by W E Johns
Biggles shrugged. ‘That’s up to you, sir. I’ve nothing more to say. Sorry I raised the subject.’
‘There’s another reason why I should stay,’ declared the major. ‘You want more rubber, don’t you?’
‘Yes – if you can get it.’
‘Of course I can get it.’
‘That’s fine,’ returned Biggles. ‘But I can’t see that it is going to be easy. You’ll have more Japanese here. They’re bound to send another party to find out what has become of this lot.’
‘I shall be ready for them. They won’t catch me napping twice. No sir.’
‘Then the only problem that remains to be solved is this. How are we going to maintain contact with you? I’m thinking particularly of the rubber. I question whether your people will be able to get down to the coast and it’s unlikely that we shall be able to get up the river a second time.’
‘The enemy may not find it easy to discover what has happened to their first raiding party,’ argued the major. ‘All traces of the visit will be removed.’
‘But the fact that you are British will be enough to warrant your arrest.’
‘I may find it expedient to take steps to conceal my nationality – and I should have no difficulty in doing that.’
‘How are you going to dispose of the launch?’
Major Marling rubbed his chin. ‘Yes, that’s a bit of a poser,’ he admitted. ‘No use trying to sink it. The river here isn’t deep enough to cover it.’
‘In that case we had better take it with us when we go,’ announced Biggles. ‘As a matter of fact I could probably find a use for it. Anyway, by using it we should make much faster time home than if we used the kabang. I understand the launch has a burden of fifty tons. We could take that much rubber with us if you feel inclined to let us have it?’
It was Li Chi’s turn to look at Biggles askance. ‘Are you thinking seriously of trying to take that vessel through the enemy forces stationed at the estuary? Tamashoa’s headquarters is at Victoria Point, at the mouth of the river.’
‘If we start fairly soon we should be at the estuary just before dawn, the darkest part of the night,’ answered Biggles evenly. ‘The usuaI river mist at that hour should aIso help to provide us with cover.’
‘The Japanese will hear the engine even if they don’t see the launch.’
‘What of it? They’ll be expecting the launch back, won’t they?’ Biggles smiled. ‘The last thing to occur to them will be that it has changed hands.’
‘Suppose we are challenged?’
‘You mean – from the shore?’
‘Yes.’
‘You speak Japanese.’
‘Yes.’
‘Very well, you can answer.’
‘And say what?’
‘Anything you like. Say that we have orders to move to a new berth. By the time inquiries have been made we should be well out in the strait.’
Li Chi smiled. ‘I once fooled a British gunboat like that. It might be done.’
‘Then let’s try it.’
‘It’s an audacious trick,’ put in Major Marling.
‘In my experience the more audacious the scheme the more likely it is to succeed,’ returned Biggles. ‘It’s the little things that go wrong – things within the limit of the enemy’s imagination. What does exercise my mind is not getting out, but how we are to get back should occasion arise. We ought to have a line of communication with Shansie. A landing ground for aircraft would be the ideal thing, but I’m afraid the river here is too narrow, and winds about too much for a flying-boat to get down on it.’
‘I haven’t a landing ground at the moment because the last thing I wanted here was any of those noisy devils’ contraptions that you call aeroplanes,’ said Major Marling. ‘But no doubt something could be done.’
‘What have you in mind?’ asked Biggles curiously.
‘By digging a trench I could drain the paddy fields to provide a hard level surface, if that is what you want. It would mean cutting the rice, but that doesn’t matter. Alternatively I could break through the river bank just above here and flood the fields to a depth of two or three feet. Years ago we used to have serious floods, but by building an embankment we have been able to keep the river in its bed. A charge of dynamite would soon alter that.’
Biggles looked pleased. ‘That’s excellent, sir. It’s all we should need. The machine I’m using at the moment for communication work is an amphibian, so I don’t care whether the airfield is land or water.’
‘Dry land would suit me better as a flood would make things more difficult for my people.’
‘Very well, sir, I’ll leave it to you,’ decided Biggles. ‘I take it that if I turn up here in an aircraft I shall find some sort of landing field available?’
