CHAPTER XX
WILL-O'-THE-WISP
Six men had landed from the boat, convinced that they had come to theisland from which the sound of hammering had proceeded. Their guide wassomewhat perplexed at the absence of huts, but concluded that he hadcome to another part of the island, and led his companions through atangle of shrubs and brushwood, expecting to come upon the huts from therear. But ten minutes' search over the ground proved him to bemistaken, and the party retraced their steps, intending to proceedfarther in their boat.
They stood rooted in consternation when, reaching the spot where theyhad left the boat, they discovered its disappearance. But it did notoccur to them at first that any stealthy hand had been concerned. Onereviled another for not having drawn the boat high enough up the shore,supposing that it had slipped down by its own weight. The strange thingwas that, there being little or no current, it had so completelydisappeared. They ran up and down the banks peering into the rushes,becoming more and more angry and perplexed as the suspicion dawned uponthem that the boat had been stolen.
Meanwhile Errington had explained to Burroughs what had happened. Theywere congratulating themselves on having at least won a respite, duringwhich the repairing of the stay might be finished, when they heard aloud shout from the men who had thus been marooned.
"There were two boats last night," said Errington. "They're calling tothe other."
The shout was repeated, several men calling together. And then came afaint call in answer.
"My tinkee 'nother boat come this side chop-chop," said Lo San.
Again the shout was raised, and an answer came, a little less faintly,from somewhere in the distance.
"We shall have the others on us in no time," said Burroughs. "How longwill the job take now?"
"Ten minutes to get the fire up again and finish welding, five to fixit," replied Errington.
"There's just a chance then, if you hurry up," said Burroughs. "Theymay be some time finding the fellows you have marooned. When they dofind them, they'll search the whole neighbourhood, and there isn't theghost of a chance of their not finding us, especially with the hammeringgoing on again."
"I tell you what," said Errington. "D'you think you could manage tolend a hand while Chin Tai finishes the job? He can't do it alone, orLo San either; but with you to keep an eye on it I think he could."
"I could do that. Why?"
"Because I could then lead the beggars off the scent. Lo San and I canuse this boat. My idea is to row out a little way and hide in the reedsuntil the second boat has come up and taken off the men; then to showourselves and make them chase us into the main channel. We both knowthe swamp pretty well, and we could lead them such a dance that you'dhave plenty of time to get things finished here. You may be sure thatwhen they see it's their boat they'll be keen enough to overtake us."
"But they know there are more than two of us," Burroughs objected; "andwhen they hear the hammering again, they will very likely drop you forthe bigger game."
"Don't begin the hammering at once. Wait till you hear me coo-ee, whichwon't be until I've drawn them pretty far away. All we want is aquarter of an hour's grace, and it'll be strange if I can't play them solong."
"And what about us? Are we to fly out and pick you up?"
"Better wait for me. I'll get back here. When the repairs are finishedit won't take a minute to get the boat afloat, and as you can't possiblyget up enough speed among these rushes to fly, I'd better be here: Iknow the place, you don't."
"All right, then. And the sooner you start the better; the second boatis coming up pretty fast, judging by the shouts."
Errington got into the boat with Lo San, and pulled off quietly. He wasin something of a quandary. He wished the Chinamen to see him as soonas they had taken off their stranded companions, but until then toremain undiscovered by both parties. This was difficult to manage,because the only point from which he would be visible from the shorewhere he had found the boat was the entrance of the narrow cross passagefrom the wider waterway leading to the island. If he took up hisposition there, he would be seen first by the crew of the second boat.
To overcome the difficulty both he and Lo San had to get into the waterand lug the boat through a mass of reeds, behind which they could seewithout being seen. They had hardly concealed themselves when the secondboat came round a bend in the winding waterway, and, guided by theshouts of the marooned crew, swung round to the right. The moment theywere out of sight, Errington and Lo San dragged their boat back throughthe reeds, and lay to, waiting until they should hear that the men hadbeen taken off.
There was a tremendous hubbub of explanations when the two parties ofChinamen met.
"What are they saying?" asked Errington, as he paddled gently towardsthe entrance of the passage up which the boat had disappeared.
"My no can tell," said Lo San. "He piecee fella makee plenty too mucheebobbely."
At a slight diminution in the uproar Errington guessed that theexplanations, whatever they were, were over, and that the men were beingtaken into the boat. With a stroke of the paddle he brought the nose ofhis boat to the edge of the reed-bed, where, by stretching forward, hecould see what was going on. There were eight men in the boat; two werestill on the bank, waiting until room was made for them. Erringtonsmiled: the boat thus overloaded would not be difficult to outdistance.
The last man was stepping into the boat. The moment had come.Whispering to Lo San to make as much noise with his paddle as possible,he gave the word to go. The two paddles struck the water together with aloud splash, and the boat shot ahead in full view of the Chinamen,making directly for the main channel leading to the river. Terrificyells escaped the pursuers when they saw their boat dashing away fromthem with a white man on board. Errington had little doubt that hisstratagem had succeeded.
