by G. A. Henty
Produced by Martin Robb
AMONG MALAY PIRATES
A TALE OF ADVENTURE AND PERIL
by G. A. Henty.
AMONG MALAY PIRATES
CHAPTER I.
"I wish most heartily that something would happen," Harry Parkhurst,a midshipman of some sixteen years of age, said to his chum, DickBalderson, as they leaned on the rail of her majesty's gunboat Serpent,and looked gloomily at the turbid stream that rolled past the ship asshe lay at anchor.
"One day is just like another--one is in a state of perspiration frommorning till night, and from night till morning. There seems to bealways a mist upon the water; and if it were not that we get up steamevery three or four days and run out for twenty-four hours for a breathof fresh air, I believe that we should be all eaten up with fever in notime. Of course, they are always talking of Malay pirates up the riverkicking up a row; but it never seems to come off."
"There is one thing, Harry--there is always something to look at, forthere are canoes constantly going up and down, and there is plentyof variety among them--from the sluggish dhows, laden with upcountry produce, to the long canoes with a score of paddlers and somepicturesque ruffian sitting in the stern. It adds to the interest whenyou know that the crews are cutthroats to a man, and would make but theshortest possible work of you if they had got you in their power."
"Yes, Dick. Look at that canoe coming up stream; what a good lookingchap that is in the stern, though by the way he scowls at us I can quitebelieve he would, as you say, cut our throats if he had the chance. Thatis a pretty little child sitting by him, and what a gorgeous dress shehas! There, you see, he can look pleasant enough when he speaks to her.I fancy they must have come from a long way up the river, for theylook wilder than most of the fellows who pass us. If that fool who issteering her does not mind what he is about, Dick, he will either runinto that canoe coming down or else get across our chain. There, I toldyou so."
The man at the tiller was in fact, looking, with mingled curiosity andhostility, at the gunboat that he was passing but a few yards away, anddid not notice a canoe, manned by six rowers, that was coming down withthe stream, taking an oblique course across the bows of the Serpent, andwas indeed hidden from his view by the hull of the vessel, until he hadpassed beyond her. Then there was a sudden shout and a yell from a dozenthroats, as the two canoes came into collision, the one proceeding upthe river being struck on the quarter with a force that almost cut herin two, and in an instant her occupants were in the water. As theMalays were to a man almost as much at home in the water as on land, theaccident would have had little effect beyond the loss of the boat andits contents, had it not been that the stern of the other craft struckthe Malay chief with such force as to completely disable him, and hewould have sunk at once had not two of the boatmen grasped him and kepthis head above water.
"What has become of the child?" Harry Parkhurst exclaimed, and he andDick Balderson both leaped on to the rail, throwing off their jacketsas they shouted to the men to lower a boat. Nothing could be seen ofthe child until, after half a minute's suspense, a little face suddenlyappeared in the swirl of the muddy water some fifteen yards from thevessel's side. It was gone again in an instant, but, as it disappeared,both lads sprang from the side and with a few strokes reached the spotwhere they had seen the face disappear; then they dived under water andsoon grasped her. As soon as they came to the surface a sailor, who hadseized a coil of rope, flung it to them, and, grasping it, they werequickly by the side of the gunboat.
A minute later some sailors, who had at once tumbled into a boat on thealarm being given, came up. The child was first handed into it, then themidshipmen scrambled in, and, by their directions, two of the sailors,standing on the thwarts, lifted the child high above their heads to thehands of the men leaning over the bulwark.
"Take the little thing to the doctor," Dick said. "Now, lads, row on;let's pick up some of those Malay fellows."
A babel of shouts and sounds rose from the water; the bow of the secondcanoe had been stove in, and she also had sunk to the water level; afierce fight was going on between several of the Malays; the chief,who was being supported by two of his crew, was shouting furiously; andothers of his men, in obedience to his orders, were diving under water.Harry turned to the gunboat, and called to the men to bring Soh Hay,the interpreter, to the side. A minute later the man was hustled to therail.
"Tell that chief that we have got his child safely on board," Harryshouted.
Again and again the interpreter called out; but it was some time beforehe could make the chief pay attention to him. As the latter caught thepurport of his words his face changed at once, and, after calling to hismen to desist from their search, his head sank on to the shoulder of oneof the men supporting him, and he evidently lost consciousness.
"He is badly hurt, Dick; we had better get him on board, too. OldHorsley was wishing this morning that he had something to do beyondadministering doses of quinine to the men."
