E V E R Y B O Y S B O O KSH EL F

S cho o l d ay s at H i g hfi e l d H o us e .

By A . N . M ALAN .

Th e B l a ck P ear l of P e ih o o . By S . P . H YATT .

A dve ture s
n i n t h e S o ut h P a cific .

o l d S ch o o l fe l l o vvs , a d Wh at B eca m e o f T h e m
n .

T he Bl a ck L i a z rd. By C F A R GYL L SAX Y M A

. . B , . .

S ky l a r k . By M . G E N E STE .

H is by R g i ht . By K ATE M E L LE R SH .

uc a
D k L ke . B y E R Y SO N YO U N G . ER .

T h e L o st E ar ld o m B y CYR I L G R E Y
. .

Wi l l Ayl m er . B y L B L U F F M AN . . .

Cave P eri l o u s By M
. L T M E AD E rs . . .

T he Sett le r s o f Kar o ss a Cree k B y LO U I S B C K . E .

O l a f t h e Sea B ir d
,
- By M j . C YO U N G a or . .

F a k Le ster s F rtune By F R E D R I C K A R N O L D
’
r n o . E .

T he B ri g an d s P rey B y A M JA C K SO N
’
. . . .

O F A L L B OO K SH O P S
T H E B L A C K PE A R L
O F PE I H O O

A TAL E OF TH E M ALAY SE AS

STA N LE Y PO R TA L H YA T T

L ON D ON

T H E R E L I GI O U S T R AC T SO CI E T Y

4 B O U VE R x E STR E E T, 6 5 ST
. P AU L S CH U R CH YAR D , E C
’
. .
 TO MY NE PH E W

H U M PH R E Y
‘

B E CA U S E I B EL I E V E T H AT T H R O U G H .

O U T TH E YE A R S TO CO ME H E

WI LL LIV E UP TO TH E S TAN D A R D
OF T H AT G R EAT EN G LI S H G ENTLEMAN

SI R H U M PH R E Y G I L B E R T

A FT E R WH OM H E WAS NAMED

Pn d ed i n Gre at B r z mm
’
 C O N TE N TS

CH AP TE R P AGE

T HE HE AD HU NT E RS
-

T HE O T HE R R I V E R
T HE Y E LL O W D WAR F
I N T HE RA JA S T O WN
'

T HE KAN D E R O N G CA V E S
T HE B LAC K P E ARL
T HE S M O KE H O L E
M AH O M E D S I N D I SCR E T I O N
’

B Y T HE S K I N OF T HE I R T EE T H .

I N P O R TH K E LL O

D U R I N G T HE ST O R M
A S U DD E N R E S O L U T I O N
T HE M O LLY H AWK
A C H AN G E OF P LAN S
S E B AC IS F R I GH T E N E D
B ARN E Y M A KE S A M I STA KE
M AN Y P R E P ARAT I O NS
OFF AT LAST
AN U N P L E AS ANT S U R P R I S E
WH AT H A PP E N E D AT MAD E I R A

S OS S AAA
 CO N T E NTS

A NARR O W S H A V E FO R JAC K
U P TH E V I T O R I V E R

T HE W AYS O F TH E P O R TU GUE S E
D E A D M E N T E LL N O TAL E S.

R O U N D T HE C O AST
IN T HE I N D I AN O C E AN
T HE CY CL O N E
A B I D FO R T HE P E ARL
T HE CA NT O N E S E
T HE L A ST S T A G E
A S H O R E AT LAST
D O W N T HE S M O KE H O L E
TH E S T E AM E R O U T S I D E

B E T WEE N TWO F I R E S

T HE LA S T
 TH E B L AC K P E AR L
OF PE I H O O

C H AP T E R I

TH E H E AD H U N T E RS -

R IV E R about fifty y ards in w idth a heav y sl u g

, ,

gish stream with steep banks and along t ho s e

, ,

banks dense tropical vegetation pa l ms h u g e , ,

fo rest t r ees and a mass o f tang l ed undergrowt h every

thi ng suggesting the Tropics—s u ch w as t h e r ive r d own
, ,

w hich the two large d u g out cano e s wer e t r ave l ling

-
.

M an y colou r ed pa rr ots sc r eamed and w r ang l ed in th e

-

t ree tops ; monkeys chatte re d and j abbered and sw u ng

-
,

themselves f ro m bough to b ough ; loat h some crocodiles

slid o ff the m u d and plunged int o the wate r at the
so u nd o f the padd les ; huge snakes c oi l ed r o u nd ove r
,

hanging b r anches r aised the i r d etestabl e h e ads a nd hiss e d

, ‘

as the b oats swept b y .

I n th e hea r t o f Bo r n e o o n e o f th e l e ast kno w n pa rts

,
-

o f t h e wo r ld , y o u can se e man y st r ange sights Th e .

fl o w e r s are gl o ri ou s— nowhe r e else do y o u find such o r chids

th e b u tte rflies hovering ove r those flowe rs a r e u n e qu alled
an yw here e ls e ; th e birds seem to match the bu t terflies
i n th e splendo ur o f thei r co l o uring the timbe r is w onderf ul
—a n d ye t there is so mething d e p re ssing ab o u t it all a ,

9
 TH E H E AD H U N T E R S -

g l oominess a hint o f hidden dangers in that j ung l e You

, .

ad mi re it a l l you pay a tri bu te to th e p e rfection of Nature s

,
’

h andiwork b ut stil l someho w y o u shudde r Death , , .

s eems to be lurking in the unde r g r o wt h w aiting fo r y o u , ,

t r ying to catch y o u o ff y our guar d .

Jack Way ne felt a ll this as he la y in th e st er n of t h e

second canoe t ry ing to get som e e ase fo r hi s ti r ed limbs
, .

H e was wondering how it wou l d all e nd .

It was three mont h s since h e had landed in Bo rneo ,

t o act as assistant to Geo r ge No rth t h e famous naturalist ,

ph o tograp h e r w h o had been commissioned by a great

,

s cientific society to Obtain moving pictures O f the wild life -

of t h e B or nean Jungle especially O f th e l o ng nos e d monkey

,
-
.

Somehow much O f it seemed a kind Of d r eam There .

was such a gulf sepa r ating hi m from his schooldays .

Col o nel Wayne V C his fathe r had died so long ago that
, . .
, ,

his figure was now b l urred and indistinct ; h i s m othe r

he cou l d not r emember at all Ther e had on ly b een hi s .

unc l e a grim sour o l d man w ho had neve r said a kind

, , ,

w o rd to h im and afte r taking him away f r o m school as

, ,

soon as po s sibl e had put him to work with th e Zoologica l

,

K m e m at o gr aph C o mpany .

N o w yo u can shift fo r y ou rse l f M ast er j ack Old , ,

Jonas Wayne had g r ow l ed I v e gi v e n y o u a sta rt in

.
’

l ife and that s all I m g o ing to do My younge r br oth er

,
’ ’
.

you r fathe r—g o t t h e Victoria Cross Bah l A lot o f good it .

d l d him or y o u o r the chi l d he ma r ried the girl Wh o was

, , ,

yo ur mothe r Give me somet h ing I can buy cheap and sell

.

at a big pr o fit That s b ette r by fa r than all y o ur

.
’

Jack had shrugged hi s sho u l ders packed h is b ag , ,

exchanged a hand s hake with his u ncle and gone do w n to ,

the lo d gi n gs which had been fo u nd fo r him clos e to the

ki nemat o graph company s works His s ala ry w as to ’
.

b egin at five shi l l ings a week and h e h ad so me t e n shillings ,

I O
 TH E H E AD H U NT E R S -

a week f r om h is fathe r s ins ur an ce Reall y he ow e d noth ing

’
.
,

at all to Jonas Wayne who was onl y Co lo ne l Wayne s ,

’

half br othe r and so when M r No r th had O ffer ed to take

-
, ,
.

h i m out to Borneo he had not t roubled to consult the Old

,

City me r chant .

Good r iddance Jonas had gr owled to his ho u s e k e ep er

, ,

who was as grim and mean as himse l f I shan t be .

’

worried with hi m any mo re Giv e m e a b oy who can .

bu y and sel l at a p r ofit if it s only postage stamps,

’
.

What s young Jack eve r don e e xcept give things away ?

’

—gi ve t h em ! An d he fought young Seb ag Tolhurst ,

son o f Alde rman T o lhurst w ho s wo rth a mill ion of money 1

,
’

He s g o t t o learn that money talks in thi s wo r ld

’ ”
.

