CHAPTER XVIII
Off to New Guinea
A purple sea from which the sun's rays flashed upward with all theiridescent colours of the rainbow; a gorgeous blue sky without a singlefleecy cloud; and a medley of brilliant islets marked the course of thegreat airship as she stemmed her way towards the wild, uncivilizedisland of New Guinea. Stepping the broad, long deck above, and enjoyingto the full a climate as balmy as that of Old England in the heyday ofsummer, one could peep down upon golden dots rising here and there inthe distance, dots which grew from a purple haze and became more yellow,till at length the deep green of luxuriant vegetation began to mergewith the yellow, till single objects became distinguishable, and untilone could trace long lengths of smooth sand upon which white breakersroared, wide-sweeping coral boundaries of silent lagoons that appearedby their wealth of colour to be of vast depth, and groves of wavingpalms that invited those aboard the ship to halt, to descend and restawhile amidst surroundings the peace and beauty of which none had everseen an equal. But sometimes the picture was spoiled, for dark objectsdotted the sands. Men raced out from amidst the trees, and puny bowssent equally puny arrows soaring upward in a feeble attempt to reach theleviathan overhead.
"Plucky of 'em," remarked the Major. "No doubt those islanders take usfor some supernatural object, and are really shaking in their shoes."
"Shoes!" interjected the Commander, with lifting eyebrows, lowering theglasses which he had held for some while glued to his eyes. "I don't seeanything to convince me that the people we have seen make use of suchcivilized attachments. Indeed, their clothing is chiefly remarkable byits absence. My dear Major, we are passing above islets seldom visitedby white men, some hardly visited even by wandering Chinese or Dyaks.Those are nature's children we see below, many of them without a doubtwild heathen cannibals."
"Ugh! Supposing we were to fall," laughed Dick.
"Then we should be promptly enshrined as gods," grinned the Major. "Idon't say, Dicky, my lad, that we should be allowed to keep this mortalstate. The chances are that we should be killed out of hand andskilfully stuffed. Pleasant ending, eh? First the worthy Mr. CarlReitberg, sportsman and magnate, does his best to blow us to pieces;then Joe makes a vain attempt to asphyxiate us all, or to plunge us forever in an atmosphere likely to act upon us as would a refrigerator.Finally, there come these natives and a stuffing process."
"For them, sir, yes," laughed Dick. "If they're cannibals, and we'regood eating, then there would be stuffing for them with a vengeance."
Sometimes fleets of canoes emerged from groves of palms or were launchedfrom placid lagoons, while their crews paddled madly in the vain attemptto keep pace with the airship. And so as to encourage them, and becausethere was no danger of colliding with high ground, Joe set the ship at alower altitude, till she was but a hundred feet above the water.
But such close acquaintance with this strange monster was too much forthe nerves of the natives. It had been very well for them to dischargearrows at her when a thousand feet up. But now, when her vastproportions were more apparent, they took fright, and without a singleexception bolted for cover, many of the passengers in the dug-outsdiving overboard and swimming beneath water.
"Not that it'd help 'em much," the Major remarked. "With a rifle onecould pick every one of them off as he came to the surface to breathe.Look! Did ever you see such clear water?"
It was positively fascinating to gaze downward and watch fish dartinghere and there, to follow the agonized movements of the natives who hadtaken to the water. For at that elevation the bed of the ocean was laidout like a map, a beautiful golden map, crossed by dull-red bands ofcoral often enough, marked by upheavals of rock in some places, andonce, close to a rocky headland, showing on the sand at its foot theoutline of a lost vessel.
"What a ship for treasure hunting!" cried the Commander. "No need tosound and dredge and send divers down in order to discover a wreck.There it would lie, beneath one's eyes, and one could set to workimmediately. Joe, tell us like a good fellow, how far can a man see intoother waters?"
"A hundred feet, sometimes more. In the Yellow Sea not nearly as much.But let us take the English Channel. I have carried out experimentsthere, and have detected the presence of a wreck in quite deep water. Asto a submarine, from a ship such as this is one could drop a heavy mineover a submerged vessel without difficulty and without much danger tooneself."
"So that the use of submarines will become limited once such ships asthis are built in numbers," ventured the Major.
"Exactly--or, rather, the risks to the crews of submarines will becomeeven greater."