Taking the tiller, he brought the boat alongside the chief, and four ofthe sailors, directed by Dick, gently raised him from the water and laidhim on the bottom of the boat. Blood was flowing freely from an uglygash in his face, and it was evident from the manner in which his leftarm hung limp, as they lifted him up, that either the shoulder or thearm itself was broken.
"Get him alongside at once, lads," Dick said. "I expect he is moreinjured than we see. The other fellows will be all right; they can allswim like fish."
In two or three minutes the injured man was laid down under an awningover the fore deck of the cruiser, and the surgeon at once came up.
"How is the child, Doctor?"
"She is still insensible," he said, "but she will soon be all right. Ican't discover any injury, and I think it likely that it was the suddenshock, and perhaps a knock against the side of the boat, that stunnedher; for I have no doubt she could swim, small as she is. This is a muchmore serious affair; he has an ugly gash in his temple, his collarboneis broken, and," he went on, as he passed his hands down the patient'sside, "he has two, if not more ribs broken."
"Well, we will leave him to you, Doctor; there are a lot of thesefellows in the water, and I suppose they must be brought on board untilwe can get a boat to take them ashore."
In a few minutes eighteen Malays were brought to the side, and the twocanoes, which were floating level with the water, were towed up andfastened by a rope to the stern of the gunboat. Even when safely ondeck, the two parties were still so infuriated that they had to beseparated and placed under guards apart from each other. Three or fourhad been killed by the stabs of the deadly krises, and their bodiescould be seen floating astern. Several of those rescued had wounds moreor less severe.
"We should not have much chance with those fellows in the water, Mr.Parkhurst," an old sailor said to Harry.
"No, indeed, Davis; they could swim round and round us, and ourcutlasses would be very little good against those ugly looking krises.If we were to leave them to themselves, they would fight to the death;and, after all, it was no one's fault in particular. Mr. Balderson andI were watching them; one was crossing the ship's bow just as the othercame out from her side, and they were into each other before either hadtime to hold their boat up."
"That chap the doctor is bandaging up was in a nice taking about hischild, sir; it was a lucky job that you and Mr. Balderson happened tocatch sight of her."
"Yes, poor little thing! It was only just a glimpse we got of her face;but as we were looking for her, and ready to dive, it was enough."
"Lucky we are inside the bar, Mr. Parkhurst, or the sharks would havehad half the fellows
."
"I did not think of it at the time, Davis, and it would not have madeany difference if I had; we were only in the water a couple of minutes,and the Malays were making noise enough to frighten away any number ofsharks. You will have the job of washing out our trousers again--we hadonly put them on clean half an hour before."
"That aint no matter, sir, especially if you go down and change at once;the mud will come out easy enough if I leave them in a bucket of freshwater for half an hour."
The two midshipmen joined the group of officers who were standing nearthe doctor; the latter had, on closer examination, announced that fourof the ribs were broken. He had finished his work just as the lads cameup. News had been brought up by the steward that the little girl hadopened her eyes; while he was speaking, the Malay conversed rapidly withthe interpreter.
"What is he saying, Soh Hay?" the captain asked.
"He is asking why his daughter is not here, and if she is hurt, and howshe came to be saved," the man replied. "Me tell him she come up to seehim soon; the doctor say she no hurt."
Two minutes later the doctor reappeared, carrying the child in his arms.She looked round fearlessly at the white faces until her eye fell uponher father, when she slipped out of the doctor's arms like an eel andran to him. The grim features of the Malay lit up with a pleasant smileas he held out his right hand to her. She was a strange little figure,for the doctor had not waited to obtain any suitable garments for her,but had wrapped her up in one of the signal flags, which the childherself had wound round her waist and over her shoulder like a nativesarong.
"You tell him, Soh Hay, that he must not talk to her," the doctor said."If he keeps quiet, he will get well in short time: if he talk, he illmany days; but I will let him say a few words to her now."
The Malay's eyes passed over the group of officers and rested on thetwo midshipmen, whose wet clothes showed that they were the officers whohad, as the interpreter had told him, dived in and rescued the child. Hesaid something to the interpreter.
"Malay man want to speak to you, young gentlemen," the man said; "hewish to thank you."
"Oh, tell him there is nothing to thank us for," Harry said hastily; "itwas nothing more than taking a bath."
"Yes, officer, but he wishes to speak to you."
