The War Tiger Part 7

Then taking a silent but hearty farewell of the innkeeper, the youths clutched the poles and in another minute they were gliding along the water street unheeded, except by the watchmen, whose questions they answered with a few copper coins, and they pushed on through the dark night, till nearly worn out with the exertion. The fact, however, that they were toiling for their lives, lent them additional strength, so after a short rest, away they went again in right good earnest; then the hum of distant voices floated through the night air. Resting for a moment Chow placed his ear near to the water, saying, "Truly they are following us, but more, my master, we are near the great dike, which it would be as easy to pa.s.s as to swallow a mountain."

"Courage, O Chow, let us pa.s.s the dike, and the rats will never overtake us," said Nicholas, toiling harder than ever at the pole.

This dike or sluice divided from the ca.n.a.l the waters of the river which Nicholas had been so anxious to reach, but as Chow knew they could not get the boat hauled over by Coolies at that hour of the night, he could perceive nought but a barrier that by arresting their progress, must put them in the hands of their enemies; still not liking to disobey, he toiled at his pole, and speedily the boat came alongside some twenty others, which had arrived too late to be hauled over that night.

Nicholas, however, knowing the influence of money, determined to get over the difficulty. So fetching the lantern from the cabin, he so shaded its light with his robe, that while it could not be seen by their pursuers, he could see moored some distance from them a little fleet of san-pans. This he had expected, so gently pus.h.i.+ng the boat alongside one of them he tapped upon the egg-like roof, and in another minute a man put out his head, when putting a piece of silver in his hand, as an earnest of a greater reward, the boatman acquiesced, and in a few minutes more he had aroused some of his fellows, who very nimbly set about mooring their boats till they had drawn them across the ca.n.a.l, so as to form a barricade, in the event of the enemy making its appearance; after which the boatman fastened a stout rope around the stern of the boys' boat, got into his own, and cautioning them to hold on by the roof of the cabin, with the a.s.sistance of some dozen of his mates in their boats, forced the little craft to the summit of the stone slope, when all clinging to the rope, let her slide gently down the other side into the river, when silently the san-pans moved back to their moorings, so that upon their arrival at the dike the yah-yu must have been strangely puzzled at the boy's escape from their clutches.

The dangers of the river, however, were far greater than Nicholas had calculated, for the great stream upon whose bosom they had embarked, was at times as tempestuous as the ocean, and they possessed neither oars nor sails; as for the poles, the great depth of the river rendered them useless. Again, the night was so dark, that except by the feeble light of their lantern they could not see each other's faces; their only consolation was, that the waters were then as smooth and tranquil as those of the ca.n.a.l, except that a rapid current seemed to be sweeping them along without an effort of their own.

"May the great G.o.d Fo protect us against Ma-tsoo-po, to whom we can offer no incense," said Chow.

"How! Can it be that one so brave on land should be so great a coward upon water?" said Nicholas.

"Truly it is a maxim, my master that, 'all are cowards who can't help themselves.' Chow in the waters would be less than the least of little fishes, for he cannot swim," was the gloomy reply.

"It is also a maxim, 'that the G.o.ds forsake those who forsake themselves,'" said Nicholas, adding, "But it is fatigue, my poor Chow, that destroys thy courage; get thee, therefore, into the cabin and rest for a time, while I keep watch."

"Nay, Fo protect us, or we are food for the favorites of the G.o.d of the waters," replied Chow, as the boat at that moment made a tremulous movement, which so alarmed Nicholas, that clutching hold of Chow's arm, he said, "Now put forth all thy energies or we are lost, for the 'bore'

is upon us."

This was sufficient, for in the presence of real danger Chow soon drove away the troubled fancies of his brain.

"The poles are our only chance," said Nicholas, and, quickly as thought, they fastened their poles to the sides, so that they stretched out like two great arms. "Let us but keep our whole weight steadily upon the handles, and we may keep her course straight," said Nicholas; and no sooner had they thrown themselves across the poles than a noise like that of distant thunder rumbled through the air; it was the great tide wave rolling like a mountain toward them. Now they could not escape; so, commending their souls to Heaven, they awaited its approach with suspended breath. It came, and, with a roar, caught up the boat, carrying it to a height of fifty feet; in another second the boys were covered with a cold sweat at the narrowness of their escape, which had been owing to their precaution. Then followed a calm, as if the anger of the watery element had subsided. The boys slackened their hold of the poles, and so they continued for two hours, going they knew not whither.

Suddenly the boat began to rock.

"To your pole, Chow," cried Nicholas. No sooner had he complied, than they found they had entered upon a rapid, for the little craft shot forth almost with the velocity of an arrow. Then came the first faint streaks of daybreak, and they trembled, for they saw that they had entered a narrow creek. "Steady, for our lives, there is hope yet, for yonder vessel may see us," said Nicholas. The vessel to which he alluded was a large junk, so skilfully handled that she seemed to be stemming the torrent. Gaining hope, the boys clung to their only chance, namely, keeping the poles in their fixed positions. Another half hour, however, and their strength became exhausted, the poles quivered, the boys felt they could not hold out much longer; still another determined effort; their minds lent strength to their limbs. Then the first light of the sun, an eastern sun, shone upon the junk, and disclosed a huge painted eye (the government emblem), at the sight of which, and screaming aloud "The yah-yu!" Chow let go his hold, fell backward, and one pole being thus released, the boat lost its equilibrium, the pole of Nicholas snapped, and she sw.a.n.g round like a Catherine wheel. They were in a whirlpool--nothing could save them--then came a fearful crash, and neither Chow nor Nicholas could distinguish more.

CHAPTER XII.

NICHOLAS AGAIN TAKEN PRISONER.

With the wild whirling of the waters ringing in his ears, and the great painted eye before his vision, Nicholas stared around. Where could he be? He was lying upon a mat, in a small low room; he sat up, endeavored to comprehend his position, and the san-pan, the bore, the torrent, the whirlpool, all flashed across him--but where could he be? There before him stood a copper G.o.d, hideously grinning at a pan of burning incense.

Surely it must be the cabin of a junk--but what?--whose? Possibly the yah-yu's. It must be so; and, brave as he was, he shuddered. Then, looking out of the window, he could see nothing but a vast extent of paddy (rice in the husks) fields. Then he saw the junk was pa.s.sing along a ca.n.a.l, which, from its width, he knew must be the great Imperial Ca.n.a.l. Then Chow--poor Chow--and as he believed him to have been swallowed up in the waters, the gallant boy burst into tears; and this great grief banished every selfish thought from his mind. Then he trembled for the safety of his letters; but, feeling beneath his robe, he found them secure. Again he wept for Chow, and, happening to look at the G.o.d, the hideous little brute seemed to be rejoicing at his troubles, and in momentary rage he knocked the deity off its perch with his fist, with such violence that the pain and blood upon his lacerated knuckles immediately reminded him of the stupidity of the act, and he laughed at his folly; but reflecting that the captain of the vessel might visit such an insult to the image upon himself he replaced it in its original position.

At that moment the door opened, and Chow entered with a tray, upon which were two cups, a jar, and other materials for a meal, and in his surprise exclaiming "Chow!" the latter was so much startled that he nearly dropped the tray.

"May Tien be thanked; my master is far from Yen-Vang."

"Where are we, O Chow?" said Nicholas, recovering from his surprise; but the boy would answer no questions until Nicholas had partaken of the meal.

As soon as by eating and drinking, he had satisfied Chow that he was really alive, the latter said, "Truly the G.o.ds must have been favorably disposed toward the n.o.ble Nicholas, to have kept him alive for so many days and nights, without brains in his head or food in his mouth."

"What words are these, O Chow?" said Nicholas, placing his hand to his forehead, as if making an effort to decipher the boy's meaning.

"Let my master open his ears," said Chow; adding, "Worn out with my exertions in the boat, I no sooner perceived the terrible eye than I loosened my hold of the pole, and either from fright or fatigue, became insensible; the water, however, revived me, and looking for my master, I saw him lying by my side upon a shelving edge of rock, for, thanks be to Fo, we had dashed upon the rock, the servant with out harm, but the master receiving such a blow that it deprived him of his senses; when, alarmed for his life, I shouted to the crew of the junk for help, and begged of them to take us on board, but the rats refused, saying, that as the G.o.ds had evidently reserved us for drowning, to resist would be to provoke Ma-tsoo-po. Then, as my only hope, I shouted to them that I had secured a traitor for whose head fifty taels were offered."

"Surely thou art not a rogue." But not noticing this, Chow continued, "The hope of so much silver made the rogues carry us on board, and then poor Chow could have swallowed fire, for when he begged of them to use means to recall thee to thy senses, the dog of a captain said, 'Know thou rat of a boy, that if fifty taels are offered for the rascal's head, it will save trouble to lop it off at once.' Then Fo sent a thought into my brainless head, and falling at the captain's feet, I told him that so great were thy crimes, that although fifty taels would be given for thy head, five hundred and a mandarin's b.u.t.ton would be given for thy whole body.

"Then said the captain, 'the dog utters words of wisdom,' and fearing to lose the silver, if you died, he commanded a physician who happened to be on board to make thee sound and whole, and moreover, promised to reward me with ten taels if I helped to bring thee round."

But as they heard approaching footsteps, Chow said softly, "Get thee to thy mat, it is the physician; do not let him bring thee to thy senses, or we are lost."

By the time Nicholas had lain down, an elderly man, with a small funnel and a porcelain cup in his hands, entered the cabin, and with as much meaningless mystery of manner as one of our doctors, knelt by his side and commenced the comical operation of feeling his pulse, or rather pulses, for the physician's hands and fingers traveled up and down the boy's body like a flea in search of a choice bite. Having gone through this performance, he placed the funnel in the patient's mouth, and poured down his throat a decoction of the gen-seng root, a plant which the Chinese believe will cure all ills; and, disagreeable and difficult as it was, Nicholas swallowed it, which so delighted the old gentleman that he left the cabin chuckling, but telling Chow on no account to attempt to awake him for the next three hours, as he was a.s.sured that nature was bringing him to by her own means.

"Verily the old cheat believes I have a fever," said Nicholas, jumping up as soon as the doctor had left the cabin.

Chow, who had been gazing from the window of the cabin while the physician was present, no sooner saw him leave than he said, "We shall leave the dogs now;" adding, "Let the n.o.ble Nicholas remain senseless till Chow returns," and without another word he left the cabin.

For some time Nicholas remained quiet upon the mat, but getting tired he arose, and looking out of the window he saw that the junk was in the middle of the ca.n.a.l, and from the great quant.i.ty of boats knew they were near to some great city. He had not, however, been looking long, when to his surprise he saw one of these san-pans come alongside the junk, and taking Chow on board, paddled off to the sh.o.r.e, where he remained for some time, and then was brought back to the junk. What could that mean?

Surely Chow was not playing him false. No he was ashamed of the thought.

The boy must be concocting some scheme for his benefit; but hearing footsteps he resumed his position upon the mat, and in another minute the physician and Chow entered. This time the doctor only went through the pulse performance, saying, "Now if the rascal would but move a limb it would show that Fo and the immortal drug had sent the blood into his muscles."

A comical notion came into the patient's head; it was dangerous, but it might prevent the necessity of the funnel being put in his throat, and so with a slight yawn he suddenly gave the old gentleman such a kick on the s.h.i.+ns that he started with surprise, but delighted that his treatment had succeeded, he said, "Truly the rogue is getting his strength," and hopped out of the room, uttering maledictions upon the sailors for robbing him of his gen-seng.