8 0 Jack who was fa r tal l er and s t r onge r than the average

,

b o y of his age had gone to Bo rneo c h eerfu ll y taking

, ,

the r isks as a matter o f cours e and r emembe r ing al l the ,

time that his fat h er h ad won th e Vict o ria Cross and ,

that fo r that reaso n alo ne he must do hi s best ; whi l st

, ,

J o n as Wayne h a d t h anked his stars that he was rid of the

w orry o f h is half b r ot h er s so n and Se b ag T olh urst now
-
’

promoted to a sil k h at and a tail coat h ad made various

.
-
,

bets amongst the Stock E xchange youths Of h is acquaint

ance t h at Jack wou l d never come back from the j ungl e .

B rown as a gipsy with a greatl y di s c olo ured s u n h elmet

,
-

on his h e ad a flanne l sh i rt Open at the thr oat and ve ry

, ,

we l l w o rn kh aki trou s ers Jack Wayne tried to fo r get

-
,

t h at he was ho rri b l y stiff t h at his limbs we r e cove r ed ,

with sores due to leech bites and that h i s chi e f Geo r g e

-
, ,

N o rth was te rr ibl y r u n down from fever Al l the previous

, .

night he had sat up with N ort h who was now in the oth er ,

cano e and it was quite probable that he w o u ld hav e t o

,

s i t u p t hr o u gh the comi ng ni ght He did not complain .

,

ev e n t o hi mself a bo u t it,
All the luck o f th e ga m e
.
"
,

he m urmur ed ; bu t h e did wish that No rth w o u l d ge t

I I
 TH E H E A D H U NT E RS -

we ll a nd th e n he fell t o wonde ring ho w Seh ag Tolh urst ,

o r any o f th e othe r fe ll ows he ha d kno w n at hom e wo u ld ,

come out o f a simila r experience .

Barney O B r e n is the onl y o ne wh o w o u ld s co r e

’
.
,

h e told hi mself E veryt h ing is an adventu re to Ba r n ey

. ,

j ust as it u sed to b e to me—befo r e I had r eal advent ures .

"

Then h e sighed p u shed b ack his helmet and ran his finge r s
, ,

t h r ough hi s c url y hai r a favourite t r ick of his w hil e d ee p

,

in thought .

Someh ow those th re e months i n th e j ungl e see me d

,

to hav e a l tered most things fo r hi m It w as ve ry d i fli cul t .

to identif y himse l f w ith th e boy who had j ump e d with

delig h t o n r eceiving Geo r ge No rth s O ffer to go abroad ’
.

Him v e ry sick plent y m u ch ee sick , A tall l e an .

,

C hinaman w ho was sit ting o n the botto m Of the c anoe

, ,

j ust in f ro nt o f Jack j e r ked his th u m b in th e di rection

,

o f t h e othe r b oat .

Jack nodded H e a nd Ah Lung w ho was cook st ew ard

.
, , ,

interprete r and general manag er o f th e exp e dition had

, ,

grown to u nderstand o ne anothe r excel l ent ly F o r the .

E ng l ish b o y the Cel estial see m ed to put o ff th e impassive

,

y e ll o w m ask he u s u a lly w o re and instead o f r egarding , ,

him as th e Chinaman g e ne r al ly r ega r ds a E ur op e an from ,

the height o f his o wn s even thousand years o f civili sation ,

t r eated hi m as a dearly lov e d chief a fact w hich was -

,

the mor e r emarkab l e b e ca u s e as Jack h a d bee n q u ick to

,

p er ceive the other was no mere cooli e

, .

Per h aps th e e xplanation lay pa rtl y in th e fact tha t

Jack was uniforml y c o u rteo u s even to the dusky nativ e ,

car r iers alt h ough at the same time he was al wa y s t h e

, , ,

ma s ter of the latte r Anyway h e knew that Ah L ung would

.
,

go thr o ug h fire and w ate r for hi m and Often latel y w hen , ,

Ge o rge North had been mo r e t h an u sual ly unwell h e had ,

bee n only t OO thankful for t h e Ccl e s t ial s help and advic e ’

1 2
 TH E H E AD H U N T E RS -

N o rth h imself tal l thi n yell o w f ro m constant fev er

, , , ,

was a mo s t diffi cult man t o work fo r Natura ll y cou rteou s .

and kind hea r ted the ma l aria h ad rendered him liab l e t o

-
,

fits o f unreas o ning ob s tinacy du ring whi ch t h e s l ight est ,

Opp os ition t h e s l ightest mi s take made him irritable and

, ,

abu s ive He was a great natural i s t as we ll as o n e o f the

. ,

m o st expert p ho t o g r aphers in the world and a man o f daunt ,

l ess c o urage ; but o n t h is particu l a r day anyone seeing

, ,

him lying o n a pi l e o f b l ankets in the first canoe w o u ld

have taken him f or a comp l et e p h ysica l and mental wr eck .

T he onl y ot h e r imp o r tant membe r o f th e expedition ,

M ah o med the nativ e h eadman was a t y pical Ma l ay in

, ,

appearance t h ough un l ike most Of his kind h e was capable

, , ,

of hard sustained work A s a y oungste r he had gone to

, .

wo rk o n a British steame r had drifted to the Ba y o f ,

Bengal worked on Indian coasters and now in e ve rything

, , ,

except appearance was j ust like a B ritish Indian sailo r

,
-
,

S peaking E ng l is h ve r y fairly we ll .

George No rth r aised himself o n hi s elbo w gave an ,

anxi o us l ook at t h e masses o f b l ack cloud w hi ch w e r e

ro ll ing up astern f r om b ehind the mo u ntains th e n turned ,

to h is steersman .

We ll camp o n that sandspit Maho m ed h e s aid

’

, ,

I m ti r ed o f b e ing wet throug h —Hurry up Wayn e

’
.
, ,

he hai l ed Jack T h e fev er is o n m e again and th is ,

sto rm is going to b e a big o n e .

Jack was asho r e almost as soon as hi s chief He t o o .

, ,

h ad no wish to b e cau ght in anothe r o f those te rribl e

B o rnean thunde r storms b u t non e the l ess h e looked , , ,

d o ubtfu ll y at t h e p r oposed camping g r o u nd -

.

”
It s n o n e too safe M r No rth he said bl u ntl y
’

, . We , .

s h all b e onl y a fe w inches above the w at er lev el and if ,

th e st r eam com e s down in flood

The other c ut him sho r t It s in fl oo d al rea d y D on t
.
’
.
’

I 3
 TH E H E AD H U N T E R S -

keep on c r oaking I m very il l and I want to tu r n in

.
’
.

Then despite the breat hl ess tropical heat he hudd l ed on

, ,

an ove r coat ove r his j acket .

J ack s h r u gged his sh o u l de r s T h ere w as no u s e in .

a rgu ing so he set his men to work with the r esult that
, ,

b y the time the fi r st drops O f rain fell the tent was u p o n

the sandspit with all the loose g e a r stowed in it
, .

”
Plent y m u ch e e r ain th er e Ah Lung pointe d u p .

st r ea m .

Jack w ho w as standing in th e e nt r ance o f th e tent

, ,

nodd e d Neve r before had h e seen such b lack clo u ds

. .

E ve ry m om e nt th ey seem e d to be piling u p m o re a nd ,

mo r e heav i l y .

T h e native s ha d m ade th e i r o wn camp u p o n th e b ank ,

and Jack found hi mself e nv ying t h e m th e i r sec u rity .

Wh y had G e orge North been so obstinate ?

I get u p the r e plenty quick , Ah Lu ng gr inn ed ch eer .

full y
. Cookee dinne r b y and by T h e n h e t o o sc r am .
, ,

b led u p to the highe r l e vel .

Half a minut e late r th e sto r m bur st T h ere was a .

v ivid fl ash of l ightning an ear S plitting c r ash o f th u nde r

,
-
,

and then the rain came down i n sheets Although the .

sun was onl y j u st setting darkness fell almost imm edi ately
, ,

pitch darkness something fa r worse than an yt h ing Jack had

,

experienced hitherto ; and y et as he noted with a kind ,

of uneasy wonde r th e storm it s elf was not a b ad o n e In

, .

less than half an hou r it stopped as s u ddenl y as it h ad

begu n and the s ky clea re d T her e w as j ust e no u gh light
, .

left fo r the b o y t o s ee that th e l ev e l o f th e w at er ap p eare d

still to be th e sam e as b efo re .

T he c ano es tied to an overha nging bran c h seemed q u ite

, ,

s afe whilst o n the b ank Ah Lu ng had sta rt e d a fi re w ith

, ,

t h e handf u l o f dr y s ti cks w hich he alway s m anage d t o h av e

by h im e v e n in the w o r st w eather
, .

1 4
 TH E H E AD -H UNT E R S

E v e ry thing s ee ms all ri gh t Jack remark e d as he ,

t e e nte r ed th e t e nt
-
I thought it w as going to be a far
.

b igge r sto rm "

.

F r om unde r the blankets No r th mu tt e r e d an in au dib l e

re pl y He fe lt t o o ill at that m ome nt to wo rry abo u t
.

an yt hi ng .

