Kitabı oku: «With the Dyaks of Borneo: A Tale of the Head Hunters», sayfa 14

Would these men, these new-comers, join with their brothers and spend the night in revelry, or would they go to their huts at once and rest after an arduous march? The questions troubled Tyler considerably, and think as he would he could find no solution, for as yet it was not even certain that the men who manned the vessel which had just brought-to against the farther boom, and whose voices had been heard across the water, were those who had been sent to the mountains to waylay the Englishman and his Dyak followers. Perhaps they would turn out to be friends on a visit to the pirates.

Then did these rovers of the river and sea possess any who could be called by that name? Could any of their neighbours trust them sufficiently, or be trusted by the Dutchman and his men?

"It is out of the question," said Tyler to himself. "If these fellows were on a visit they would send someone ahead to announce their coming, for otherwise it is more likely that a bullet or the contents of one of those brass cannon which are mounted on the stockade would greet them. It is clear that they belong to Hanns Schlott and his gang, and that being the case I shall be astonished if they do not prove to be the ones sent to capture us or to gain tidings of our approach. But if so, why have they returned?"

With head firmly held between his hands he endeavoured to think the matter out and come to a satisfactory conclusion. Then with a gesture of disgust he put it aside, and, uncovering his eyes, again stared in the direction of the second river.

"The future must tell," he whispered in John's ear. "We will wait patiently, and should it turn out that these men are from the mountains, and know of our presence near at hand, we will at once set about the capture of the prahus and the embarkation of the tribe. That done we shall be able to sail away to the sea, where we can laugh at them. At least, you and the others will be able to do so."

"And what about yerself, sir?" demanded John Marshall with a start, turning upon him suddenly and peering anxiously into his face. "Ain't you a-coming? Do yer mean to say that after all you've gone through you mean to get left behind? I reckon it would be murder. It's suicide, and nothing else."

He gave vent to an indignant snort, and lay there staring into the darkness in the direction of the new-comers, as if he could not trust himself to look any longer at his leader. A moment later, however, he had swung his head round again and had grasped Tyler by the wrist.

"What's the game?" he demanded roughly, and in a curiously hoarse whisper. "Still thinkin' of the kid and her nurse? What are yer after?"

"I'm considering their case," was Tyler's cool answer. "I have put myself in their position and asked myself whether I should like to be deserted under the circumstances. Then I have imagined that I am someone else, who is the leader on this occasion, and I have wondered what he'd do in such a case."

"Do! He'd clear with a whole skin as a general rule!"

"And what action would you take, John, if you were in my shoes? Imagine that for a few seconds, and recollect that as the leader you would be responsible for the safety of each and every member before you thought of a haven for yourself. The child and the woman, who, I suppose, is her nurse, are there. We saw them put into the hut, and we have already made them part of our following. Would you desert them and leave them in the clutches of that tiger?"

It was Tyler's turn now to face his companion in the darkness, and address him as though he had a grievance. It was he who now spoke curtly and with roughness. Placing his lips close to the sailor's ear he spoke sternly and shortly, in such determined tones that John Marshall was amazed and astounded.

"Well?" Tyler demanded curtly again of the boatswain. "You are the leader for the moment; will you clear from the spot and save your own miserable skin, or will you hang back for the sake of the child and the woman?"

There was a long pause ere the silence was broken between them, and all the while John Marshall stared across at the blazing fires and at the figures of the pirates lying about them. He heard as if in a dream the sounds made by those who had lately put in an appearance, and watched listlessly for their appearance in the stockade. But he was thinking of someone else. In his mind's eye he pictured the child of seven, and the woman, the only survivors of those who had been aboard the English ship, and he remembered that they were of his own country, strangers, and helpless strangers at that, in a foreign country, without friends to help them, unless he and his bold young leader went to the rescue, and took them from the clutches of Hanns and his men.

What if he, John Marshall, of the mercantile marine, who prided himself upon the fact of being a British sailor and a man, together with his friend, Tyler Richardson, had failed to catch sight of the prisoners? What if, knowing them to be so close at hand, they deserted them and left them to their fate?

