle-butt.”
“Right, sir; but I don’t see how we are going to find a boat unless we wade in and chance it.”
“Let’s get on, and creep through the bushes. It may seem a little lighter close to the water’s edge.”
Hand-in-hand they pressed on, the bushes brushing their faces but yielding easily for a few minutes, and then, as if moved by one impulse, they checked an ejaculation and stood staring straight before them, for all at once a bush they had reached sent forth a little scintillation of light, and as Peter struck out with one hand, he started a fresh sparkle of tiny little lights, as a flight of fire-flies flashed out for a moment, and left the surroundings blacker than ever.
“That’s done it, sir,” whispered Peter. “I saw two quite plain.”
“I saw quite fifty, Pete,” whispered back Archie.
“Boats, sir! Stuff—fire-flies!”
“Do you mean to say that you saw boats?”
“That’s right, sir. Just a glimpse—tied up, not half-a-dozen yards out in the river. Come on, sir; I’ll lead; only keep hold of hands and be ready to step down into the water. These bushes hang quite over, you know how. Ready, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Then come on.”
Two or three cautious steps were taken, which disturbed the occupants of one of the clumps of low growth, which sparkled vividly as the nocturnal insects were disturbed, and then the two adventurers were standing breathing hard, hip-deep in the cool water which was flowing by them.
“Hear anything, Pete?”
“Only the ripple-pipple of the water, sir. You see the boats this time?”
“Yes, for a moment, quite plainly, away to your left.”
“We can reach them easy, sir; but it will get deeper. You must be ready to swim. Say the word, sir, and I will lead.”
“No, no; I’ll go first.”
“That’s wasting time, sir.”
“Right. Go on.”
The words had hardly passed the subaltern’s lips when he felt a sudden snatch and a wallow in the water as if Peter had stepped out of his depth; but the lad recovered himself directly and stood firm, panting.
“All right, sir,” he whispered. “Bay’nets!”
In his excitement Archie had forgotten the crocodiles, and he now tore the sharp, triangular blade from his belt, his imagination turning the ripple and plap of water against the nearest boat into the movement of an advancing reptile.
But all the time, short as it was, Peter, with extended arm, was moving sideways in the direction where the boats had been seen, with the bayonet-holding hand stretched out in the direction of his goal, the other clutching Archie’s left with a force that seemed crushing to the owner’s fingers.
Step after step was taken sideways, with the water each minute growing deeper, and as they passed quite clear of the bushes they had left, the water pressed more and more strongly against their breasts, so that they could hardly keep their feet; while as the darkness above the flowing stream seemed to be growing more transparent, Archie turned his head to gaze back in the direction of the overhanging bushes, in the full expectation of feeling a thrust from a spear, when he felt another sudden snatch and tightened his grasp of his comrade’s hand, for Peter had reached deeper water and was borne off his feet, dragging Archie sideways.
Then there came a sharp sound as of metal against wood, a splashing or wallowing that suggested the rush of one of the loathsome reptiles, and Peter gasped out in a gurgling way, as if he had been under water:
“All right, sir. I’ve got hold. Let yourself float down, and make a snatch at the side.”
How it was done Peter did not know, and did not want to. It was enough for him in the darkness that he could feel that his companion had hold of the side of the boat, which had careened over so that the surface of the rippling river was within a few inches of the edge; and there they clung, listening with straining ears, trying to make out whether they had been heard.
“It’s all right, sir,” said Peter softly, as they now rested with their arms over touching the bottom of the boat.
“I don’t know,” said Archie. “I think the stern’s covered in. Is anybody on board?”
“Like enough, sir; but chance it;” and raising himself with a sudden movement which made a loud wallowing and sent a shudder of horror through his companion, Peter drew himself over the rough gunwale, rolled into the bottom of the boat, in company with a gush of water, and then, bayonet in hand, crept over the thwarts and under the attap-covered stern.
“All right, sir,” whispered the lad; and he crept to the far side of the boat, trimming it so that it made Archie’s task of joining him easier to achieve. “Ready, sir?”
“Yes. What about the moorings?”
“I was going to cut the rope, sir,” whispered Peter, “but I won’t. Perhaps it’s a grapnel, and we shall want it again.”
Creeping right to the bows, he began to haul on a roughly made fibre line, which came in readily as the water rippled more loudly against the stem, and the line became more and more perpendicular, till something struck against the frail woodwork of the bows, and, panting with his exertion, Peter drew a little, clumsily made anchor into the big sampan.
“That’s done it,” he whispered. “Hear anything, sir?”
“No; but we are floating down.”
“Lovely, sir. Now then, we shall have to look out, for we mustn’t pass the Doctor’s garden.”
Crack—creak—scrape!
The two lads dropped at full length into the water that was washing about the bottom of the boat, and lay motionless till they had scraped past a boat that seemed similar to the one they had boarded. But it was evidently unoccupied, and they raised themselves up into a sitting position again, and strained their eyes to gaze in the direction of the shore they had left, where all was perfectly still. Then Archie felt his companion’s hand touch his arm.
“Talk about a lark, Mister Archie!” whispered Peter.
“A lark?”
“Yes, sir. I forgot all about the crocs. They must have been asleep.”
Plash—wallow! came from just ahead, as there was a slight jar as if something had been encountered, and a tiny shower of water flew over them.
“Doesn’t seem like it, Pete,” said Archie softly.
“No, sir; and the brute needn’t have done that. I was quite wet enough before. I suppose you are a bit damp?”
“Don’t, Pete—don’t!” whispered Archie. “This is no time for trying to be funny.”
“All right, sir. I thought it was, for I’m in precious low spirits. Think we can manage to stop opposite the Doctor’s garden?”
“We must, Pete; but I can make out nothing. I suppose we are a long way above the landing-place.”
“Oh yes, sir; and perhaps it’s all for the best as we can’t see, for if we could, whoever’s ashore would see us; and that would mean spears, for none of our chaps would be about here.”
“Look here, Pete, we must both watch; but you get right in the bows with the grapnel in your hand, ready to drop it over silently when I sayNow!”
“Right, sir; but we must have ever so far to go yet, eh?”
“I am not sure, Pete.”
“No, sir; but you will have to chance it.”
Archie uttered an angry ejaculation, and then clutched sharply at the side of the boat, which shivered from end to end and nearly capsized as it glided up the slanting rope of a larger vessel with which it had come violently in contact. But it righted itself quickly, and scraped along the side, with the lads crouching lower as they listened to the angry, muttering of voices and the scuffling of people moving. But the next minute the river had borne them clear, and the muttering died away.
“That must have been a naga, Pete, from the size of it, and having men on board.”
“Suppose so, sir. I thought it meant a swim for us. But, I say, it must have spoilt somebody’s beauty snooze. But look there, sir! That must mean gardens.”
“What, Pete?”
“Can’t you see them glow-worm things sparkling?”
“Yes.”
“Well, sir, ain’t you going to sayNow?”
“No, Pete. We cannot have passed the big landing-place yet. If we have, only just. Yes, that must be it, and this must be the spot. Oh! if we could only see a spark of light from the Residency we should know where we are.”
“Yes, sir; but it’s no use to look out for lights. Still, we must be getting somewhere near, sir, and I’m ready when you are. I must leave it to you, for you know more about boating on the river than I do. It only seems to me that it can’t be long before we shall be opposite the Doctor’s beautiful garden and the little steps at the bottom, where you used to land.”
“Yes, Pete, I must guess, for I can see nothing.”
“Nor me neither, sir; but don’t be huffy because I say what I am going to say.”
“No. Speak out.”
“Then just wait, sir, till you think we are as near as we shall get, and then chance it.”
Archie made no reply as he reached over the side, and, unconscious of the fact that the stream had turned the boat completely round so that she was dropping down now bow foremost instead of stern, he suddenly uttered the word “Now!” and his command was followed by a faint splash and the rattle of the rope passing over the bows, till there was a check, and then they were conscious that the sampan was swinging round again, and Archie uttered a low, groan-like sigh.
“What’s the matter, sir? Didn’t I do it right?”
“Right, my lad? Yes, you were right enough, but I was all wrong. The boat has been gliding along stem first, and I have been confused and looking at the farther shore, seeing nothing but the faint twinkle of the fire-flies.”
“Yes, sir; that’s right enough.”
“No, no; it’s wrong enough, my lad. I’m quite lost. I don’t know where we are. You will have to haul up the grapnel again.”
“But what for, sir? She’s swung round now right enough, head to stream—and look—look!” he whispered. “I can see trees quite plain. We must be close inshore.”
“Close inshore; Pete!”
“Yes, sir. Can’t that be the Doctor’s garden?”
“Hist!” whispered Archie; and there was a sound as if his companion had given his mouth a pat, for from pretty close at hand there was the low babble of voices.
“Hear that, sir?” whispered Peter again. “Our chaps?”
“No—Malays.”