J ack said no mo re bu t we nt down o n h is kn ees in th e

,

s and ,
and began t o search fo r t h e candles At first he .

Opened the w r ong package then Opened anot h er w rong ,

o n e —Ah Lung had a perfect genius fo r getting things

mix ed—and fu ll y five minut es had e l apsed before he fe lt

t h e c andles whic h were soft as putty from the heat
,
Then .

he sc r ambled to his feet and as he did so he was suddenl y , , ,

a w a re that h is knees were wet .

Instantl y he u nderstood With o ne m ov eme nt h e .

p u ll ed the b l ankets from O ff his chi ef .

The rive r is rising suddenl y There s been a clo u d bu rst .

’

s om e w h ere he c ried then put h is h e ad o u t o f th e tent

”
, ,

an d s ho uted fo r the natives .

It was merel y a question of a f ew min u t e s T h e fl ood .

ca me down a l most l ike a wa l l boiling raging , , .

Georg e No rth sc r amb l ed to th e bank d r agging his ,

b lankets with hi m and c oll aps e d as h e r eached a p l ac e Of

,

sa fety J ack and Ah L ung worked feveri s hl y grabbing

.
,

at things in th e darkness of the tent with the fea r Of the ,

ca nvas coming down on the m and smothering them ,

p assing the packages o u t to the natives The wate r was .

kne e deep w h en Jack staggered o u t with the last bo x

-

he co u ld find and as he did s o t he t e nt r opes ca rri ed

, , ,

aw ay A mom e nt late r th e w hol e tent was swi r ling do w n

.

w ith th e fl ood .

J ack gave vent t o a g r oan bu t i mme diatel y aft erw a r ds , , ,

e v e n the tent was forgotten .

A greater di s aster h ad befa ll en them The two c anoes .

,

1 5
 TH E H E A D H U N T E RS -

c ontai ning all the spa re stores had br o ken adrift an d ,

w ere fol l o wing the tent down s tream T h ere was no h o pe .

o f r ecovering them no chanc e O f them being swept into

,

a backwate r . T he river ran alm o st dead straig h t fo r a

coup l e of mi l es and at t h e end O f t h at stretch were t h e
,

fo rmidab l e K ampong Rapids i n which no canoe could ,

po s s ib l y liv e
.

- The naturalist had m ad e st r ai ght fo r the fi r e where ,

h e had t h rown himself down and had drawn h i s soaking ,

b l ankets r o u nd him He had the feve r bad l y and Jack

.
,

knew that it wou l d be u seless t o wor ry him wi t h t h e

news o f thei r misf o rtun es Th e stretche r beds had been .

aband o ned in the tent ; but pr o videntia ll y A h Lung s , ,

’

blankets were dry and it was in those that Ge o rge North

,

was no w w r apped Then he lay down on the gro u nd

.
,

and went to sleep from sheer ex h austi o n .

Jack himse l f was wet t h rough but as he had not a , ,

stitch o f dry clothing he h ad to stay as he was , .

T h e natives had taken matte r s ca l m l y Thei r o wn .

possessions had been safe o n sho re t h ere was food en o ugh

fo r several mea l s and when that fai l ed t h e j ung l e w o u l d
, , ,

suppl y them with f r uit 80 they set to work t o cook t h eir

.

r ic e and boiled fi sh j ust as though no disaste r had occurred .

Ah Lu ng was the only person to whom Jack cou l d turn

fo r sympath y and advic e The Chinaman knew B or neo .

quite we l l ; and now he r an ove r the list O f t h ing s that

had been saved f r om the fl ood and summed u p the position ,

genera ll y.

Two rifles and plent y ca rtridges Picture make .

-

machines — Jack s first thought h ad been for t h e cameras

'

and fi l m s ch o p box tin meat tea and litt l e p i e ce e fl o ur

-
,
-
, , ,

foo d fo r t hree f o ur days B l anket a ll wet P l enty s i ll y

-
. .
,

very m u ch e e Sl l l y camp t h ere o n sand Boat a l l go ne

, ,

W h ite man s town ten day s wa l k awa y

' '
.

1 6
 TH E H E A D - H U N T E R S

G e o r g e N o rth r aised himself o n his e lbo w a n d looke d

round T h e feve r h ad left him and tho u gh h e was very
.
, ,

w eak his brain seemed quite clea r

, .

What a lunatic I was las t night h e sai d It was , .

all my fau l t even t h e l o ss o f the canoes because t h ere was

, ,

not h ing rea l l y to make them fast to What luck we .

sent all t hos e expo s ed fi l ms down b y t he ru nn er last w eek

H o w do we stand now
When Jack t ol d him he looked v e ry gr ave .

F o u r days fo o d onl y ! h e repeated

’
And it s .
’

ten days ma r c h to t h e nea r est whi te sett l ement That s

’
.
'

bad Still it s go t to b e don e and the soone r w e r e o ff

.
’

,
’

the better .

T h e sto r es cam er as and b lankets mad e v ery light loads

, ,

fo r th e twelv e natives y et w h en North gav e th e orde r , ,

to sta rt no on e m oved Instead the men b egan to chat t er

, .

v eh ement ly am o ngst t h emselv es .

”
What is it Ah Lung ? th e nat uralist d e manded
, ,

M p at i e n t l y .

Sa y plenty b ad r oad s ir th e Chi nam an ans wer ed , , .

Too man y bad men h u nt ee h e ads o n that r o ad Say .

”
we go b ack wa y w e came .

Th e E nglishman s face grew black ’

.

R u bbish ! That would tak e u s t we nt y d ay s H e ad .

hu nte r s ! Nonsense ! They a r e all the othe r side o f the

island Co m e o n Ma r ch
. A nd as if to give point t o h is
. ,

orders he slipped a cartridge into t h e breech o f hi s rifle

,
.

Very r e l uctant l y the natives took u p thei r loads and ,

th e long tramp to th e sea b egan No r th and Jack marched .

ahead t h en came A h L ung and Mahomed th e re st taili ng

, ,

be hind in S ing l e fi l e .

It was terrib l y h a r d g o ing especial l y fo r a m an w ho ,

had t h e feve r about hi m T h ere was mud n o thing but . ,

mud u nderf oo t a l l the tim e N o w it was j ust enough

, .

I 8
 TH E H E A D -H U NT E RS

to ma k e y o ur feet slip a t e v ery step ; n ex t mi nu t e y o u

were an kl e d ee p in i t al most wr enchi ng y o ur boots O fl as
-
,

y o u r ais e d th e m then y o u we re u p t o th e kn ee s in slime .

D e nse gr e e n j ungl e all aro u nd y o u ; a sc r een o f dense

foliage a bove y o u shu t t ing o u t th e light ; ai r which was
,

so hot and so s t il l that it s ee m e d to chok e yo u sal t pe r

s pir ation r u nning do w n into y o ur eyes half b lin d ing y ou ,
-

th ese we re t he conditi ons .

Myr iads o f m o nkeys not o n e o f who m e v er showed ,

himself chatte r ed at the t r avel l e rs invisible b i r ds rustled

,

th e leaves p arr ot s sc ree ch e d sn ake aft e r snake squir med

, ,

aw a y at their approach .

No r th held o n b ravel y He had mad e a gre at mistake .

t h e ni ght befo r e but h e was going to do hi s b e st to put

,

ma tte rs right ; still when the y stopped at midday he

, ,

was tho r o u ghl y e xhau sted and fo r a tim e la y ve ry sti l l , ,

wi th hi s e y es clos e d .

J ac k be nt ov er him a nx io u sl y .

Is the re an ything I can do ? h e as ked .

Th e oth er shook his head I m all rig h t Co u nt th e .

’
.

car riers.

The bo y u nd erstood As th e natives fi l ed in b e ch ecked

.

th e m Off E ight— nine—ten—a lo ng wai t and no sign

.

o f an y mo re .H e went ove r them again Yes t e n on ly .

, .

T w o wer e missing .

Th e n he w ent thr o u gh th e loads A bag O f rice and .

a s e t o f ca me r a legs we re sho rt .

Th e othe r ca rrie r s sat si l ent and morose making n o ,

a tt e mpt to eat appa r ently taki ng no interest in a n ything

,
.

At th e end Of t w o hours Geo r ge No rth g o t up T ho se .

f e llo ws hav e deserted he said very quiet l y We had .

bett er g et o n Wayne , .

S h all I act as rea r gu ard i n cas e an y mo r e fal l ,

out Jack suggested .

I
9
 TH E H E AD - H U N T E RS

But th e othe r vetoed th e id e a p r omptl y with w hat ,

se e med unnece s sa ry ste r nness .

Ce rtain l y not Yo u keep j ust b ehind m e A h Lu ng

. .
,

keep up t o o and yo u Ma ho med as well Te l l th e men

, , , .

n o t to lag Mahomed I ll flog an y on e w ho com es in

, .
’

”
late.

