CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
REST AND REFRESHMENT.
Ching it was, and the men sent up a cheer as out pursuers grappled theside of our boat, held on, and our messenger came on board smiling.
"Velly muchee big job you catchee," he said. "Why, what fo' you lunalong so fast?"
"Why, Ching," cried Mr Brooke, "what does this mean?"
"No get away. Muchee velly bad man. No get to boat. Allee fightee.Get 'nother boat, and come along."
"You couldn't get on board us again?"
"No; too many velly bad men. Plenty blead; plenty fish; plenty meat.Velly nice. All in boat. Velly long time catchee."
Our men laid down the oars with a great deal of care and precision, asif it was important that they should not be a quarter of an inch wrong,and our coxswain doubled himself up to indulge in a good longcomfortable chuckle, while I could not help whispering to the younglieutenant--
"I say, Mr Brooke, I wasn't very far wrong?"
"No, my lad," he said, with a smile; "I give in. I was all prejudiceagainst the poor fellow, but I was justified in a great deal that Isaid. Appearances were dead against him. There, I was too hasty."
Meanwhile the stores Ching had bought had been transferred to our boat,and he had told us a little about his adventures--how, when he had madehis purchases, he had returned to the landing-place and found the crowdgathering, and heard the men declaiming against the foreign devils whohad stolen the boat they were using. The people were growing so muchexcited that he soon found it would be impossible for him to go off withhis load to join us, and as soon as he heard the most prominent of themen shouting to us to come ashore, he felt that his first duty was towarn us not to.
"Catchee allee. Takee off to plison. In plison velly hard get outagain," he said, and then went on to tell us how he felt it would bebest to hire a boat to come off to us from higher up the river, but inspite of all his efforts he could not get one and his stores on boardtill he saw the other boats push off to the attack; and then, when hismen willingly tried to overtake us, urged on by promises of good pay,they had been mistaken by us for enemies.
"But velly good boat, sail velly fast. You tink it Ching coming?"
"No, of course not," I said.
"No, not tink it Ching. Send boat 'way now? Ching go?"
"No, no," said Mr Brooke eagerly. "You will stop with us."
"You no velly closs with Ching now?"
"Cross? No; very grateful."
"You no tink Ching like velly bad man pilate?"
"I think you a very good, faithful fellow," said Mr Brooke, and theChinaman's face lit up.
"Send boat 'way now?"
"Stop; I must pay the men."
Ching shook his head.
"No, Ching pay. Velly clebby pay money. Two dollar pay men."
He went back into the other boat, and, producing some money from up hissleeve, he settled with the men, who nodded, smiled, and, as soon asChing had returned on board, were about to push off, when Mr Brookestopped them.
"Tell them we shall return the boat as soon as we have done with it."
"Yes; no go steal boat. Plenty boat in steamy-ship. Tell them capengive dollar, eh?"
"Yes, tell them that."
"You likee other boat and men?"
"Well, I don't know," said Mr Brooke, hesitating, as if he thought someuse might be made of such a fast-sailing craft.
"Ching askee."
He entered into a short conversation with the boatmen, who smiled atfirst, then scowled, stamped, and gesticulated.
Ching nodded and turned to us.
"Say, go to big steamy-ship and Queen Victolia jolly sailor, but no tosee pilate. 'Flaid cut off head."
"Then they must go; send them off."
The men laughed, nodded at us in the most friendly manner, then hoistedtheir sail and went back up the river. Then, provisions being servedout, our lads sat eating and chatting, while our boat sped seawardtowards where the two junks lay windbound not many miles away, or elsewaiting for some reason, one which Mr Brooke decided at last to be forreinforcements.
"Yes," he said, as I sat munching away at some pleasantly sweet-tastedbread which Ching had brought on board, "depend upon it, we shall seeboats or a small junk go out and join them by and by."
It is curious how old tunes bring up old scenes. Most people say thesame, but at the risk of being considered one who thinks too much ofeating, I am going to say that nothing brings up old scenes to my memorymore than particular kinds of food.
For instance, there is a flat, square kind of gingerbread which we boysused to know as "parliament." I cannot ever see that without thinkingof going to school on sunny mornings, and stopping by one particularditch to bang the wasps with my school-bag, swung round by its string.It was only the seniors who sported a strap for their books; and inthose days my legs, from the bottom of my drawers to the top of my whitesocks, were bare, and my unprotected knees in a state of chip, scale,and scar, from many tumbles on the gravelly path.
Then, again, pancakes will bring up going round the stables and cowhousein search of stray new-laid white eggs, which I bore off, greatly to thedisgust of the great black cock, with the yellow saddle-hackles and thetall red serrated comb.
Fish naturally bring up the carp in the muddy pond which we used tocatch, and gloat over their golden glories; or the brazen small-scaledtench, with all the surroundings at Norwood, where the builder has runriot, and terraces and semi-detached villas--I hope well drained--coverthe pool whence we used to drag forth miniature alligators with a worm.
I could go on for pages about those recollections, but one more willsuffice:--Sweet cakey bread always brings up Mother Crissell, who musthave made a nice little independence by selling us boys that sweet cakedotted with currants, some of which were swollen out to an enormoussize, and lay in little pits on the top. These currants we used to digout as _bonnes bouches_ from the dark soft brown, but only to find themtransformed into little bubbles of cindery lava, which crunched betweenthe teeth.