The boatswain almost started to his feet as this new side of the question occurred to him; but a moment later he was lying down again, with his face close to Tyler's.

"We'd be thunderin' curs!" he blurted out with a curious catch in his breath. "You and me stands alone between them two and a life of misery. And I was for making off with me tail between me legs! Bah. John Marshall, you ain't half the chap you think!"

His disgust was so great that the better to express it he would have brought his fist violently against the ground had not discretion suddenly arrested his arm in the midst of the movement.

"Might wake 'em up over there," he said, as if to himself. "We can't afford to be doin' that, for we've got to rescue the kid and the woman. What's the idea, sir?"

"There is no idea as yet, John. All depends upon the pirates and their friends who have lately arrived. If they settle down for the night we shall be able to go on with the original programme. If not, then we must see what can be done. But I will take all away or remain myself. Supposing it is possible to embark the tribe, but we cannot get at the captives, then I propose to remain behind in the forest, and try on another occasion, or while they are absent in pursuit But, steady! Something is occurring over there, and we had better listen."

Becoming silent at once they leaned as far towards the bank of the river as the undergrowth would permit, and watched the spot where the prahu had moored beside the boom. Thanks to the fires which blazed in the central portion of the stockade, they were soon able to make out her sails and her exact position, and even imagined that they could observe the crew who still remained on board. Some minutes later there was a movement amongst the latter, who disappeared from sight, only to reappear within a short space of time at the entrance to the stockade. And here they found nothing to prevent their moving forward, for no enemies were expected, and, safe in the thought that they were too powerful to fear a sudden attack, the pirates had neglected, as was their wont, to close the gap which led through the timbers of the stockade. With a shout some eighty men ran forward to the fires, and at once mingled with their comrades.

"The gate is open. You observe that?" whispered Tyler in accents of delight "If they do not trouble to close it I shall have little difficulty in entering where those men went, and in bringing the captives out by the same way. What is going to happen now?"

"They have news, sir, and that's what's troubling 'em. I reckon they'll soon bring the Dutchman out of his bed."

That something out of the ordinary had occurred was very obvious, for whereas those of the pirates who had been lounging about the fires had at first greeted their comrades who had just arrived with nonchalance and with a few questions as to their success and as to the cause which had brought about their return, now they had all endeavoured to leap to their feet, and had set up a babel of shouts. Some, however, had indulged in the wine which their leader had given them to such an extent that they were beyond caring, and lay as still as logs. But many were not so stupefied that they could not realize that something out of the ordinary had happened, and crowding about their brothers they gave vent to shouts which were louder and more angry on account of their condition.

"We took it for granted that you had killed them all, that you were amongst us again with a tale to tell," cried one of them plaintively. "And now you come amongst us at a time when we are tired out with our day of work, and when we are about to sleep, and fill our ears with news which should make us feel alarm. Surely you are mistaken. You have allowed yourselves to be misled, for it is madness to imagine that those white fools would dare to come this way."

"There is no madness about it so far as we can see," was the answer of the one who had been the leader of the returned party. "What is more natural than that these men should take the most direct line? for otherwise, by going by way of the mountains, they would increase the length of their journey by a great deal, a matter of much importance when we have news that women and children accompany them. Then again, by making for the river they run the chance of obtaining boats; and remember, my comrade, to desperate men the idea of capturing prahus from the very people whom they have to fear is not an impossibility."

"Run away with our prahus! Take them from beneath our very noses! Why, what can you have been doing? Surely you and those who went with you have come upon a store of wine like ourselves, and have indulged so freely that your minds are disturbed. Capture our fleet indeed! A beggarly handful of starving Dyaks, with women and children to feed and protect, and a couple of white-faces to lead them. The idea is laughable!"

The man shouted the words at his companion, and then turned to his comrades with a disdainful laugh and a half-drunken grimace which set them roaring.

