A Chinese Command: A Story of Adventure in Eastern Seas

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

  JAPANESE TROOPS TO THE RESCUE.

  The next thing of which Frobisher became aware was that he was in anextremely uncomfortable position, and that he was suffering a veryconsiderable amount of pain. It also appeared to him that he wasexperiencing an altogether unpleasant degree of warmth; while he seemedto hear, ringing in his ears like the echo of something listened to agesago, the sound of what very strongly resembled a steamer's syren. Addedto this, he was conscious that there were many people quite close tohim, groaning in varying degrees of agony; and finally, as his facultiesresumed their normal condition, he began to realise that he was in avery disagreeable predicament.

  Refraining from opening his eyes, he waited patiently until the feelingof sickness and dizziness with which he was oppressed had slightly wornoff, striving meanwhile to remember how it came about that he waswounded in the head, and firmly lashed, with his arms behind him, to thetrunk of a tree, in unpleasant proximity to a large fire. Little bylittle his memory returned, and he remembered clearly everything thathad taken place, up to the time when the enclosure had been rushed bythe Formosan savages, and he himself had fallen unconscious from theblow of a spear haft across his head. What, he wondered, had become ofpoor Drake? He had not set eyes on him during the whole of that briefscuffle, and he began to fear the worst for his friend.

  A remarkable sight revealed itself to his wondering gaze when he atlength opened his eyes. Instead of being bound to the trunk of a tree,as he had previously supposed, he found that he was secured to a stoutpost driven into the ground, his arms, behind him, encircling the post,with the wrists lashed together by what felt like rough ropes of nativefibre. Glancing downward, he saw that his ankles had been placed one oneach side of the stake, and secured there by several lengths of rattan;and it was to this that his uncomfortable and cramped position was due,as his whole weight was thus thrust forward until it was supportedalmost entirely by the wrists.

  Looking round him, he saw that a number of similar stakes had beenerected in the form of a circle, in the centre of which was a roaringfire, the heat from which he had become unpleasantly aware of on hisreturn to consciousness; and to each post was secured the body of a man,supported in the same manner as himself. Many of them appeared,Frobisher noticed, to be in a state of entire, or nearly entire,unconsciousness. These men were, of course, the Chinese seamen who hadescaped death at the first onslaught of the savages, and had survived,he very greatly feared, only to meet a far more sinister fate than thatof sudden death.

  His gaze diligently searched the circle for Drake, and he was beginningto fear that his old friend must be numbered with the slain, when one ofthe figures raised its head slowly and painfully, as though justreturning to consciousness, and revealed the blood-stained, haggardfeatures of the first lieutenant. At the same time Drake turned hiseyes in Frobisher's direction, stared blankly at him for a second, andthen smiled a glad but painful smile--painful because of the slash whichhe had received across the face; but he refrained from calling agreeting, and Frobisher instantly recognised that the other must havesome good reason for remaining silent--a circumstance very much opposedto his usual nature.

  That reason soon became apparent as Frobisher managed to twist his headround, with considerable difficulty, and look behind him; for he thensaw that he and the survivors of his crew were tied up in front of anative Formosan village; the spot where they were standing beingevidently the open space which is to be found in some portion of everysavage town. It was still night-time, but the glare of the great fireshone redly on the low, reed-thatched huts, with their two-foot-highdoors, covered with fibre mats, through which the occupants were obligedto crawl on all-fours; and the reason of Drake's silence became apparentin the bronze shapes of several of the savages themselves, eitherlounging against the walls of the huts, or seated on low stools beforethe doors. All of them, without exception, were nursing evil-looking,long-hafted, broad-bladed spears, and carried, belted to their waists,long-bladed knives, with wavy blades, somewhat similar to the Malay_parong_, or kris; and these they were evidently very ready and willingto use on the least provocation.

  The natives had all the appearance of people who were waitingimpatiently for some pleasurable happening to take place; and Frobisherrealised how very much it was to the advantage of all of them to feignunconsciousness as long as possible. The "exhibition", in which theprisoners were undoubtedly to become the principal actors, could hardlytake place while the prisoners were still insensible, and therefore notin a fit condition to furnish "sport"; but there was no doubt that,directly any of them showed signs of being in a condition to feel pain,the savage revels would begin. What form these would take Frobisher didnot, of course, know; but he could shrewdly guess, by what he rememberedto have been told about these folk, that it would be something veryhorrible, and he shuddered involuntarily.