"Which leads one to ask where all this modern invention will end? Asapplied to engines of destruction, it has provided means whereby men maybe massacred by the hundred; for modern guns and modern shell arecapable of terrible destruction at distances never dreamed of but fiftyyears ago. Ships may be caused to founder not only by the direct gunfireof an opponent, or by torpedoes launched at her, but by the aid ofsubmarines, the presence of which may not have been suspected. Add themodern rifle, with its high-muzzle velocity and consequent flattrajectory, and its vastly increased range, whereby troops may be slainat a distance of two miles from the firing point. Then, with wirelessapparatus to enable one general to co-ordinate his movements withanother, aeroplanes to spy out the land and report the presence ofunsuspected troops, and lastly, airships such as this one, capable ofalmost anything--why, sir, where are we coming to?"
"Were I to say to a stage where nations agreed to limit armaments, toclear up their disputes by means of arbitration, and merely to keepsufficient fighting forces to collectively police the world, I should beconsidered a madman," said Joe deliberately. "But that era is coming.Not perhaps in our time, Major; but come it must, and not precisely forthe reason that modern invention has made war more terrible than ever.No, sir. It is because ships such as this one, ships which plough thesea also, and better means of intercommunication amongst the nations,are making friends of the working people. Wars are made too often in theCabinets and Foreign Offices of the nations. Then men are dragged fromtheir homes to fight men with whom they would otherwise willingly havebeen friendly. They are sacrificed for an idea perhaps, for a pettydispute which the people will in future leave with every confidence tosuch tribunals as I have mentioned. Then, sir, there will be no war,save against savages who stand in the way of civilization."
Such a time may come--who knows? and it would be well for the peoples ofthe world undoubtedly. It is said that without war, without thestrenuous effort to keep in ready condition, a nation suffers inmorale, deteriorates, in fact. And one cannot but admit the value of theordered life, the discipline, and the method young men encounter whenenlisted in either army or navy. Still efficiency for war is not theonly means of taxing the efforts of a nation. Peace demands itsstrenuous times, and commerce, the arts and professions, a thousand waysof living call for vigour, for brain and muscle, for all that is good inmen, and thus keep up the morale of a nation. However, Joe and hisfriends were not the ones to embark upon such a discussion when sailingabove such a delightfully purple sea as that lying beneath them. Theyhung over the rail of the vessel, eyeing each tiny islet as they slippedpast it, and finally gave a shout of delight as New Guinea hove intosight in the distance.
"We'll mount a little so as to obtain a finer view," said Joe. "Then wecan select a landing-place. It's already evening, so that I fancy itwill be dark before we arrive over the island."
The tropical night found the ship floating directly over the island,across a great breadth of which she had rushed during the latter part ofthe evening. Then, having crossed a range of mountains, some of thepeaks of which were of great height, Joe switched on one of his hugelanterns. Instantly the land beneath was illuminated, and as the vesseldescended it was seen that she was directly above a huge plateau, whichran upward to the south, there to join with the foot-hills of the rangethey had just crossed, while in the opposite direction it fell away ofa sudden, descending
abruptly into a wide valley in which ran a roaringtorrent. For the rest there was jungle everywhere, impenetrable jungle,save in a few places, one of which seemed exactly to meet the needs ofthe voyagers. At ten o'clock precisely the great airship grounded,settled upon her powerful spring arms, and then became stationary.
"And here we shall be able to overlook the engines," declared Joe asthey chatted after supper. "Not that the motors want any particularattention. Still, a rest will do them no harm, while every engineerloves to make sure that everything is running as it should do.Therefore, to-morrow, gentlemen, the island is at your service, while Ishall be seeing to the matters I have mentioned."
To say that the island of New Guinea was at the service of hispassengers was to put the matter amusingly. For New Guinea happens to bean enormous place, and without an airship the crossing of it is almostan impossibility. Still, the neighbouring jungle and that broilingtorrent down below offered many attractions, so that, when the morningdawned, it found Dick and Alec already dressed for an expedition andarmed with shot guns, while the Major, the Commander, and Andrew steppedfrom their cabins dressed in rough shooting clothes, the latter with arod in his hand, while the others bore sporting rifles. Larkin shuffledclose behind the Major, bearing a basket of provisions, while Hawkinsand Hurst had donned their service gaiters, and each with a haversackover his shoulder intimated that he proposed to keep watch and ward overDick and Alec.
