"He is certainly blue, and that is hardly surprising," agreed Billy."But the question is whether his seeming repentance is sincere."
"Let's hope all that he has been through has taught him a good lesson,"said Jack.
"It surely ought to have," said Billy, and then the subject wasdismissed by a tall, half-clothed native striding into the lobby andbeating stridently on a huge brass gong inscribed with queer characters.
"What's that for?" asked Jack of the clerk behind the desk who lookedlike a German.
"Dot iss for Riz Tavel," replied the clerk.
"For Riz who?" asked Billy.
"For Riz Tavel," rejoined the man impatiently, as if surprised at theirignorance. "Riz Tavel, dot means lunch."
"Oh, I see," replied Jack. "Well, I'm ready for it whatever they callit."
At the summons of the gong several guests of the hotel came into thelobby, appearing as if they had just got out of bed. The boys wereamazed to see that many of the male guests wore pyjamas, while the womenwere in negligee. This, however, applied only to the half castes andDutch residents. The Germans and English, who did most of the trading atBomobori, wore tropical suits of conventional make.
They were waited on by barefooted Malays who set before each of the boysand their shipmates, when these latter appeared, big soup plates full ofrice.
"They call this the 'riz-tavel,' that means the rice table," explainedCaptain Sparhawk, thus clearing away the secret of the mysterious words."Rice is a staple all through the East, just like bread is at home."
Having filled their plates with rice, as they saw everybody else do, theAmericans waited for the next move. The waiters had all vanished afterdepositing the rice, and Jack was moved to remark whether that was allthey were going to get.
His question was answered by the re-appearance of the barefootedservitors. They bore numerous dishes piled with fish, duck, chicken,pork, omelette, onions and peppers. The guests all piled portions ofevery one of these dishes on the top of the rice, and the visitorsseeing that they were not expected to ask for more plates were fain todo the same. The boys, however, balked at a thin curried sauce which wassupposed to be poured over this hodge-podge of edibles.
Having disposed of what in itself was a mighty meal they then found thatthey were expected to despatch beefsteaks, salad and fruit.
"Well, they don't starve you here, that's one thing sure," said Jack.
"You must remember that their 'breakfast,' as they call it, is eaten inthe cool of the morning and usually only consists of coffee and fruit,"said Captain Sparhawk.
A groan from the dyspeptic Mr. Jukes, who had eaten a hearty meal, wasfollowed soon after by the breaking up of the party. There was much tobe attended to, but Captain Sparhawk said it would be useless to try totransact business till the late afternoon when the sea breeze sprung up.The interval between riz-tavel and that hour he said was set aside forsleeping, and nobody ever dreamed of interfering with the custom. Infact, he would have found nobody to transact business with.
He warned the boys against walking about in the scorchingly hotafternoon sun also, as it was said to induce fevers. There was nothingleft for them to do, therefore, but to pass the afternoon in theirrooms, although they would have preferred exploring the town.
When they came down again they found Donald Judson in the lobby. Heappeared very disconsolate. He said that no ships for American portswould call at the port for a long time.
"I guess I'm stuck here for the rest of my life," he complained, andthen made a sudden suggestion.
"Say, why can't you take me with you on that expedition?" he asked, forthe boys had told him something about the object of their presence inNew Guinea.
"Um--er--I don't know that Mr. Jukes wants anybody else along,"hesitated Jack.
"I'd work hard and do anything I was told to," said Donald pleadingly."Won't you ask him about it? It's awful to be stuck here like a bump ona log."
"Well, perhaps we might see about it," relented Jack, really feelingsorry for the unhappy plight of their former enemy, mean and despicableas he had proved himself to have been in the past.
"Thanks, awfully," exclaimed Donald, gratefully, and he went off throughthe gardens, saying that he was going to get himself a pair of newshoes. Soon after Mr. Jukes, having got over his attack of dyspepsia,appeared, the boys laid Donald's request before him.
