CHAPTER X.
The next two days passed quietly. The lads were both a great dealbetter, and agreed that if--which would almost certainly not be thecase--a means of escape should present itself, they would seize thechance, however hopeless it might be, for that at worst they could butbe cut down in attempting it. No chance, however, presented itself.Two Malays always squatted near them, and their eyes followed everymovement.
"Some time tomorrow the messenger will return," Harry said. "It is clearto me that our only chance is to escape before morning. Those fellowswill be watchful till the night is nearly over. Now, I propose that,just before the first gleam of daylight, we throw ourselves upon themsuddenly, seize their krises, and cut them down, then leap on shore,and dash into the jungle. The night will be as dark as pitch, what withthere being no moon and with the mist from the swamps. At any rate,we might get out of sight before the Malays knew what had happened.We could either go straight into the jungle and crawl into the thickbushes, and lie there until morning, and then make our start, or, whatwould, I think, be even better, take to the water, wade along under thebank till we reach one of those sampans fifty yards away, get in, andmanage to paddle it noiselessly across to the opposite side, lift thecraft out of the water, and hide it among the bushes, and then be off."
"The worst of it is the alligators, Harry."
"Yes, but we must risk that. We shall have the krises, and if they seizeeither of us, the other must go down and try and jab his kris into thebeast's eyes. I know it is a frightfully dangerous business, and thechances are one hundred to one against our succeeding; but there is justa chance, and there is no chance at all if we leave it until tomorrow.Of course, if we succeed in getting over to the other side, we must waitclose to the water until daylight. We should tear ourselves to pieces ifwe tried to make through the jungle in the dark."
"I tell you what would give us a better chance--we might take off two orthree yards of that bandage of yours, cut the strip in half, and twistit into a rope; then when those fellows doze off a little, we mightthrow the things round their necks, and it would be all up with them."
"But you see I have only one arm, Harry."
"Bother it! I never thought of that. Well, I might do the securing, onefellow first, and then the other. You could get close to him, and if hemoves, catch up his kris and cut him down."
"Yes, I could do that. Well, anyhow, Harry, we can but try; anything isbetter than waiting here hour after hour for the messenger to come backwith what will be our death warrant."
They agreed to keep awake by turns, and accordingly lay down as soonas it became dark, the Malays, as usual, squatting at a distance ofa couple of paces each side of them. It was about two o'clock in themorning when Dick, who was awake, saw, as he supposed, one of the crewstanding up a few yards away; he was not sure, for just at that momentthe figure disappeared.
"What on earth could that fellow want to stand up for and lie downagain? for I can swear he was not there half a minute ago. There isanother farther on." He pinched himself to make sure that he was awake.Figure after figure seemed to flit along the deck and disappear. One ofthe guard rose and stretched his arms; put a fresh bit of some herb thathe was chewing into his mouth; moved close to the prisoners to see ifthey were asleep; and then resumed his former position. During the timethat he was on his feet, Dick noticed that the phenomenon which hadso puzzled him ceased. A quarter of an hour later it began again. Hetouched Harry, keeping his hand on his lips as a warning to be silent.Suddenly a wild yell broke on the still air, and in an instant the deckwas alive with men; and as the two Malay watchers rose to their feet,both were cut down.
There were sounds of heavy blows, screams and yells, a short andconfused struggle, and the fall of heavy bodies, while from the littlevillage there were also sounds of conflict. The midshipmen had startedto their feet, half bewildered at the sudden and desperate struggle,when a hand was laid on each of their shoulders, and a voice said,"English friends, Hassan has come."
The revulsion of feeling was so great that, for a minute, neithercould speak; then Dick said, "Chief, we thank you with all our hearts.Tomorrow we should have been killed."
The chief shook hands with them both warmly, having seen that mode ofsalutation on board ship.
"Hassan glad," he said. "Hassan watch all time; no let Sehi killfriends. Friends save Hassan's child; he save them."
Torches were now lighted. The deck was thickly encumbered with dead; forevery one of the crew of the prahu had been killed.