Then all trudged from the gallery into the open, sought for a paththrough the jungle, and finding none, proceeded to force their waythrough the matted trees and trailing creepers as best they could.
"We've agreed to make for the edge of the plateau," said the Commander."Then Mr. Andrew can make his way down to the river, while we can followor stay above--whichever appeals most to us. How nice it is to feelsolid earth once more beneath one's feet."
"And smell the vegetation," chimed in the Major. "Not that jungles arealways very savoury. Down below there, in the rainy season, I expectthere's a miasma, and a European would quickly suffer from fever. Now,here we are at the edge. _Au revoir_, Mr. Andrew!"
They watched the white-haired but active Colonial descend the steepslope of the ridge, and saw him halt at the side of the tumbling streamto adjust his rod and prepare his line. Then the shooting party divided,Alec and Dick with the faithful Hurst and Hawkins striking off in onedirection, while the Major and Commander, with the scowling Larkin,departed in another. And very soon rifle shots awoke the echoes, whileour two young friends managed to bag half a dozen birds not at allunlike pheasants.
THE QUARTET SET OUT FOR THE AIRSHIP
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"Do for the pot, and will come as a welcome change after frozen stuff,"laughed Dick. "Wonder whether there are any alligators down in theriver. If so I'd like to take a shot at 'em. Only we'd have to returnfor our rifles."
A close observation of the river revealed what all felt sure were thesnouts of the beasts Dick had mentioned, while a number of log-likeforms stretched on a mud bank were proclaimed by Alec to be undoubtedlythe animal he was in search of.
"Then back we go to the ship," said Dick with his usual impetuosity,leading the return journey instantly. "Suppose there ain't no difficultyabout finding her? Eh? It'd be mighty awkward if we lost our bearings,and you've to remember that she ain't like an ordinary ship. You can seeright through her, and that don't help much when trying to locate athing like that in these jungles."
As a matter of fact the task of returning proved extremely difficult,for whereas the path they had at first followed led them through anumber of more or less open spaces, they now found that they had plungedinto the densest of jungle. It called at once for the use of theirknives, and even with their help progress was slow to the point ofexasperation. Some minutes later they broke their way into a littleclearing, across the roof of which trailed innumerable creepers, deckedwith wonderful blossoms, while the trees were filled with screechingparakeets, and, in the shaded parts, by myriad droning insects. Thenthere was a curious crisp, almost musical sound, a twang in fact,followed by the dull thud of a light object striking the trunk of atree. Dick looked up. An arrow was quivering just above his head, andas he looked a second sped by him.
"My hat!" he shouted, thoroughly astonished. "See that! Arrows!"
"Niggers, sir!" cried Hawkins. "I catched a sight of one just throughthe trees. Best look for cover."
The words had hardly left his lips when Alec staggered backward andgripped the air helplessly. Dick seized him promptly and dragged himdown behind a tree.
"Just keep your weather eye open there, Hawkins and Hurst," he sang outcheerily, "while I lay-to here and repair damages. Mr. Alec's hit. Ah!It's not much. He's conscious and says it's nothing. Now, old boy, let'ssee what has happened. Ah! Gone clean through the fleshy part of the armand still transfixing the limb. Right! Break it off short and pull thepiece out. Now, let's have a look at the head."
He held the end of the broken arrow up and inspected it carefully. Itwas armed with a piece of pointed metal of a yellowish-green colour.
"Copper," Dick announced. "A little corroded, but I'll swear it ain'tpoisoned. Anyway, to make sure, I'll suck the wound. That'll make afellow feel easier."
Without hesitation he slit the sleeve right up above the elbow, usingthe sharp edge of the arrowhead for the purpose, and exposed the woundsand sucked them both in succession.
"Talk about cannibals," he grinned. "My--Alec, you taste too salt foranything! Feel better? Oh! Feel absolutely fit! Then let's see what'shappening?"
Half a dozen arrows had meanwhile crossed the clearing, though but forthe single native whom Hawkins declared he had seen, not another had putin an appearance, nor had there been so much as a sound from them.Merely the musical twanging of bows as the arrows were released.
"Put a charge into 'em, sir!" cried Hurst. "Them small shot'll soonclear 'em away. You'll hear the varmints holler."