I’ll see to it,’ promised the major. ‘There’s just one other matter – a detail.’ Addressing Li Chi he went on, ‘I have here several Chinese and Lascars, the crew of a ship sunk by the enemy in the Gulf of Siam,1 on the other side of the Isthmus. Reaching the shore they fled inland and eventually reached Shansie in a famished condition. They are not very happy here. I think they would prefer to do something more active, apart from which they are rather a drain on our resources. If you are going to take the launch it would seem to provide an opportunity for them to get out.’
‘I could find work for them,’ promised Li Chi. ‘How many are there?’
‘Sixteen – mostly greasers and stokers2 – engine-room crew, so I understand.’
‘All right. With the approval of Squadron Leader Bigglesworth, if these men will put themselves under my orders, they may come.’
‘Good. I shall be glad to get rid of them. They’re an ugly-looking crowd.’
‘And now I have a request to make,’ went on Li Chi. ‘My fellows on Elephant Island are short of rifles. What about those we have captured today from the Japanese? Do you want them or may I have them?’
‘Take them by all means,’ offered the major. ‘I certainly don’t want them here. I don’t want anything left about that might tell Japanese visitors what became of the men who arrived today.’
At this juncture Ayert returned, with Malong the overseer. They looked well-satisfied with themselves. The survivors of the enemy force, they asserted, had been disposed of – although they did not put it like that. Their description of the final scene was lurid – a trifle too lurid, Ginger thought. Ayert was informed of the arrangements, and approved them.
‘When do you intend to start?’ the major asked Biggles.
‘The sooner the better.’
‘You’ll stay for lunch, of course? It will take some little time to load up the rubber?’
‘Thanks,’ accepted Biggles.
‘Then let us get the work in hand,’ said Major Marling briskly.
Two hours later the Lotus cast off with the kabang in tow and headed downstream carrying fifty tons of fine crepe rubber, and the sixteen survivors of the ship that had been sunk in the Gulf of Siam. They were, Biggles remarked to Ginger, as tough-looking a pack of pirates as he had ever seen in one place. ‘No wonder the major wanted to get rid of them,’ he concluded, smiling.
Li Chi, who overheard this remark, surprised Ginger by observing, casually, that in his opinion they were pirates. He smiled at Ginger’s expression and added: ‘Oh yes, there are still plenty of pirates in the China Seas.’
‘Better keep them away from those Japanese rifles,’ said Biggles seriously.
‘Don’t worry about that,’ returned Li Chi easily. ‘These fellows will do as I tell them. If there is any trouble I’ll let Ayert loose among them with his parang.’ He walked over to the wheel, which was being handled in a businesslike way by his ferocious-looking bosun.
Biggles smiled faintly as he lit a cigarette. ‘We seem to have landed among some nice people,’ he remarked to Ginger.
‘The fellow I’m sorry for is Prince Lalla,’ replied Ginger. ‘I had a long talk with him after lunch. Nice lad. He’s burning to ge
t into the war. It’s a pretty lonely sort of life for a chap of his age, stuck up here at the back of beyond.’
Biggles nodded, watching the monotonous river banks slide by. ‘So I imagine,’ he murmured.
Suddenly Ginger laughed quietly. ‘What’s funny?’ inquired Biggles.
‘Us,’ answered Ginger. ‘The things we do. To most people at home this part of the globe is now a place as inaccessible as the moon, crawling with Japanese; yet here we are, right in the middle of it, cruising along as if the country and the launch belonged to us.’
‘As a matter of fact they do,’ returned Biggles drily. ‘The Japanese only borrowed them for a little while – a loan for which they’ll have to pay a heavy rate of interest.’
After that they fell silent. The afternoon passed. The river rolled on, unchanging. The jungle steamed. The sun sank. Twilight dimmed the scene. The refugee crew disposed themselves in the bows, looking like heaps of dirty linen. Fireflies danced along the fringe of trees. The Lotus thrust its blunt nose into the stream, parting the turgid water. Biggles stood by the rail, smoking, deep in thought. Ginger lay down on the hard deck and fell asleep.
1 Now the Gulf of Thailand.
2 Greasers kept the moving parts of the engine room machinery well oiled, while the stokers kept the boilers full of coal.