  At this moment there thrilled through the still night air that samedeep, throbbing note that he believed he had heard at the moment when hehad been struck down. His sub-consciousness had then attributed thesound to the result of the blow, and he had since thought no more of it;but now that he heard it again he had no doubt as to what it really was.It was the deep-toned vibration of a steamer's syren, not so very faraway; and he cast a quick glance in Drake's direction. If there were asteamer so close at hand, there might yet be a chance of being rescuedif communication could possibly be established with her people.

  The lieutenant had also heard it; and directly his chief's eyes met his,his lips slowly but very distinctly formed one silent word: "Japanese."

  It was quite possible at that short distance, and in that strong light,to read from one another's lips, provided the motions were slow and verydistinct, and the two men at once entered into a silent conversationrelating to the situation in which they found themselves. Drake all thetime kept a wary eye on the guards, and feigned unconsciousness--acourse immediately followed by Frobisher--immediately there seemed theleast likelihood of one of them turning his head in the prisoners'direction.

  There could be no question as to the identity of the stranger--orstrangers. The steamer undoubtedly was either one of the transports, orthe gunboat sent by the Japanese to take possession of the island--partof the very expedition that Frobisher would now have been engaged infighting, had it not been for the terrible catastrophe of the _Chih'Yuen_ being cast away.

  The questions then arose--how soon would it be before the troops werelanded? would they be likely to come that way in their search for a spoton which to erect fort and barracks? and if they did so, would theyarrive in time? They would scarcely begin the disembarkation beforedawn, Frobisher conjectured; but dawn must surely be not very far offnow. He found himself praying fervently that his Chinese seamen mightremain insensible as long as possible; for the first that recovered hissenses would be almost certain, in his astonishment and alarm, to betraythe fact; and he could not but believe that when once the"entertainment" commenced, the savages would not trouble to discriminatebetween insensible and conscious victims, but would butcher the entirecompany to satisfy their lust for blood.

  He had been carrying on a silent conversation with Drake for nearly anhour, during which time neither prisoners nor captors had moved; and thefirst streaks of dawn were appearing to the eastward when the lieutenantsuddenly dropped his chin on his chest, as though shot; and so naturallywas the performance carried out that for a few seconds Frobisherbelieved his friend had fainted. He was wise enough, however, to followthe example instantly, and presently, through his half-closed eyelids,he saw a couple of the savages rise to their feet and stroll toward thecircle of prisoners.

  Drake himself was one of the first at whom they stopped. They lookedkeenly at the down-hung head, and even prodded him in the ribs with aspear-haft; but although the blow must have been exceedingly painful,Drake retained sufficient self-possession not to utter a sound orexhibit a single sign of consciousness, and after a pause the two menstrolled al
ong to the next prisoner. This was the Chinese quartermasterof the _Chih' Yuen_; and directly they touched him Frobisher realisedthat the man was dead--fortunately, perhaps. There could be nomistaking the inert manner in which the body responded to the shaking ofthe taller of the two Formosans; and with an animal cry of disappointedrage the fellow reversed his spear and drove the broad blade again andagain into the insensate figure. The sight was a sickening one, andFrobisher's only consolation was that the object of the barbarity wasbeyond the reach of cruelty for ever.

  Then the men passed on to another figure, another, and still another,always without result, until Frobisher became aware that his turn wascoming next. Drake's eye was on him, he knew, watching anxiously, andhe braced himself to bear in silence whatever barbarity the savagesmight feel inclined to inflict.

  He knew, of course, when they stopped opposite him, although he had nowclosed his eyes tightly; but he could scarcely repress a start when hefelt a heavy hand fall upon his shoulder, for he did not know what nextto expect. The temptation to open his eyes was almost irresistible, butwith a strong effort he managed to keep them closed, and it was indeedwell for him that he did so. Drake, who was watching, told himafterward that when he saw the horribly suggestive gestures thatfollowed upon the man placing his hand on Frobisher's shoulder he almostfainted from very horror, and was scarcely able to draw his breathuntil, after a few seconds' hesitation, the men decided to postponetheir barbarous idea until the victim was in a state to anticipate andto feel, and passed on. Frobisher heard them depart, but forbore toopen his eyes for a few seconds, lest they should be playing him sometrick, and so he did not see what happened to the man on his left; butDrake did, and not with all his iron nerve could he repress a muffledcry of horror.