"Sehi killed too," the chief said, "come and see." He swung himself onshore; the boys followed his example, two of the Malays helping Dickdown. They went to the village, where a number of Malays were movingabout; torches had been brought from the ship, and a score of these soonlit up the scene. Two of the rajah's men had been killed outside theirhuts, but the majority had fallen inside. The chief asked a question ofone of his followers, who pointed to a hut.
This they entered, and by the light of the torches saw the rajah lyingdead upon the ground. Hassan said something to one of his men, who, witha single blow, chopped off the rajah's head.
"Send to chiefs," Hassan said. "If not see, not think dead. Much afraidof him. When know he dead, not fight any more; make peace quick."
One of the men asked a question, and the lads' limited knowledge of thelanguage was sufficient to tell them that he was asking whether theyshould fire the village. Hassan shook his head. "Many men," he said,waving his arm to the forest, "see fire; come fight. Plenty of fightbeen; no need for more." For a time he stood with them in front of thepool. A series of splashes in the water told what was going on. Theprahu was being cleared of its load of dead bodies; then several menfilled buckets with water, and handed them up to the deck. The boys knewthat an attempt was being made to wash away the blood. The process wasrepeated a dozen times. While this was going on, the pool was agitatedin every direction. The lads shuddered as they looked, and rememberedthat they had proposed to wade along the edge. The place swarmed withalligators, who scrambled and fought for the bodies thrown over, untilthe number was so great that all were satisfied, and the pool becamecomparatively quiet, although fresh monsters, guided by the smell ofblood, kept arriving on the scene.
At last the chief said, "Come," and together they returned to the prahu.The morning was now breaking, and but few signs remained of the terribleconflict of the night. At the chief's order, a large basket of wine,that had been found in the rajah's hut, was brought on board, togetherwith another, full of bananas and other fruit.
"Well," Harry said, laughing, "we little thought, when we saw thechampagne handed over to the rajah, that we were going to have theserving of it."
Hassan joined them at the meal. He had been given wine regularly by thedoctor, and although he had evinced no partiality for it, but had takenit simply at the doctor's orders, he now drank a little to keep theothers company. In a short time the whole of the chief's followers weregathered on deck, and the boys saw that they were no more numerous thanthe prahu's crew, and that it was only the advantage of surprise thathad enabled them to overcome so easily both those on board the prahuand the rajah's followers in the village. The oars were got out, and theprahu proceeded up the creek, in the opposite direction to which it hadentered it. "Going to ship?" Harry asked, pointing forward.
Hassan shook his head. "Going home," he said. "Sent messenger sampantell captain both safe. Sehi killed, prahu taken. Must go home. Othersangry because Hassan not join. May come and fight Hassan. Ask captainbring ship up river; messenger show channel, tell how far can go, thencome in boats, hold great meeting, make peace."
The lads were well satisfied. They had a longing to see Hassan's home,and, perhaps, to do some shooting; and they thought that a few days'holiday before rejoining would be by no means unpleasant. They wished,however, that they had known that the sampan was leaving, so that theycould have written a line to the captain, saying what had taken place,and that they could not rejoin. There was at first s
ome splashing of theoars, for many of Hassan's men had had no prior experience except withsampans and large canoes. However, it was not long before they fell intothe swing, and the boat proceeded at a rapid pace. Several times, asthey went, natives appeared on the bank in considerable numbers, andreceiving no answer to their hails, sent showers of lances. Harry,however, with the aid of two or three Malays, soon loaded the guns ofthe prahu.
"No kill," Hassan said. "We want make friends. No good kill."
Accordingly the guns were fired far over the heads of the assailants,who at once took to the bushes. After three hours' rowing they enteredthe river, and continued their course up it until long into the night,for the rowers were as anxious as was Hassan himself to reach theirvillage. They were numerous enough to furnish relays at the oars, andthe stroke never flagged until, an hour before midnight, fires were seenburning ahead, as they turned a bend of the river. The Malays raiseda yell of triumph, which was answered from the village, and in a fewminutes the prahu was brought up to the bank. A crowd, composedmostly of women and children, received them with shouts of welcome andgladness. Hassan at once led the midshipmen to a large hut that hadevidently been prepared in readiness for them. Piles of skins lay intwo of the corners, and the lads, who were utterly worn out, threwthemselves down, and were almost instantly asleep.