CHAPTER 9
AYERT GOES ASHORE
GINGER AWOKE – OR rather, was awakened – by a low murmur of voices. He got to his feet to find Biggles, Li Chi and Ayert, in earnest conversation. The murmur of their voices was the only sound. The engine had stopped. The Lotus drifted with barely perceptible movement on a sluggish tide, through grey wraiths of river mist.
‘What’s happened?’ asked Ginger, suspecting a new development.
‘We don’t quite know,’ replied Biggles. ‘A little while ago a radio somewhere on board started buzzing out Morse. Li Chi found the instrument in a cabinet in the cabin. We should have guessed that there would be one on board. Li Chi picked up a signal from Victoria Point recalling the Lotus to base.’
‘What have you done about it?’
‘Li Chi acknowledged the signal – it was all he could do.’
‘Then there’s no harm done?’
‘We’re not sure about that. Listening, Li Chi has picked up other signals. As they stand they are vague, but it seems that some sort of operation is in progress near Japanese headquarters at Victoria Point. We shall have to pass near the place on the way out.’
‘Then we may see something.’
‘The enemy may see us, too, and that’s something we want to avoid. We were just discussing the advisability of sending Ayert ashore to find out just what is going on. We are not far from the estuary. Ayert says he can get the information from the Chinese labourers’ quarters. Moreover, he might learn the location of enemy posts on the river banks. It would be useful to know that because it would enable us to set a course to keep clear of them.’
Ginger looked at his watch and saw that it was just three o’clock. ‘What does Li Chi think?’
‘He’s in favour of Ayert going ashore.’
‘We’ve nothing to lose by the delay, provided Ayert doesn’t take too long over his reconnaissance,’ observed Ginger.
‘We must be across the strait before dawn.’ Biggles spoke briefly to Li Chi, with the result that the engine was started, and as the Lotus moved her nose was turned towards the northern bank. Ayert dropped overboard, waded ashore and disappeared in the mist.
The others waited, listening; but no sound came. To Ginger it was a tedious vigil. He was tired; the river mist was dank and chill and the mosquitoes were vicious. Ayert was away about an hour. He returned silently, as he had departed. Ignoring the others he spoke swiftly and at some length to Li Chi. It was evident from his manner that the information he had to convey was urgent and important, and Ginger fidgeted with impatience as he waited to learn what it was. Li Chi, his hands thrust in voluminous sleeves, translated.
‘I am to blame,’ he began, with acid hostility. ‘I should have taken the head from the shoulders of that misbegotten cur.’
‘Who are you talking about?’ asked Biggles, somewhat taken aback by this unusual tone of voice.
‘Pamboo. He is swaggering about with the enemy, having told them all he knows. Ayert got the news from some coolies who were on night work.’
‘How much has Pamboo told them – that’s the point?’ inquired Biggles.
‘As you thought, he was responsible for the raid on Shansie. He has told them that I am hiding on Elephant Island, where British officers have now arrived in an aeroplane.’
‘I suppose there’s no doubt about this?’
‘None whatsoever. Victoria Point is buzzing with the news. The labourers, of course, are hoping that the British are about to deliver an attack to drive out the Japanese. This is not all. It is known that the sawmill is working and that I am building a new junk to take away a large store of rubber which I have collected.’
‘In short,’ murmured Biggles, ‘the skunk has spilled the entire can of beans?’
‘I should have removed the intestines from the despicable creature,’ grated Li Chi.
‘You may still have an opportunity,’ remarked Biggles dispassionately.
‘I doubt it,’ was the reply. ‘Our entire scheme is torn wide open.’
‘Fiddlesticks,’ snapped Biggles.
‘But wait until you’ve heard the rest,’ returned Li Chi curtly. ‘The upshot of all this is, a Japanese landing is about to be made on Elephant Island. The force is being assembled at Victoria Point. A ship has been brought from Penang to take the troops over. It is already here.’
‘A ship, eh? What sort of ship?’
‘The Sumatran, a coastal supply vessel of a thousand tons. She carries guns fore and aft and has anti-aircraft deck armament. My friend, I’m afraid your long journey has been in vain.’