  Immediately the men wheeled, but luckily, having their backs turned atthe time, were unable to locate the sound accurately. They fancied thatit was uttered by one of the seamen who, unhappily for him, had justregained consciousness and was gazing about him in blank amazement andterror; and with a shout of exultation the two inhuman wretches left thecruelly mangled form of their victim and passed on to the sailor.

  They paused in front of him for a few moments, gesticulating andlaughing fiendishly, and then, to Frobisher's amazement, left himuntouched, and returned to the huts.

  Here they uttered a peculiar kind of cry, and presently could be heardsounds as of a number of people approaching through the jungle. A fewothers appeared sleepily at the doors of some of the huts, and crawledout, yawning and blinking, into the fire-light. Here they remained,talking in their harsh, unmusical tongue, and chuckling at somesuggestion put forward by the tall man, until the arrival of a party ofmen, all armed with spears and krises and, in some instances, bows andarrows, or blowpipes, who had evidently been out hunting to procurebreakfast for the tribe; for they carried with them a number of smallanimals somewhat resembling hares, and a few splendidly-plumaged birds,all intended for the pot. On hearing what the tall man was saying,however, their burdens were contemptuously cast on one side, and theyeyed the prisoners with an expression that told Frobisher more plainlythan words that he had fallen into the clutches of cannibals, and thediscarding of the spoils of their night's hunt proved only too clearlywhat their intentions were.

  How Frobisher prayed and prayed again that the Japanese troops mightpass that way in time! It would, of course, mean the exchanging of oneprison for another, he knew. But the Japanese were civilised, and theirofficers gentlemen; and no indignity or other hardship would beinflicted upon their captives beyond temporary confinement; and theEnglishman felt that he would almost be willing to undergo lifelongcaptivity if he might, by so doing, save his comrades and himself fromthe dreadful fate that, only too plainly, was in store for them.

  The chief having now concluded his harangue, his audience, with shoutsand chuckles of anticipation and ferocity, dived back into their huts,to reappear a few seconds later with a number of wooden shovels, andstakes sharpened to a point and hardened in the fire, these beingevidently intended for the breaking up of hard earth for the shovels todeal with more easily. Then the whole of them, with the exception of acouple of spearmen left to guard the prisoners, trooped off into thebush, stopping a little distance away and proceeding to dig eagerly, asFrobisher could tell by their shouts, and the sounds of shovels andpicks being driven into the ground.

  Ah, if only it were possible for either Drake or himself to loosen theirbonds while the savages were away! A few seconds would suffice todispose of the guard; a few seconds more would liberate the rest of theprisoners, most of whom were now showing signs of returningconsciousness; and they could all be away in the depths of the forestbefore those others could reach the spot. Once free, it would bestrange indeed if they could not reach the protection of the Japanesetroops, who would by this time surely be disembarking, possibly only ashort mile away, if they should have elected to land at the spot wherethe _Chih' Yuen's_ boats had been left.

  "Phew!--the boats!" thought Frobisher to himself. If the troops shouldland where he expected they would, the officers could not avoid seeingthem; and, seeing them, they would naturally at once endeavour todiscover whose they were. The name of the ship was on each boat--if theJap officers could understand Chinese characters--and surely, surelythey would try to locate the people who had landed from the vessel, ifonly to attack and drive them from the island. If the disembarkationhad begun at dawn, a strong force might even now be in the vicinitysearching--perhaps within earshot. At this very moment a concentratedshout on the part of Drake and himself might reach the ears of thetroops and bring them to the spot in time to save all hands from ahorrible death!

  But the risk was too great. A shout would inevitably bring back thesavages, even if the guards did not punish the outcry with aspear-thrust; and then all would be over. No, the only thing to do wasto wait, and pray fervently that the preparations of the Formosans mighttake them some considerable time, thus giving the Japanese moreopportunity to find the prisoners before it was too late, if they werecoming at all. It seemed strange to Frobisher that the savages had notalso heard the steamer's syren; but he attributed the circumstance tothe fact that perhaps his own ears and Drake's were more sensitive tosuch a sound, in the presence of imminent death, than those of theFormosans. Besides, he and the lieutenant knew that the arrival of theJapanese was expected, whereas the Formosans had no reason to suspectanything of the kind.

