Among Malay Pirates Part 6

The night was a dark one, and an hour after sunset the grapnel was got up, and the boat continued its way down the river, the oars being now m.u.f.fled, and the strictest silence ordered.

"Keep your eyes open, Mr. Balderson," the lieutenant said. "I think that it must be another three miles to the point where the river forks. The other branch comes in on the right, so we will keep on the left bank.

I don't think there is much fear of our missing the junction of the stream, but if we do, we will row on to a mile below the point where we think it is, then cross and keep up on the other side. In that way we cannot miss it."

For the next half hour no word was spoken in the boat. d.i.c.k kept his eyes fixed on the opposite bank. Suddenly he touched the lieutenant.

"There, sir, that must be it. The line of the trees has suddenly stopped, and I think I can make out a lower line behind it."

"Yes, no doubt that is the junction. We will go two hundred yards farther down before we cross; it is unlikely in the extreme that anyone is watching us, still I don't want to run the slightest risk."

In another five minutes they crossed the river, whose increased width showed them that they had a.s.suredly pa.s.sed the junction of the stream.

Then they turned and followed the right hand bank.

"Stretch out a bit now, lads; you have fifteen miles' straight rowing before you, and the sooner you get to the other end, the better. We may have a long night's work before us, and I want to be able to get to the place where we fished before morning."

The men bent to their oars, and the boat sped swiftly along. The current was very slight, and after two hours' rowing, the lieutenant judged that they must be but a short distance from the village Ha.s.san's messenger spoke of. Accordingly, he told the c.o.xswain to steer across to the other bank, and warned the men that the slightest splash of their oars might attract attention, and that they were to row easier for the present.

In a quarter of an hour the wall of forest ceased, and a hundred yards farther they saw houses. Two or three dim lights were visible, and the sound of voices could be heard. The boat's head was now turned out somewhat farther into the stream, so as to be out of sight of anyone who might by chance come down late to draw water. After rowing a hundred yards they could dimly make out the outline of a white house. There was a break just in the center, and the outline of a tree could be seen above the roof. d.i.c.k leant forward and again touched the lieutenant.

"That must be the house, sir," he whispered.

Mr. Ferguson nodded without speaking; and after the boat had gone another hundred yards, the line of forest could again be seen, and the boat was rowed into the bank, and two minutes later shot through a narrow channel and entered a creek some forty yards wide.

"Now you can give way again, lads."

An hour's paddling in a sampan would mean about three miles, and after twenty minutes' sharp rowing, the men were ordered to row easy again, and the lieutenant and d.i.c.k kept an anxious lookout ahead. The creek was here little more than fifty yards across, and, accustomed as their eyes were to darkness, they presently saw that it widened out suddenly. The word was pa.s.sed down for the men to paddle easily, and in two minutes the pool opened before them. They could not make out the prahus, lying as they did against the shadow of the trees on the farther side, but they could see a number of lights, apparently from swinging lanterns, and hear a loud murmur of voices.

"Easy all," the lieutenant ordered now; "back her very quietly; now pull bow."

Noiselessly the boat was brought round, and its head directed to the right hand bank. They had pa.s.sed a sharp bend nearly half a mile back, and the lieutenant said, "Look out for a landing place at the deepest point of the curve, Harris."

"Aye, aye, sir!" the c.o.xswain said, standing up. A minute later he brought the boat alongside, at a point which was free from bushes, and where the bank was but two feet above the water's edge.

CHAPTER VII.

"Now, Mr. Balderson, take Harper and Winthorpe, and make your way through the jungle as noiselessly as possible. It is probable that the path runs within fifty yards of this point, possibly it is only half a dozen. When you have found it, send Winthorpe back to me with the news.

Take that long coil of thin rope that is in the bow, and pay it out as you go along. You might get lost even within two yards of the stream, and it would be dangerous to call or whistle. It will enable me to join you. Leave your muskets behind, lads; they would only be in the way in the jungle, and you have your pistols and cutla.s.ses. You take the lantern, Winthorpe, and Harper, do you take the rope. Fasten one end to the thwart before you start, or, without knowing it, you might drag it after you."

d.i.c.k led the way, the others following close behind, but as soon as they were among the trees, he was obliged to take the lantern, for the darkness was so intense that he could not see an inch before him and would have been torn to pieces by the th.o.r.n.y creepers had he tried to penetrate without a light.