"He will say soon that we are in danger," broke in another, pushing his way to the front, "and he will bid us fly to our wives to beg protection from them. Quickly let me find my way to my own particular hut, where dwells a woman who works hard all through the day, and has gained thereby such strength that she will be able to beat off all whom the white-faces may send."

He staggered away through the crowd, who stepped aside with many a guffaw and roar of laughter, and went towards one of the huts near by. As for his comrades, they enjoyed the joke immensely. It suited their mood to a nicety, and, determined to make the most of it and enjoy themselves to the full, they again crowded about the new-comers and plied them with questions.

"Shall we run now? And where can we go?" demanded one of them, making pretence to be full of terror.

"Do you say that we ourselves should get aboard the fleet at once, dragging with us those who lie insensible about the fires, and sail for the sea? There is much of the ocean outside, and there we might even manage to escape these dangerous men!"

"And then, when they had in their largeness of heart decided to be merciful, and had retired from this spot, we might even venture to return to our homes," said the one who had first spoken, giving vent to a sneer. "But come, my friends, admit that this is madness, or we shall quarrel. Say that you are in error, and join us in our jollity."

"We will do neither," was the indignant reply. "Here are we, returned after much trouble and full of weariness, and you jeer at us and tell us that we are fools. Were it not that you are our brothers we would chastise you as you deserve."

The threat, to men in the excited condition of the pirates, who had been lying about the fires and drinking the Dutchman's wine, was one which could not be easily passed over, and besides, all belonged to a race accustomed to bloodshed, and ready at any moment to resent an insult or to repay a wrong with violence. Hardly, therefore, had the words left the lips of the speaker than the two parties were on the verge of a conflict. Glaring at one another as though they were the worst of enemies, each member of the piratical gang seized the kriss which was thrust in his waist-cloth and flashed it in the firelight. A little more and angry words would have led to bloodshed had not an interruption occurred. Fortunately for the gang, the noise of the altercation had come to the Dutchman's ears, and just as blows were about to be exchanged he came from his hut, looking dishevelled and as though he had but just risen from his bed, as was the case. In an instant he realized what was about to happen, and rushing forward with an angry shout he threw himself upon the men, buffeting them, and kicking those within reach of his foot unmercifully.

"Dogs!" he shouted wrathfully. "Have I not told you often and often that there is to be no quarrelling, that you are to do no fighting except at my bidding? Put your weapons away, then, or some of you shall be shot as the dawn breaks. And now what is the trouble? What has caused you all to lose your tempers? Ah, I see that those who were sent to the mountains have returned! Then you have good news. You have come up with this tribe of runaways, and have killed them. Where are the heads of those white men?"

He started back in his astonishment when the leader of the party told him that he and his companions had failed to discover the tribe under Tyler's command, but that they had ascertained that they were making direct for the very river where Hanns Schlott and his gang had their head-quarters, perhaps with the intention of attacking.

"We tracked them to within a very few miles," said the man, "and they may even now be lying near at hand about to fall upon us. For that reason we returned here at once and gave our warning to these men. But they are fools, or rather their brains are dulled with the wine which they have been drinking."

"And you will tell me that this white man and his tribe will attack us here?" said Hanns Schlott suddenly, breaking into a derisive laugh. "Go to your beds, men. It is clear that you are tired, or you would realize that sane men do not put their heads into the open mouth of a lion; you would see that attack from a puny force of three hundred at the most is not to be feared by one which numbers more than three thousand. Get to your huts, for a sleep will do you good. As for you other drunken dogs, it is time that you, too, retired. To your couches, then, and let us pass the remainder of the night in peace."

Without a second look in their direction he strode off to his own abode, while his followers obeyed his orders like beaten curs, showing that they held their Dutch leader in great fear. Soon the clearing was deserted, and but for the fires, which were fast burning down, and for one or two unconscious figures beside them, the stockade was deserted, all having retired to their huts.

"And now comes the time for us," said Tyler in a voice which trembled, so greatly was he excited. "Li Sung, you can go back to your men now that you have told me all that went on over there, and you can send the signal round. In three minutes the first company will be at the edge of the water."