And so it was that, as I sat sailing along at the mouth of that swift,yellow, muddy Chinese river, munching the sweet cakey bread Ching hadbrought on board, and gazing from time to time at the geese we had shotand had no means of cooking, memory carried me back to Mother Crissell'sshop, and that rather bun-faced old lady, who always wore a blue cottongown covered with blue spots and of no particular shape, for the amiableold woman never seemed to have any waist. There was the inside of herplace, and the old teapot on the chimney-piece, in which she depositedher money and whence she drew forth change.
And then, in a moment, I seemed to be back in the great playground; thenaway on to the common, where we hunted for lizards amongst the furze,and got more pricks than reptiles. I saw, too, the big oldhorse-chestnuts round by the great square pond where you could nevercatch any fish, but always tried for them on account of the character ithad of holding monsters, especially eels as big and round as your arm.I never knew any one catch a fish in that pond, but we did a deal ofanticipation there, and watched the dragon-flies flit to and fro, andheard the rustle of they transparent wings. Splendid ones they were.First of all, there came early in the summer the thin-bodied ones, someof a steely-blue, some dark with clear wings, and with them those withthe wings clouded with dark patches. Then came the large, short,flat-bodied, pointed-tailed fellows, some blue, some olive-green. Latein the season, affecting the damp spots of the common among the furzebushes more than the pond, came the largest long-bodied flies, whichhawked to and fro over the same ground, and played havoc among theirprey.
You could hear the school-bell from there--the big one in the turret onthe top of the great square brick mansion; and in imagination I saw thatpond, and the dragon-flies, lizards, and furze, the shady finger-leavedchestnuts, and even heard that bell, while the sweet cakey bread lasted;and then I was back in the Chinese boat on the Chinese river, for Chingleaned over me with something in rice-paper.
"You likee
bit piecee flesh meat?"
"What is it?" I said, looking hard at the rather tempting brown meatwith its white fat.
"Velly nice," he said. "Got pep' salt. Velly good."
"Yes," I said; "but is it good? I mean something I should like to eat?"
"Yes; loast lit' piggee; velly nice."
He was quite right--it was; and after I had finished I went forward tosee if I could get something to drink. Jecks was inspecting the bigearthen vessel with a tin baler, and I appealed to him.
"How is the water?" I said.
"Well, sir, yer can't say quite well thankye, 'cause it arn't rightcolour yet, and it's got a sort o' fishing-boat flavour in it, as putsyer in mind o' Yarmouth market at herring time, but it ain't sopea-soupy as it were, and it might be worse. Try a tot, sir?"
"Yes," I said; "I'm so thirsty, I must have a drop."
He dipped the baler in carefully, and brought it out dripping.
"Has anybody else drunk any?" I said.
"Oh yes, sir, all on us; and I says to you as I says to them, you shutyour eyes, sir, and think you've been eating bloaters, or codfish, orfried sole. Then tip it down quick, and you'll says it's lovely."
"Ugh!" I ejaculated, as I looked down into the baler, "why, it lookslike a dose of rhubarb."
"Well, it do, sir, a little; but you're a spyling of it a deal bylooking at it first. You shut your eyes, sir, as I said; me and mymates thought as it's good strong water with a deal o' what some peoplecalls nootriment in it."
"None for me, thank you," I said, handing back the tin.
"Bring me some water, Mr Herrick, when you've done," said Mr Brookefrom where he sat holding the tiller.
"Yes, sir," I said; and, holding the baler to my lips, I took a hearty,hasty draught, for it was cool and refreshing to my dry mouth andthroat, and, that done, I refilled the baler and took it aft.
"Humph! rather muddy, Herrick," said Mr Brooke, smiling; "but one can'tcarry a filter about at a time like this."
He tossed off the water without hesitation, gave one of the men the tinto take back, and then altered the course of the boat a little, so as tohug the shore.
"We must not let the pirates suspect that we are following," he said.
"What are we going to do, Mr Brooke?" I said.
"You should never question your commanding-officer about his strategy,"he replied, with a smile; and I was about to apologise, but he went on,"There's only one thing to do, my lad, keep them in sight, and I hopethat at any time the _Teaser_ may appear. When she does, she will inall probability run by those junks without suspecting their nature, thenwe come in and let them know the truth."
"But suppose the _Teaser_ does not come into sight?"
"Then our task is clear enough. We must hang on to the track of thejunks till we see where they go. Depend upon it, they have two or threerendezvous."
"Think they have telescopes on board?" I said.
"It is extremely doubtful; and if we keep Ching always well in sight, Idon't suppose they will notice us. They will take us for afishing-boat, that's all."
By this time the sun was pouring down his beams with scorching violence,and we were glad to give up the tiller to one of the men, and get intothe shelter of the cabin, just beyond which we found that Ching was busyat work plucking one of the geese.
"Why are you doing that?" I asked.
"Velly good to loast."
"But we've got no fire."
"Go 'shore, make fi', loast all, and come back on board."
"Yes, it will be a good addition to our stock of provisions, Herrick,"said Mr Brooke, smiling. "Your friend Ching is going to turn out abenefactor after all."