Jack r aised his e yeb r ows N e v er b efo re had b e known .

hi s c hi ef to act like this .

U nt i l sundown the y toiled o n steadi l y No rth at th e .

,

head o f the l ine—t h e y had to ma r ch in S ingle fil e—stuck

to his work wit h a grim determinati o n O nc e o r t wice .
,

when the y were breasting a rise with slippe ry r ed cla y ,

underf o ot Jack n o ticed that he had to stop as though

, ,

f r om sheer ex h au s tion but h e pul l ed himself togethe r

,

quickly Moreover hi s rifle was a l ways r ead y fo r u se

. ,

in t h e crook o f his arm and he had told Jack too , , ,

to keep a cartridge in hi s maga z ine though h e had ,

volunteer e d no exp l anation .

T h e y camped t h at nig h t on some Open g r ound b eside

the rive r A thunderstor m b rok e j ust as the y stopped
.
,

and in a co u ple Of minutes they w ere wet t h r o u gh

dr e nche d .

We mu st g e t u s ed to it No rth r ema r ked ,

g riml y. It s all m y fau lt Are th e c a rr ie r s i n

’
.
,

Way ne i ’

Jack co u nt e d the m c o u nted th e m twic e ; the n O n e

,

m issing he repo r t ed ; that pock mark e d fellow with th e

”
,
-

”
small came r a .

G e orge N o r th d r e w hi s hand across hi s fo r ehead wea ril y ,

b ut all he said was V e ry well It can t b e he l ped We re

,
“
.
’
.
’

”
o n e day nea rer the coast .

The camp w as a ve ry silent o n e No rth sat s m o ki ng .

and staring into t h e fi r e T h e carriers c l uste r ed togethe r

.
,

a s tho ug h f o r mutual protecti o n and bar ely exc h an ged ,

20
 TH E H E AD -H U N T E R S

a w o r d Th e onl y p erson w ho did an ythi ng was A h

Lu ng H e p r e p a re d th e wh it e m en s dinne r—it was no t
.

an elabo r ate me al—a n d aft er that s et t o w o r k m ost

.

ind u str io u sl y to sha rpe n a m ur de r o u s looking kr is w hich -

,

J ack had b o u ght at a nativ e v i llage a m onth p r e v io u sly .

Wh e n h e had fini s he d and had t r i e d its e dg e o n a

l o g o f w ood Ah Lu ng looked u p an d c a ught No rth s
’

e ye As Jack w as qui c k to note th e wh it e m an nodded

. ,

signi fi cant l y .

N o r e m ark was m ad e a b o u t th e matt er bu t bef o re he ,

tu rn ed in J ack overha u led h is rifle carefull y and made s ur e ,

that the r e was no ve r digris o n an y o f hi s ca rtridge cases .

The night passed quiet ly a nd tho u gh th e foll o wing ,

m o rni n g s tr e k w as a ve ry t rying o n e o n account o f the

’

h eat at th e midday h a lt all the re m a ining carrier s put

,

in a n app e a r an ce .

G eo r ge No rth heav e d a sigh of reli ef—h e had b a r el y

op e n e d his mouth sinc e the previous mo r ni ng .

”
Perhaps we re c l ear of them no w Jack h e a r d him
’

mu t t er .

The ca rr i er s too seemed mo re ch e e r f u l ea ting

, , ,

th e i r food gre e dil y an d c l amo u ri ng at Ah Lu ng for

,

having c u t down the i r allowanc e O n l y t h e Chi naman .

appeare d t o b e il l at ease his eyes being o n the sur ,

r o u ndin g j u ngl e al l the tim e h is big kr is alwa y s j ust at ,

hand .

Aft er the u s u al two hou r s res t George No rth r os e ’

, .

Time t o g e t o n Wayne he said

”
, Real l y I beli e ve
, .
,

th e t r amping has don e me good W e sh all p ull thr o u gh .

all ri ght no w .

As Jack reme m bere d aft erw a r ds his chi ef s ma nn er ,

’

was quite chee r ful and h e b e gan t o talk of th e po ssi

,

bili fy o f ge t ting some fi l ms O f th e wonde rf ul long nos ed -

m o n k eys aft er al l .

21
 TH E H E A D - H U NT E R S

It
’
s important h e wen t o n
so ,
"
Yo u see n o o n e
.
,

h as ev er m anage d t o k ee p o ne in c aptivity e v e n he r e ,

i n th e island so my photographs w o u ld b e o f gre at

,

h elp t o nat ur alists at home "

.

The y had c ov ere d perhaps a co u ple o f h u nd re d y a r ds ,

and the ca rr ie r s w ho as usual we r e sl o w in getting o ff

, , , .
,

w er e begi nning t o catch them u p w h en a ho rrib l e b lood

, ,

cu rdling y ell b r o u ght them to a standst ill .

Jack g l anc e d to w a r ds his chie f .

What w as that ? h e cried .

No rth wh o ha d b r o u ght hi s r i fle t o th e rea dy

, ,

j erked o u t his answe r .

H e ad hunters ! That s wh y the oth er carrier s w e re

-
’

"
lost H ere the y c om e !

32
 C H AP T E R II
TH E O T H E R R I V E R
Wwas th e first tim e Jack Way n e h a d e v er c o me face
to face with deat h He n e ve r forgot th e th r ill w hich
.

r an th r ough him as he saw o n e o f the ca rr i ers appa

r e n t l y st u mbl e
, a nd th e n p er c e iv e d that the re w as a long
sp e a r d riv e n in bet wee n th e m an s sho u lde r blad es
’
-
.

Ange r at th e c ru el t y o f it al l —that w as th e id e a u pp e r
most i h hi s mind Wh y should poo r K il w a the best
. ,

tempe re d o f a ll th eir follo wer s hav e been don e to de ath in

,

that w a y
It w as s u ch a sha me s uch a bru tal shame—th at was the
,

tho u ght which fl ashe d thr o u gh h i s b rain .

O ften h e had w onde r ed wheth er w h e n th e t est ca m e

, .

h e himself wo u ld sho w an y fea r w hether h e could face

,

danger as his fathe r had done N O W he thought nothi ng

.

o f h i s o wn cas e all h e wanted t o do was t o s av e t h e othe r

c a rri ers f r om S ha ring K il wa s fate
’
.

His fi r st ca rtridge b r ought down th e m an w ho had th r o w n

the sp e ar H e j e r ked in anothe r f r o m th e maga z in e a nd
.
,

then was c onscio u s that a second savag e had b it t e n th e d u st .

Afte rw a r ds h e believed that a l l the tim e h e ha d bee n

, ,

s houti ng a ki nd o f hoa r se d e fiance at hi s en e m i e s .

H e was n o t af r aid no t in the ve ry l e ast d e gr ee—h e had

,

tim e t o re alis e th at w ith a fie r ce thrill o f d el ight H e w as

, .

his father s so n and h e was playing a m an s p art

’
,
’
.

If onl y Ba r ne y O B r i e n w e re there to h el p !
’

23
 TH E O T H E R R I V E R

A sp e ar whi zz ed b y his ear and as he put a bull e t th ro u gh , ,

th e ar m o f th e m an wh o had t hr own it it st ru ck hi m that ,

th e savag e was v e ry like his o l d e n e m y Seb ag Tolhur st , .

Ju st fanc y Seb ag w ith onl y a piece o f n a ti v e c loth

r ound h is lo ins ! It w as r eal ly fu nn y .

H o w quickl y o n e tho u ght som e ti me s I Wh y all thes e , ,

ideas had pass e d th r o u gh his br ain Whilst h e w as u sing

three car tridg e s
Then suddenl y he beca me c ool and p r actic al again
, , ,

complet e l y maste r Of himself T h e ru sh had b een stopp e d . .

Th e ca r rie r s had gone on headlong into th e j u ngle b ey ond , , ,

and the r e r emain e d no w onl y G e o r g e No rth Ah Lung and , ,

h imself tho u gh a mo me nt late r Mahomed re app e a r ed

, .

Could it all be ov er so q u i c kl y Had the y rea ll y wo n

th e da y
What n e xt th e b o y ask e d bre athl e ssl y , .

M ahom e d ans were d indicati ng th e j u ngl e with a sweep

,

o f his han d Thr o w sp e a r no w fr o m be hind b u sh K ill u s

. .

all soon "

.

Pl e nt y h e ads to night fo r bla c k savages -

Ah Lu ng .

gr inn ed quit e c h eerfu ll y Ch ina ma n want ee kill o n e t wo

. , ,

first though "

.

No rth w ho had b een re fi l ling hi s ma ga z in e h e ld o ut his

, ,

hand . I m v ery sor r y O l d fello w It w as all my fa u lt

’

, .
,

but I m pa ying fo r it too Go o d b ye

’
.
-
.

His hand had hardly left Jack s w h e n h e thr e w u p ’

bo th his a r ms and fell back dead a spea r clean thr ough ,

his hea rt In s tantl y Jack fi r ed in th e di re ction of th e bu sh

.

f r om which the w eapon had com e and was r e wa r ded by a ,

y e ll which e nded in a gu rgl e

, .

Ah Lung w ho had snatched u p th e dead man s ri fle

,
’

j um p e d aside j ust escaping t w o othe r spears then seize d

, ,

the b o y by th e a rm dragging him o ut o f t h path int o t h e

,
e

bu sh .

24
 TH E O T H E R R I V E R

Find them all v ery quick h e add e d gr i m l y ,

"
.

It had been hard e nough w ork t r amping along th e

nativ e footpath bu t it w as m an y tim es ha r d er p u shing a
,

wa y through the vi rgin j u ngle Mo re than onc e Ah .

Lu ng s kr is p r oved invaluable fo r hacki ng thr ough a tangle

’

of c ree pers whic h was abso lu te ly barring thei r p r o gre ss .

Nig h t had fallen b ef o re they r eached the bank o f a r iv er

where t h ey determi ned t o sleep o r t ry to sl e ep Jack , .

w as so u tterly w eary and mise r able that h e S im pl y th r ew

himself d o wn u nde r a b ush and r ested h is head o n hi s ,

ar m . He was s t ill like that when Ah Lu ng to uc h e d hi m

gentl y and handed him some wild fru it
, .

”
E at e e no w he said Pl e n t y mu ch m o re t o m o rr o w
, .
-
.

Jack shook his h ead I can t It w o u l d ma k e m e

.
’
.

”
sick .

Yo u catee th e C hinaman insist ed

, Ver y s i ck .

t o m o r r o w if not eat e e to da y
-
” -
.

The b o y r aised hi mself o n his e l b o w and took th e f rui t .

He had n o t the ene rgy l eft t o p r otest ; bu t w h e n h e had

eat e n h e was glad he had obe y ed So m e Of his stre ngth
, .

cam e back to hi m He r emembe r ed now to be gr at e ful

.

fo r hi s escap e and befo r e h e finall y la y do wn h e ha d

,

given thanks to G od on his kne es .

Ah Lu ng who had been watchi ng hi m nodd ed gra v ely

, ,

t o M ahom e d Ver y good littl e fo re ign d e vil E ac h

. .

man thanke e hi s o wn j oss Very good w ay . .

It was alread y light wh e n Jack awoke D uri ng the .

fi r st pa rt of t h e nig h t h e had b a r el y closed his e y es bu t ,

afte rw a r ds despit e the lack o f b lankets he had S lept

, ,

ve ry heav il y Th e othe r t w o m u st hav e be en u p som e

.

time fo r they had c ol lected enough f ru it fo r a good meal

, .

T he nigh t before it h ad be e n too da r k re al ly to s ee

the river but now Jack ga z ed at it in astonishme nt
, .

What stre am is this P he asked I t s not th e o n e

'
.

26
 TH E O TH E R R I V E R

we w ere o n That was th e oth er sid e o f th e p ath and

. ,

t hi s is much bigger .

M ahom ed nodded Not kn o w his name sahi b I

.
, .

n e v er o n him bu t all th e sa me go t o the sea We fo ll ow

, .

”
hi m .

The b o y hesitat e d Reall y h e had a v ery vague idea

.

o f whe re th ey w e re George No rth had had som e r ough

.

sk etc h maps in his pocket book but Jack had neve r

- -
,

examined th e m closel y He r emembe r ed tho u gh h e aring . , ,

that th e rive r on which th e y had lost thei r baggag e j oined

a lar ge r o n e n e a r e r th e coast and he assu m ed that this ,

mu st be th at st r eam An yw a y it was b o u n d t o go to.

,

the s e a .

F o r th r ee da y s th ey t r a mped along th e b ank o f that

r i v er p u shing o n as ha r d a s possible a ll the tim e
, It .

was a t ru ly m is er able e xp er ien c e fa r wo r se r eall y fo r ,

J ack than fo r his t wo companions The l atte r were . ,

m o r e o r l ess v e geta rians—at le ast m e at had alwa y s b een

, ,

a lux ury with th e m—b u t Jack had neve r be en witho u t

it b efo re The f ru it diet se e m e d horribl y u nsatisf yi ng
. .

All th e t im e he felt hungry and yet the quanti ty h e ,

manag e d to eat w as r e all y ve ry s mal l Someho w it did .

,

not se em w or th wh il e to tak e it .

He was t ir ed too—ho w tired h e c o u ld n e v er h a v e

,

ex pl aine d F r om th e v ery fi rst thi ng in th e m o rn ing

.

u ntil h e flu ng him self do wn u nd er a bush a t night it ,

was a toil to l i ft hi s feet to d r ag th e m o u t o f that ,

ho rrib l e cli ngi ng mu d Th ere w as h ar dly s u ch a thi ng.

as a stret ch o f d ry gr o u nd ha r dly a plac e w h ere y o u ,

co u ld go ten y a r ds w ithout h av ing to fo r c e y o ur way

thr o u gh so me d ens e u nde r gr o wth And th e h e at d ur ing .

the da ytime was appalli ng ; it was li k e being in a

vapo u r bath .

Then t oo e ve r y twe l ve hou r s o r so the re was a

, ,

27
 TH E O TH E R RI V E R

t h und ersto r m w hich drenched you thr o ugh and made

, ,

t h e g o ing even wors e t h an it had been before .

But the worst t h ing o f al l was t h e bitte r c ol d at night

at leas t it appea r ed bitte r to
, Jack lying o n the wet ,

ground usual l y in wet clot h es T he sma ll est t h inn est

, .
,

O f b l ankets even an O l d sack wou l d have seemed an

, ,

a l most price l es s t r easure then He shivered and shi ve re d

.
,

ag ain ; and on l y th r o u gh shee r exhaustion di d he sleep

at aH.

In a wa y it s e emed as tho u gh h e w as re aching the

lowest depths O f miser y—i h fact he told himself so o n ,

m o r e t h an one occasion It would hav e been v ery

.

eas y terrib l y eas y to give wa y to lie down alt o gethe r

, , , .

Death would have c ome quickl y e nough ; but he kn ew

no w that hi s companions w o u ld not have abandoned
him and t ho ugh he w as Often too weary to ca r e f or
, ,

hi mself he did care fo r them and so he stuck t o it

, , ,

stum b l ing along with a kind o f gr im per sistenc e .

Always there w as the idea that he had to prov e hi m

self wo rt hy O f his race and o f hi s fathe r s name ’
.

It w as thi s which kept him going fa r mor e than the ,

desire to liv e Real l y the re wer e many times du r ing that

.

terrib l e ma r ch when he was conscious of little else .

O n th e f o urth morning the y st o pped to rest a few ya r ds

back from the rive r b ank J ack made a br ave attempt to
.

e at some fruit but it seemed to tu r n acid as it to u ched

,

his li ps then with a groan hi s head fell forwa r d and fo r

, , , ,

the very first time h e fo u nd himself so b bing tho u gh his

, ,

eyes r emained dr y .

A lean ye ll o w hand cau ght his should er and shook hi m .

N O do t h at It was Ah Lu ng speaking s e v erely

”
. No .

must do that By and b y p l ent y

.

The sentence was neve r finished A c ry f r om M ahom ed .

br o u ght it to an abrupt c l ose .

28
 TH E O TH E R R I VE R

A canoe sahib ! I hav e found a cano e !

,

I n stantl y J ack was o n his f e et hur r ying to th e w at er 8 ,

e dg e Th e nativ e was right T he r e with its bow j ammed

. .
,

bet w een t wo t r ee stumps was a f air sized dug o u t Judging

,
- -
.

by the dead leaves in it it must have been t h ere so m e ,

conside r ab l e time but it w as also e vident that it was still

,

in seawo r t h y condition .

A few minutes late r M ahomed had got it f re e and ha d ,

br ought it to a mo r e convenient p l ac e At first it looked .

as i f apa rt from a padd l e and the leaves and rain water

, ,
-
,

it contain e d nothing ; but as th e nativ e baled it o u t his ,

eye lighted o n some small Obj ect which he seized eagerly , .

SO far as Jack could s e e the t hi ng was mere ly a nativ e ,

b angle a most t ru mpery aff ai r then he noticed a st r ange

,

look com e into t h e fi n d er s fac e and a moment lat er the

’

, , ,

b angle had been flung awa y in ho rr o r .

What i s it Jack moved as tho u gh to pick it u p .

M ah o m e d s answe r cam e quickly Don t to u ch it

’ ’
.
,

s ahi b ! An e vil thing indeed ! It is one o f the charms

o f th e Pala p o gs Raj a Se y e d s b ad p e ople How did it ’
.
,

c ome h ere in this cano e ? Ind ee d a n e vil thin g ! and

,

h e shi vered slightl y .

Yo u ng though h e w as Jack Wa y n e kn ew th e w isdom

,

o f r especting a native s p r ej udices so b e mere ly looked at

’

the bang le as it lay o n the gr ound without even touchi ng ,

it with hi s foot TO him it appeared a ver y t r ump e r y

.

affai r of glass and w i r e tho u gh M ah o m e d s manne r showed

,
’

that to a nativ e it must hav e a ve ry great significance .

H e r eme m be r ed having h e ard Raj a Seyed mentioned at

th e coast as a scound r el of a chi ef with whom the British ,

w o u ld have to d eal sometime but b e y ond that he kne w ,

nothi ng o f hi m No r could he lea r n m u ch fro m M ahomed

. .

Raj a Sey e d b a d man sah ib Pal ap o gs a re so m e o f , .

his p eop le v ery b ad too Bette r not talk o f th e m All

,
. .

29
 TH E O TH E R R I V E R

e vil sp irits. S uch was th e gist o f th e ans wer h e

re ceiv e d t o hi s q uesti o ns .

T h e Ch inaman wh o wa s list e ning m ad e no r e m a rk a t all

, ,
.

O n c e mo re the nati v e we nt o n w ith his bal ing though ,

no w he k e pt a k e en lo o k o u t fo r an ythi ng e ls e w hich might be

-

in th e liq u id mu d at the bottom o f the cano e Sti ll t h er e

.
,

we r e ce rtainl y no m o r e b angl e s and he was j ust sc r aping

,

o u t the last o f th e mess when he ma d e a noth er fi nd thi s ,

ti me o f a l i t t l e st rip o f bright met al .

Whit e m an s cha rm he sai d as h e h anded J ack

'

, ,

what proved to be an alu m ini u m tab w ith so me w o r ds ,

emboss e d o n it .

J a c k rub bed it cl e an the n r ead P Va n d er Hum m

, , . .

L ate r o n he oft e n fo u nd hi ms e lf w on d e ring that he

,

s h o u ld hav e had no pres e nti m ent o f w hat that nam e w as

t o m e an to
 C H AP T E R III
TH E YE LLO W DW A R F
ACK p u t the a lumini u m tab i nto h is pock e t th e n ,

t ur ned t o Mahomed .

Wh o is P Van de r H umm
. h e ask ed .

The nativ e shook h is head .

It s a sahi b s nam e T he sahib knows more than I

’ ’
.

do ! Th e n as though the matte r we r e end ed The

, ,
“

can oe is n ow ready With this st re am th e o n e padd le

.
,

w i l l be quit e e nough .

To Jack the relie f o f being again in a c ano e o f fee l ing

, ,

that o n e w as t r av ell ing eas i ly swiftly back t o civil isation

, , ,

was inexpressib l e N o w no e ffort w as asked o f h im All

. .

he had t o d o was t o mak e hi mself as comfortab l e as possible ,

w h il st the othe r s wh o were adepts at th e work took

, ,

t ur ns at th e padd le .

It was n o t l ong before he b egan t o feel th e re action f rom

t h e str ain o f the l ast f e w days Before he h ad been .
,

ter r ibl y u nutt er ably w eary ; n o w he w as delightfu ll y

,

ti red and d r ows y A ny turn i n th e riv er mi g h t h e fe l t

.
, ,

bring them t o som e w h ite man s ru b b e r p l antation w hich ’

w ould m ean food and d ry clothes and saf ety

, , .

H e kne w at last h o w g r eat ly h e had want ed t o live

, , ,

and h e was m ore than ev er gr ateful t o G o d fo r havin g

gi v e n hi m th e st r en gt h to p u ll thr o u gh th e o r deal O n l y .

a cow a r d went unde r h e told him self an d h e kn ew n ow

, ,

th at he h im s e lf w as not a cowa r d H e had p r oved it .

.

31
 TH E YE LLO W DWAR F

A h Lu ng knew it Mahomed kn e w it and in fut ure w hen

, , ,

he hea r d ot h e r fe l lows bragging about what they had don e ,

o r would d o he cou l d ho l d h i s tongue an d merely list e n

,

Th er e w ou l d b e no ne e d fo r him to boast .

It is a g r eat f e e l ing one o f the finest feelin gs that can

,

possibly com e to a man—t h e knowl edge o f y ou r o wn

per s onal courage the c e rtain t y that w h ateve r test may
~

, ,

come you will n o t be found wanting It mak es an i m m e nse

,
.

diff e r ence t o y ou r outlook o n life gen er a ll y Yet it is a .

t h ing which yo u always want t o keep secr et ; it conc e rns

On l y yourself and the moment you tend t o S h ar e it with
,

anyone e l s e all the j oy Of it wou l d disappea r Yo u cannot

, .

talk abo u t it It is too sac r ed Yo u can only thank

. .

P rovidenc e humbly for having giv e n y o u something w hich

has been w ithheld fro m s o many .

A ft er a whil e Jack fe l l asleep and p erhaps be ca u se , ,

Of his c r amped position began to dream In that d ream ,

.

w eird horrib l e im possible things happened

, ,
.

He saw the Pal ap o gs wh o prov e d t o be a c r oss be tw e en

,

the head h u nt er s and th e long nosed monkeys with

- -
,

Seb ag To l hu r st as their leade r Th e y chased him th r ough.

forests ove r mountain r anges do wn th e r iv er u nde r th e

, , ,

wate r e ven ; sc r eaming a l l t he time that Se b ag and Van de r

, , ,

Humm had co m manded them t o g e t a moving picture of

the E ngl i s h boy having his head cut o ff When h e awoke .

h e f ound that th e perspiration was standing o n his fo r eh ead

i n g r eat beads so grotesquely r eal had it a ll seemed
, .

He looked r o u nd a little wi l dl y to fi nd that th e su n ,

was a l ready l o w and t h at he was alone in the cano e with

,

A h Lung Ma h omed was a l itt l e w ay O fl u p t he bank

. , .

gathering fruit fo r the evening meal .

SO strong w as th e memory o f his d re am that th e fir st ,

wor ds he spoke concerned it .

Do y o u kno w anything about th e Pal ap o gs A h Lu n g ? ,

32
 TH E YE LLO W DW A R F
”
Is h e w hi t e ? Jack ask e d .

Ah Lu ng shr u gg e d hi s shoulde r s .

N o can t e ll Th i n ke e not Y e llo w D w a rf that s all

’
-
. . .

Then M aho me d r et u rned and th e s ub j ect was d r opp e d

, .

The y paddl e d o n u ntil abo u t midnight then tied u p ,

the canoe and slept ti l l dawn w h e n th ey star t e d again

, , .

SO fa r j u dging b y the sun th e y had b ee n t r ave l ling no rt h

, ,

east as a gene r al direction and f r o m what he r emembe r ed ,

of the map Jack beli eved that to be quite satisfacto r y

, .

A nyway he did not wo rry about it g r eatl y fo r M ahomed

, ,

ass ur ed hi m that befo re long the y mu st c o me t o frie ndl y

villages o r whi t e me n s plantations
,
’
.

Hith erto th ey had bee n p assing thr o u gh m o re o r l e ss

lev el j ungl e c o u nt ry bu t n o w a r ange o f hills w as visibl e
r ight ah e ad O b vio u sly th e ri v er mu st tak e a b ig be n d t o
.

o n e sid e o r th e oth er before long .

It will t urn towa r ds the e ast sahib Mahom ed sai d , ,

con fi dentl y It mu st do o r how could i t j oin o u r o l d

. ,

riv er w he re we lost th e cano es

,
B esid e s if o n e goes w est , ,

o n e com es t o Raj a Se y e d s co u nt ry w he re the Pal apo gs a nd

’

”
th e Y ello w D w arf ki ll all st r ange r s .

J a c k sta rted r e membering w hat th e y had fo u nd in

,

the c anoe Had that b angle bee n a w arning to th em

.

Th e hil ls p r ov e d t o b e fa rth er away than had s eeme d

the cas e at th e o u ts et Noon c ame and the r i ve r was
.
,

st il l he ading st r aight towa r ds the c e nt re o f t h e ridg e F o r .

the hu nd redth tim e J ac k b e gan ma king me ntal calc u lati o ns

o f th e distanc e th ey had c o m e sinc e losing th eir ki t It was .

impossibl e no w fo r them to be m o re th an a fe w m il e s fr om
the se a and th e s ea o u ght to me an safety food and r est
, , .

T h e n s u dd e nl y they came to a b ig b e nd in th e ri v er
, , ,

a b e nd in th e wr ong direction to w a r ds th e no rth west ,

-
.

M aho me d f rown e d and mu tt ere d som ething i n au di b l e ,

b u t Ah Lu ng spok e o ut .

34
 TH E YE LLO W DW A R F

N0 good go that way Riv e r h e go Pal ap o g c o unt ry

. .

J ack n o dded Yes we mu s t l eave t h e ca n o e wors e

, ,

l u ck he sig h ed
”
Head h er f or t h e bank Maho med
.
” .
, ,

But a l ready it was t oo l ate T h e w o rds were hard ly

, , .

o u t of h i s mout h when a very l arge dug o ut with a crew

,
-
,

Of so me twenty men padd l ing and w h at appea r ed to be

a E ur o pean in t h e stern came i nt o view , .

O ne g l ance was en o ugh f o r Maho med .

T h e Yellow Dwarf he cried t h en wit h out t h e , ,

s l ightest warni n g h e s prang o verb o ard Hal f a dozen bu ll ets

, .

struck t h e water r o und h i s h e ad as it reappeared In s tant l y .

h e s ank again and it flash ed across Jack s mind that t h e

,
’

t ro ub l e s O f o n e at l eas t O f them were Over He h ad sei ze d

, , .

h i s o wn rifle but Ah Lung h ad gripped h i s wri s t

, .

N 0 good TO O l ate t h e Ce l estia l muttered

.
”
, .

As t h e big canoe came a lo ngside t h e man in t h e stern ,

h e was rea ll y a hal f caste — swept o ff his h uge helmet with

-

a sarcastic politenes s I mu s t intr o duce my s e l f I am

. .

Piet Van der Humm Pr M e Minister to Raj a Seyed

, .

A nd yo u are m y prisoners ”
.

35
 C H AP T E R I V

I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN
’

OU are my pri s oners ! As Jack Wayn e looked

at th e face of the speaker he real i s ed that A h
Lung and h imself were indeed in a bad case .

Pr obab l y a s h is name indicated P iet Van de r Humm

, ,

wa s h a l f a Dutchm an t h e so n o f some p l ante r in the

,

neigh b o ur i ng i sl and Of Java w h er e t h e Dutch have

,

been fo r centuries but it wou l d h ave puzzled anyone t o

s ay w h at ot h er b lo od he had in h im Javanese F il ipino .
, ,

D yak— i t mig h t h ave been any Of these o r a combination ,

o f t h em al l It would have been d ifli cu l t t o im agine

.

any o ne m o re hide o u s He w as a dwarf in t h e sen s e t h at

.

he w as so sho r t but in ot h e r ways he was bigger t h an

,

m os t men enorm o u sl y broad w ith e xt r emely long arm s

, ,

and a very t h ick neck .

Sti ll it w as h i s face y o u noticed most— ih fact y o u

, ,

cou l d hard l y n o tice anyth ing e ls e T h ere was a grim .

p ower in it whic h fasc i nated y o u U g l y t h ough it w as .

,

hide o u s at ti mes wit h a thi n stragg l ing mou s tac h e long

, , ,

narr o w eye s and s et O ff by la nk b l ack h air it was t h e

, ,

face Of a man used t o command o f a man wh o had t o ,

b e o beyed .

Y o ur savage s eemed t o know me Perhaps he was .

wi s e Van der Humm p o inted t o t h e S pot w h ere Mah omed

.

had d i s appeared Ye s per h ap s h e was wi s e b e repeated

. ,

t h e words slo w l y emp h a t ica ll y ; th e n

,
Get in to this
36
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

n
ca o e , h e said c ur tly y o u and the C hina m an
, My .

men wi ll l ook afte r you r weapon s fo r y o u .

Jack obeyed b ecause t h ere was n o w n o al ternativ e ;

,

yet as he did s o he was fi ll ed with a wild rage against

, ,

hi mse l f Why o h wh y had he n o t made an attempt

. , ,

t o escape ? To h ave gone thr o ugh s o much and t h en ,

t o be captur ed s o tame l y ! True he wou l d have had ,

n o c h anc e E very man o n t h e canoe had a rifle and

.
, ,

j udging by the way the bu ll ets h ad fa ll en round Mahomed ,

the P al ap o gs were good marksm e n for savages ; but ,

wou l d it n o t h ave been better t o h ave died fighting

He r ecal l ed what he h ad hear d o f the Ye ll ow Dwa rf ,

an d as h e l ooked at t h at face h e seemed to read n o hi nt

, ,

o f mercy i n it Those quee r narrow eyes were fixed o n

. ,

him with a ki nd Of ca ll ou s mockery in t h em .

F o r a moment the b o y went co l d t h en he thr e w back

hi s head and met the other s look defiant l y Was he ’
.

n o t the s o n o f Wayne V C , . .

A word from th e Ye ll ow Dwarf and bark ropes were

p r oduced wit h which th e pri so ners hands we r e tied tied
, ,

w ith b r utal t ightn ess ; then they were ordered t o squat

down in th e bottom o f the canoe F o r a moment o r t w o .

the hal f caste seemed undecided as t o hi s next mov e bu t

-
, ,

afte r a g l ance at the s u n he made u p h is mind, .

I was going up t h e riv e r t o puni s h som e di sobedi ent

”
s u bj ects o f His Highness the Raj a he said t o Jack , , .

But y o u seem t o be more interesting so I wi ll take y o u ,

back t o K aduk the Raj a s tow n What were y o u

,
’
.

doing h er e T h e question came sudden l y savage ly , .

Briefly Jack explained H e had n o t muc h ho p e Of .

escaping deat h at t h e h and s o f hi s captors but he was ,

going t o d o everyt h ing possib l e t o save h is comrade and

h imsel f —e v e r ythi ng that an E ng l ish gentleman co u ld
do .

37
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

Th e Y ellow Dwa rf listened in s i l enc e his h u g e chin ,

res t ing o n hi s equally huge h and .

”
Y es h e answered at l ast I quite b eli e ve yo u tho u gh
, , ,

I hat e all E ng l i sh men —his eyes fl ash e d h orribly hate

them Sti l l t h ey don t l ie as a ru l e B u t I m not sure
.
,
’
, .
’

that th e t ru th w ill save y o u A nyway y o u wi l l never .

,

get back to you r o wn peop l e and afte r that he r elapsed

”
,

into sil ence .

It was an ho ur l ate r when they c ame in sight Of K aduk ,

the capital o f Raj a Se y e d s territory The rive r wh ich

’
.
,

was n o w tidal h ad grown rapidly wide r a nd was a fu ll

, ,

h a l f mile across Two j etties the first Of timber the

-
.
, ,

sec o nd o f roug h stonework ran o u t from t h e l eft bank , ,

but at first sight ther e w as no oth er S ign Of a town beyond a ,

few small native s h acks dotted about amongst t h e pa lm tree s .

T h e Ye ll ow Dwarf noticing the l ook of surprise in Jack s

,
’

eyes vouc hs afed a few words Of exp l anation

, .

We are not quit e s o sil ly as t o b uil d whe re we can b e

s h e lle d by o n e o f y ou r gunboats Th e town is half a .

mil e in l and There is a fort hi dden am ongst that bush a

.
,

fort with half a dozen sev e n pound er s I don t mi nd te ll ing

-
.
’

you because yo u will neve r hav e a chanc e of r ep eat ing

,

”
it he ended w ith a grim chuckle
, .

Jack did n o t answe r Whateve r happen e d h e was

.

n o t going t o let the half caste t h ink he w as afraid

-
.

O n th e bank we r e scores o f dug o u t cano es o f various -

siz es a r egu lar fleet ; a steam l aunch o f rath e r antiquated

,

pa t tern was ly i ng a l ong s ide th e stone j etty ; w hil st a

l itt l e lowe r down th e str eam four la r g e Ch in es e j unks lay
at ancho r .

There w er e only a score o r s o Of nativ es in sight when

the canoe l anded th e prisoners ; bu t b e fo r e th e latt er
were half way through the pa l m g r ove hundr e ds Of th e
-
,

Raj a s peop l e came hu rrying down j abbering excitedl y

'
,
.

3 8
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

A w o r d from th e Ye llo w Dwarf h oweve r su fficed t o , ,

disper s e them again and they had t o be cont ent t o f ollo w

,

at a distance .

The town its elf was a s urp r ise t o Jack Situated in th e .

middle o f a h uge clearing it consisted entirely o f bamboo ,

and pa lm leaf shacks ; there was not o n e S ing l e stone

-

building in it ; mor e ov er th e r e was no defensiv e work of

,

any ki nd not ev e n a palisade Of stakes E vident l y th e

, .

Raj a fe l t s e c ur e and did not anticipat e e v er be in g att ack e d

th er e .

Perhaps V an d er H u mm read th e thou ght in his p r ison er s ’

mind At any r ate he l augh ed

.
, .

