Books: Among Malay Pirates

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"You see I know all about it, Dick," he said cheerily, "from having
watched the doctor at work on Hassan. Now I will tear this cloth
into strips."

He first placed a strip of the cloth over the shoulder, crossed
it under the arm, and then took the ends of the bandage across the
chest and back, and tied them under his other arm. He repeated this
process with half a dozen other strips; then he placed Dick's hand
upon his chest, tied some of the other strips together, and bound
them tightly round the arm and body, so that no movement of the
limb was possible. One of the Malay's knelt down and gave him his
assistance, and nodded approvingly when he had finished; then he
helped Harry raise him into a sitting position against the bulwark.

"That is better," Dick said, "as far as it goes. How was it these
fellows did not kill us at once?"

"I expect the rajah has ordered that all officers who may fall
into their hands are to be kept as hostages, so that he can open
negotiations with the skipper. If he gets what he wants, he hands
us back; if not, there is no manner of doubt that he will put us
out of the way without compunction."

The men were still working at the oars, and for four hours rowed
without intermission through a labyrinth of creeks. At last they
stopped before a small village, tied the prahu up to a tree, and
then the man who seemed to be the captain went ashore with two or
three others. The lads heard a loud outburst of anger, and a voice
which they recognized as that of the rajah storming and raging for
some time; then the hubbub ceased. An hour later the rajah himself
came on board with two or three attendants, and a man whom they
recognized as speaking a certain amount of English. The rajah scowled
at them, and from the manner in which he kept fingering his kris
they saw that it needed a great effort on his part to abstain from
killing them at once. He spoke for some time in his own language,
and the interpreter translated it.

"You are dogs--you and all your countrymen. The rajah is sending
a message to your captain to tell him that he must build up his
palace again, pay him for the warships that he has destroyed, and
provide him with a guard against his enemies until a fresh fleet
has been built. If he refuses to do this, you will both be killed."

"Tell him," Harry said, "that if we are dogs, anyhow we have shown
him that we can bite. As to what he says, it is for the captain
to answer; but I do not think that he will grant the terms, though
possibly he may consent to spare the rajah's life, and to go away
with his ship, if we are sent back to him without injury."

The rajah uttered a scornful exclamation. "I have six thousand men,"
he said, "and I do not need to beg my life; for were there twenty
ships instead of one they could never find me, and not a man who
landed and tried to come through the country would return alive. I
have given your captain the chance. If, at the end of three days,
an answer does not come granting my command, you will be krised.
Keep a strict watch upon them, Captain, and kill them at once if
they try to escape."

"I will guard them safely, Rajah," the captain, who, from the rich
materials of his sarong and jacket, was evidently himself a chief,
said quietly; "but as to escape, where could they go? They could
but wander in the jungle until they died."

By night both lads felt more themselves. They had been well supplied
with food, and though Harry's head ached until, as he said, it
was splitting, and Dick's wound smarted severely, they were able
to discuss their position. They at once agreed that escape was
impossible, and would be even were they well and strong and could
manage to obtain possession of a sampan, for they would but lose
themselves in the labyrinth of creeks, and would, moreover, be
certain to be overtaken by the native boats that would be sent off
in all directions after them.

"There is nothing to do but to wait for the captain's answer," Dick
said at last.

"We know what that will be," Harry said. "He will tell the chief
that it would be impossible for him to grant his commands, but
that he is ready to pay a certain sum for our release; that if harm
comes to us, he will make peace with the chiefs who have assisted
Sehi against us, on condition of their hunting him down and sending
him alive or dead to the ships. But the rascal knows that he could
hide himself in these swamps for a month, and he will proceed to
chop off our heads without a moment's delay. We must keep our eyes
open tomorrow, and endeavor to get hold of a couple of weapons.
It is a deal better to die fighting than it is to have our throats
cut like sheep."

CHAPTER X.

The next two days passed quietly. The lads were both a great deal
better, and agreed that if--which would almost certainly not be
the case--a means of escape should present itself, they would
seize the chance, however hopeless it might be, for that at worst
they could but be cut down in attempting it. No chance, however,
presented itself. Two Malays always squatted near them, and their
eyes followed every movement.

