CHAPTER IX.
The party landed at the village the next morning, but found it entirelydeserted.
"It is most important that we should take a prisoner, Ferguson," thecaptain said, as he and the first lieutenant paced up and down thequarterdeck; "we must catch the two prahus if we can. At present wedon't know whether they have gone up or down the river, and it wouldbe absolutely useless for us to wait until we get some clew to theirwhereabouts. After we have finished with them, we will go up the otherbranch, and try to find the two we know to be up there. I should notlike to leave our work unfinished."
"Certainly not, sir. I am afraid, though, it is of no use landing to tryto get hold of a prisoner. No doubt the woods are full of them. Thereare the townspeople and those who came to help them; and though many ofthose who tried to swim ashore from the sunken boats may have beentaken by the alligators, still the greater portion must have landed allright."
"I should think, Mr. Ferguson, that it would be a good plan to send aparty of twenty men on shore after nightfall and to distribute them, twomen to a hut. Possibly two or three of the Malays may come down to thevillage before morning, either to fetch valuables they may have leftbehind, or to see whether we are still here. They may come tonight,or they may come some time tomorrow, crawling through the plantationsbehind the houses. At any rate, I will wait here a day or two on thechance."
"Whom shall I send with the men, sir?"
"You had better send Parkhurst and Balderson; they will have moreauthority among the men than the younger midshipmen. The men better takethree days' cooked provisions on shore and ten small kegs of water, onefor each hut. I will give Parkhurst his instructions before he lands."
"Now, Mr. Parkhurst," he said, when the boat was lowered soon afterdark, "you must bear in mind that the greatest vigilance will benecessary. Choose ten huts close together. One man in each hut must bealways awake; there must be no talking above a whisper; and duringthe daytime no one must leave his hut on any account whatever. Afternightfall you and Mr. Balderson will move from hut to hut, to see that avigilant watch is kept. You must, of course, take watch and watch, nightand day. You must remember that not only is it most important that anative should be captured, but you must be on your guard against anattack on yourselves. It is quite conceivable that a party may come downto see if there are any of us in the village.
"In case of attack, you must gather in one hut, and fire three shots asa signal to us; a musket shot will be fired in return. When you hear it,every man must throw himself down, for the guns will be already loadedwith grape, and I shall fire a broadside towards the spot where I haveheard your signal.
"As soon as the broadside is fired, make down to the shore, occupy ahouse close to the water, and keep the Malays off till the boats comeashore to fetch you off. Your crew has been very carefully picked. Ihave consulted the warrant officers, and they have selected the mosttaciturn men in the ship. There is to be no smoking; of course the mencan chew as much as they like; but the smell of tobacco smoke would atonce deter any native from entering a hut. If a Malay should come in andtry to escape, he must be fired on as he runs away; but the men are toaim at his legs."
The instructions were carried out. A small hole was bored in the backof each of the huts, so that a constant watch could be kept up unseenby the closest observer in the forest, a hundred yards behind. The nightpassed off quietly, as did the next day. The men slept and watched byturns. On the afternoon of the second day, a native was seen movingcautiously from tree to tree along the edge of the forest. As soon as itwas dark, Dick, whose watch it was, crawled cautiously from hut to hut.
"That fellow we saw today may come at any moment," he said. "If one ofyou see him coming, the other must place himself close to the door, andif he enters, throw himself upon him and hold his arms tightly till theothers come up to help. Keep your rope handy to twist round him, andremember these fellows are as slippery as eels."
Having made the round, he returned to the hut in the center of theothers that he and Harry occupied. Half an hour later, they heard asudden outcry from the hut next to them, and rushing in, found the twomen there struggling with a Malay. With their aid he was speedily bound;then the men were called from the other huts, and the whole party randown to the water's edge, where Harry hailed the ship. A boat put offat once, and they were taken on board. The prisoner was led tothe captain's cabin, and there examined through the medium of theinterpreter. He refused to answer any questions until, by the captain'sorders, he was taken on deck again and a noose placed round his neck,and the interpreter told him that, unless he spoke, he was to be hauledup to the yard's arm. The man was still silent.
"Tighten the strain very gradually," the captain said to the sailorsholding the other end of the rope. "Raise him two or three feet abovethe deck, and then, when the doctor holds up his hand, lower him at onceagain."
This was done. The man, though half strangled, was still conscious, andon the noose being loosened, and Soh Hay saying that, unless he spoke,he would be again run up, he said, as soon as he got his breath, that hewould answer any question. On being taken to the cabin, he said that theprahus had gone down the river, and had ascended the other arm. They hadonly gone a few miles above the town, for one had been so injured thatthere had been difficulty in keeping her afloat, and it was necessary torun her into a creek in order to repair her before going up farther.