"I really don't know," he hesitated. "Of course, the lad is in hardluck, but somehow I don't exactly like his looks and I don't see whatuse he could be to us. I'd rather leave money here to pay for his livingtill some ship arrives he could get a berth on."
"If you left him money in a place like this he might fall back into hisold bad ways," suggested Jack.
"That is true. I wouldn't wish to push any one down the hill when therewas a chance of helping them up," said the millionaire, musingly. "Well,I'll see about it," he added after an interval of thought. Just then, asCaptain Sparhawk came up, the incident was ended and the two elders setout for a trading store to arrange for supplies and other necessariesfor their dash into the interior, for Mr. Jukes had resolved to act onDonald Judson's unexpected clue and make his way up the river.
"I've got a notion that if we did take that fellow Donald along that hewould make trouble for us," said Raynor as soon as they were out ofear-shot.
"I don't see how he could, or what object he would have," doubted Jack."Still, I myself wouldn't trust him very far, in spite of hisdeclarations of reform."
But as it so happened neither of the boys need have troubled themselvesover the matter, for that evening, when Mr. Jukes sent for Donald tohave a talk with him, the boy's manner had changed entirely. He was nolonger servile and cringing as he had been earlier. In fact, heintimated very plainly that he wanted nothing more to do with the Jukesparty.
There was a reason for this, a reason that none of the party naturallywas able at the time to guess. Donald's change of front was not due toany mere caprice. A deep-seated reason lay behind it, and that reasonwas rooted in an encounter he had had just after he left the boys in thehotel garden.
CHAPTER XX.--A TRAITOR IN CAMP.
Donald's encounter had been with no less a personage than 'Bully' Broomhimself, whose spies in the town had informed him that a party ofAmericans had arrived on a yacht and had been making inquiries about amissing man named Jukes. Broom at once knew that the half-suspected hadhappened, and that a strong party in search of the missing man had, bysome inexplicable (to him) chance, arrived in Bomobori.
He perceived at once that Donald's presence at the hotel, where he hadabandoned him to his fate, might result disastrously for him and hecongratulated himself that the boy did not know more of the fate ofJerushah Jukes than he had already told our friends. But even thatmeager information, Broom foresaw, might be used to great advantage, sohe posted himself in a resort frequented by men of his type of whomthere are many in the South Seas, and despatched some of his crew tolook for the boy he had cast off.
It was not long before Donald who, to do him justice, came unwillinglyat first, was presented to Broom by two villainous-looking half-casteMalay sailors, for Broom had few white men in his crew.
"They talk too much," he was wont to say.
As soon as Donald appeared, the 'Bully' reversed his usual tactics andtried to make himself as pleasant as possible. He was a huge-framedruffian with a tangled black beard, and burned brown enough by sun andwind to be taken for a negro. Donald soon saw that he had nothing tofear from Broom now, and being a sharp boy he proceeded to take theinitiative after some verbal sparring.
"You've got an awful nerve sending for me after the treatment you gaveme," he observed. "What do you want, anyhow?"
"Now see here, boy," bellowed Broom, in his gruff voice which he triedto render amiable without much success, so used was he to ruling hisband with an iron hand, "I'll admit that I may have used you a bitroughly, but that was the way of the sea. A fine young fellow like you,though, oughtn't to mind that. A l
ittle knocking about is good for you."
"Yes, and it was good for me to be left stranded in this hole, too, Isuppose," said Donald.
"I didn't leave you stranded. I was merely out of funds and was comingback to pay you up and get you out of trouble," protested Broom, with anearnestness that appeared genuine. "See here."
He plunged his hand into his pocket and drew out a handful of gold andthen let it fall trickling on the table.
"That doesn't look as if I wasn't able to do it, either, does it?" hedemanded. "Now, see here," he went on, "I've got a proposition to maketo you. You're a smart lad, a clever lad, and one that's bound to get onthe world. I'm going to help you, too."
"Well, what do you want?" demanded Donald, who was very susceptible toflattery, and who had a weak nature, easily played upon by any oneskillful enough to touch the right chord.