"Some time tomorrow the messenger will return," Harry said. "It
is clear to me that our only chance is to escape before morning.
Those fellows will be watchful till the night is nearly over. Now,
I propose that, just before the first gleam of daylight, we throw
ourselves upon them suddenly, seize their krises, and cut them
down, then leap on shore, and dash into the jungle. The night will
be as dark as pitch, what with there being no moon and with the
mist from the swamps. At any rate, we might get out of sight before
the Malays knew what had happened. We could either go straight into
the jungle and crawl into the thick bushes, and lie there until
morning, and then make our start, or, what would, I think, be even
better, take to the water, wade along under the bank till we reach
one of those sampans fifty yards away, get in, and manage to paddle
it noiselessly across to the opposite side, lift the craft out of
the water, and hide it among the bushes, and then be off."

"The worst of it is the alligators, Harry."

"Yes, but we must risk that. We shall have the krises, and if they
seize either of us, the other must go down and try and jab his
kris into the beast's eyes. I know it is a frightfully dangerous
business, and the chances are one hundred to one against our
succeeding; but there is just a chance, and there is no chance
at all if we leave it until tomorrow. Of course, if we succeed in
getting over to the other side, we must wait close to the water
until daylight. We should tear ourselves to pieces if we tried to
make through the jungle in the dark."

"I tell you what would give us a better chance--we might take
off two or three yards of that bandage of yours, cut the strip in
half, and twist it into a rope; then when those fellows doze off a
little, we might throw the things round their necks, and it would
be all up with them."

"But you see I have only one arm, Harry."

"Bother it! I never thought of that. Well, I might do the securing,
one fellow first, and then the other. You could get close to him,
and if he moves, catch up his kris and cut him down."

"Yes, I could do that. Well, anyhow, Harry, we can but try; anything
is better than waiting here hour after hour for the messenger to
come back with what will be our death warrant."

They agreed to keep awake by turns, and accordingly lay down as soon
as it became dark, the Malays, as usual, squatting at a distance
of a couple of paces each side of them. It was about two o'clock
in the morning when Dick, who was awake, saw, as he supposed, one
of the crew standing up a few yards away; he was not sure, for just
at that moment the figure disappeared.

"What on earth could that fellow want to stand up for and lie down
again? for I can swear he was not there half a minute ago. There
is another farther on." He pinched himself to make sure that he
was awake. Figure after figure seemed to flit along the deck and
disappear. One of the guard rose and stretched his arms; put a
fresh bit of some herb that he was chewing into his mouth; moved
close to the prisoners to see if they were asleep; and then resumed
his former position. During the time that he was on his feet,
Dick noticed that the phenomenon which had so puzzled him ceased.
A quarter of an hour later it began again. He touched Harry, keeping
his hand on his lips as a warning to be silent. Suddenly a wild
yell broke on the still air, and in an instant the deck was alive
with men; and as the two Malay watchers rose to their feet, both
were cut down.

There were sounds of heavy blows, screams and yells, a short and
confused struggle, and the fall of heavy bodies, while from the
little village there were also sounds of conflict. The midshipmen
had started to their feet, half bewildered at the sudden and desperate
struggle, when a hand was laid on each of their shoulders, and a
voice said, "English friends, Hassan has come."

The revulsion of feeling was so great that, for a minute, neither
could speak; then Dick said, "Chief, we thank you with all our
hearts. Tomorrow we should have been killed."

The chief shook hands with them both warmly, having seen that mode
of salutation on board ship.

"Hassan glad," he said. "Hassan watch all time; no let Sehi kill
friends. Friends save Hassan's child; he save them."

Torches were now lighted. The deck was thickly encumbered with
dead; for every one of the crew of the prahu had been killed.

"Sehi killed too," the chief said, "come and see." He swung himself
on shore; the boys followed his example, two of the Malays helping
Dick down. They went to the village, where a number of Malays were
moving about; torches had been brought from the ship, and a score
of these soon lit up the scene. Two of the rajah's men had been
killed outside their huts, but the majority had fallen inside. The
chief asked a question of one of his followers, who pointed to a
hut.