Half an hour later steam was up, and before morning the Serpent lay offthe mouth of the creek which the Malay pointed out as the one that theprahu had entered. The second officer was this time placed in commandof the boats, he himself going in the launch, the third officer took thefirst cutter, the two midshipmen the second. No time was lost in makingpreparations, for it was desirable to capture the prahu before she wasaware that the Serpent had left her position in the other river. Fora mile the boats rowed up the creek, which narrowed until they wereobliged to go in single file. It widened suddenly, and as the launchdashed through, a shower of balls tore up the water round her; while atthe same moment a great tree fell across the creek, completely barringtheir retreat, and narrowly shaving the stern of the midshipmen's boat,which was the last in the line. Fortunately the launch had escapedserious injury, and with a shout of "Treachery," Lieutenant Hopkins drewhis pistol to put a ball through the head of their guide, but as he didso, the man sprang overboard and dived towards the shore.
"Row, men; we have all our work cut out for us. There are three prahusahead; steer for the center one, coxswain."
With a cheer the men bent to their oars, and dashed at the prahu which,as was evident by patches of plank freshly fastened to her side, was oneof those that had before escaped them.
"Follow me," the lieutenant shouted to the boat behind; "we must takethem one by one." The three boats dashed at the pirate craft, which wascrowded with men, regardless of the fire from the other two vessels.The launch steered for her stem, the first cutter for her bow, whilethe midshipmen swept round her, and boarded her on the opposite side. Afurious contest took place on her deck, the Malays being so confusedby being assailed at three points simultaneously that the midshipmen'sparty were enabled to gain a footing with but very slight resistance.The shouts of the Malays near them brought many running from the otherpoints, and the parties there gained a footing with comparatively littleloss. Then a desperate struggle began; but the Malays were unable towithstand the furious attack of the British, and ere long began to leapoverboard and swim to the other craft, which were both coming to theiraid.
The launch's gun had not been fired, and, calling to Dick, Harry leapeddown into the boat. The two midshipmen trained the gun upon the nearestprahu, and aiming at the waterline, fired it when the craft was withintwenty feet of them. A moment later its impetus brought it against theside of the launch, which was crushed like an eggshell between it andthe captured prahu, the two midshipmen springing on board just in time.It was the Malays' turn to board now, that of the British to preventthem; the musketry of the sailors and
marines for a time kept the enemyoff, but they strove desperately to gain a footing on board, until aloud cry was heard, and the craft into which the midshipmen had firedsank suddenly, and a loud cheer broke from the British.
The two midshipmen were engaged with the other pirate, from whom a cryof dismay arose at seeing the disappearance of their friends.
"Now, lads, follow me," Harry shouted as the Malays strove to push theircraft away. Followed by a dozen sailors, they leaped on to her deck; butthe efforts of the Malays succeeded in thrusting the vessels apart. Invain the midshipmen and their followers fought desperately. Harry wasfelled by a blow with a war club, Dick cut down with a kris; half theseamen were killed, the others jumped overboard and swam back to theirvessel. Lieutenant Hopkins shouted to the men to take to the boats, andthe two cutters were speedily manned. One, however, was in a sinkingcondition; but Lieutenant Hopkins with the other started in pursuit ofthe prahu, whose crew had already got their oars out, and in spite ofthe efforts of the sailors, soon left them behind. Pursuit was evidentlyhopeless, and reluctantly the lieutenant ordered the men to row back. Onreturning to the scene of combat, they saw sunk near the bank thefourth of the prahus. "The spy was so far right," the second lieutenantmuttered--"this fellow did sink; now we must see that she does no moremischief." He brought the captured prahu alongside the others, whosedecks were but a foot or two below the water, and fired several shotsthrough their bottoms. Then he set the captured craft on fire and tookto the boats, which with great difficulty forced their way under thefallen tree and rowed back to the ship.
The third lieutenant had been shot dead, twelve men had been killed,ten of the midshipmen's party were missing, and of the rest but few hadescaped without wounds more or less serious.
Harry was the first to recover his senses, being roughly brought to bya bucket of water being dashed over him. He looked round the deck. Ofthose who had sprung on board with him, none were visible save DickBalderson, who was lying near him, with a cloth tightly bound round hisshoulder.
As he rose into a sitting position a murmur of satisfaction broke fromsome Malays standing near. It was some time before he could rally hissenses.
"I suppose," he thought at last, "they are either keeping us for tortureor as hostages. The rajah may have given orders that any officerscaptured were to be spared and brought to him. I don't know what hisexpectations are," he muttered to himself; "but if he expects to bereinstated as rajah, and perhaps compensated for the loss of his palace,he is likely to be mistaken; and in that case it will go mighty hardwith us, for there is no shadow of doubt that he is a savage and cruelbrute."
He had now shaken off the numbness caused by the blow that he hadreceived, and he managed to stagger to where Dick was lying, and kneltbeside him and begged the Malays to bring water. They had evidentlyreceived orders to do all they could to revive the two young officers,and one at once brought half a gourd full. Harry had already assuredhimself that his friend's heart still beat. He began by pouring somewater between his lips. It was not necessary to pour any over his head,for he had already received the same treatment as himself.
"Dick, old chap," he said sharply and earnestly.