It seemed to be a reasonable course to take, and at once Dick lifted hisgun and sent the contents of two cartridges swishing amongst the trees.Not a cry followed, but the curious twang of bows was not again heard,while no more arrows flew across the clearing.
"Then we'll push on toward the ship. Now, Alec, feel fit for it?"
"Perfectly--never more so. I admit that at first the shock of the woundand the pain rather made me feel funny. But I'm right now. Go ahead.Sorry to have been such a bother."
In single file now, Dick leading, Able Seaman Hawkins immediatelybehind, and Hurst in rear, armed with his clasp knife, the quartetstruck out for the airship. Once Dick imagined that he caught a fleetingglimpse of a native to his right. Then he thought he must have beenmistaken. A minute later the wireless mast at the top of the airshipmet his view, with its tiny fluttering Union Jack attached to it.
"Hooray!" he shouted. "There at last. I'm beginning to wonder what hashappened to the other three who set out with us."
He turned to speak to his comrades, took another step forward, and thendisappeared into an enormous pit dug for that purpose. There he wasreceived by a dozen or more active natives, and before Mr. Dicky Hamshawcould quite recover his senses, he was flat on his face on the stickyclay, his arms drawn up behind him, while the dozen natives alreadymentioned were busily engaged in winding green creepers about his anklesand knees and wrists and elbows. Not a sound escaped them. Not a blowwas delivered, though Dick struggled fiercely. As to his companions hehad no knowledge of them. They gave no shout, as one might have expectedhad they been attacked; there was not so much as a call to show thatthey had missed their leader. Only the birds still chattered above,while one could dimly hear the roar of the stream tumbling down thevalley. Perhaps it was three minutes later when Dick, trussed like afowl, was caught in the arms of a number of stalwart natives and pitchedupward, so that he landed in the jungle. Then his weight was shouldered,and thereafter he only knew that he was being carried through thejungle, that often enough his body was bruised against overhangingbranches, and that the
most noticeable thing about his captors was theirsurprisingly strong odour. For the rest, they were tall, muscular men,exceedingly well made, and boasting of an abundance of hair, a regularmop, in fact, which covered their heads.
"Real beauties," thought Dick, still rather breathless after such asurprise, but not in the least downhearted. "Handsome chaps, without adoubt, but, my word, they do just smell a trifle. Seems to me that theymust anoint their bodies with something composed of dead fish and glue.Ugh! 'Pon my word, it makes me feel quite giddy."
He tried wagging his head and calling to his captors. But not one tookthe smallest notice of him. Then Dicky made a second attempt, shoutingloudly. At once a huge native who was leading this silent party turned,scowled at the midshipman, and prodded him with the blunt end of aspear.
"And looks as if he'd use the business end next time," thought Dick,eyeing the ruffian. "This is a turn up. And I wonder what's happened toAlec and the others?"
But he was destined to be kept waiting, for those silent natives stillforged their way through the jungle, and when they had been moving forsome time and had unceremoniously pitched Dick to the ground as if hewere a bundle, it was only for a momentary rest. Another batch of menwho till then had been hidden in the jungle picked him up upon theirshoulders, and the same solitary dispiriting march was continued. Atlength, however, it came to an end. The jungle became thinner, and thetrees more scattered. Then they suddenly emerged into the open andentered a village built by the bank of a river. Natives swarmed from thelow-built huts, women, men, and children, and danced about the captive.Their chatter and their cries came as a positive relief to our heroafter the deathly silence of the others. He was carried across to one ofthe huts, the door was opened, and a moment later Dick was sent rolling.
"And jolly nearly broke my arm in the fall," he growled, beginning toget angry. "A nice way in which to treat a captive, to treat a fellowthey may be thinking of devouring."
That was Dicky Hamshaw all over. He couldn't help a joke, even at hisown expense, and there he was actually smiling in the darkness of thisnative cabin. But comfort is a great thing, even in the midst ofadversity, and at once he rolled over and managed to prop himselfupright against one of the plaited walls.
"Wish they hadn't been so free with these creepers," he grumbled. "Achap can't move, while my hands and feet feel absolutely numb. Now, howdoes a fellow tackle an ugly job such as this is? Of course, if therewas another here, Alec, for instance, or that beggar Hawkins, we'd tryour hands at gnawing. No, not hands; teeth, of course. But I ain't anacrobat, and can't twist my head round to get at this binding."