This they entered, and by the light of the torches saw the rajah
lying dead upon the ground. Hassan said something to one of his
men, who, with a single blow, chopped off the rajah's head.

"Send to chiefs," Hassan said. "If not see, not think dead. Much
afraid of him. When know he dead, not fight any more; make peace
quick."

One of the men asked a question, and the lads' limited knowledge
of the language was sufficient to tell them that he was asking
whether they should fire the village. Hassan shook his head. "Many
men," he said, waving his arm to the forest, "see fire; come fight.
Plenty of fight been; no need for more." For a time he stood with
them in front of the pool. A series of splashes in the water told
what was going on. The prahu was being cleared of its load of dead
bodies; then several men filled buckets with water, and handed
them up to the deck. The boys knew that an attempt was being made
to wash away the blood. The process was repeated a dozen times.
While this was going on, the pool was agitated in every direction.
The lads shuddered as they looked, and remembered that they had
proposed to wade along the edge. The place swarmed with alligators,
who scrambled and fought for the bodies thrown over, until the
number was so great that all were satisfied, and the pool became
comparatively quiet, although fresh monsters, guided by the smell
of blood, kept arriving on the scene.

At last the chief said, "Come," and together they returned to the
prahu. The morning was now breaking, and but few signs remained of
the terrible conflict of the night. At the chief's order, a large
basket of wine, that had been found in the rajah's hut, was brought
on board, together with another, full of bananas and other fruit.

"Well," Harry said, laughing, "we little thought, when we saw the
champagne handed over to the rajah, that we were going to have the
serving of it."

Hassan joined them at the meal. He had been given wine regularly by
the doctor, and although he had evinced no partiality for it, but
had taken it simply at the doctor's orders, he now drank a little
to keep the others company. In a short time the whole of the chief's
followers were gathered on deck, and the boys saw that they were
no more numerous than the prahu's crew, and that it was only the
advantage of surprise that had enabled them to overcome so easily
both those on board the prahu and the rajah's followers in the
village. The oars were got out, and the prahu proceeded up the
creek, in the opposite direction to which it had entered it. "Going
to ship?" Harry asked, pointing forward.

Hassan shook his head. "Going home," he said. "Sent messenger sampan
tell captain both safe. Sehi killed, prahu taken. Must go home.
Others angry because Hassan not join. May come and fight Hassan.
Ask captain bring ship up river; messenger show channel, tell how
far can go, then come in boats, hold great meeting, make peace."

The lads were well satisfied. They had a longing to see Hassan's
home, and, perhaps, to do some shooting; and they thought that a
few days' holiday before rejoining would be by no means unpleasant.
They wished, however, that they had known that the sampan was
leaving, so that they could have written a line to the captain,
saying what had taken place, and that they could not rejoin. There
was at first some splashing of the oars, for many of Hassan's men
had had no prior experience except with sampans and large canoes.
However, it was not long before they fell into the swing, and the
boat proceeded at a rapid pace. Several times, as they went, natives
appeared on the bank in considerable numbers, and receiving no
answer to their hails, sent showers of lances. Harry, however, with
the aid of two or three Malays, soon loaded the guns of the prahu.

"No kill," Hassan said. "We want make friends. No good kill."

Accordingly the guns were fired far over the heads of the assailants,
who at once took to the bushes. After three hours' rowing they
entered the river, and continued their course up it until long into
the night, for the rowers were as anxious as was Hassan himself to
reach their village. They were numerous enough to furnish relays
at the oars, and the stroke never flagged until, an hour before
midnight, fires were seen burning ahead, as they turned a bend of
the river. The Malays raised a yell of triumph, which was answered
from the village, and in a few minutes the prahu was brought up to
the bank. A crowd, composed mostly of women and children, received
them with shouts of welcome and gladness. Hassan at once led
the midshipmen to a large hut that had evidently been prepared in
readiness for them. Piles of skins lay in two of the corners, and
the lads, who were utterly worn out, threw themselves down, and
were almost instantly asleep.