Chapter Forty.“What About Victuals?”For a few minutes it seemed as if the success that had attended them was to be completely dashed, though it had become evident that, by a wonderful stroke of good fortune, they had dropped the grapnel of the boat so that they were swinging nearly opposite to the part of the river-bank which had been their goal. For then Fate, which had been filling their breasts with hope, seemed to have withdrawn from them behind a darker cloud than ever.The voices were so near that they dared not whisper or stir, only wait in the full expectation of being seen and welcomed with a shower of spears; but by degrees the talking ceased, and the silence was so profound that it became evident that the enemy, whatever had been their object in coming there, had silently crept away.“Do you really think they have gone, sir?” whispered Peter.“I feel sure of it,” was the reply.“Then don’t you think we could get out the poles and work the boat closer in?”“I’m afraid to try, Pete. The stream seems running so strong that we might be swept away.”“Oh, I don’t know, sir, close inshore like this. I think we might manage it. Hadn’t we better try?”“Well, yes,” replied Archie, after a little hesitation. “We must use the poles when we go away, unless we try going down-stream.”“Oh, that wouldn’t do, sir. It would be running right into Rajah Hamet’s nest, even if we didn’t meet Suleiman’s men; and if we didn’t do neither we should have to carry the boxes through them who are surrounding the Residency.”“We must get them somehow,” cried Archie impatiently.“Yes, sir. But we ain’t getting them like this.”For answer Archie seized one of the poles that lay along under the thwarts of the sampan, passed it over the side, and, to his great delight, found that close in to the bank the eddy was so strong that there would be no difficulty in working against the current. This discovery made, the grapnel was pulled up and the sampan thrust in close under the bank at the bottom of the Doctor’s garden.“Nothing like trying, sir,” said Peter; and landing, he carried the grapnel in to the full extent of the rope and pressed its flukes down into the earth.This was not done without noise, and the two lads stood listening for a few minutes before proceeding farther. Once satisfied that there were no fresh occupants in the bungalow, Archie led the way in, and the rest of their task proved delightfully easy.He knew enough of the interior of the Doctor’s home to make for the store-room at once. Everything was open, just as it had been left in haste, and in spite of the darkness they easily found the little, square boxes of cartridges lying exactly as Mrs Morley had described; and each securing two, they were about to hurry down to the boat, when Archie remembered the gun, which, he knew, was hanging over a cabinet in the Doctor’s study.Placing his two boxes on the floor, he made for the Doctor’s room, took the gun from the hooks where it hung, and hurrying back to the room where he had left the boxes, he found himself alone, for Peter had hastened off with his portion of the load.There was nothing for it but to wait; but at last his ears were gladdened by the sound of his companion’s hurried footsteps, and together the remainder of the objects of their search were borne down to the boat, which was cast loose, the poles were seized, and they began to stem the current.The work proved easier than they had anticipated so long as they kept close inshore; but this, they felt, was incurring the greatest peril, for an occasional voice warned them of the presence of enemies close at hand; and after one narrow escape, consequent upon their being hailed by some one in the Malay tongue, they pushed off in despair, to make for the farther bank of the river.This portion of their journey was not achieved without losing ground, for out beyond the middle there were times when, in spite of the length of the long bamboo poles, they could not touch bottom. But once more close inshore, they began to make better progress, and as they paused for a few minutes’ rest in the thick darkness in a place closely overhung by trees, the question arose as to how long it would be before daybreak, for both felt that the night must be pretty well spent.“What do you say, Pete?” said Archie.“Don’t want to say nothing, sir,” was the reply.“Why?”“Don’t want to put you out of heart.”Archie was silent for a few moments.“You mean that it must be nearly morning now. Speak out.”“Something of the kind, sir; and I was thinking that it seems too bad to have to make a mess of it at the end.”“Ah! You think that though we may get across and land with our load on our side of the river, we should have daylight upon us before we could get anything like back to the Residency?”“Wish I was as clever as you are, Mister Archie,” said Peter in a low, grumbling tone, as he thrust with all his might at the end of his pole.“What do you mean?”“You saying just exactly what I was thinking about, sir. How you come to see it all I don’t know.”“Oh, never mind that, Pete. It’s very horrible, and when we are missing in the morning there will be no end of an upset, and they will think that we have deserted.”“Haw, haw!” grunted Peter, with another thrust of his pole which hindered the straight course of the sampan. “Them thinking you had deserted, sir? Likely! You ain’t me.”“Well, Pete, let’s get as high as we can past the place where we got the boat, and then the moment we think that daylight’s coming let’s get across, tie the boat up somewhere under the trees, and lie in hiding till night.”“Won’t do,” said Peter shortly. “Boat belongs to somebody as ain’t our friends, and when they find it gone they will come hunting along the water-side till they find it, and like as not tell the enemy where we are.”“You are right, Pete. Then we will find a snug place, and lie in waiting till it’s dark again; and we shall know by then pretty well where we are, and take our measures for a fresh start.”“That’s right, sir. Glad I was able to do some good—and, I say, it’s getting close to morning.”“How do you know?”“By them things as we have heard howling out in the jungle over and over again.”“I’ve heard nothing,” said Archie.“I have, sir; and they’re getting quiet now. I heard a tiger once, and crocs over and over again, but I wouldn’t say anything.”“I had too much else to think of, Pete,” said Archie, as he toiled hard at his pole, causing an eddy more than once, as if some river-dweller had been disturbed.It was not long after when the notes of the birds began to proclaim the coming day, and the surroundings began to appear so plainly that at the first favourable opportunity the boat was run in beneath the shelter of the overhanging trees and made fast; while, as the day broadened and they peered out across the river, Archie found they were so high up that no object on the farther bank was familiar; and he said so.“Well, sir, I must leave that to you,” said Peter. “I ain’t done much boating, and have never been so high as this before. Well, from what you say, I suppose we shall be safe till night, and then we are going to get across and land them cartridges somehow or another where they are wanted. We’ve got a lot of hours to wait, though, first.”“Yes,” said Archie, with a weary sigh.“Well, then, sir, what about victuals?”
For a few minutes it seemed as if the success that had attended them was to be completely dashed, though it had become evident that, by a wonderful stroke of good fortune, they had dropped the grapnel of the boat so that they were swinging nearly opposite to the part of the river-bank which had been their goal. For then Fate, which had been filling their breasts with hope, seemed to have withdrawn from them behind a darker cloud than ever.
The voices were so near that they dared not whisper or stir, only wait in the full expectation of being seen and welcomed with a shower of spears; but by degrees the talking ceased, and the silence was so profound that it became evident that the enemy, whatever had been their object in coming there, had silently crept away.
“Do you really think they have gone, sir?” whispered Peter.
“I feel sure of it,” was the reply.
“Then don’t you think we could get out the poles and work the boat closer in?”
“I’m afraid to try, Pete. The stream seems running so strong that we might be swept away.”
“Oh, I don’t know, sir, close inshore like this. I think we might manage it. Hadn’t we better try?”
“Well, yes,” replied Archie, after a little hesitation. “We must use the poles when we go away, unless we try going down-stream.”
“Oh, that wouldn’t do, sir. It would be running right into Rajah Hamet’s nest, even if we didn’t meet Suleiman’s men; and if we didn’t do neither we should have to carry the boxes through them who are surrounding the Residency.”
“We must get them somehow,” cried Archie impatiently.
“Yes, sir. But we ain’t getting them like this.”
For answer Archie seized one of the poles that lay along under the thwarts of the sampan, passed it over the side, and, to his great delight, found that close in to the bank the eddy was so strong that there would be no difficulty in working against the current. This discovery made, the grapnel was pulled up and the sampan thrust in close under the bank at the bottom of the Doctor’s garden.
“Nothing like trying, sir,” said Peter; and landing, he carried the grapnel in to the full extent of the rope and pressed its flukes down into the earth.
This was not done without noise, and the two lads stood listening for a few minutes before proceeding farther. Once satisfied that there were no fresh occupants in the bungalow, Archie led the way in, and the rest of their task proved delightfully easy.
He knew enough of the interior of the Doctor’s home to make for the store-room at once. Everything was open, just as it had been left in haste, and in spite of the darkness they easily found the little, square boxes of cartridges lying exactly as Mrs Morley had described; and each securing two, they were about to hurry down to the boat, when Archie remembered the gun, which, he knew, was hanging over a cabinet in the Doctor’s study.
Placing his two boxes on the floor, he made for the Doctor’s room, took the gun from the hooks where it hung, and hurrying back to the room where he had left the boxes, he found himself alone, for Peter had hastened off with his portion of the load.
There was nothing for it but to wait; but at last his ears were gladdened by the sound of his companion’s hurried footsteps, and together the remainder of the objects of their search were borne down to the boat, which was cast loose, the poles were seized, and they began to stem the current.
The work proved easier than they had anticipated so long as they kept close inshore; but this, they felt, was incurring the greatest peril, for an occasional voice warned them of the presence of enemies close at hand; and after one narrow escape, consequent upon their being hailed by some one in the Malay tongue, they pushed off in despair, to make for the farther bank of the river.
This portion of their journey was not achieved without losing ground, for out beyond the middle there were times when, in spite of the length of the long bamboo poles, they could not touch bottom. But once more close inshore, they began to make better progress, and as they paused for a few minutes’ rest in the thick darkness in a place closely overhung by trees, the question arose as to how long it would be before daybreak, for both felt that the night must be pretty well spent.
“What do you say, Pete?” said Archie.
“Don’t want to say nothing, sir,” was the reply.
“Why?”
“Don’t want to put you out of heart.”
Archie was silent for a few moments.
“You mean that it must be nearly morning now. Speak out.”
“Something of the kind, sir; and I was thinking that it seems too bad to have to make a mess of it at the end.”
“Ah! You think that though we may get across and land with our load on our side of the river, we should have daylight upon us before we could get anything like back to the Residency?”
“Wish I was as clever as you are, Mister Archie,” said Peter in a low, grumbling tone, as he thrust with all his might at the end of his pole.
“What do you mean?”
“You saying just exactly what I was thinking about, sir. How you come to see it all I don’t know.”
“Oh, never mind that, Pete. It’s very horrible, and when we are missing in the morning there will be no end of an upset, and they will think that we have deserted.”
“Haw, haw!” grunted Peter, with another thrust of his pole which hindered the straight course of the sampan. “Them thinking you had deserted, sir? Likely! You ain’t me.”
“Well, Pete, let’s get as high as we can past the place where we got the boat, and then the moment we think that daylight’s coming let’s get across, tie the boat up somewhere under the trees, and lie in hiding till night.”
“Won’t do,” said Peter shortly. “Boat belongs to somebody as ain’t our friends, and when they find it gone they will come hunting along the water-side till they find it, and like as not tell the enemy where we are.”