The passage wound so frequently, and the reeds grew so high, that it wasimpossible to see whether the Chinamen were actually in pursuit unlesshe waited for them. He stopped paddling at a spot where about ten yardsof the waterway was visible behind, In a minute or two the nose of thepursuing boat emerged from behind the reeds. Instantly Errington startedagain, and was out of sight in five seconds. The Chinamen broke intofierce yells when they saw him; one of them snapped a rifle, but theshot only disturbed the water-fowl. Errington wondered with a littleanxiety whether a third boat was in the swamp ahead of him, or would belowered from the gunboat at the sound of the shot; but the only coursepossible at present was to go straight ahead. He had seen by thesluggish movement of the pursuing boat, and its depth in the water, thathe would be an easy winner in the race.
Thus the chase went on down the winding channel. Every now and thenErrington slackened his pace, so that the pursuers might have a glimpseof him--not long enough to take aim--and be drawn farther and fartherfrom Burroughs. They were so intent on recovering their boat that theyhad apparently forgotten the hydroplane and the other members of itscrew.
At last Errington came out into the pool. He paddled quickly across it,in a direction away from the river, satisfying himself by a rapid glancearound that no other boat was in sight. Just as he reached the fartherside, the Chinamen's boat shot out from among the reeds. They stoppedpaddling, looking round for their quarry, and catching sight of him neara reed-bed about three hundred yards away, they opened fire. Thebullets passed unpleasantly close, and Errington at once drove the boatinto one of the many narrow channels, and was out of sight in a fewseconds. Thereupon the Chinamen gave chase again; but when they reachedthe other side of the pool, and saw that the enemy had disappeared, theyapparently recognized that they were outmatched, and stopped to considerwhat they should do.
At this moment a loud and prolonged coo-ee sounded from the midst of theswamp. Whether they recognized it as a signal or not, it roused them todesperate energy. Concealed by the reeds, Errington listened to aviolent altercation among them. They were disputing which
of themshould enter the water and so lighten the boat. It ended in three ofthe six who had been marooned slipping over the side and wading slowlytowards a small dry patch, where they posted themselves, holding theirrifles ready to shoot at the fugitives if they should reappear. Theremaining men drove their boat rather more rapidly than before in thedirection from which the coo-ee had come.
Errington had not seen what had been done, but hearing the boatapproaching, he started again, paddling easily until the pursuers cameinto view. The fact that they had lightened the boat did not troublehim. His boat was of about the same size, and Lo San and he couldeasily keep ahead. But he was somewhat anxious lest he should presentlyfind himself in a blind alley. He did not know the part of the swamp towhich he had now come, and it was quite possible that, entering apassage that seemed free, he would come upon an impenetrable belt ofreeds that would form an effectual barrier. If at such a moment theenemy were in sight, he might well be overhauled before he could getfree.
The pursuing boat, although no longer burdened with a double crew, waslower in the water than that in which Errington and Lo San were. Itflashed upon Errington that if he could only find a channel where thedepth of water was not more than sufficient to allow the passage of hisboat, the other might stick in the mud and relieve him of furthertrouble. He remembered that, when circling the pool with Lo San, he hadcome to very shallow water at the end farthest from the river, andwondered whether he could find his way there now.
Turning at a venture into a channel at his right hand, comparativelyfree from reeds, he struck out rapidly, splashing with the paddles inorder to lead the enemy on. By great good fortune, the channel led by atortuous course to the upper end of the pool. A little search discoveredthe shallow part, and marking it carefully in his mind by the adjacentreed clumps, he backed to the entrance of the channel down which he hadjust come, ready to dash ahead the moment the pursuers came in sight.
They gave a loud shout when they saw him; the distance between the boatswas very little; and as Errington's moved away, the pursuers came onwith redoubled energy. He led them straight for the shallows, hopingthat they would follow directly in his wake. There was nothing to makethem suspicious. They paddled hard, shouting with triumph when they sawthat they were gaining. Foot by foot they neared the danger point;Errington held his breath in suspense. Then there came suddenly fromthe Chinamen a cry of a different kind. The boat, driving into the mud,had thrown them one upon another. One lost his paddle. When theyrecovered their balance, it was to find their boat stuck hopelessly in amud-bank, and the other darting obliquely across the pool. Howling withrage, they seized their rifles. At the same moment there came shotsfrom the patch of dry ground beyond the lower end, where the three menhad caught sight of the fugitives speeding back to the channel fromwhich they had first come. Their marksmanship at the moving target wasbad. The shots from both parties fell harmlessly; and Erringtondisappeared from view.
"My tinkee topside pidgin, galaw!" cried Lo San gleefully. "One pieceelot this side, 'nother piecee lot that side" (he waved his arm towardsthe upper and the lower ends of the pool in succession). "No can doanyting. Massa Bullows he belongey bust laughin' what time you tellum."
The Flying Boat: A Story of Adventure and Misadventure Page 20