Gathering up his pigtail, the Chinaman slunk off into the darkness, and ere long some fifty dusky and silent figures were creeping to the bank of the Sarebus. A low hoot sounded in the night, and at the signal the Dyak warriors, with Tyler and John Marshall at their head, lay flat upon their faces and crept forward into the water. There was no wading, for that would undoubtedly have given rise to much splashing. Instead, each one immersed his body at once, and creeping along through the mud was quickly in deep water. Then, breasting the stream, they turned to the shelving bank above which was erected the bamboo stockade enclosing the huts of the pirate gang.

CHAPTER XII
Captain of a Fleet

"Halt!" The whispered word of command to which Tyler gave vent once he and his followers had set foot upon the opposite bank was scarcely necessary, so well did each man understand his duties, and so sensibly did they act. But Li Sung interpreted the order, and instantly some fifty dripping figures came to a stand-still and dropped full length upon the mud.

"Advance those who have to keep watch and beat back the enemy," said Tyler, with difficulty keeping calm. "John, that is your command. Post the men so as to hold the entrance, and look out for me when I come. Now for the boat party."

Leading half the company to the left, he took them to the spot where the sampans were drawn up on the beach, and stood by while the men carried the tiny boats down into the water. Then, as silently as ghosts, they pushed off from the bank, half the number making direct for the opposite shore, while the remainder drifted down-stream to the prahus.

"Commence to embark the women and children and the remaining men," said Tyler, as soon as the party which he had accompanied had reached the opposite bank. "Let there be no crushing or pushing. Each will come down in turn and be rowed to the prahus. Men last of all, as a general rule; only, as soon as one of the vessels is filled, the crew will be put on board, so as to be prepared to manœuvre it should the alarm be given. Quickly, please, for the morning is dangerously near at hand."

Standing beside the spot where the sampans had been drawn up, he watched as the Dyak women and children embarked, enjoining strict silence upon all of them. But they had been well drilled to the movement, and, thanks to that, they all passed swiftly and without confusion from their hiding-place in the jungle above to the sampans, and in the latter to the prahu selected for them. Once a certain number were on board, the sampans returned for a crew of men, and thus in an incredibly short space of time all but the half-company watching beside the stockade, and those who had gone amongst the fleet of prahus, were safely on board awaiting the order to let go. But there was still something else to do, and all watched anxiously as they realized that the stockade was to be entered, and that the figure of a man crawling across the firelit clearing would be that of their leader.

"Now for the two captives," said Tyler in matter-of-fact tones, when the embarkation had been carried out to his satisfaction. "I feel satisfied now that the larger proportion of the tribe will make good its escape, for they are on board, and even if the alarm be given now, they are safe from Hanns Schlott and his friends. Even at this moment I think I see some of the prahus sinking, and certainly more than one has been cut from its moorings and is floating away upon the river, and gradually getting lower. That being the case, the Dutchman and his friends will have to swim after us if they discover our trick, for we shall leave nothing. And now for the captives."

For a few moments he stood up in the sampan, while Li Sung went ashore with some of the Dyaks and hunted carefully through the jungle near at hand, lest by chance some child should have been overlooked, or one of the women, tired out by the long journey which she had borne so well, and by this long night of anxious watching and waiting, should have fallen asleep and remained behind, forgetful of the fact that her sisters were embarking.

"That is well," he said in tones of satisfaction, when the Chinaman had returned with the report that not a soul was to be seen, and that the jungle was untenanted. "We can now see to the other matter. Li, you will come with me to the other shore, while the men here who have managed the embarkation will ferry their boats after us, and will lie off the bank prepared to come in close and take the remainder of the party off. Tell them that they are to leave an interval between each sampan, so as to have plenty of room in case of having to beat a rapid retreat, and that they are on no account to retire till all their comrades have joined them. Take the oars now, and let us push over."