  While he was debating the matter in his mind he heard the noise of thesavages crashing through the bush on their return, and knew that, unlessassistance came within the next five minutes, it would arrive too latefor all of them.

  Presently the cannibals reappeared in the clearing, laughing and jokingamong themselves; and, having thrown their shovels and picks down by theside of one of the huts, they picked up their spears and advancedexpectantly toward the circle of bound men, baring their gums, showingtheir teeth, and exhibiting every symptom of pleased anticipation.

  Then the tall chief, who had been the last to return, dived into hishut, while the others stood around, leaning on their spears or runningtheir thumbs along the edges of their _parongs_, waiting impatiently forhim to reappear.

  It was at this moment that Frobisher, who was staring hard at Drake,trying to attract his attention, thought he caught the distant echo of avoice; and by the sudden start that the lieutenant was unable to repressit was evident that he, too, had become aware of something. Heimmediately glanced across at his captain, raising his eyebrows andnodding his head in the direction of the sound; and Frobisher nodded inreturn, at the same time glancing warningly at the Formosans, andforming the word "Wait" with his lips as distinctly as he could. Drakeunderstood, and flashed his comprehension at the moment that the savagechief reappeared in the doorway of his hut.

  He had dressed himself, in celebration of the occasion, in a splendidtiger-skin cloak, and wore the skull of a tiger on his head as a kind ofhelmet. A necklace made of the teeth and claws of that beast wass
uspended round his neck, supporting a huge unset emerald, which wasfastened by a piece of gold wire run through a hole which had beendrilled through an angle of the stone. He also wore a pair of whitecotton trousers, terminating just below the calf, and kept in positionby a belt made of silver medallions, connected by pieces of deer-hide;while from this belt depended a very handsome silver-hilted kris in awooden scabbard, very richly ornamented, which had undoubtedly beenstolen at some time from a rich Malay trader. Gold bracelets encircledhis arms nearly from wrist to elbow, and his ankles were ornamented bysoft gold bands which could be clasped on or taken off as their ownerdesired. He made a fine figure of a man, and was evidently quite awareof the fact, for he stood still for a few moments, sunning himself inthe admiration of his followers, until Frobisher trembled lest thevoices should again make themselves heard and be detected by the waitingcannibals. In fact, as he strained his ears, the Englishman could nowdistinctly hear the distant crackling of undergrowth, announcing thepassage of a number of men through the bush. It was as yet very faintindeed, and would have passed unnoticed but for the strained conditionof his nerves; but it was to him quite perceptible, and approachingcloser and closer every second.

  To his unbounded delight, the cannibals now formed a circle and began tosing, slowly parading round the doomed men and clashing the hafts oftheir spears, thus effectually drowning any sounds the approachingtroops might make, and at the same time notifying their presence to theJapanese. It was broad daylight by this time, and Frobisher kept hiseyes glued in the direction from which the sounds had proceeded, hopingevery second that they would be gladdened by the glitter of approachingbayonets.

  In the midst of the singing the chief, suddenly whipping out his kris,paused a few seconds on the edge of the circle, looking for a victim,then sprang like a tiger at one of the Chinese seamen. The man saw himcoming and shrieked pitifully; but he could scarcely have felt hisdeath, poor fellow, for the next second his severed head fell to theground.

  Waving the kris above his head, and laughing madly, the chief lookedround for the next victim, and his eyes fell upon Frobisher. TheEnglishman breathed a prayer and prepared to meet his death bravely,keeping his eyes fixed undauntedly on the chief's face. And as helooked, the fellow suddenly dropped the streaming weapon and, fallingupon his knees, collapsed in a heap, simultaneously with the crack of arevolver, which was immediately followed by a quick succession of rifleshots, as hidden marksmen picked out their victims.

  Taken completely by surprise, the cannibals were shot down like sheep;and Frobisher scarcely realised what was happening until he saw the lastsavage throw up his hands and fall. Then he felt his bonds slacken, andhe staggered weakly forward, to find himself supported by the arms of aJapanese officer, while, standing about in groups at the edge of thejungle, could be seen the figures of the soldiers, leaning upon theirstill-smoking rifles.