As it was, he received several nasty scratches, and could hear muttered exclamations from the men behind him. Creeping under some of the rattans, making detours to avoid others, and cutting some of the smaller ones in two with his cutla.s.s, he made his way forward, and was delighted indeed when, after proceeding some twenty yards, he came upon the edge of what looked like a ditch, but which was, he knew, the native path.

"Here we are, lads," he exclaimed in a low tone; "thank goodness we have not had to go farther."

"So say I, sir," one of the men grumbled; "if it had not been for your lantern I should have been torn to pieces. As it is, I aint sure whether my eyes aint gone, and my nose and cheeks are scratched as if I had been fighting with a mad cat."

"Here, Winthorpe, take the lantern and make your way back; darken it as soon as you get through to the edge of the creek. You cannot go wrong with the cord to guide you."

Two or three minutes later d.i.c.k saw the light approaching again, and the lieutenant, the c.o.xswain, and two bluejackets joined him, Winthorpe and another having been left as boat keepers.

"Now, Harris, do you and one of the others go on ahead; we will follow fifty yards behind you. If you hear anyone coming, give a low whistle; we will then turn off the light. You can walk on confidently, for there is no chance of any of these p.r.i.c.kly creepers running across the path.

When you see the trees are getting thinner, or that there is an opening before you, stop and send back word to us, so that we can shut up the lantern before joining you."

The lieutenant headed the party now, followed by d.i.c.k. He held the lantern close to the ground; the bottom was, like all jungle paths, worn perfectly smooth by the pa.s.sage of the barefooted natives.

"Nothing could be better," he said in a low voice to d.i.c.k. "We ought to be able to haul the guns along here at a trot; and the opening is wide enough on each side for a gun carriage to be carried along without any difficulty."

In ten minutes one of the men ahead came back.

"We have got to the end of the path, sir; it ends on the bank of that pool we saw ahead."

The lantern was now extinguished, and the party hurried forward. On reaching the bank they found that the path ended, as they had expected, just opposite the village. The prahus lay somewhat to the right.

"It could not be better," the lieutenant whispered. "Now let us see whether we can find a suitable place for the guns."

This was much easier than they had expected, for the trees were cleared, probably to furnish firewood, for a distance of some fifteen yards from the bank; between this cleared place and the water was a fringe of thick bushes.

"This will do capitally, lads. Now we will be off at once; we have found out all that we wanted, and nothing could be more satisfactory."

They retraced their steps rapidly till they came to the coil of cord looped on a low bough. The c.o.xswain took it down, and they were soon all on board the boat again. "Now, lads, row as noiselessly as you can to the mouth of the pool again, then turn, and lay on your oars, except bow and two, who are to paddle very slowly. Hand Mr. Balderson that twenty foot bamboo; I want to sound the river as we come back."

As soon as the boat was again turned, d.i.c.k took the pole, and, standing up, thrust it down into the water.

"Only about seven feet, sir," he whispered.

"That is bad. It is evident that the s.h.i.+p cannot get up here; still we may as well go on sounding."

"The water is gradually deepening," d.i.c.k said, thrusting the pole down again; "there are nearly ten feet."

It was not long before he announced fifteen, and at that continued until they reached the entrance to the creek, where it was only fourteen feet.

"It would be a touch and go there," the lieutenant said, "but I dare say she could be pushed through. It is very unfortunate that there is that shallow bar this side of the pool. And now, lads, you can lay out for ten minutes, and then we can fasten up to a bough and see what is in the hamper. We have done our work earlier than I had expected, and can take it easy."

The steward had provided them with an ample store of food, and the men ate their hunks of cold meat and bread, and pa.s.sed round the pannikins of grog, with great contentment, while the officers divided a cold chicken and a bottle of claret.

"Now, men," the lieutenant said, when they had finished, "you can have a quarter of an hour's smoke. You must open the lantern in the bottom of the boat, and hold a jacket over it to prevent the light falling on any of you."

When the men had lit their pipes the lantern was pa.s.sed aft, and while the c.o.xswain put his jacket over it, the lieutenant lit a cigar.

"You smoke, don't you, Balderson?"

"Yes, sir, I began when we came up the river; the doctor said it is a good thing to keep off miasma."

"Very well, then light up; I think that it is a good thing myself. We have done a very satisfactory night's work, and I think we see our way now to getting rid of most of those piratical craft, which will not only be a benefit to traders on the coast of the river, but will greatly please all the other chiefs, and will enable them to hold their own against Sehi."

Five minutes were added to the promised quarter, and then the pipes were laid down, and the boat proceeded at a steady stroke until they reached the spot where they had fished.