"That gang that arrived on the yacht? What about them?" came from Broom.
"They are going to cook your hash if you don't look out," said Donald."That's Jukes' brother, and they're going to find him wherever you'veput him and then nab you."
"So that's the program, eh?" muttered the 'Bully.' "Now see here,Donald, I want you on my side and I'm not afraid to pay for it. A smartand clever boy like you could do me a deal of harm if you were sidedwith the enemy. You'll be no loser by it. You haven't told them anythingabout our little deal with the _Centurion_ yet, have you?"
Donald did some quick thinking. He was sharp enough to see that Broomwas afraid of what he might have said, for even in Bomobori there waslaw and if it were known to Mr. Jukes that Broom was in the vicinity itwould be immediately invoked. He balanced his two opportunities againsteach other. Cupidity, greed for money, had always been his main fault,and now he thought he saw a way to make more out of Broom than he couldout of Mr. Jukes. Besides, although he had appeared so humbled beforethe boys, and ashamed of his past conduct, his hatred still rankled, forthe reason that he blamed all his troubles on them and had often broodedover plans of revenge.
"No, I haven't told them anything about the _Centurion_," he said atlength, fearing that if he told Broom how much the Jukes party knew thefreebooter might withdraw from any deal he was about to make. "I simplygave them a cock-and-bull story about myself when they were astonishedto find me here."
"Ah! So you know them, then? They are friends of yours?" exclaimedBroom.
"Hardly friends," muttered Donald. "I knew them in America."
"You've no particular affection for them, though?"
"How do you know?"
"Your tone told me that, my young friend."
"Well, I might as well admit it. I don't like them. They wronged me inAmerica and that's why I am here now. I've treated them in a friendlyway because I'm out of money."
Broom's deep set eyes flashed.
"You've got a good head boy, very good," he said, approvingly. "Now toget down to business. I'll give you a handsome sum to stay on my side."
"Spot cash?"
"The money on the nail. I want you to do a little job for me in return.Keep your mouth absolutely shut, but find out all you can about theirplans. You will always find me here when you want to report. Here'ssomething to start with," and he pushed over the gold which lay on thetable.
Donald's eyes sparkled greedily as he counted it.
"All right, I'll do what you say," he remarked, as he pocketed it, "buttell me one thing: Where is Jerushah Jukes?"
"Ah, that is for me to know and for them to find out," was Broom'sreply, "but I'll tell you all about it in proper time."
"It's a wonder you are not afraid to be seen in the town," said Donald."Any one might tell them about your being here."
"Nobody knows about me but my friends, and there is no danger of theirtalking."
"But your schooner, which is as well known in this part of the ocean asa mail steamer?"
Broom smiled.
"You don't think I'd be fool enough to bring my schooner in here after Iheard about the arrival of Jukes' yacht?" he asked. "The _South SeaLass_ is safely hidden up the coast. I came here on a native canoe."
"Well, you ought to be good at covering up your tracks, you've hadenough experience," said Donald, with a sort of grudging admiration forthe ruffian.
"One thing more," said Broom, acknowledging what he chose to take as acompliment with a grin. "Jukes is very rich. Has he much money with himthis trip?"
"I guess not. Jukes is pretty foxy with his money. If he has much itwould be in some form that is not negotiable. He is not the sort of manto take chances."
Broom nodded his massive head ponderously. He was evidently revolvingsome plan in his mind. Presently he brought down his heavy fist with acrash on the table.
"Jukes has poked his nose into this business," he exclaimed, "and itwill cost him something to get out of it before he gets through."
"What do you mean?" asked Donald.
"If he was made a prisoner for instance, he would pay handsomely to bereleased."
"I should say so. He's worth about $20,000,000."
Broom smacked his lips.
"Some of that's as good as ours if you do what I tell you," heexclaimed.
"Ours?" A greedy look crept into the boy's face.
"Yes, when he pays up you'll get your share and get even with the peopleyou dislike at the same time."