“You are right, Pete. Then we will find a snug place, and lie in waiting till it’s dark again; and we shall know by then pretty well where we are, and take our measures for a fresh start.”
“That’s right, sir. Glad I was able to do some good—and, I say, it’s getting close to morning.”
“How do you know?”
“By them things as we have heard howling out in the jungle over and over again.”
“I’ve heard nothing,” said Archie.
“I have, sir; and they’re getting quiet now. I heard a tiger once, and crocs over and over again, but I wouldn’t say anything.”
“I had too much else to think of, Pete,” said Archie, as he toiled hard at his pole, causing an eddy more than once, as if some river-dweller had been disturbed.
It was not long after when the notes of the birds began to proclaim the coming day, and the surroundings began to appear so plainly that at the first favourable opportunity the boat was run in beneath the shelter of the overhanging trees and made fast; while, as the day broadened and they peered out across the river, Archie found they were so high up that no object on the farther bank was familiar; and he said so.
“Well, sir, I must leave that to you,” said Peter. “I ain’t done much boating, and have never been so high as this before. Well, from what you say, I suppose we shall be safe till night, and then we are going to get across and land them cartridges somehow or another where they are wanted. We’ve got a lot of hours to wait, though, first.”
“Yes,” said Archie, with a weary sigh.
“Well, then, sir, what about victuals?”
Chapter Forty One.“If the Powder ain’t damp.”Morning came with a rush, the rays of the sun seeming to do battle with the mist that floated over the surface of the river. The golden arrows of light cut and broke up the one dense, grey, heavy cloud into portions which floated slowly along, separating more and more, the dull grey growing rapidly silvery, then golden, and the gold becoming suffused with soft light. So beautiful was the scene that, while Archie gazed thoughtfully at its beauty, even commonplace, powder-besmirched Peter sat with his lips apart, staring hard, and then, forgetting himself and their risky position, with its need for concealment, he clapped his hands softly.“Just look at it, Mister Archie!” he said. “Blest if the place don’t look just like the inside of one of them big hyster-shells that they get the pearls out of!”“Hush!” said Archie softly.“Mum!” said Peter. “I forgot; but don’t it look as if the river was boiling hot and the steam rising, and the fire that hots it was shining up through the cloud? I say, nobody could hear me say that,” he whispered.“I hope not; but for aught we know boats may be floating down, hidden by that mist.”“Mist—of course, sir! But it do look like steam, and it makes me think of rations and hot coffee. I say, if one feels like this just at daybreak, how’s it going to be by night? Here goes to tighten my belt.”Peter suited the action to his words, and moved the tongue of his buckle up two holes.After this the lad sat peering through a dense, green curtain of the beautiful tropic leafage, till by degrees all the mist had floated away with the stream, leaving the water glittering and sparkling in the bright sunshine, and giving the watchers a clear view of the flowing river and the jungle that bowed its pendent branches so that they kissed the water, while farther on tall, rigid palms shot up and displayed their feathery tufts of great leaves, to sway gently in the hot sunshine.“Let’s see, Mister Archie; don’t seem to be many paths where helephants and things come down to drink. I don’t believe if we were landed there we could get through those woods. I wonder what makes them call them jungles. I suppose it means because the trees are all junged up together so that you can’t get through. If they called it tangle there’d be some sense in it. But that ain’t the worst.”“What is, then, Pete?” replied Archie, speaking so that his companion in misfortune should not think him surly and distant.“Why, we have got to carry them four little chesties and the gun right through it in the dark. Well, we’ve got ’em, sir, and that’s what we come for.”“Yes, Pete; and it will be a relief to get them to the Residency.”“Yes, sir; and we have got to do it; and that means we shall, somehow.”The lad ceased speaking, and bent down to shift the four square, solid-looking boxes a little, and as he did so he uttered a low grunt.“I say, sir, it’s been so dark that we couldn’t tell what we were doing, but lookye here. These ’ere two bottom ones are standing right in the water. It’s to be hoped they are tin-lined, or else what about the cartridges? What do you say to laying them two bamboo poles right across the boat for the day, and standing the boxes on them?”“Good idea, Pete!” And the two lads busied themselves in placing the boxes so that the moisture would drip away, with the possibility of their getting dry in the sunshine, which was already beginning to fill their shelter with semi-horizontal rays.“Here, I say, sir, if we had known what a ramshackle old wreck this ’ere sampan is we should have stepped along pretty gingerly while we were poling—at least I should, for it looks to me as if you could shove your foot through anywhere. Look at the sides! Why, they are half-rotten!”“Yes, Pete; it’s a wonder that the boat did not go to pieces when we ran up against that other one in the night.”“That it is, sir. Why, if I’d known I believe I should have liked to travel outside, hanging on, with my legs in the water.”“As a bait to tempt crocodiles, Pete?”“Oh, I say, don’t, sir! You give one the shivers.”As the lad spoke he peered over the side of the boat and half drew his bayonet from his belt.“Might be one of those beauties under the bottom now, sir,” he said half-apologetically. “Nice morning, though, ain’t it? Talking about hanging one’s legs over the side, we might lay them up a bit to dry;” and he set the example of stretching his own out on the seat-like thwart, and sitting silently for a while gazing through one of the openings across the river.Then, as if being silent wearied him, his tongue began to go again.“Suppose you can’t make out exactly where we are, sir, can you?”“No, Pete; the river winds about so.”“Of course, sir. Well, no wonder—it ain’t got anything else to do. Got your watch, sir?”“Yes;” and Archie drew it out from his pocket.“What time is it, sir?”“One,” said Archie dryly.“Can’t be, sir. Why, that means afternoon, and the sun’s only just up.”“It means that it was one o’clock when we waded into the river, and the water got in, Pete.”“Stopped! I’m blest! If you had thought of it, sir, you’d better have left it at home. ‘Home, home, sweet home!’” hummed the lad. “But this ain’t home, and I’m precious hungry; but I’d a deal rather be here, after all, than in the old whitewashed barracks where we were stationed last, with nothing but drill, drill, drill, till one felt as if they had drilled a hole right through you. Feel anything of your head now, sir?”“Yes, Pete; but not much.”“That’s the same with my hurt, sir; but one can’t expect what we got to get well directly. Wish we’d got something to do, if it was only to clean one’s buckles and lay on a bit of pipeclay. Is my face dirty, sir?”“Horribly, Pete. Is mine?”Pete showed his teeth in a broad grin.“Well, it would be all the better for a wash, sir, before you went in to mess. We might have a bit of a sluice. But I suppose it would be risky to try and get closer in to the bank?”“You couldn’t, Pete. It would be impossible to force the sampan through this tangle. Why do you want to move? We are in a capital place.”“I was thinking of getting some soft mud out of the bank to use instead of soap. It’s wonderful cleansing, sir. I know what I should like to do.”“Not talk, Pete, for you are doing that now?”“Yes, sir, I know,” said the poor fellow sadly. “I feel as though if I didn’t go on saying things and thinking of doing something, I should go half-dotty.”“Nonsense, Pete! See how beautiful it is all round.”“Yes, sir, lovely! But who’s going to enjoy it when your inside keeps on saying, ‘Soup and ’tater—soup and ’tater—soup and ’tater,’ and there ain’t none? Plenty of croc soup, of course. But, I say, Mister Archie, sir, think it would be safe to bathe?”“No; but I think you must behalf-dotty, as you call it, to propose such a thing.”“Right, sir. Of course! It does look very pretty about here, but one can’t help feeling that one of them pretty, smiling creatures may be lying in there, just where the leaves touch the water, and watching us all the time. Here, I should like to murder some of them. What do you say to fixing bayonets on the end of them bamboo poles, and then pitching leaves or bits of dead wood into the water as a bait for them reptiles, and having a bit of sport to pass away the time?”“I don’t feel much disposed for sport, Pete.”“Course you don’t, sir; but, you see, we’ve got hours and hours to sit here till it’s dark. One feels as if one must do something. Here, I know! Capital! I’ve got no tackle but green leaves. I’ll clean that gun.”“No cleaning-rod, Pete.”“Must be, sir.”“Of course; but it will be hanging up somewhere in the Doctor’s bungalow.”“Might cut a young, thin bamboo, sir,” said Pete, looking sharply round, and feeling in his pocket for his knife.“I can see no bamboos,” said Archie—“nothing but crooked boughs.”“Well, anyhow, sir, we might rub the specks of rust off with leaves. Would you like to have first turn?”“No, Pete. I feel as if I could do nothing but sit still and rest and think.”“What about, sir?”“What they are saying about us at the Residency. I suppose they will give us the credit of not deserting.”“Course they will, sir. They will be saying that we are lying speared somewhere not far from headquarters. My word, sir, won’t Mrs Morley take on about losing you, sir! And, oh dear! nobody won’t miss me—except old Tipsy. Haw, haw, haw! He’d like to have me to bully-rag when he gets back to headquarters again.”“Will nobody else miss you, Pete?”“No, sir—I d’know, though. Yes—old Mother Smithers, next time she has a chance to have a turn at the wash-tub. It will be, ‘Now, Pete, fresh water, please.’ Wish she’d got some of what’s in this precious boat! Talk about a leaky sieve! Why, it’s coming in everywhere. We shall have to begin baling soon, Mister Archie. To be sure; that will be next job after I’ve rubbed up the gun, and— This ’ere ain’t a fruit-tree, is it, sir?”“Absurd!”“Suppose it is, sir. I was thinking of cocoa-nuts and getting one down to bale with. I shall have to use my cap. It’s wonderful how it’s stuck on. I ketched it slipping off twice, though, when we were creeping through the wood.”Peter reached for the gun, and began to rub the barrels with such leaves as he could pick; but after trying to polish for some time, he shook his head in despair.“Only making it worse, sir.—I say, Mister Archie, you are not going to sleep, are you?”Archie, who was resting one hand on the side of the boat and bending down sideways, rose quickly.“Hist!” he whispered. “Listen.”Peter sat motionless for some little time, and then, looking full in his companion’s eyes, shook his head slowly. Then a look of intelligence came into his face, and he nodded two or three times quickly, leaned forward, and placing his lips close to his companion’s ear, he whispered:“Poles! Boat coming up-stream.”The two lads sat thinking of their own slow advance as they had punted upwards in the darkness, and fully understood the effort that was being made to force the advancing boat against the running water.Then the same thought must have animated both, for after peering through the leaves by which they were surrounded, each lay back upon the thwart he occupied and cautiously began drawing one of the thick boughs that touched the water closer in so as to increase the shelter; but no sooner had Archie begun to disturb the water at the side of the boat than there was a violent disturbance, and something dashed out into the open river.“Croc,” whispered Peter, “or some large fish. Wish I had him on my bayonet, sir. I could eat him raw.”“Hist!” whispered Archie, for the sound of splashing poles was giving place to the regular beat of oars; and crouching low, wondering whether their shelter would be pierced by the keen eyes of the enemy, they lay waiting, listening to the steady plash and the muttering of voices, which grew louder, and, looking bright in painted gold, with the rowers’ silken bajus gleaming gold and yellow in the sunshine, a large dragon-boat glided by, so close to the lads’ hiding-place that the rowers’ blades on their side nearly swept against the leaves, and they could see the gleam of the eyes and glint of spears, for the boat was crowded with armed men, and beneath the palm shelter in the stern they could note the gaily plaided silken sarongs of the principal leaders of the party of Malays.Feeling that they must be seen, the lads hardly dared to breathe till the gilded stern of the naga had passed; and even then it seemed as if the steersman was looking back straight through the hanging leaves so that he must detect the boat.At last both were breathing freely, for the plash of oars was growing more distant, and Peter, who had found it horribly painful to remain silent so long, hazarded a few words.“Felt as if my heart was in my mouth, sir. But do you know what I was thinking all the time?”“That they must see us, Pete?”“Of course, sir; but something else.”“Speak lower, man!”“All right, sir; they can’t hear. But can’t you guess?”Archie shook his head.“Well, I’ll tell you, sir. Here’s a double gun; there’s four boxes of cartridges. Why haven’t you got it loaded and ready to blow a couple of the enemy overboard, and thenclick, click, shove in two more cartridges, as I should hand to you, ready for two more shots? That would be enough to send them to the right-about, for they wouldn’t know but what there might be half a company of us hiding here.”“How are we to get at the cartridges, Pete?” said Archie, brightening up, for his companion’s words sent a thrill of hope through his breast, and their position seemed not half so defenceless as before.“I’ve got my knife, sir.”“What! to cut through the lid?”“No, sir. It’s screwed down. I think I could turn the screws with the big blade.”Taking one of the boxes on his knee, he brought the blade to bear, but dared not put forth all his force, and for some time he could not get even one of the fastenings to move, for the water had made the wood swell.“It’s no use, Pete.”“Oh, ain’t it, sir? They are in precious tight, but we have got lots of time; and look—the top of this box is steaming, and it’s drying fast. I shall do it if I don’t break my knife.”Click!“There, now, if half-an-inch of the blade ain’t gone! And I thought it was a bit of the best stuff in our company. Well, there’s a bit left to work with, and I must try and cut through.”“No, no!” cried Archie eagerly. “Try if the broken blade will not go into the ends of the screws.”“What! and use it as a screw-driver, sir?” cried Peter joyously. “Why, it will be quite easy now. Call mine a head! Why, it’s as thick as a bowl. Here, take it coolly, sir! Here’s one coming out as easy as easy.—There’s one! Don’t shout ‘Hooray!’ sir, for sound runs along over the water like a skate on ice. Why, my knife is like a real tool. Couldn’t have broke off better, sir, and in half-an-hour we shall be all right if—”“If what, Pete?”“The powder ain’t damp.”
Morning came with a rush, the rays of the sun seeming to do battle with the mist that floated over the surface of the river. The golden arrows of light cut and broke up the one dense, grey, heavy cloud into portions which floated slowly along, separating more and more, the dull grey growing rapidly silvery, then golden, and the gold becoming suffused with soft light. So beautiful was the scene that, while Archie gazed thoughtfully at its beauty, even commonplace, powder-besmirched Peter sat with his lips apart, staring hard, and then, forgetting himself and their risky position, with its need for concealment, he clapped his hands softly.
“Just look at it, Mister Archie!” he said. “Blest if the place don’t look just like the inside of one of them big hyster-shells that they get the pearls out of!”
“Hush!” said Archie softly.
“Mum!” said Peter. “I forgot; but don’t it look as if the river was boiling hot and the steam rising, and the fire that hots it was shining up through the cloud? I say, nobody could hear me say that,” he whispered.
“I hope not; but for aught we know boats may be floating down, hidden by that mist.”
“Mist—of course, sir! But it do look like steam, and it makes me think of rations and hot coffee. I say, if one feels like this just at daybreak, how’s it going to be by night? Here goes to tighten my belt.”
Peter suited the action to his words, and moved the tongue of his buckle up two holes.
After this the lad sat peering through a dense, green curtain of the beautiful tropic leafage, till by degrees all the mist had floated away with the stream, leaving the water glittering and sparkling in the bright sunshine, and giving the watchers a clear view of the flowing river and the jungle that bowed its pendent branches so that they kissed the water, while farther on tall, rigid palms shot up and displayed their feathery tufts of great leaves, to sway gently in the hot sunshine.
“Let’s see, Mister Archie; don’t seem to be many paths where helephants and things come down to drink. I don’t believe if we were landed there we could get through those woods. I wonder what makes them call them jungles. I suppose it means because the trees are all junged up together so that you can’t get through. If they called it tangle there’d be some sense in it. But that ain’t the worst.”
“What is, then, Pete?” replied Archie, speaking so that his companion in misfortune should not think him surly and distant.
“Why, we have got to carry them four little chesties and the gun right through it in the dark. Well, we’ve got ’em, sir, and that’s what we come for.”
“Yes, Pete; and it will be a relief to get them to the Residency.”
“Yes, sir; and we have got to do it; and that means we shall, somehow.”
The lad ceased speaking, and bent down to shift the four square, solid-looking boxes a little, and as he did so he uttered a low grunt.
“I say, sir, it’s been so dark that we couldn’t tell what we were doing, but lookye here. These ’ere two bottom ones are standing right in the water. It’s to be hoped they are tin-lined, or else what about the cartridges? What do you say to laying them two bamboo poles right across the boat for the day, and standing the boxes on them?”
“Good idea, Pete!” And the two lads busied themselves in placing the boxes so that the moisture would drip away, with the possibility of their getting dry in the sunshine, which was already beginning to fill their shelter with semi-horizontal rays.
“Here, I say, sir, if we had known what a ramshackle old wreck this ’ere sampan is we should have stepped along pretty gingerly while we were poling—at least I should, for it looks to me as if you could shove your foot through anywhere. Look at the sides! Why, they are half-rotten!”
“Yes, Pete; it’s a wonder that the boat did not go to pieces when we ran up against that other one in the night.”
“That it is, sir. Why, if I’d known I believe I should have liked to travel outside, hanging on, with my legs in the water.”
“As a bait to tempt crocodiles, Pete?”
“Oh, I say, don’t, sir! You give one the shivers.”
As the lad spoke he peered over the side of the boat and half drew his bayonet from his belt.
“Might be one of those beauties under the bottom now, sir,” he said half-apologetically. “Nice morning, though, ain’t it? Talking about hanging one’s legs over the side, we might lay them up a bit to dry;” and he set the example of stretching his own out on the seat-like thwart, and sitting silently for a while gazing through one of the openings across the river.
Then, as if being silent wearied him, his tongue began to go again.
“Suppose you can’t make out exactly where we are, sir, can you?”
“No, Pete; the river winds about so.”
“Of course, sir. Well, no wonder—it ain’t got anything else to do. Got your watch, sir?”
“Yes;” and Archie drew it out from his pocket.
“What time is it, sir?”
“One,” said Archie dryly.
“Can’t be, sir. Why, that means afternoon, and the sun’s only just up.”
“It means that it was one o’clock when we waded into the river, and the water got in, Pete.”
“Stopped! I’m blest! If you had thought of it, sir, you’d better have left it at home. ‘Home, home, sweet home!’” hummed the lad. “But this ain’t home, and I’m precious hungry; but I’d a deal rather be here, after all, than in the old whitewashed barracks where we were stationed last, with nothing but drill, drill, drill, till one felt as if they had drilled a hole right through you. Feel anything of your head now, sir?”
“Yes, Pete; but not much.”
“That’s the same with my hurt, sir; but one can’t expect what we got to get well directly. Wish we’d got something to do, if it was only to clean one’s buckles and lay on a bit of pipeclay. Is my face dirty, sir?”
“Horribly, Pete. Is mine?”
Pete showed his teeth in a broad grin.
“Well, it would be all the better for a wash, sir, before you went in to mess. We might have a bit of a sluice. But I suppose it would be risky to try and get closer in to the bank?”
“You couldn’t, Pete. It would be impossible to force the sampan through this tangle. Why do you want to move? We are in a capital place.”
“I was thinking of getting some soft mud out of the bank to use instead of soap. It’s wonderful cleansing, sir. I know what I should like to do.”
“Not talk, Pete, for you are doing that now?”
“Yes, sir, I know,” said the poor fellow sadly. “I feel as though if I didn’t go on saying things and thinking of doing something, I should go half-dotty.”
“Nonsense, Pete! See how beautiful it is all round.”