‘When I’m ready to throw in the sponge I’ll let you know,’ asserted Biggles evenly. ‘When is this assault timed to take place – today?’
‘No, tomorrow night.’
‘Not until tomorrow! Why, that gives us plenty of time to do something about it. Where is this ship?’
‘Lying in the channel about a mile offshore. I expect she’ll come in late tonight at high water to pick up the troops.’
‘What time is high water?’
‘Ten o’clock.’
Biggles thought for a little while. ‘That gives us nearly twenty hours. I think this ship, the Sumatran, would be very useful to us,’ he observed.
Li Chi was for once startled from his habitual calm. ‘You have a touch of fever, I think.’
‘On the contrary, I’ve never felt better in my life,’ declared Biggles lightly. ‘Tell me; you know these waters. What sort of crew would the Sumatran carry?’
‘A Japanese crew, now, with Japanese officers, I expect.’
‘How many?’
‘Twenty, perhaps.’ Li Chi regarded Biggles with suspicion not unmixed with apprehension. ‘If you tell me that you are going to try to sink the Sumatran I shall know that you are ill in the intestines.’
‘Sink her! Good Lord, no! Not on your life. Incidentally, I have every reason to suppose that my intestines are in very good order. But it seems to me that we might employ the Sumatran to good purpose. There’s nothing like improving your position as occasion offers. We started with a kabang. We moved up a step when we took the launch. Obviously the next step is up the side of the Sumatran.’
‘And so on to the Queen Mary?’ Li Chi was getting sarcastic.
‘If it suited my purpose – yes.’
‘And what is your purpose?’
Biggles frowned. ‘Come, come, Li Chi. You haven’t forgotten that I was sent here to get rubber? I’ve no intention of going back without any.’
‘At the rate you’re going it seems likely that you won’t go back at all.’
‘There is always that risk, I admit,’ said Biggles. ‘That�
��s what I’m paid for.’
Li Chi shrugged. ‘Proceed,’ he invited helplessly. ‘I have taken risks in my time, but I perceive that our brains work in different grooves. What is your purpose with the Sumatran?’
‘There are several purposes staring us in the face. First, if we take the ship we shall deny the enemy the use of it. Secondly, such a vessel might save my fellows an awful lot of work – as you may see in due course. And thirdly – and this is perhaps the most important – we shall hold up the proposed Japanese invasion of Elephant Island.’
‘You still intend going on with the scheme, then?’
‘I see no reason yet for abandoning it. It’s a pity that the Japs had to find out about us, but that was bound to happen sooner or later. The fact that it has happened sooner than we expected has merely put the clock forward. The automatic answer to that is, we must work faster. I’m thinking on those lines now. Things might be a lot worse. We do at least know what the enemy is doing. He might have taken us by surprise. As it is, by knowing his moves we should be able to forestall them.’
‘But this is making it all very difficult.’
‘From what I’ve seen of it, in war nothing is easy,’ said Biggles.
‘Are you going to attack the Sumatran now?’
‘No. I’m not quite ready. We’ve plenty of time and there are things to be done at Elephant Island. Let’s get going or we shall have daylight on us. Getting back to the island is the first job. If we are challenged I shall leave it to you to do the talking.’
Li Chi touched Ayert on the arm and together they walked to the wheel. The engine came to life, and in another minute the launch was gliding through the mist towards the estuary. Ginger stood by the rail, staring towards the unseen shore, Biggles remained with him. For some time neither spoke.
‘What do you really intend doing with the Sumatran?’ asked Ginger softly, at last. ‘Grabbing her seems a pretty desperate scheme to me.’
‘I don’t agree,’ returned Biggles. ‘I reckon the ship is a gift from the gods and I’m going to accept it. The thing should be simple. Consider it. The Japanese won’t be expecting trouble. Here, in home waters, they’ll hardly bother to keep watch, if I know anything about them. There should be plenty of tough fighters amongst Li Chi’s old crew on the island. Then, look at this bunch of cut-throat pirates we’ve got on board. Wait till I tell them that if they can get the Sumatran to India there will be a nice packet of prize money to share out – then watch their faces.’