When Donald left the place with one of his ragged pockets bulging withunaccustomed wealth, a compact had been formed that was to cause ourfriends a great deal of trouble in the near future.
CHAPTER XXI.--A MEMORABLE NIGHT.
"It's very peculiar that Donald should have undergone such a suddenchange of front," said Jack later that evening, following the boy'sstrange way of receiving Mr. Jukes' proposal. "He certainly appeared towant to go along the worst way a few hours ago."
"I can't help thinking that he has been up to some mischief," repliedBilly. "He's got himself a new outfit somewhere and I saw him paying hishotel bill."
"Well, at any rate that's a laudable act," laughed Jack. "After all, weare not much concerned with anything that he does now."
"No, that's true. By-the-way, how is that wireless idea of yours for aportable set getting along?"
"First rate; I've got it all worked out on paper and have cut the weightdown to fifty pounds without the aerials."
"Good for you. I've got a notion we can make a lot of use of it."
"At any rate it won't be much of an extra load and it might get us outof a tight place, who can tell?"
After some further talk the boys decided to turn in, as they had to beup early the next day. It was a hot, close night when the heavens seemedto be pressed down like a brazen lid on a pot. Far off, flashes oflightning illuminated the distant sky toward the mountains where, forall they knew, the millionaire's abducted brother might be concealed.
"Phew! It's warm," exclaimed Jack. "I guess I'll take a bath before Iturn in."
The boys' bedroom was typical of hotels in that part of the world. Itsfloor was bare except for a strip of matting. There were two beds in it,hung with mosquito netting curtains, and a tiny wash basin and jug. Anold-fashioned bell-pull hung near one of the beds and Jack decided togive it a tug and order a bath, when one of the native "bell boys"appeared. After a long interval, one of the barefooted functionaries ofthe hotel arrived. Jack made his wants known and the man hurried offagain without a word.
"That's odd," commented Jack, "but I guess he's gone to fill it and willbe back directly to say it's ready."
They waited for some time before a soft patter of bare feet was heard inthe hall and two of the native servants entered carrying between them abarrel. Another followed with a sort of dipper made out of a cocoanut.
The boys stared in amazement as the men advanced to the middle of theroom and solemnly set down the barrel and then stood about waiting withan expectant look on their faces.
"What in the world is all this?" demanded the amazed Jack.
"Him your bath, boss," cam
e the answer, "you gettee in him ballel, wewashee you."
"I'll be jiggered if you do," exclaimed Jack. "Get out of here," and themen hurried off, first staring at the boy as if they thought he was mad."Well, a New Guinea bath certainly accounts for the appearance of someof the natives I've seen about," he laughed, as soon as they had left."But I suppose I must make the best of it."
So Jack's bath consisted of dipping water out of the tub and pouring itover himself, trying not to flood the room. But apparently he did so,for soon a loud and indignant voice was heard at the door.
"Who is there?" demanded the boys.
"Sapristi! Eet is I. Zee landlord. You flood zee place. Zee water dripon me."
"Sorry," sang out Jack, cheerfully, "but I'm doing the best I can. Yousee, I'm not used to the customs of the country yet. I don't understandyour way of bathing."
"What do you mean zee bathing?"
"I'm trying to get a bath in this barrel that you sent me up."
"Taking a bath!" shouted the landlord in a startled voice, "a bath atzees time of zee night. You must be crazee. Anyhow, you drop no more ofzee water on me. I sleep zee room undaire."
"Well, he doesn't look as if a little water would hurt him," commentedBilly, as the landlord's footsteps retreated down the passage.
The boys were soon in bed, but not to sleep. Their exciting day amid newscenes had rendered them wakeful and then, too, the beds of the HotelBomobori were not couches of roses. The sheets and pillows smelledabominably of camphor and mildew, and the latter appeared to have been,or so Billy declared, stuffed with corn cobs. The same applied to themattresses. But as if this was not enough, there came a sudden shrillcry from somewhere in the room: