Blue Jackets Part 71

The men sent up a triumphant shout, and, as we swept round the next bend, we lost sight of the junks, and directly after of the two boats, the last I saw of them being that the crew of the second were dragging their companions of the first out of the water, and loading their own down to the gunwale edge.

"Now," cried Mr Brooke, "who's hurt?"

There was no answer for a moment or two. Then one of the men said, with a grin--

"I arn't drownded, sir; but I shall ketch cold if something arn't done-- my feet's wet."

"Yes, so velly wet," cried a plaintive voice, and Ching struggled up from the bottom of the boat, and stood up, showing his blue cotton garments to be drenched with water.

"What, have we sprung a leak?" cried Mr Brooke.

"Yes, sir," said Tom Jecks, "she's got a hole in her skin here forrard; but if I might be so bold, sir, if you was to send Mr Ching to lean up agin it, we shouldn't hurt much."

"Pull--pull steady," cried Mr Brooke. "Here, take the tiller, Mr Herrick."

He laid his gun behind us and handed me the rudder, before going right forward to the c.o.xswain, while I sat envying the men their coolness as they sat pulling away nonchalantly enough, though the water was rising fast and nearly covered their bare feet and ankles, while it soon invaded the grating upon which my own boot-covered feet were placed.

"Much injured, sir?" I shouted; and Mr Brooke gave me back poor Mercutio's answer to his friend, in _Romeo and Juliet_--

"'Tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door: but 'tis enough; 'twill serve."

"Here, my lads, one of you; I must have a frock."

"Right, sir, mine'll do," said the c.o.xswain, unfastening and dragging his white duck garment over his head.

This was soaked and wrung out to make it softer, and then thrust into the hole in our bows.

"There, you must sit forward here, and plant both feet against it, my lad," said Mr Brooke.

"Ay, ay, sir. Men never knows what he may come to. Fancy my toots being used to caulk a leak!"

He, laughing, sat down on the forward thwart, and pressed his feet against the jacket.

"Now then, a man to bale," cried Mr Brooke, and the c.o.xswain fished the tin baler out of the locker forward. "No; pa.s.s it here," continued our leader. "Pull away, my lads, and Mr Herrick and I will take it in turns to bale. We must get out of this narrow creek as soon as we can."

"Me balee water out," squeaked Ching, who looked very wet and miserable.

"No, thank you," said Mr Brooke coldly.

"Beg pardon, sir; I've got nothin' to do but sit here like a himage,"

said the c.o.xswain; "I can reach down and bale."

"Without s.h.i.+fting your feet?"

"Yes, sir; look here."

The man took the baler, and began to send the water, which still came in but slowly, over the side; while, after satisfying myself that we should not be obliged to run our boat ash.o.r.e and tramp back to the city, I kept on directing anxious glances backward to see if we were pursued.

"We shan't sink, Herrick," said Mr Brooke, returning to my side; while, after glancing at my very serious, and at the young lieutenant's stern countenance, Ching crept forward under the oars to where the c.o.xswain was baling, and, getting a second tin from the locker, he seated himself, tucked his loose things out of the way, and began meekly to toss out the water as fast as he could scoop it up.

"That fellow's a traitor," said Mr Brooke to me in a low voice, after a glance back by Ching.

"Oh no, I hope not, sir," I said.

"I wish I could hope so too, my lad. There's a deal of cunning in his plans, and he tried hard to make it seem that he was all the time working upon our side; but I feel as if he has led us into a trap, and we were very nearly coming to our end in it without a man left to tell the tale."

"But why, sir? What object could he have?"

"Plunder, for one thing; our boat, and weapons such as they cannot get.

Yes, I believe that he is in league with those pirates."

"Oh, I can't think it, Mr Brooke," I cried. "He has served us so well."

"Yes, to gain his own ends."

"But surely he wouldn't do such a base thing for the sake of getting a paltry share in these rifles and cutla.s.ses?"

"He would have the satisfaction of seeing us ma.s.sacred."

"But what satisfaction could that be, sir?" I cried. "We have always been his friends."

"The Chinese hate the outer barbarians and foreign devils, as they call us, my lad. They are obliged to tolerate our presence, but the common people, as you know well, would feel an intense pleasure in murdering every European they came across."

"All the same, sir," I said, "I don't believe poor old Ching would do anything that was against us."

"Well, we shall see. But what an escape, my lad! What a trap we were in!"

"And how capital to get out of it without having a man hurt."

"It's splendid, my lad. The captain will be delighted at that, and forgive me about the boat."

"But we had to run away, sir," I said.

"Rather strange running away to charge that boat as we did! But don't you take it into your head, my lad, that it is cowardly to retreat at the proper time. It is madness to go throwing away the lives of your men when you can do no good by fighting. It might sound very grand and heroic for us to have fought both those boats, and then tried to capture the junks; but we must have been cut to pieces in the attempt, and what then--"

"We should have been able to say that we did not turn tail upon our enemies."

"No, we should not, my boy, because there would not have been a soul left to tell the story. There, my lad, don't indulge in romance. He is the best commander who gains victories at the smallest cost of blood to his country.--Ha, at last! how much longer the creek seems coming back than it did going up."

"Running against the tide, too," I cried; and the next minute we glided out into the big stream, crossed the river, and settled down to a quiet, steady row on the far side, where the eddy enabled us to make a very fine rate of speed.

But our rate did not satisfy Mr Brooke, who kept on looking at his watch as the time went on, and we found that the swift tide had carried us much farther than we thought for.

"We shall never get back at this rate," said Mr Brooke, "and it can't be very long before the tide turns, and then those scoundrels will come sailing down, perhaps pa.s.s us before we can get to the _Teaser_."

"Hardly," I ventured to observe.

"Well, no; you are right," he said. "I am too impatient. We have a good start, and must get to the gunboat long before they can."