The sun was high when the mat at the entrance was drawn aside,
and Hassan entered, followed by four of his followers. One carried
a great water jar and two calabashes, with some cotton cloths and
towels; the other brought fruit of several varieties, eggs, and
sweetmeats, together with a large gourd full of steaming coffee.

"Hassan come again," the chief said, and left the hut with his
followers. The lads poured calabashes of water over each other, and
felt wonderfully refreshed by their wash, which was accomplished
without damage to the floor, which was of bamboos raised two feet
above the ground. When they were dressed they fell to at their
breakfast, and then went out of doors. Hassan had evidently been
watching for them, for he came out of his house, which was next to
that which they occupied, holding his little girl's hand. She at
once ran up to them, saluting them by their names.

"Bahi very glad to see you," she said, "very glad to see good, kind
officers." The child had picked up, during her month on board the
ship, a great deal of English, from her constant communication with
the officers and crew.

"Bad men wound Dick," she went on pitifully. "Wicked men to hurt
him."

"Bahi, will you tell your father how much we are obliged to him
for having come to our rescue. We should have been killed if he
had not come."

The child translated the sentence. The chief smiled.

"Tell them," he said, "that Hassan is glad to have been able to
pay back a little of the obligation he was under to them. Besides,
Sehi Pandash was my enemy. Good thing to help friends and kill enemy
at the same time. Tell them that Hassan does not want thanks; they
did not like him to thank them for saving you."

The child translated this with some difficulty. Then he led the
midshipmen round the village, and showed them the strong palisade
which had evidently just been erected, and explained, through the
child, that it had only been built before he left, as but fifteen
men were available for guarding the place in his absence.

The next four days were spent in shooting expeditions, and although
they met with no wild beasts, they secured a large number of bird
skins for the doctor. On the fifth day a native ran in and said
that boats with white men were coming. The midshipmen ran down to
the bank, and saw the ship's two cutters and a gig approaching.
The captain himself was in the stern of the latter, and the doctor
was sitting beside him. A minute or two later they were shaking
hands with the officers, and saying a few words to the men, who
were evidently delighted to see them again. Just as the greetings
were over, Hassan, in a rich silk sarong and jacket, came down
towards them. He was leading his little daughter, and six Malays
followed them.

"Welcome, Captain," he said gravely. "Hassan very glad to see you.
All come right now."

"Thank you, chief. We have learned from your messenger how gallantly
you have rescued my two officers, and put an end to our troubles
by killing the Rajah Sehi, and capturing the last of the piratical
craft."

This was too much for Hassan, and had to be translated by Soh Hay.
Since the chief's return, a number of his men had been occupied
in constructing bamboo huts for the use of the captain, officers,
and men, also a large hall to be used for councils and meetings;
and to this he now led the captain and his officers. When they
were seated, he made a speech of welcome, saying what gladness it
was to him to see there those who had been so kind to him. Had he
known when they would arrive, food would have been ready for them;
and he assured them that, however long they might stay, they would
be most heartily welcome, and that there should be no lack of
provisions. They had done an immense service to him, and to all
the other chiefs on the river, by breaking up the power of one
who preyed upon all his neighbors, and was a scourge to trade. As
there were still several bottles of the rajah's wine left, champagne
was now handed round.

"It makes my heart glad to see you, Doctor," the chief said. "See,
I am as strong and as well as ever. Had it not been for you, my
arm might now have been useless, and my ribs have grown through
the flesh."

"I don't think it would have been as bad as that," the doctor
replied: "but there is no doubt that it was fortunate that you were
able to receive surgical treatment so soon after the accident. And
it has been fortunate for us, too, especially for our young friends
here."

Conversation became general now, and the interpreter was kept hard
at work, and Bahi divided her attention between the officers and
the men, flitting in and out of the hall, and chattering away to
the sailors and marines who were breakfasting outside on the stores
they had brought up, supplemented by a bountiful supply of fruit,
which grew in abundance round the village. It was not long before
a meal was served to the officers, fowl having been hastily killed
as soon as the boats were seen approaching; several jungle fowl
had been brought in that morning; plaintains and rice were boiled,
and cakes baked. Tea was forthcoming from the boats' stores, and
a hearty meal was eaten.

