by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XVII
THE END OF THE VOYAGE TO BANGKOK
The routine of daily duty on board of the Blanchita has been given; andafter the race in the China Sea had proved that she could run away fromthe Delhi, there was no further excitement on the voyage. On thecontrary, it was rather monotonous, and there were no incidents worthyof record. After passing Great Natuna on the afternoon of the second dayfrom the mouth of the Sarawak, no land was seen again till the island ofPulo Obi, about twenty miles south-west of Point Cambodia, was seen onthe third day; and the Point on the mainland was passed a little later.
At noon on this day the two vessels were forty-four miles up the Gulf ofSiam. The prophecies of Captain Rayburn and Achang in regard to theweather proved to be correct. The monsoon blew steadily all the way, andthe yacht carried her sail. Not even a squall disturbed the serenity ofthe voyage, and everything went on as during the first and second days.The "Four" would have been glad to explore the Great Natuna Island, anddetermine whether or not it was inhabited; for they could obtain noinformation in regard to it from any of the books they had brought fromthe ship, and they forgot to inquire about it at Kuching.
At noon on the third day, in the Gulf, the captain of the Delhi hailedthe yacht, and came on board of her.
"I shall have to bear more to the eastward now, Captain Scott, and weshall soon part company," said the commander of the Delhi. "We had quitea lively race on our second day out, and you beat me handsomely. I hadno idea that your yacht could sail so fast. I was afraid you could notkeep up with me; but I found that you could run away from me, as yousuggested before we sailed."
"I did not know myself what speed the Blanchita could make, though I wasinformed that she had gone nine knots for twelve hours together,"replied Scott.
"I am very glad that I met you, and I hope I shall see you again. Youhave a very agreeable party, and I should think you might enjoyyourselves."
"I think we are likely to meet again at Saigon. The Guardian-Mother willbe there, and I hope you will come on board of her," replied CaptainScott, as they shook hands at parting, and the visitor returned to theDelhi.
The Blanchita started her screw again; and the captain gave outnorth-west as the course for the mouth of the Menan River, on whichBangkok is situated.
"Where do you expect to find the Guardian-Mother, Captain Scott?" askedLouis.
"At Bangkok," replied the captain, as he took his memorandum-book fromhis pocket. "Captain Ringgold gave me his time for leaving there, andalso of sailing from Saigon."
"When was he to leave the capital of Siam?"
"On the first tide Monday morning. This is Saturday, a little afternoon," replied Scott. "We have three hundred and twenty-five miles tomake. The monsoon is about as fresh here as it has been all the voyage;and we have used up about half of our coal, so that we are considerablylighter than when we left Kuching, and with the sail we can easily lognine knots an hour. We shall go into the Menan River before sundownto-morrow, and it will take two or three hours to go up to the city. Weshall be alongside the ship some time in the evening; and that is justthe time I should like to be there."
"We shall give our friends a tremendous surprise," added Louis.
"That is so; for while your anxious mamma is worrying for fear you havebeen chewed up by an orang-outang, and Flix's grandma is dreaming thathe has been swallowed whole by a big boa-constrictor, we shall drop inon them while they are singing gospel hymns in the music-room."
"I shall be sorry to disappoint grandma; but if she insists upondreaming such nonsense, it is not my fault," added Felix. "She ought toknow by this time that snakes don't swallow me till they get a bulletthrough their heads."
"I don't think my mother has been greatly worried about me, for she haslearned that I am able to take care of myself," said Louis.
"But the mothers will hug their boys as soon as they get hold of them."
"I wish the hugging might be confined to the mothers, for it isperfectly proper for them to do that thing; but when it comes to agrandma who hasn't a drop of Irish blood in her veins, I beg to beexcused, and, what is more, I won't stand it," protested Felix, making avery comical face.
"But you can't help yourself, Flix," laughed the captain.
"You see if I don't!" replied the Milesian, shaking his head as thoughhis plan to avoid the endearing reception had already been formed.
"We shall see what we shall see," added the captain. "It seems to methat the breeze is stronger here than it was out at sea."
"There is a hot country to the east of us, and perhaps the wind ishurrying up to fill a partial vacuum there," suggested Louis.
"You are a philosopher, my darling Louis, and that must be the reason,"added Felix.
The Blanchita seemed to be flying through the water, for her speed hadsensibly increased since she came into the Gulf. There were severallarge islands along the coast of Cambodia; but the course was fiftymiles outside of the mainland, which could not be seen.
"Why do you keep so far from the shore, Captain Scott?" asked Louis; forall the party would have been glad to observe the shore.
"Because we all wish to get to Bangkok to-morrow evening. What is theshortest way between two points, Louis?"
"A straight line, of course."
"That's the reason we keep her so far from the land. A north-west coursefrom a point outside of Obi Island to Cape Liant takes the yacht on thecourse we are running now."
"That explains it all," replied Louis.
The watches were regularly kept, and the captain was satisfied that theBlanchita was making over nine knots an hour. There was no excitement ofany kind on board, and the rest of the day was without anything worthyof note. The Delhi had gone in behind an island, and in a few hours shewas no longer to be seen. And so it was all day Sunday. Cape Liant waspassed about one o'clock. A river pilot was taken about five o'clock. Hecould not speak English, but Achang spoke to him in Malay.
"Ask him if the Guardian-Mother is in the river, Achang," said thecaptain.
The pilot could not make out the name, and the interpreter described theship so that he understood him at last. The face of the Siamese lightedup when he got the idea, and it was seen by the four that the ship wasthere. Achang informed them that the Guardian-Mother was anchored in theriver.