"What meant the rat by those words?" said Nicholas, and he was more than satisfied when Chow told him the following story: The doctor placed implicit faith in the wonderful curative powers of the famous gen-seng, a quant.i.ty of which he carried about with him, ready for any accident that might happen. Knowing this, Chow had managed to secure the whole, and, as he antic.i.p.ated, when the old gentleman discovered his loss he grew furious, and told the captain that Nicholas would die. The captain being in fear of losing his reward, had all the men searched, and not a few beaten with the bamboo. It was all of no use. What was to be done?

Chow offered to go ash.o.r.e and procure some; the captain agreed, a signal was made for a boatman, who, as we have seen, came off to the junk, took Chow ash.o.r.e, from whence he returned with the much-prized plant, which, by the way, he had no greater trouble in obtaining than putting his hand in a hole in the lining of his outer garment.

While in the boat Chow had made good use of his time, for he had bribed the boatman to bring his little craft alongside the junk about the middle of the third watch.

The night is divided into five watches; the first begins at seven and is distinguished by a single stroke, which is repeated every minute till the second watch, when two blows are given, and so with the third, fourth, and fifth.

Anxiously did they await the treble sound; at length it came,--one, two, three,--and they stood with breathless expectation; about the tenth minute of the third watch there was a tap at the paper window, when pulling out his knife, Chow ran the blade around the paper, and the next moment the end of a rope was thrown through. Making this fast to a hook within the cabin, Nicholas crept legs foremost through the hole, and catching hold of a rope sw.a.n.g himself into the san-pan. Chow followed, and they crawled into the little cabin, when the san-pan glided away, not, however, without arousing one of the sailors, who believing that the boat had crept alongside with some nefarious design upon the property of the vessel, sharply warned the boatman of the danger of any such attempt, as he was on the _qui vive_. The boatman, however, having given a satisfactory reply, he pushed onward, and after pa.s.sing through a little world of junks, san-pans, and barges, they managed to effect a landing without being noticed. After which, the man having fastened his boat led them through the suburbs till they reached a small mud hut, from the top of which issued a wreathing column of flame and smoke.

"It is the hut of a sentry," exclaimed Nicholas, who knew that the signal huts were distributed at distances of about a mile apart throughout the interior, as a warning to all would-be depredators that the police were on the alert, and this being precisely the kind of place they should have avoided, he said, "For what purpose has the worthy boatman brought us to this hut."

"Truly, my master, we are in safe hands, for the man on duty is the boatman's brother and will let us hide here till morning," said Chow, and the next moment they were within the hut partaking of a portion of the soldier's fare of hot tea and rice bread.

After some little time the boatman said, "Truly it is not often that brothers meet, and it is well that we should have a fraternal conversation."

When the men left the hut Chow took a paper from his robe, leant over a fire, and having perused it, said, "The dog is a rogue, he would give us shelter to-night but to betray us in the morning."

"What words are these? Truly the boatman knew us as nought but two poor travelers."

"My master's thoughts are generous," replied Chow; adding, as he handed Nicholas the paper, "Let the n.o.ble man-boy read for himself."

Taking the paper, Nicholas read, "Let the n.o.ble commander offer a handsome reward, and the rascals who have escaped shall be again placed in his hands."

"Truly this is villainy; but how fell this paper into thy hands, O Chow."

"Is it not a maxim that wickedness defeats its own ends?" said Chow; adding, "As thy servant was getting from the window of the junk into the san-pan, that paper fell into his hand. Doubtless the rascal boatman threw it upon the deck, from whence by accident, it fell into my hands."

"Truly it must have been thrown by the hand of Heaven," said Nicholas.

"We will defeat the rascals, for fortunately I have saved one of the thieves' pastiles," said Chow, pulling one of the pyramids from beneath his robe.