The sound was evidently heard and understood, for Dick started slightly,opened his eyes and murmured, "It's not time to turn out yet?"
"You are not in your hammock, Dick; you have been wounded, and we areboth prisoners in the hands of these Malays. Try and pull yourselftogether, but don't move; they have put a sort of bandage round yourshoulder, and I am going to try and improve it."
"What is the matter with my shoulder?" Dick murmured.
"Chopped with a kris, old man. Now I am going to turn you on your side,and then cut the sleeve off the jacket. Take another drink of water;then we will set about it."
Dick did as he was ordered, and was evidently coming back toconsciousness, for he looked round, and then said, "Where are the otherfellows?"
"I don't know what has become of them. I think I went down before youdid. However, here we are alone. Now I am going to begin."
He cut off the sleeve of the jacket and shirt at the shoulder, rippedopen the seam to the neck, first taking off the rough bandage.
"It's a nasty cut, old man," he said, "but nothing dangerous, I shouldsay. I fancy it has gone clean through the shoulder bone, and there isno doubt that it will knit again, as Hassan's did, if they do but giveyou time."
He rolled the shirt sleeve into a pad, saturated it with water, and laidit on the wound.
"You see I know all about it, Dick," he said cheerily, "from havingwatched the doctor at work on Hassan. Now I will tear this cloth intostrips."
He first placed a strip of the cloth over the shoulder, crossed it underthe arm, and then took the ends of the bandage across the chest andback, and tied them under his other arm. He repeated this process withhalf a dozen other strips; then he placed Dick's hand upon his chest,tied some of the other strips together, and bound them tightly round thearm and body, so that no movement of the limb was possible. One of theMalay's knelt down and gave him his assistance, and nodded approvinglywhen he had finished; then he helped Harry raise him into a sittingposition against the bulwark.
"That is better," Dick said, "as far as it goes. How was it thesefellows did not kill us at once?"
"I expect the rajah has ordered that all officers who may fall intotheir hands are to be kept as hostages, so that he can open negotiationswith the skipper. If he gets what he wants, he hands us back; if not,there is no manner of doubt that he will put us out of the way withoutcompunction."
The men were still working at the oars, and for four hours rowed withoutintermission through a labyrinth of creeks. At last they stopped beforea small village, tied the prahu up to a tree, and then the man whoseemed to be the captain went ashore with two or three others. The ladsheard a loud outburst of anger, and a voice which they recognized asthat of the rajah storming and raging for some time; then the hubbubceased. An hour later the rajah himself came on board with two or threeattendants, and a man whom they recognized as speaking a certain amountof English. The rajah scowled at them, and from the manner in which hekept fingering his kris they saw that it needed a great effort on hispart to abstain from killing them at once. He spoke for some time in hisown language, and the interpreter translated it.
"You are dogs--you and all your countrymen. The rajah is sending amessage to your captain to tell him that he must build up his palaceagain, pay him for the warships that he has destroyed, and provide himwith a guard against his enemies until a fresh fleet has been built. Ifhe refuses to do this, you will both be killed."
"Tell him," Harry said, "that if we are dogs, anyhow we have shown himthat we can bite. As to what he says, it is for the captain to answer;but I do not think that he will grant the terms, though possibly he mayconsent to spare the rajah's life, and to go away with his ship, if weare sent back to him without injury."
The rajah uttered a scornful exclamation. "I have six thousand men,"he said, "and I do not need to beg my life; for were there twenty shipsinstead of one they could never find me, and not a man who landed andtried to come through the country would return alive. I have given yourcaptain the chance. If, at the end of three days, an answer does notcome granting my command, you will be krised. Keep a strict watch uponthem, Captain, and kill them at once if they try to escape."
"I will guard them safely, Rajah," the captain, who, from the richmaterials of his sarong and jacket, was evidently himself a chief, saidquietly; "but as to escape, where could they go? They could but wanderin the jungle until they died."
By night both lads felt more themselves. They had been well suppliedwith food, and though Harry's head ached until, as he said, it wassplitting, and Dick's wound smarted severely, they were able to discusstheir position. They at once agreed that escape was impossible, andwould be even were they well and strong and could manage to obtainpossession of a sampan, for they would but lose themselves in thelabyrinth of creeks, and would, moreover, be
certain to be overtaken bythe native boats that would be sent off in all directions after them.
"There is nothing to do but to wait for the captain's answer," Dick saidat last.
"We know what that will be," Harry said. "He will tell the chief that itwould be impossible for him to grant his commands, but that he is readyto pay a certain sum for our release; that if harm comes to us, hewill make peace with the chiefs who have assisted Sehi against us, oncondition of their hunting him down and sending him alive or dead to theships. But the rascal knows that he could hide himself in these swampsfor a month, and he will proceed to chop off our heads without amoment's delay. We must keep our eyes open tomorrow, and endeavor to gethold of a couple of weapons. It is a deal better to die fighting than itis to have our throats cut like sheep."