The river was full of boats, and on many of them houses were built. Thepeople were new to the Americans, though they were not very different tothe ordinary observer from the Burmese and other natives they had seen.Before the yacht was half-way up to the city, it was too dark to seeanything distinctly, and the party were more interested in the expectedsurprise of their friends on board the ship than anything else.
When the yacht was within a short distance of the ship, the pilotpointed her out. The singing in the music-room could be distinctlyheard, and everything was working precisely as Scott had said it would.At the gangway the barge of the Blanche was made fast; and it wasevident that General Noury and his wife were on board, and perhapsCaptain Sharp and his lady. The boat was worked very carefully andnoiselessly up to the platform of the gangway, where several sailorswere seated.
"The Blanchita!" exclaimed Quartermaster Bangs, as he recognized thecraft. "Captain Scott! I will inform the captain that you arealongside."
"Don't do anything of the kind, Bangs!" replied Scott. "Don't say aword, and don't make any noise, any of you. We want to drop in on theparty without any notice."
The quartermaster was a very intelligent fellow, and he took in thesituation at a glance. The "Big Four" stepped lightly on the platform,and Felix had taken pains to be the last one to mount the gangway. Scottled the way, and halted at the door of the music-room. He waited theretill the hymn they were singing was finished, and then threw open thedoor, and marched in. He took off his cap, and bowed as gracefully as adancing-master to the assembly.
Louis and Morris followed him, and imitated the example he had giventhem; but Felix had disappeared, and they did not know what had becomeof him. T
he musical party seemed to be so utterly confounded at thesudden and unexpected appearance of the hunters from Borneo that theyseemed to be struck dumb with amazement.
"Louis, my son!" Mrs. Belgrave screamed as she rushed upon her boy, andfolded him in her arms, kissing him as though he had come back to herfrom a tomb or a grave beneath the ocean.
"Morris!" cried Mrs. Woolridge, as she imitated the example of Mrs.Belgrave.
"My brother!" exclaimed Miss Blanche, as she divided the neck and armsof the returned hunter with her mother.
"This is somewhat unexpected, Captain Scott," said Captain Ringgold, ashe came forward, and took the hand of the captain of the Blanchita, whoalone of the trio was not in the arms of a mother.
"I should say that it might be, Captain," replied Scott as coolly asthough the meeting was nothing unusual.
"But how under the sun did you get here, Scott?" demanded the commander,scrutinizing the expression of the third officer,--which was his rank onboard of the ship,--to ascertain if there were any signs of a calamitythere.
"We came by water, Captain," answered the young officer, with a cheerfulsmile, which indicated anything but a disaster.
"Of course you did, inasmuch as there is no other way to get here. Inwhat steamer did you come? for I believe there is no regular line fromSarawak to Bangkok," added Captain Ringgold.
"We came by the steamer Blanchita."
"I don't understand it at all," said the commander with a perplexed lookon his face. "Do you mean that you made the voyage in the steam-yacht,Mr. Scott?" and there was a decided expression of incredulity on hisface.
"That is exactly what I mean to assert; and if you have any doubts aboutthe truth of what I say, I appeal to Louis and Morris to substantiate myassertion."
"If you really say so, I do not doubt the truth of what you declare. Itlooks like a foolhardy risk, but boys will be boys. I will not detainyou now; for others wish to welcome you back, and I know they are allglad to see you, unexpected as your return is."
"BUT WHERE IS FELIX?" DEMANDED MRS. BLOSSOM.
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As soon as his mother released him from the bondage of her loving arms,Louis hastened to Miss Blanche, and she grasped his hand as heapproached. No loving expressions passed between them, but what theymight have said that could be classed under this head was seen on theirtelltale faces.
"But where is Felix?" demanded Mrs. Blossom, who had been looking forhim since Scott came into the room. "Where is he, Mr. Scott?"
"I am sorry to say that he was swallowed by a big boa-constrictor onehundred and sixty feet long, and twelve feet in circumference," repliedthe captain of the Blanchita, as seriously as though there had been sucha monster snake in existence.
The poor lady was impervious to a joke; she screamed once, and thendropped in a sitting posture on a divan. Nearly all the rest of theparty laughed heartily. At this point the head of Felix dropped down afoot through the skylight over the centre of the room. He had made hisway to the upper deck, and stationed himself where he could see and hearall that passed in the apartment.
"Good-mahrnin' to ye's all this foine avenin'!" he shouted. "Don't ye'smake a row, Aunty. The schnake was a bit troubled wid indigestion of thebrain, and, faix! I was too much for him! Loike the sodjers surroundedby the inimy, Oi cut me way out, and here Oi am."
"I don't believe you were swallowed by a snake," protested Mrs.Blossom.
"Don't you believe that Jonah swallowed the whale, Aunty?" demandedFelix.
"Of course I believe that because it is in the Bible. If you had told methat you had swallowed the snake, I might have believed that," added thegood lady.
At this point General Noury came forward, and grasped the hand of Scott,passing from him to Louis and Morris, and then doing the same withFelix, who had dropped down from his perch at the skylight. As soon asMrs. Blossom saw him on the floor, she rushed towards him with outspreadarms; but the Milesian warded off the assault, and took her right hand.
"Don't hug me, Aunty, for the snake swallowed me clothes and all, andyou may get some of the poison on you," said he.
For some time longer there was a general handshaking, and Louis waskissed by the Princess Zuleima.