The sun was high when the mat at the entrance was drawn aside, andHassan entered, followed by four of his followers. One carried a greatwater jar and two calabashes, with some cotton cloths and towels; theother brought fruit of several varieties, eggs, and sweetmeats, togetherwith a large gourd full of steaming coffee.
"Hassan come again," the chief said, and left the hut with hisfollowers. The lads poured calabashes of water over each other, andfelt wonderfully refreshed by their wash, which was accomplished withoutdamage to the floor, which was of bamboos raised two feet above theground. When they were dressed they fell to at their breakfast, and thenwent out of doors. Hassan had evidently been watching for them, forhe came out of his house, which was next to that which they occupied,holding his little girl's hand. She at once ran up to them, salutingthem by their names.
"Bahi very glad to see you," she said, "very glad to see good, kindofficers." The child had picked up, during her month on board theship, a great deal of English, from her constant communication with theofficers and crew.
"Bad men wound Dick," she went on pitifully. "Wicked men to hurt him."
"Bahi, will you tell your father how much we are obliged to him forhaving come to our rescue. We should have been killed if he had notcome."
The child translated the sentence. The chief smiled.
"Tell them," he said, "that Hassan is glad to have been able to pay backa little of the obligation he was under to them. Besides, Sehi Pandashwas my enemy. Good thing to help friends and kill enemy at the sametime. Tell them that Hassan does not want thanks; they did not like himto thank them for saving you."
The child translated this with some difficulty. Then he led themidshipmen round the village, and showed them the strong palisade whichhad evidently just been erected, and explained, through the child, thatit had only been built before he left, as but fifteen men were availablefor guarding the place in his absence.
The next four days were spent in shooting expeditions, and although theymet with no wild beasts, they secured a large number of bird skins forthe doctor. On the fifth day a native ran in and said that boats withwhite men were coming. The midshipmen ran down to the bank, and saw theship's two cutters and a gig approaching. The captain himself was in thestern of the latter, and the doctor was sitting beside him. A minute ortwo later they were shaking hands with the officers, and saying a fewwords to the men, who were evidently delighted to see them again. Justas the greetings were over, Hassan, in a rich silk sarong and jacket,came down towards them. He was leading his little daughter, and sixMalays followed them.
"Welcome, Captain," he said gravely. "Hassan very glad to see you. Allcome right now."
"Thank you, chief. We have learned from your messenger how gallantly youhave rescued my two officers, and put an end to our troubles by killingthe Rajah Sehi, and capturing the last of the piratical craft."
This was too much for Hassan, and had to be translated by Soh Hay.Since the chief's return, a number of his men had been occupied inconstructing bamboo huts for the use of the captain, officers, and men,also a large hall to be used for councils and meetings; and to this henow led the captain and his officers. When they were seated, he made aspeech of welcome, saying what gladness it was to him to see there thosewho had been so kind to him. Had he known when they would arrive, foodwould have been ready for them; and he assured them that, however longthey might stay, they would be most heartily welcome, and that thereshould be no lack of provisions. They had done an immense service tohim, and to all the other chiefs on the river, by breaking up the powerof one who preyed upon all his neighbors, and was a scourge to trade. Asthere were still several bottles of the rajah's wine left, champagne wasnow handed round.
"It makes my heart glad to see you, Doctor," the chief said. "See, I amas strong and as well as ever. Had it not been for you, my arm might nowhave been useless, and my ribs have grown through the flesh."
"I don't think it would have been as bad as that," the doctor replied:"but there is no doubt that it was fortunate that you were able toreceive surgical treatment so soon after the accident. And it has beenfortunate for us, too, especially for our young friends here."
Conversation became general now, and the interpreter was kept hard atwork, and Bahi divided her attention between the officers and the men,flitting in and out of the hall, and chattering away to the sailors andmarines who were breakfasting outside on the stores they had broughtup, supplemented by a bountiful supply of fruit, which grew in abundanceround the village. It was not long before a meal was served to theofficers, fowl having been hastily killed as soon as the boats wereseen approaching; several jungle fowl had been brought in that morning;plaintains and rice were boiled, and cakes baked. Tea was forthcomingfrom the boats' stores, and a hearty meal was eaten.