He could hardly move, in fact, and as the minutes passed the numbness ofthe hands and feet became more apparent. It was clear that if he were tomake no effort now he would not have the strength to do so if hedelayed much longer. And for that reason, and because the midshipman wasa good plucked 'un, as Hawkins had often and often asserted, he managedto get to his knees, though they were lashed together, and slowly jerkedhimself across the floor of the hut. The movement brought him to theopposite wall, close to the part where the door was situated, and therehe discovered a crevice through which he could look.
"The village street, and niggers hopping about everywhere. Still excitedat their capture," thought Dick. "Hallo! A procession. More parcelsbeing carried. Why, if that isn't Mr. Andrew!"
It was that gentleman without a shadow of doubt, with the Commander andthe Major following. He recognized Larkin with the greatest ease, forthat individual's face was gnarled and twisted, and his squinting eyesthreatened all and sundry. Hawkins and Hurst followed, borne on theshoulders of eight natives, while Alec's trussed figure brought up therear.
"All prisoners! What a turn-up for the airship and for Joe!" thoughtDick. "There go some of 'em into a hut. Yes, Mr. Andrew and Hawkins andHurst into one. Now, Larkin and the two officers into another. Jove!They're carting Alec in my direction. Better get back where I wasthrown."
That was easily done by the simple process of rolling, so that when thedoor of the hut was thrown open his captors discovered Dick lying on hisface, as straight as a plank, seemingly unconscious. There was a thudas Alec's frame landed, the door went to with a creaking bang, and againthere was silence.
Dick rolled across to his friend at once, struggled to his knees, andthen manoeuvred so as to be able to bend over him.
"You lie still," he whispered. "I'm going to try my grinders on thoselashings of yours. My! Ain't this a turn-up?"
He did not wait for an answer, but sprawled as best he could acrossAlec's body. Then wriggling to the best of his ability, he managed toget his mouth down to the creeper lashing which secured Alec's wristsand elbows. Nor was the task he had set himself so very difficult, forthose creepers were fresh and green, and only a bare half-inch indiameter. The teeth, too, which played upon them were strong andhealthy, with splendid cutting edges. So that within ten minutes thehands were free, while a second effort cut through the lashings holdingthe elbows.
"Buck up and get feeling into your hands," gasped Dick. "I know how theyare, as numb as possible. But be quick with it! Then dive into mypocket. I put that arrowhead there, and know those ruffians haven'tmoved it. There! Rub your hands together. Feeling better, eh?"
Alec beat his hands together, and rubbed them vigorously. But in spiteof that fully five minutes passed before he could use them. Then hedived into Dick's pocket, fished out the arrowhead, and soon had thelashings which bound the midshipman lying loose beside him. To cut hisstill remaining bonds was an easy matter, so that very soon both werefree.
"And now comes the easiest part of the business," whispered Dick, hisold assurance undiminished. "Alec, we've got to get a move-on thisinstant. See those two huts opposite? Well, our friends are lying there,and we're going to 'em. Now, come along, and look lively. If you meet anigger give him what for instantly."
It was a simple matter to force a hole through the wattle walls of thehut, so that within a very few minutes the two had emerged from it onthe side facing the river. Bending on all-fours, they crept away tillthey had passed three other huts, and had reached one of largerdimensions.
"Kind of courtroom, I expect," whispered the midshipman. "Anyway, itseems empty, for I've squinted in. It's the kind of crib to suit verywell, and happens to be exactly opposite the huts in which they've putour comrades. Now, in we go. Who says we're grumbling?"
He was a splendid fellow to follow, and heartened Alec wonderfully.Indeed, the latter was almost enjoying the adventure. But care wasneeded, and dash into the bargain, while the hardest task of allremained before them.
"Easy enough to crawl about behind the village, and to hide up in thiscourthouse," said Dick, scratching his head. "But there's the mainstreet to be crossed before we can join the others, and that streethappens to be swarming with smelly natives."
No doubt it was no ordinary difficulty. But then Mr. Midshipman Hamshawwas not altogether an ordinary individual.
"Hang the danger and the bother of it!" he exclaimed testily. "There arethe huts with our friends in 'em. Well, I ain't going to be kept here bya parcel of niggers."