He gave the words of command in a calm voice, which betrayed no sign of excitement or of confusion, but for all that Tyler could scarcely keep his limbs from trembling, while his lips twitched spasmodically and he was obliged to press them close together to keep them still; for the thought of those helpless captives stirred him strangely, the fear that their fate depended upon himself, and that upon his courage and discretion their rescue or continued imprisonment would result, kept his mind ill at ease and filled him with a feeling of nervousness to which he had up to this been a stranger.

"It must be done," he kept saying to himself as he was being wafted to the opposite shore, "and after all, why should I not be successful? for the part which has already been carried out so silently has been far larger and more full of difficulties, and yet see how smoothly it has worked. Yes, I will rescue those two helpless prisoners whatever happens."

With this resolution before him he became calmer and more at his ease, and prepared to set about the task in a manner which at once showed that he was full of courage and determination.

"Stand ready to embark rapidly," he said, as he crept to John Marshall and lay down beside him in the darkness. "If you hear me shout you will know that I require help, but otherwise you are not to come nearer to the stockade. Now I am going, but before I go I will remind you that this company will embark on the English vessel which the pirates towed in. Men have already made a small prahu fast to her bows, and once the signal is given, and we are aboard, they will cut the cables and swing her round. After that she will be carried down by the stream."

"And it won't be long afore we get some of her canvas up," whispered the sailor. "Then if this here Dutchman and his men come after us, or any of them coves down the river attempt to stop us, why, we shall be able to tackle 'em in proper style. Now, sir, be careful, please, for you're our leader. Jest think of that, for these here Dyaks jest think a deal of yer and would be sorry if yer came to harm. There's me, too, you must remember" – and the honest fellow felt for Tyler's hand and gripped it firmly, – "what would I do to get on without yer? But you'll take the best of care, that I'm sure of, and you'll carry this through like the rest. If yer shout I'll be there in a twinkling, and if yer should happen to come up with that Dutch chap, jest think of how I downed him. Put yer fist in his face, and it'll silence him sooner than anything. Good-bye, and good luck!"

With another squeeze of the hand he released Tyler, the latter springing to his feet at once.

"Then all is settled," he said quietly. "If I shout, you come to help; if not, you remain here or embark at once. My orders are that the safety of the tribe is not on any account to be risked on my behalf."

A second later, when the sailor would have spoken to his leader, he was astonished to find that he had gone, and that his place was occupied by thinnest air. It gave him a start when he considered with what silence Tyler had gone, but a moment's reflection reminded him of the fact that his leader was dressed in native costume, and that he wore soft sandals upon his feet.

"All the better," murmured John Marshall, "for it'll make his chances brighter. I don't half like this game of his, and never did, though I see that he's right in making the attempt. But it's risky. It's the worst part of all this little adventure, and I shall be thankful when I see him safe amongst us again. Ah! there he goes through the entrance, and it will be well for him to hurry, for a few minutes ago the stockade was out of sight, while now one can see it fairly easily, showing that morning is coming."

That this was the case became evident to all the watchers, for as they lay there on the bank their figures up to this had been invisible to one another, while now a keen searcher of the spot would have discovered them to a certainty had he been within close range of them. Indeed the night seemed to have gone quite suddenly, while a damp mist, which often precedes the morn in Borneo, lay over river and land, wrapping them in semi-obscurity.

"In ten minutes it will go, de sun will suck up de water from de air, and all will be bright," whispered Li Sung, who had thrown himself down beside John Marshall. "When massa comes, and we get aboard, de pirate see us sailing away, and dey get velly angry at de sight. He, he, he! De Dutchman him rave velly fine, and say many tings, but him not be able to follow, for he no havee ships."

The Chinaman again indulged in a half-audible chuckle, which caused the sailor to stretch out his hand and grip him by the shoulder.

"Silence," he said sternly, "and listen! Laugh and cackle as much as you wish when the master is with us again, but make a sound now and I'll – "

Exactly what the boatswain would have threatened to do to the faithful Chinaman it would be difficult to state, though his wrinkled forehead and the scowl upon his face might have indicated something terrible. However, a sound within the stockade suddenly arrested the altercation, and both lay there listening eagerly.