“Yes, sir, lovely! But who’s going to enjoy it when your inside keeps on saying, ‘Soup and ’tater—soup and ’tater—soup and ’tater,’ and there ain’t none? Plenty of croc soup, of course. But, I say, Mister Archie, sir, think it would be safe to bathe?”
“No; but I think you must behalf-dotty, as you call it, to propose such a thing.”
“Right, sir. Of course! It does look very pretty about here, but one can’t help feeling that one of them pretty, smiling creatures may be lying in there, just where the leaves touch the water, and watching us all the time. Here, I should like to murder some of them. What do you say to fixing bayonets on the end of them bamboo poles, and then pitching leaves or bits of dead wood into the water as a bait for them reptiles, and having a bit of sport to pass away the time?”
“I don’t feel much disposed for sport, Pete.”
“Course you don’t, sir; but, you see, we’ve got hours and hours to sit here till it’s dark. One feels as if one must do something. Here, I know! Capital! I’ve got no tackle but green leaves. I’ll clean that gun.”
“No cleaning-rod, Pete.”
“Must be, sir.”
“Of course; but it will be hanging up somewhere in the Doctor’s bungalow.”
“Might cut a young, thin bamboo, sir,” said Pete, looking sharply round, and feeling in his pocket for his knife.
“I can see no bamboos,” said Archie—“nothing but crooked boughs.”
“Well, anyhow, sir, we might rub the specks of rust off with leaves. Would you like to have first turn?”
“No, Pete. I feel as if I could do nothing but sit still and rest and think.”
“What about, sir?”
“What they are saying about us at the Residency. I suppose they will give us the credit of not deserting.”
“Course they will, sir. They will be saying that we are lying speared somewhere not far from headquarters. My word, sir, won’t Mrs Morley take on about losing you, sir! And, oh dear! nobody won’t miss me—except old Tipsy. Haw, haw, haw! He’d like to have me to bully-rag when he gets back to headquarters again.”
“Will nobody else miss you, Pete?”
“No, sir—I d’know, though. Yes—old Mother Smithers, next time she has a chance to have a turn at the wash-tub. It will be, ‘Now, Pete, fresh water, please.’ Wish she’d got some of what’s in this precious boat! Talk about a leaky sieve! Why, it’s coming in everywhere. We shall have to begin baling soon, Mister Archie. To be sure; that will be next job after I’ve rubbed up the gun, and— This ’ere ain’t a fruit-tree, is it, sir?”
“Absurd!”
“Suppose it is, sir. I was thinking of cocoa-nuts and getting one down to bale with. I shall have to use my cap. It’s wonderful how it’s stuck on. I ketched it slipping off twice, though, when we were creeping through the wood.”
Peter reached for the gun, and began to rub the barrels with such leaves as he could pick; but after trying to polish for some time, he shook his head in despair.
“Only making it worse, sir.—I say, Mister Archie, you are not going to sleep, are you?”
Archie, who was resting one hand on the side of the boat and bending down sideways, rose quickly.
“Hist!” he whispered. “Listen.”
Peter sat motionless for some little time, and then, looking full in his companion’s eyes, shook his head slowly. Then a look of intelligence came into his face, and he nodded two or three times quickly, leaned forward, and placing his lips close to his companion’s ear, he whispered:
“Poles! Boat coming up-stream.”
The two lads sat thinking of their own slow advance as they had punted upwards in the darkness, and fully understood the effort that was being made to force the advancing boat against the running water.
Then the same thought must have animated both, for after peering through the leaves by which they were surrounded, each lay back upon the thwart he occupied and cautiously began drawing one of the thick boughs that touched the water closer in so as to increase the shelter; but no sooner had Archie begun to disturb the water at the side of the boat than there was a violent disturbance, and something dashed out into the open river.
“Croc,” whispered Peter, “or some large fish. Wish I had him on my bayonet, sir. I could eat him raw.”
“Hist!” whispered Archie, for the sound of splashing poles was giving place to the regular beat of oars; and crouching low, wondering whether their shelter would be pierced by the keen eyes of the enemy, they lay waiting, listening to the steady plash and the muttering of voices, which grew louder, and, looking bright in painted gold, with the rowers’ silken bajus gleaming gold and yellow in the sunshine, a large dragon-boat glided by, so close to the lads’ hiding-place that the rowers’ blades on their side nearly swept against the leaves, and they could see the gleam of the eyes and glint of spears, for the boat was crowded with armed men, and beneath the palm shelter in the stern they could note the gaily plaided silken sarongs of the principal leaders of the party of Malays.
Feeling that they must be seen, the lads hardly dared to breathe till the gilded stern of the naga had passed; and even then it seemed as if the steersman was looking back straight through the hanging leaves so that he must detect the boat.
At last both were breathing freely, for the plash of oars was growing more distant, and Peter, who had found it horribly painful to remain silent so long, hazarded a few words.
“Felt as if my heart was in my mouth, sir. But do you know what I was thinking all the time?”
“That they must see us, Pete?”
“Of course, sir; but something else.”
“Speak lower, man!”
“All right, sir; they can’t hear. But can’t you guess?”
Archie shook his head.
“Well, I’ll tell you, sir. Here’s a double gun; there’s four boxes of cartridges. Why haven’t you got it loaded and ready to blow a couple of the enemy overboard, and thenclick, click, shove in two more cartridges, as I should hand to you, ready for two more shots? That would be enough to send them to the right-about, for they wouldn’t know but what there might be half a company of us hiding here.”
“How are we to get at the cartridges, Pete?” said Archie, brightening up, for his companion’s words sent a thrill of hope through his breast, and their position seemed not half so defenceless as before.
“I’ve got my knife, sir.”
“What! to cut through the lid?”
“No, sir. It’s screwed down. I think I could turn the screws with the big blade.”
Taking one of the boxes on his knee, he brought the blade to bear, but dared not put forth all his force, and for some time he could not get even one of the fastenings to move, for the water had made the wood swell.
“It’s no use, Pete.”
“Oh, ain’t it, sir? They are in precious tight, but we have got lots of time; and look—the top of this box is steaming, and it’s drying fast. I shall do it if I don’t break my knife.”
Click!
“There, now, if half-an-inch of the blade ain’t gone! And I thought it was a bit of the best stuff in our company. Well, there’s a bit left to work with, and I must try and cut through.”
“No, no!” cried Archie eagerly. “Try if the broken blade will not go into the ends of the screws.”
“What! and use it as a screw-driver, sir?” cried Peter joyously. “Why, it will be quite easy now. Call mine a head! Why, it’s as thick as a bowl. Here, take it coolly, sir! Here’s one coming out as easy as easy.—There’s one! Don’t shout ‘Hooray!’ sir, for sound runs along over the water like a skate on ice. Why, my knife is like a real tool. Couldn’t have broke off better, sir, and in half-an-hour we shall be all right if—”
“If what, Pete?”
“The powder ain’t damp.”
Chapter Forty Two.“Don’t you know me?”To the great satisfaction of both, the upper layers of the cartridges proved to be quite dry, and, at Peter’s suggestion, they made sure of having a couple of dozen handy by bestowing them in various pockets.“All right for present use, sir,” said Peter; and placing in a few leaves to refill the box, he lightly screwed down the lid again.“It’s a pity to do that,” said Archie.“Think so, sir? We have got to get those boxes down to the Residency, and it might happen that we should be obliged to hide them somewhere. Anyhow, what we’ve got out will be handy. Now then, I want it to get dark. What do you say to one of us taking an hour’s snooze?”“By all means, Pete. It will help us to get through the long watching before night. There, I could not sleep now. You lie down while I keep watch.”“Oh no, sir; you first.”“Don’t argue, Pete. I say, lie down,” said Archie sternly.“Right, sir. But you will play fair? Rouse me up in an hour, and let me relieve guard.”“I will, Pete. We both want rest, and we shall do our work the better afterwards.”Peter promptly prepared the only dry place he could find, which was in the stern of the boat, by dragging down a portion of the bamboo and palm-leaf awning and laying the pieces across so as to form a little platform, where he stretched himself out, and before a minute had elapsed he was breathing so heavily that his companion began to peer up and down the river and think of the possibility of the sleeper being heard. But nothing was in sight downward, and he now found that by changing the position of the boat a little he could command a long reach upward—quite a mile.The guessed-at hour grew into what must have been two, and amidst the annoyance of flies, and troubled by the intense heat, Archie sat watching and thinking, and wondering whether it would be possible as soon as it was dark to thread their way among the bushes of the opposite shore and carry their burden to the help of their friends.“It’s all what Pete calls chancing it,” he said to himself; “but we may succeed—and we will.”At last, just as he was thinking that it might be wise to awaken Pete for an exchange of places, he suddenly caught sight of a large boat in the extreme distance, gliding round a slight curve, and after watching it increase in size as it came rapidly down, he laid a hand on Peter’s arm, and the lad started up, fully awake.“Relieve guard, sir? Right! Give us the gun,” said the lad quietly; and then, following Archie’s pointing finger, he realised the new peril, and withdrawing his hand, he drew out his bayonet and replaced it ready for instant use.A glance showed the pair that they could do nothing more to add to their concealment, and with the boat rapidly nearing, they sat and watched, Archie with the cocked piece lying across his knees ready for their defence in case of need.During the first part of the time their impression had been that it was the dragon-boat they had seen going up, but as it drew nearer they made out that it was manned by Malays, evidently of the poorer classes, but well-armed and in all probability followers of some minor chief.To the lads’ great satisfaction, it seemed that they were hugging the farther shore, and they passed by travelling slowly, without even looking in their direction, and glided out of sight.“Lucky for some of them, Mister Archie,” said Peter, as he stretched out his hand for the gun and crept forward. “There you are, sir. I feel like a new man. Have a good sleep, sir. It helps the time along beautifully. How did you guess an hour, sir?”“Never mind about the time, Pete. You guess another as nearly as you can; but wake me, of course, if there is any danger.”