Somewhat reluctantly, the two lads approached the side of the injuredman; he took each of them by the hand, and, as he did so, said somethingwhich Soh Hay interpreted:
"The chief says that you have given him back what he loved best in theworld, and that his life is yours whenever it may be of use to you; hemay be of service to you, gentlemen, should you ever go up the river--aMalay never forgives an injury or forgets a service."
"Tell him we are very glad to have brought his little girl out of thewater," Harry said, "and that if we ever go up the river, we will payhim a visit."
The chief was now laid in a cot which was swung from the stanchions ofthe awning, while the little girl was carried away by the doctor, wholaid her in a berth, gave her a cup of tea, which she drank obedientlyto his orders, but evidently regarded as being extremely nasty, and shewas then told through the interpreter to go to sleep until her sarongwas dried. A couple of hours later she was on deck again in hernative garb and ornaments. The interpreter pointed out to her the twomidshipmen who had rescued her, and she at once went up to them, and,slipping her hands into theirs, began to prattle freely; they wereunable to understand what she said, but they took her round the ship,showing her the guns, and introduced her to Ponto, the captain's greatNewfoundland, who submitted gravely to be patted by her; to Jacko, themonkey, who was by no means disposed to be friendly, but chattered andshowed his teeth; and to Julius Caesar, the negro cook, who grinned fromear to ear, and presented her with some cakes from a batch which he hadjust made for the captain's table.
The rest of the Malays had already left the ship; two native boats hadbeen hailed, and in these the two parties of Malays had taken theirplaces, and, with their boats towing behind, had been rowed away,the captain giving strict instructions that they were to be landed onopposite sides of the river. The little maid speedily became a generalpet on board the Serpent, and was soon the proud possessor of severalmodels of ships, two patchwork quilts, several carved tobacco boxes,and other specimens of sailors' handiwork. Small as she was, she hadevidently a strong idea of her own importance, and received thesepresents and attentions with a pretty air of dignity which at onceearned for her the title of the Princess.
On the second day after the accident, the chief's boat came off from theshore, the damage having been speedily and neatly repaired. Little Bahistood on the top of the accommodation ladder as they approached, andaddressed them with great asperity, using much gesticulation with herarms.
"What is she saying, Soh Hay?" Dick Balderson asked.
"She is telling them that they are bad men to let the boat be run down;that she is very angry with them, and they will all be punished."
'The men looked very crestfallen under their little mistress'reproaches, and held up their hands in a deprecating manner; whilethe helmsman stood up and, after salaaming deeply, entered upon a longexplanation, which ended in his asking if he might come on board tosee his chief. Permission was at once granted by the captain, upon therequest being interpreted to him. When he mounted the steps, Bahi ledhim to the side of her father's cot. The doctor, however, interposed.
"Tell him he must not talk," he said to the interpreter; "the chiefis ill and must not be allowed to excite himself. But he can say a fewwords, if he wants to."
The cot had been lowered to within a few inches of the deck in orderthat the chief might watch his daughter as she trotted about and rompedwith Ponto, who had now quite taken her into his friendship. The chief'sface expressed alarm when he first saw the great dog; but when he sawhow gentle the animal was, and how, when one of the sailors placed thechild on his back, it walked gravely up and down the deck, wagging itstail as if pleased with its novel burden, he was satisfied that no harmcould come to her from this formidable looking animal. He had firstspoken a few words sharply to the man in answer to his excuses, and,indeed, had the helmsman been minding his business instead of looking atthe ship, the collision might have been prevented; but Hassan Jebash wasat the present moment so well contented with the recovery of his childthat he accepted the man's excuses, and the latter went back to his boatevidently greatly relieved.
In a few days the chief began to show signs of impatience, and throughthe interpreter constantly demanded of the doctor when he would be wellenough to leave.
"You ask him, Soh Hay, whether he wishes to be able to lead his tribein battle again, or to go through life unable to use a kris or hurl aspear. In another ten days, if he remains quiet, he will be able to go,and in a couple of months will be as strong and active as ever, if hewill but keep quiet until the bones have knit. Surely a chief is notlike an impatient child, ready to risk everything for the sake ofavoiding a little trouble."
The chief, on this being translated to him, scowled angrily.
"Tell him it is of no use his scowling at me, Soh Hay. I am notdoctoring him for my own amusement, but for his good, and because he isthe father of that little child."
The chief, when this was translated to him, lay without speaking for twoor three minutes, and then said quietly, "Tell the doctor I am sorry; heis right, and I have been foolish. I will stay till he says I may go."