Creak! creak! Was it the door of the hut in which the prisoners were kept, or could some native have suddenly awakened before the dawn had come, as was so often their custom, and thrown wide the gate of his humble abode?

Both longed to clear up the question, but found it impossible, for from the position which they had taken up they were unable to command a view of the whole of the clearing within the stockade. Those on the prahus, however, could have enlightened them, for from the river the dull glare of the embers of the dying fires, the bamboo stockade, and every hut within were distinctly within view, while the dusky figure crawling across to that part where the captives had been taken was plainly discernible. With straining eyes each one of the Dyak tribe aboard the prahus watched the young leader whom they had come to look up to and admire. They saw him creep rapidly, but with every caution, through the entrance to the stockade and then across the clearing. As they stared at him through the misty haze, which was gradually and insensibly giving place to the light of day, they noted how he paused before the hut occupied by the rascally Dutch leader of the pirates, and each wondered with beating heart whether any sound had alarmed him.

Creak! creak! Ah! they, too, heard the noise of a wicket thrown open, and started at the sound. Then they stood there on the sloping decks listening for a shout, for a pistol-shot, for the roar of a hundred and more voices to tell them that the young Englishman had been discovered. But no, not another sound disturbed the silence of the awakening day, and the dusky figure was seen to be advancing again. Ah, he was at the hut where the prisoners were kept! Was he entering? Why did he pause at the door, and for what reason did he so hurriedly dart behind the dwelling?

Well might each member of the watching tribe of Dyaks ask the question, for the movements of their leader seemed unaccountable. But Tyler knew well what he was doing, and sounds which failed to spread so far as the men lying on the bank without the stockade, or those others waiting aboard the prahus, reached his ears distinctly.

"There is someone moving," he said to himself, as he reached the hut which harboured the prisoners. "Who can it be? Perhaps some fellow turning in his couch."

Sitting up as high as possible, he listened eagerly, and then crept on a few paces. Then of a sudden he became aware of the fact that a door had been thrown open, and realizing that the sound came from the Dutchman's hut, he scrambled hastily behind the one close to which he was crouching.

"Hanns Schlott!" he exclaimed in tones of vexation. "His guilty mind will not allow him to sleep, and so he has come out to walk about the clearing. Ah, I have had my mind so fully occupied that I did not notice that it is already getting light, and he will be able to see me! Yes, even now I can observe his figure."

Staring through the mist and haze, which had so suddenly risen, Tyler watched the Dutchman emerge from his abode and stalk out into the clearing. Then, realizing with a start that to delay would be more dangerous than to proceed with the rescue, he waited for a few moments to allow a second hut to come between himself and the Dutchman, and then scrambled at his fastest pace to the door which would give access to the dwelling within which were the prisoners. A second later he had thrust it in, and was crawling through the opening.

"Who is that?" he heard someone demand in frightened tones, while there was the sound of a shriek commenced but suddenly arrested. "Oh, what is happening to us?"

"Hush! Do not make a sound for your lives," answered Tyler in low tones, crawling right into the hut and closing the door. "Do not be frightened, for I have come to help you and take you away."

"Then you are English? But I caught sight of a native, and that is what frightened me. Who are you?"

The question was asked in a whisper, while the young woman leant forward till she was close to Tyler, for his voice had reassured her.

"It is too long a story to tell you, but I have come to rescue you and the little girl. Follow me at once, please, and do exactly as I say. Now, to the door!"

Waiting only to see that they had risen, and that the young woman had whispered reassuring words to the child, and had cautioned her against making a sound, Tyler went to the door and gently opened it.

"We shall have day with us in a few moments," he said, turning swiftly and with an involuntary exclamation of dismay. "Now, listen to me. We have captured the English ship from the pirates, and have also taken the prahus. My men are Dyaks, and they will be your friends. You must follow me at once, keeping well behind the huts. When we get to the opening through the stockade we will run. Do you understand? Then follow."