“You trust me, sir,” was the reply; and Archie lay down, feeling that the position would be restful, but certain that he should not be able to sleep.Five minutes had not elapsed, however, before he was sleeping heavily, but ready to awaken at a touch and sit up, to stare about him wildly.“Why, Pete,” he said angrily, “I have had more than an hour.”“Well, just a little, sir. Feel all the better for it, don’t you?”“Why, you scoundrel,” cried Archie as he readied for the gun, “it’s close upon evening—close upon night! How dare you disobey my orders? Why didn’t you wake me up?”“Hadn’t the heart, sir,” said the lad quietly.“But I said—”“Yes, I know you did; and I was going to wake you up half-a-dozen times, but I knowed how weak you were, and that you would want every bit of strength for what we have got to do to-night; and I didn’t want you to break down.”“Am I your officer, sir, or am I not?” said Archie fiercely.“Yes, sir, of course; and I know I ought to obey the word of command. But you don’t want me to do impossibilities, now, do you, sir?”“What do you mean?”“Why, sir, you don’t want me to carry you and the cartridge-boxes too?”“No; I should carry my share, of course.”“Yes, sir; but I should be having Paddy’s load. You would be carrying the boxes, but I should be carrying you and the boxes too.”“Pete—” began Archie fiercely; but he was checked by the lad’s action, for with one hand he pointed up the long reach, and with the other he placed the gun across the subaltern’s knees.“A boat!” said Archie.“Two on ’em, sir;” and they sat gazing up through the gathering gloom of their shelter at what the last faint rays of the setting sun showed to be a large sampan coming down the river, urged by a couple of Malays who were steadily using their poles, while some distance behind a boat about double the size was following them, propelled by oars.“It will be all right, sir,” said Peter. “By the time they come by here it will be getting dark. Look at that farther one. The attaps looked red just now, but they are turning brown already.”“Yes; and look there. Why, Pete—am I right? It seemed as if one of the Malays in the front of the far boat stood up and threw a spear.”“Right you are, sir, and no mistake. There goes another. Can you see how many there are in the first boat?”“Three, I think; and one’s a woman.”“I thought two of them,” said Peter; “and there’s eight or ten or a dozen in the other. Well, sir, the far-off one must be enemies, and the little boat must be friends. I know which side we ought to take, and we can now.”“What do you mean? Fire?”“That’s right, sir.”“But we shall show where we are.”“Of course; but we can’t help that, sir,” cried Peter excitedly. “Here they come. They’ll overtake the little ’un directly. You’ve got bullet cartridges, sir, for I tried one. But I don’t know whether this double gun will carry so far; so you had better wait.”“One barrel’s rifled, Pete, and it will,” said Archie, drawing himself into a kneeling position and resting the barrels upon a horizontal bough.“Look sharp, sir! Oh, murder—there goes another spear! I couldn’t hardly see, but it must have gone close to that woman who is handling the bamboo. Oh, do fire, sir!”There was the sharp report of one barrel, and then, as the smoke rose, Archie fired again, and opened the breech and rapidly inserted the cartridges that Peter handed to him; while, as if startled by the reports, the rowers in the far boat laid on their oars, and those astern started up, and the lads could dimly see their spears bristling in the gathering gloom.“Give them another, sir—only one—and reload. You missed first time. You must bring down a couple now.”Archie fired again, and this time one of the Malays seemed to spring out of the boat and drift behind.“That’s good, sir. Here’s your cartridge. Now then! Give them two now. They are coming straight for us where the smoke shows. Quick, sir!”Bang, bangwent the double gun, the reports almost simultaneous, for in his excitement Archie had no thought of reserving one shot; and as he hastily reloaded he could see in the rapidly dimming light that the rowers were changing the course of their naga, as if to get out of the line of fire, and were beginning to make for the opposite shore; while the big Malay in the small sampan had ceased his efforts to pole his boat more swiftly along, and was using the bamboo to steer the little vessel, which, gathering force from the man’s efforts combined with the swift stream, plunged right in through the hanging boughs behind which the two lads crouched. There was a heavy crash, mingled with the breaking of twigs, and the two lads were driven headlong into the bottom of their boat.Archie struggled up at once, holding his double gun on high to keep it out of the water, with which he was drenched; and the first thing he could make out through the wide opening torn in their shelter was the naga and its occupants gliding rapidly by, the rowers pulling as if for dear life, and the spearmen crouching down in the bottom, half-hidden by the awning. Then they were gone.Meanwhile Peter was struggling to free himself from the encumbrance of the big Malay, who had been shot from his own vessel right upon him; and the next thing that met Archie’s eyes, as he gazed through the crushed-down leafage driven before the lesser boat, was Peter’s bayonet-armed hand with the weapon raised dagger-wise, and beyond the Malay, who was holding out his hands, the native boat with the Malay woman, pole in hand, panting hard as if from exertion. Then his eye caught the figure of the other woman, kneeling in the stern.“Pete, look out! Quick! We must climb into this boat. She’s cut us down. Quick—before it’s too dark to see!”“Here, I don’t understand, sir. This fellow knocked me down, and—”“Understand! Can’t you see we are sinking? It’s deep water here.”Before he could finish he dimly made out that the big Malay had struggled clear and seemed to be much higher as he dragged at Peter, hoisted him right up, and jerked him behind; while at the same time the panting woman was holding out the pole she used, at which Archie grasped, just in time, as he felt the water was gradually bearing him away.The next minute he was being dragged over the side of the sampan by the two Malays, and as they lowered him so that he lay upon his back, Peter’s head suddenly appeared between the two strangers, with the eager question:“Have you stuck to your gun, sir?”“Yes; all right, Pete. What a horrible accident! Where’s our boat?”“Rotten old cocoa-nut shell,” cried Peter savagely. “There’s the last on her just going down;” and he pointed to a spot a few yards away, where, dividing the pendent branches of their shelter, was the attap roof of their sampan. “And do you know what that means, sir?”“Utter wreck, Pete,” said Archie, breathing hard from excitement.“Yes, sir; and my four boxes of cartridges with all them blue pills gone to the bottom to feed the crocs.”“But what about the other boat?”“Why, we are in it, sir. Can’t you see?” said Peter sourly.“No, no—I mean the enemy’s.”“Oh! Out of sight, sir. Gone down the river just as if you were peppering them still.”“Eh? What?” cried Archie, as he became aware of the fact that some one else had spoken, and that a bough of one of the trees that overshadowed them was being pressed aside; and, half-stunned in his astonishment, the young officer grasped the words that seemed to be coming in the confusion of some strange dream:“Archie! Don’t you know me? I’m Minnie Heath.”
To the great satisfaction of both, the upper layers of the cartridges proved to be quite dry, and, at Peter’s suggestion, they made sure of having a couple of dozen handy by bestowing them in various pockets.
“All right for present use, sir,” said Peter; and placing in a few leaves to refill the box, he lightly screwed down the lid again.
“It’s a pity to do that,” said Archie.
“Think so, sir? We have got to get those boxes down to the Residency, and it might happen that we should be obliged to hide them somewhere. Anyhow, what we’ve got out will be handy. Now then, I want it to get dark. What do you say to one of us taking an hour’s snooze?”
“By all means, Pete. It will help us to get through the long watching before night. There, I could not sleep now. You lie down while I keep watch.”
“Oh no, sir; you first.”
“Don’t argue, Pete. I say, lie down,” said Archie sternly.
“Right, sir. But you will play fair? Rouse me up in an hour, and let me relieve guard.”
“I will, Pete. We both want rest, and we shall do our work the better afterwards.”
Peter promptly prepared the only dry place he could find, which was in the stern of the boat, by dragging down a portion of the bamboo and palm-leaf awning and laying the pieces across so as to form a little platform, where he stretched himself out, and before a minute had elapsed he was breathing so heavily that his companion began to peer up and down the river and think of the possibility of the sleeper being heard. But nothing was in sight downward, and he now found that by changing the position of the boat a little he could command a long reach upward—quite a mile.
The guessed-at hour grew into what must have been two, and amidst the annoyance of flies, and troubled by the intense heat, Archie sat watching and thinking, and wondering whether it would be possible as soon as it was dark to thread their way among the bushes of the opposite shore and carry their burden to the help of their friends.
“It’s all what Pete calls chancing it,” he said to himself; “but we may succeed—and we will.”
At last, just as he was thinking that it might be wise to awaken Pete for an exchange of places, he suddenly caught sight of a large boat in the extreme distance, gliding round a slight curve, and after watching it increase in size as it came rapidly down, he laid a hand on Peter’s arm, and the lad started up, fully awake.
“Relieve guard, sir? Right! Give us the gun,” said the lad quietly; and then, following Archie’s pointing finger, he realised the new peril, and withdrawing his hand, he drew out his bayonet and replaced it ready for instant use.
A glance showed the pair that they could do nothing more to add to their concealment, and with the boat rapidly nearing, they sat and watched, Archie with the cocked piece lying across his knees ready for their defence in case of need.
During the first part of the time their impression had been that it was the dragon-boat they had seen going up, but as it drew nearer they made out that it was manned by Malays, evidently of the poorer classes, but well-armed and in all probability followers of some minor chief.
To the lads’ great satisfaction, it seemed that they were hugging the farther shore, and they passed by travelling slowly, without even looking in their direction, and glided out of sight.
“Lucky for some of them, Mister Archie,” said Peter, as he stretched out his hand for the gun and crept forward. “There you are, sir. I feel like a new man. Have a good sleep, sir. It helps the time along beautifully. How did you guess an hour, sir?”
“Never mind about the time, Pete. You guess another as nearly as you can; but wake me, of course, if there is any danger.”
“You trust me, sir,” was the reply; and Archie lay down, feeling that the position would be restful, but certain that he should not be able to sleep.