CHAPTER XI.

After the meal was concluded, the captain said to the chief:

"Now, Hassan, we want to know how it was that you arrived at the
nick of time to save my officers' lives."

"I had been watching for some days," the chief said quietly. "When
I heard that many chiefs had joined Sehi Pandash, I said 'I must
go and help my white brothers,' but I dared not take many men away
from here, and as I had to hide, the fewer there were with me the
better; so I came down into the forest near Sehi's town, and found
the wood full of men. We had come down in sampans, so that I could
send off messengers as might be required. One of these I sent down
to you, to warn you to be prepared for an attack. Other messengers
I had sent before from here; but they must have been caught and
killed, for I had been watched closely when they found that I would
not join against you.

"When my last messenger returned, I was glad; I knew that you would
be on your guard, and would not be caught treacherously. Two of
my men were in the town when they began to fire on the ship, and
I saw the town destroyed, and followed Sehi to the place where
the six prahus were lying, and crossed the creek, and lay down in
the woods near the village on the other side; for I thought that
something might happen. One of my men went down in the night, and
brought me news that the ship was gone. As my messenger had told me
that you had questioned him as to the other entrance to the creek,
I felt sure that you had gone there; so I was not surprised when,
just before daybreak, two guns were fired. We saw the fight, the
sinking of two of their vessels, and the attack by the water pirates,
and by the men of the rajah and the chiefs with him, and I feared
greatly that my friends would be overpowered.

"I sent one of my men down to the mouth of the creek, to tell you
how much aid was wanted; but he saw the ship steaming up as he
went, and so came back to me. Then we heard the ship's great guns
begin to fire, and soon all was quiet where the fight had been
going on. Then I saw the other four boats start. One of them sank
before she was out of sight, and I soon heard that your ship had
sunk another, and that two had got away. It was not for another two
days that I learned where they were, and then I heard that they
had gone into a creek twenty miles away; there one had sunk, and
the other had been joined by the two prahus that had been far up
the river; and I also learned that one of Sehi's men had gone into
the village and let himself be captured, so that he might guide the
ship's boats to the place where, as they thought, they would find
but one prahu, while three would be waiting for them. I was not
sure where the exact place was, for there are many creeks, but, with
one of my men, I rowed in a sampan all night, in hopes to arrive
in time to warn the boats; but it was not till I heard the firing
that I knew exactly where they were.

"When I got there the fighting was over, and but one prahu had
escaped, and I learned from the men who had swum ashore from those
that had been sunk that one of the English boats had been destroyed,
and many men killed, but that two boats had gone down the creek again.
It was also said that the white officers and sailors had boarded
the boat that had escaped, and had been all killed. I thought it
best to follow the prahu, so that I could send word to you where
she was to be found. As there were many passages, it was difficult
to find her, and I should have lost her altogether had I not heard
where Sehi was hiding, and guessed that she would go there. It was
late when I arrived at the village. There one of my men learned that
two young officers, who had been wounded, had been brought there,
and that Sehi was sending word to you that, unless you gave him
the conditions he asked, they would be put to death.

"I did not know whether to send down to you, or to send up the
river for help; but I thought the last was best, for if you came
in boats, then Sehi's men would hear you, and the officers would
be killed; so I sent off my man with the sampan. I told him that
he must not stop until he got here. He must tell them that all
my men, except fifty old ones who were to guard the village, were
to start in their canoes, and paddle their hardest till they came
within half a mile of the village, and he was to come back with them
to guide them, and I was to meet them. As the prahus that had been
up there were destroyed, the river was safe for them to descend.
I said that they must be at the point I named last evening. They
were two hours late, though they had paddled their hardest. As
soon as they disembarked I led them to the spot, and the rest was
easy. I knew that the prisoners who had been taken were my two
friends, for I saw them on the deck of the prahu; and glad indeed
I was to be able to pay my debt to them."

"You have paid it indeed most nobly, Hassan," the captain said,
holding out his hand, and grasping that of the chief, when, sentence
by sentence, the story was translated to him. "Little did we think,
when you were brought on board the Serpent, that your friendship
would turn out of such value to us."

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