Five minutes had not elapsed, however, before he was sleeping heavily, but ready to awaken at a touch and sit up, to stare about him wildly.
“Why, Pete,” he said angrily, “I have had more than an hour.”
“Well, just a little, sir. Feel all the better for it, don’t you?”
“Why, you scoundrel,” cried Archie as he readied for the gun, “it’s close upon evening—close upon night! How dare you disobey my orders? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Hadn’t the heart, sir,” said the lad quietly.
“But I said—”
“Yes, I know you did; and I was going to wake you up half-a-dozen times, but I knowed how weak you were, and that you would want every bit of strength for what we have got to do to-night; and I didn’t want you to break down.”
“Am I your officer, sir, or am I not?” said Archie fiercely.
“Yes, sir, of course; and I know I ought to obey the word of command. But you don’t want me to do impossibilities, now, do you, sir?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why, sir, you don’t want me to carry you and the cartridge-boxes too?”
“No; I should carry my share, of course.”
“Yes, sir; but I should be having Paddy’s load. You would be carrying the boxes, but I should be carrying you and the boxes too.”
“Pete—” began Archie fiercely; but he was checked by the lad’s action, for with one hand he pointed up the long reach, and with the other he placed the gun across the subaltern’s knees.
“A boat!” said Archie.
“Two on ’em, sir;” and they sat gazing up through the gathering gloom of their shelter at what the last faint rays of the setting sun showed to be a large sampan coming down the river, urged by a couple of Malays who were steadily using their poles, while some distance behind a boat about double the size was following them, propelled by oars.
“It will be all right, sir,” said Peter. “By the time they come by here it will be getting dark. Look at that farther one. The attaps looked red just now, but they are turning brown already.”
“Yes; and look there. Why, Pete—am I right? It seemed as if one of the Malays in the front of the far boat stood up and threw a spear.”
“Right you are, sir, and no mistake. There goes another. Can you see how many there are in the first boat?”
“Three, I think; and one’s a woman.”
“I thought two of them,” said Peter; “and there’s eight or ten or a dozen in the other. Well, sir, the far-off one must be enemies, and the little boat must be friends. I know which side we ought to take, and we can now.”
“What do you mean? Fire?”
“That’s right, sir.”
“But we shall show where we are.”
“Of course; but we can’t help that, sir,” cried Peter excitedly. “Here they come. They’ll overtake the little ’un directly. You’ve got bullet cartridges, sir, for I tried one. But I don’t know whether this double gun will carry so far; so you had better wait.”
“One barrel’s rifled, Pete, and it will,” said Archie, drawing himself into a kneeling position and resting the barrels upon a horizontal bough.
“Look sharp, sir! Oh, murder—there goes another spear! I couldn’t hardly see, but it must have gone close to that woman who is handling the bamboo. Oh, do fire, sir!”
There was the sharp report of one barrel, and then, as the smoke rose, Archie fired again, and opened the breech and rapidly inserted the cartridges that Peter handed to him; while, as if startled by the reports, the rowers in the far boat laid on their oars, and those astern started up, and the lads could dimly see their spears bristling in the gathering gloom.
“Give them another, sir—only one—and reload. You missed first time. You must bring down a couple now.”
Archie fired again, and this time one of the Malays seemed to spring out of the boat and drift behind.
“That’s good, sir. Here’s your cartridge. Now then! Give them two now. They are coming straight for us where the smoke shows. Quick, sir!”
Bang, bangwent the double gun, the reports almost simultaneous, for in his excitement Archie had no thought of reserving one shot; and as he hastily reloaded he could see in the rapidly dimming light that the rowers were changing the course of their naga, as if to get out of the line of fire, and were beginning to make for the opposite shore; while the big Malay in the small sampan had ceased his efforts to pole his boat more swiftly along, and was using the bamboo to steer the little vessel, which, gathering force from the man’s efforts combined with the swift stream, plunged right in through the hanging boughs behind which the two lads crouched. There was a heavy crash, mingled with the breaking of twigs, and the two lads were driven headlong into the bottom of their boat.
Archie struggled up at once, holding his double gun on high to keep it out of the water, with which he was drenched; and the first thing he could make out through the wide opening torn in their shelter was the naga and its occupants gliding rapidly by, the rowers pulling as if for dear life, and the spearmen crouching down in the bottom, half-hidden by the awning. Then they were gone.
Meanwhile Peter was struggling to free himself from the encumbrance of the big Malay, who had been shot from his own vessel right upon him; and the next thing that met Archie’s eyes, as he gazed through the crushed-down leafage driven before the lesser boat, was Peter’s bayonet-armed hand with the weapon raised dagger-wise, and beyond the Malay, who was holding out his hands, the native boat with the Malay woman, pole in hand, panting hard as if from exertion. Then his eye caught the figure of the other woman, kneeling in the stern.
“Pete, look out! Quick! We must climb into this boat. She’s cut us down. Quick—before it’s too dark to see!”
“Here, I don’t understand, sir. This fellow knocked me down, and—”
“Understand! Can’t you see we are sinking? It’s deep water here.”
Before he could finish he dimly made out that the big Malay had struggled clear and seemed to be much higher as he dragged at Peter, hoisted him right up, and jerked him behind; while at the same time the panting woman was holding out the pole she used, at which Archie grasped, just in time, as he felt the water was gradually bearing him away.
The next minute he was being dragged over the side of the sampan by the two Malays, and as they lowered him so that he lay upon his back, Peter’s head suddenly appeared between the two strangers, with the eager question:
“Have you stuck to your gun, sir?”
“Yes; all right, Pete. What a horrible accident! Where’s our boat?”
“Rotten old cocoa-nut shell,” cried Peter savagely. “There’s the last on her just going down;” and he pointed to a spot a few yards away, where, dividing the pendent branches of their shelter, was the attap roof of their sampan. “And do you know what that means, sir?”
“Utter wreck, Pete,” said Archie, breathing hard from excitement.
“Yes, sir; and my four boxes of cartridges with all them blue pills gone to the bottom to feed the crocs.”
“But what about the other boat?”
“Why, we are in it, sir. Can’t you see?” said Peter sourly.
“No, no—I mean the enemy’s.”
“Oh! Out of sight, sir. Gone down the river just as if you were peppering them still.”
“Eh? What?” cried Archie, as he became aware of the fact that some one else had spoken, and that a bough of one of the trees that overshadowed them was being pressed aside; and, half-stunned in his astonishment, the young officer grasped the words that seemed to be coming in the confusion of some strange dream:
“Archie! Don’t you know me? I’m Minnie Heath.”
Chapter Forty Three.The Enemy’s Work.Archie Maine and Minnie Heath sat in the darkness, hand clasped in hand, the poor girl sobbing bitterly, nearly overcome with emotion, after, in a low, excited voice, asking questions about her aunt and uncle and Sir Charles. After learning that all were alive and safe, she burst out in so wildly hysterical a fit that there was a low, deep growl from the darkness at the far end of the boat.“Silence, Pete!” whispered Archie sternly.“’Twarn’t me, sir. It’s this ’ere Malay chap. I think he means that you oughtn’t to make so much noise at that end. I wanted to say something of the kind, but I didn’t want to be rude to the young lady.”Minnie was silent directly; and close to the spot where Peter had been speaking a curious rustling noise arose, which Archie could not understand, till almost at once the edge of the moon appeared above the night mist and lit up the interior of the shelter, and then it was plain that the big Malay fisherman was busy at work cutting down branches and laying them across the boat, in which a pile of leafage was beginning to appear.“What does he mean by this?” whispered Archie. “I suppose he means the branches to disguise the boat.”“I don’t know,” said Minnie. “I suppose so. I don’t think we need ask. He and Dula have saved me, and have been most kind.”“But can you talk now?”“Yes, yes; I will not break down again if I can help it.”“I’ll wait,” said Archie.“No, no; go on talking, pray,” half-sobbed the girl. “It keeps me from thinking. What were you going to say?”“I was going to ask you how you knew that we were in hiding here.”“Knew! Oh no! It was like this. Dula and Pahan were bringing me down in their boat, believing that they could reach the bungalow in the darkness and hide me there. Of course you did not see in the dusk that I am wearing Dula’s baju and sarong.”“No; it was all too dark and confused. But I did think you were a native woman.”“That is good,” said Minnie. “Dula brought me down to the creek where the boat was lying, and Pahan meant to pretend after dark, if we met any of the Malays, that he was taking in fruit for the Rajah’s men. But we were seen too soon. One of the Rajah’s boats came in sight, and the chief with it called to us to stop. Then Dula said I must lie under the attap mats, as they were going to pretend that they did not hear the call. They began poling the boat along as hard as ever they could, hoping, as the stream was with us, that we could escape; but—” The poor girl broke down with a sob.“Don’t talk about it, Minnie—dear sister,” said Archie quickly. “Sit quiet and try to believe that you are safe. Pete and I will die sooner than harm shall befall you now.”“Yes, yes, I know,” said the poor girl, stifling her rising sobs; “but I must talk. Don’t stop me. It helps me to grow calm again after the horrible excitement of that race for life. Oh,” she shuddered, “it was terrible! For they kept gaining upon us, till they got near enough to begin throwing spears, two of which passed through the attaps; and I crouched down, praying that the darkness that was so near would come down and hide me so that Pahan could run the boat in somewhere amongst the bushes. At last, when it seemed all over, and I was feeling that I must bid good-bye to life and jump into the river before I saw these dear people speared to death, my poor heart gave one great throb in answer to the sound of your rifle, while Dula uttered a cry of joy, knowing the shots at the Malays could only come from friends, and helped her husband to force the sampan right in amongst the trees where we saw the smoke rising; and then— Oh Archie! oh Archie!” She broke down, and as she clung to her old companion, the lad made what sounded like a dreary attempt at a mocking laugh, as he exclaimed:“Upon my word, Minnie, it was too bad! Here were we trying to save you, and you dashed in, sank our boat, sent all my cartridges to the bottom, and nearly drowned us into the bargain.”“Don’t—don’t try to make a laughing matter of it, Archie! I can’t bear it now.”“Of course you can’t. Forgive me for being such a fool. I say, your what’s his name—Pahan—he’s getting quite a stack of green stuff aboard, and— Hang it all! Look at the moon!”“Yes; I am looking,” sighed Minnie. “I’ve watched it many a time since I have been in hiding, and I never thought to look upon it peacefully again. Oh Archie! go on talking to me. Tell me more about Sir Charles, and what you have all been going through at the station.”“Can’t. It would take a month.”“Oh! do tell me something.”“Breaking our hearts about you, then—everybody in the place. Even poor old Mother Smithers sat down and cried like a child; didn’t she, Pete?”“Gugg!” said the lad, out of the darkness. “Can you get at your knife, Mr Archie? Mine’s turned into a screw-driver, and I want to help this nig— Malay gentleman to cut sticks.”“Here you are, Pete,” said Archie, after a hard struggle to get his hand into the pocket of his overall, and a harder struggle still to get it back with the knife.“Thankye—gugg—sir! Blest if I don’t believe I’m going to have a cold!” And the cutting and rustling of thick, leafy branches went on.“Now, Minnie, tell me, what do they mean to do?”“Yes,” said the girl quickly. “Dula told me—she can say a few words in English, and I know a few Malay sentences as well, so that we managed to understand one another—she said her husband thought he could get the boat down to the foot of our garden in the darkness, and then we could all carry baskets of fruit, and so pass through the Malays to a spot where we could make a dash for the Residency, where we should be safe, if some of the soldiers didn’t shoot us down.”“Ah,” said Archie slowly, “you needn’t be afraid of that, Minnie.”“What’s the matter?” cried the girl sharply.“Oh, nothing. I am only very wet.”“You are trying to hide something, Archie,” said Minnie earnestly. “You called me sister a few minutes ago.”“Well,” he said sharply, “that’s what you are to me.”“Then is it brotherly to keep something back?”“Oh, all right, then,” said the lad. “It was only because I didn’t want to give you more troubles to think about.”“What is it, then? I know: Sir Charles is wounded, or perhaps—”“No, no. He’s been knocked about, like the rest of us. I was keeping it back that our men haven’t got a cartridge among them left to fire. Pegg and I were at the bungalow last night to smuggle out your uncle’s double gun and the cartridges, and we had got in here to wait till night came again before we landed and tried to make our way back to the Residency.”“Say, Mister Archie, sir,” grumbled Peter, as Minnie sat pressing her old companion’s hand in token of her gratitude for what he had said.“What is it, Pete?”“I can’t understand what this chap says, but he made me shut up your knife, and has put away his own, so I think he means we have got as much green stuff as we can carry.”“Yes, that’s it, Pete. Well, what?”“Only this, sir. You see the moon there?”“Of course I do.”“Well, is it a heclipse or an echo, or anything of that kind, over yonder?”“Where? What do you mean?”“This ’ere way, sir. You are looking t’other.”“Nonsense!”“You are looking the wrong way, sir. Hold them branches back. Yes; it’s getting wuss, sir. Blest if they ain’t burning the Residency down!”
Archie Maine and Minnie Heath sat in the darkness, hand clasped in hand, the poor girl sobbing bitterly, nearly overcome with emotion, after, in a low, excited voice, asking questions about her aunt and uncle and Sir Charles. After learning that all were alive and safe, she burst out in so wildly hysterical a fit that there was a low, deep growl from the darkness at the far end of the boat.
“Silence, Pete!” whispered Archie sternly.
“’Twarn’t me, sir. It’s this ’ere Malay chap. I think he means that you oughtn’t to make so much noise at that end. I wanted to say something of the kind, but I didn’t want to be rude to the young lady.”
Minnie was silent directly; and close to the spot where Peter had been speaking a curious rustling noise arose, which Archie could not understand, till almost at once the edge of the moon appeared above the night mist and lit up the interior of the shelter, and then it was plain that the big Malay fisherman was busy at work cutting down branches and laying them across the boat, in which a pile of leafage was beginning to appear.
“What does he mean by this?” whispered Archie. “I suppose he means the branches to disguise the boat.”
“I don’t know,” said Minnie. “I suppose so. I don’t think we need ask. He and Dula have saved me, and have been most kind.”
“But can you talk now?”
“Yes, yes; I will not break down again if I can help it.”
“I’ll wait,” said Archie.
“No, no; go on talking, pray,” half-sobbed the girl. “It keeps me from thinking. What were you going to say?”
“I was going to ask you how you knew that we were in hiding here.”
“Knew! Oh no! It was like this. Dula and Pahan were bringing me down in their boat, believing that they could reach the bungalow in the darkness and hide me there. Of course you did not see in the dusk that I am wearing Dula’s baju and sarong.”
“No; it was all too dark and confused. But I did think you were a native woman.”
“That is good,” said Minnie. “Dula brought me down to the creek where the boat was lying, and Pahan meant to pretend after dark, if we met any of the Malays, that he was taking in fruit for the Rajah’s men. But we were seen too soon. One of the Rajah’s boats came in sight, and the chief with it called to us to stop. Then Dula said I must lie under the attap mats, as they were going to pretend that they did not hear the call. They began poling the boat along as hard as ever they could, hoping, as the stream was with us, that we could escape; but—” The poor girl broke down with a sob.
“Don’t talk about it, Minnie—dear sister,” said Archie quickly. “Sit quiet and try to believe that you are safe. Pete and I will die sooner than harm shall befall you now.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” said the poor girl, stifling her rising sobs; “but I must talk. Don’t stop me. It helps me to grow calm again after the horrible excitement of that race for life. Oh,” she shuddered, “it was terrible! For they kept gaining upon us, till they got near enough to begin throwing spears, two of which passed through the attaps; and I crouched down, praying that the darkness that was so near would come down and hide me so that Pahan could run the boat in somewhere amongst the bushes. At last, when it seemed all over, and I was feeling that I must bid good-bye to life and jump into the river before I saw these dear people speared to death, my poor heart gave one great throb in answer to the sound of your rifle, while Dula uttered a cry of joy, knowing the shots at the Malays could only come from friends, and helped her husband to force the sampan right in amongst the trees where we saw the smoke rising; and then— Oh Archie! oh Archie!” She broke down, and as she clung to her old companion, the lad made what sounded like a dreary attempt at a mocking laugh, as he exclaimed:
“Upon my word, Minnie, it was too bad! Here were we trying to save you, and you dashed in, sank our boat, sent all my cartridges to the bottom, and nearly drowned us into the bargain.”
“Don’t—don’t try to make a laughing matter of it, Archie! I can’t bear it now.”
“Of course you can’t. Forgive me for being such a fool. I say, your what’s his name—Pahan—he’s getting quite a stack of green stuff aboard, and— Hang it all! Look at the moon!”
“Yes; I am looking,” sighed Minnie. “I’ve watched it many a time since I have been in hiding, and I never thought to look upon it peacefully again. Oh Archie! go on talking to me. Tell me more about Sir Charles, and what you have all been going through at the station.”
“Can’t. It would take a month.”
“Oh! do tell me something.”
“Breaking our hearts about you, then—everybody in the place. Even poor old Mother Smithers sat down and cried like a child; didn’t she, Pete?”
“Gugg!” said the lad, out of the darkness. “Can you get at your knife, Mr Archie? Mine’s turned into a screw-driver, and I want to help this nig— Malay gentleman to cut sticks.”
“Here you are, Pete,” said Archie, after a hard struggle to get his hand into the pocket of his overall, and a harder struggle still to get it back with the knife.
“Thankye—gugg—sir! Blest if I don’t believe I’m going to have a cold!” And the cutting and rustling of thick, leafy branches went on.
“Now, Minnie, tell me, what do they mean to do?”
“Yes,” said the girl quickly. “Dula told me—she can say a few words in English, and I know a few Malay sentences as well, so that we managed to understand one another—she said her husband thought he could get the boat down to the foot of our garden in the darkness, and then we could all carry baskets of fruit, and so pass through the Malays to a spot where we could make a dash for the Residency, where we should be safe, if some of the soldiers didn’t shoot us down.”
“Ah,” said Archie slowly, “you needn’t be afraid of that, Minnie.”
“What’s the matter?” cried the girl sharply.
“Oh, nothing. I am only very wet.”
“You are trying to hide something, Archie,” said Minnie earnestly. “You called me sister a few minutes ago.”
“Well,” he said sharply, “that’s what you are to me.”
“Then is it brotherly to keep something back?”
“Oh, all right, then,” said the lad. “It was only because I didn’t want to give you more troubles to think about.”
“What is it, then? I know: Sir Charles is wounded, or perhaps—”
“No, no. He’s been knocked about, like the rest of us. I was keeping it back that our men haven’t got a cartridge among them left to fire. Pegg and I were at the bungalow last night to smuggle out your uncle’s double gun and the cartridges, and we had got in here to wait till night came again before we landed and tried to make our way back to the Residency.”
“Say, Mister Archie, sir,” grumbled Peter, as Minnie sat pressing her old companion’s hand in token of her gratitude for what he had said.
“What is it, Pete?”
“I can’t understand what this chap says, but he made me shut up your knife, and has put away his own, so I think he means we have got as much green stuff as we can carry.”
“Yes, that’s it, Pete. Well, what?”
“Only this, sir. You see the moon there?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, is it a heclipse or an echo, or anything of that kind, over yonder?”
“Where? What do you mean?”
“This ’ere way, sir. You are looking t’other.”
“Nonsense!”
“You are looking the wrong way, sir. Hold them branches back. Yes; it’s getting wuss, sir. Blest if they ain’t burning the Residency down!”