We ve something a little stronge r somewh ere else

’

he r emark e d ; y o u may s e e i t —o r you may n o t T h is is .

inhabited e ntire l y by Pal ap ogs o u r figh tin g men ”

He ,
.

nodded in t h e direction Of the esco rt wh o h ad a lr eady ,

struck Jack as being savage s Of a pecul iarly repu ls ive type .

The othe r people h ave their o wn vil l ag es T h ey a r e poo r .

so r t o f creatu res Sti l l t h ey can be made to work as y o u

.
, ,

yourse l f may learn .

Jack did n o t rep l y Al ready he had gath ere d that he

.

was pr obab l y goin g to be given a c h ance Of life o n ce r tai n

te rms t ho ug h s omet h ing seemed t o warn hi m that th os e
,

te r ms wou l d be such t h at h e could not accept .

Five minutes l ater they had reached the Raj a s ho u s e ’

,

whi c h proved to be by far t h e l argest native shack th e

b o y had eve r seen Rea ll y it w as a co ll ection of l ar g e
.

hut s j oin e d togeth er by covered ways the w h ole capab l e

, ,

o f accommodating at l east a h undred natives .

Sco res o f savages al l Of th em apparently Pal ap o gs

, ,

we r e lounging in t he cou rtyard but they sp r ang t o at ten

tion th e moment they caught sight o f t h e hal f c ast e -
.

E ve rywh ere th ere seemed to be th e same fea r o f hi m He . ,

on hi s pa r t took n o no t ic e at all o f th em
,
bu t af te r ,

39
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

m aking a sign t o th e gu a r ds t o k eep th e priso ners o u ts ide ,

w ent into the cent r al h u t .

So fa r A h Lung had not S poken S inc e th eir c a pt ure bu t ,

n o w he squatted down beside Jack .

Plenty bad bu s iness h e r emarked

”
Hi m Y ellow
, .

Dwa rf v er y m u ch e e ba d Stil l n o can t ell N o t d e ad

.
, .

”
y et.

Jack nodd e d b u t did n o t att e mpt t o ans wer Th ere

, .

w as l itt l e he could say Alr eady he was terribl y th ir sty

.
,

whi l st the co r d r ound his w r ists se e med t o be c u tting

into the v e ry fl e sh Nev er befo re had the su n s e em e d
.

so piti l ess th e heat and gla r e so appalling

, Half a n .

ho u r went by an ho u r t wo ho u rs Th e su n was gett i ng

, , .

l o w now bu t it w as t o o lat e fo r th e coo l ness o f the ai r

,

to giv e him any r e l ief His tongu e appea re d t o hav e

.

swel led u ntil it fi l led th e whole o f his mouth He cou ld .

hard l y have ask e d fo r w ate r e v e n if th ere had b e e n an y,

good in doing so .

He knew the re w as n o u se i n t ry ing fo r soo n a ft e r ,

their arrival the guards had helped themselv es fr om a h u g e

calabash and had th en derisiv ely pou re d th e r emains
,

o f the l iq u id at th e p ri sone r s fee t a v ery re fin eme nt of ’

,

cr u e l ty
.

A t last th e Yello w D w arf r eappea red in th e door wa y ,

and gave a curt o r de r A couple o f min u tes late r J ack

.

and Ah Lung had b een fo r ced o n t o thei r knees i n fr ont

o f the Raj a an i mmensely fat bl e a ry e yed o l d m an ly i ng
, ,
-
,

o n a w ickerwork couch

Seyed sta r ed at the m foolishl y—e v identl y h e w as u n der

.

the i nfluence o f some d r ug—th e n mu tte r ed som ething t o

Piet Van d er H umm wh o was stan di ng i m med ia t el y
,

b ehind hi m .

The hal f caste gav e them on e o f his b itt er s m il e s

- .

”
His Highness h as conside re d y o ur cas e h e s ai d ,
.

40
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

h ut at th e back of t h e main b ui l ding The doo r was a .

c r a zy aff ai r w ithout e v e n a latch tho u gh as thei r feet , ,

w e r e now tied as s e curely as their w rists both locks and ,

guard s seemed to be unnecessar y .

F o r o n e t h ing they we r e gr ateful — b efore leaving finall y ,

thei r guard s gave them a drink o f water Neve r befo re .

had Jack enj oyed anything so much Fo r the mom e nt .

,

even t h ei r dange r seemed t o be o f no account ; then

Ah Lung heaved a deep S ig h .

Plenty m u ch e e bad Nothing can do Bette r go

. .

to S leep he murmured and afte r that to al l appearance

”
, , , ,

he did actuall y doze O fi .

To Jack howeve r s l eep was an imp o s s ibi l it y In

, , .

addition to the ho rr o r o f thei r position the r e was the ,

ac h ing pain of his bonds in itself enough to hav e kept hi m

,

awake .

Vague ly he heard what seemed to be some so rt o f

a war dance in pr o gress and h e found himself wondering
,

whet h er t h ey wou l d beat drums and ye ll w h i l st he hi m se l f

was being put to death o n th e morr o w Would he get .

a c h ance of a last h andshake with Ah Lung He wo u ld

like t o t h ank t h e C h inaman he would Suddenly h e
was awa r e t h at Piet V an de r Humm w as standing ove r
him It was da r k in th e hut Of cou rs e but still ther e
. , ,

w as enough light by w h ich to r ecogn i s e the Yello w D w a r f s

’

figure .

The half caste pu ff ed out a large clo u d o f ciga r smok e

-
,

t h en
Yo u had bette r be wise to mo r row he b egan-
, .

I have got yo u t h e c h ance O f life not becaus e I ca r e a ,

j ot about y ou r feeli n gs but because I want y o u and that

,

pig O f a C hinaman in m y w ork s hops r epairing g u ns I m , .

’

b o ss he r e up to a ce rtain point ; b u t j ust n e w old Se ye d

,

has a r eligio u s fi t o n hi m Yo u w on t g e t b ack to yo ur

.
’

42
 I N TH E R AJ A S T O WN ’

o wn people anyway—I wi l l see to that—but b y b ecoming

,

M ah o m e d an s you wi ll av o id an ug l y death
”
.

Jack d re w a deep breat h He knew the othe r w as .

tel l ing the t r uth that the o ffe r o f lif e was a genuin e on e
, ,

and yet and yet

,

H e r emembered t h at he w as an E ng l i s h g e nt l eman ,

and had to s tand by hi s F aith and h is code o f h o nou r .

I s h all die a Chris tian h e answered quietly

”
, .

T he hal f caste gave a vicious snarl

-
.

Die then you young fo o l I ve fini sh ed wi t h y ou It

, .
’
.

”
w on t be a quick o r easy death and h e t ur ned o n hi s
’

heel and l eft t h e hut .

At l ast Jack dozed o ff o r at any rate became semi

, , ,

consci o us How lo ng he remained s o h e never knew ;

.

but it could n o t have been m o re t h an an h our befo re

he was awakened by s o me o ne touc h ing hi s face gent l y .

He wou l d h ave c r ied out h ad n o t a hand be en p l aced

,

ove r h is mout h .

Make n o noise sahi b a well known voic e said in a

, ,
-
,

l o w tone . I wi ll cu t the co r ds "

.

It was M ahomed .
 C H AP T E R V

TH E K ANDE R ONG CAV E S

AH O M E D had a sha rp knife and it was onl y the ,

w o r k o f a f e w seconds to free both Jack and

Ah Lung but it was a fu l l ten minutes b efo re
th ey co u ld u se their limbs at all and e ven then thei r ,

mov e ments we r e u nsteady .

W hi l st the y wai ted for t h e circulation to r eturn M ahomed ,

w hispered hi s story Really he had not been touched b y

.
,

an y o f the bullets fired at him but had swu m unde r wate r

,

to the b ank and then had foll o wed them up cautiousl y

, ,

h iding in th e bush outsid e the vi ll age until nightfa ll He .

had watched the dance in p ro gr ess had noted that the ,

dancers we re w ell supplied with nati ve spi rits and w hen , ,

the noise died down had c r ept u p to find e ven th e s e nt ry

, ,

at th e entr anc e Of the encl o s u r e as l eep .

He had ru n a te rr ib l e risk o f cou r se b ut luck had bee n

, ,

o n his side , fo r he had come almost st r aight t o the hut

in w hich th e prisoners were confined .

J ack took a long drink fro m the cala b ash whi ch had
be en left in th e hut and handed it t o Ah Lu ng ; th e n
, ,

s e eing the Chinaman w as read y

Le ad the wa y M ahomed he sa i d
, ,
.

N o t a so u l seemed to be stirring n o t a light was show i ng

,

a nywhe r e T he y crept r o u nd the b ig straggling b uilding

. , ,

a nd wer e a ctually in th e gatewa y be fo re the y saw anyon e .

Th e n th e s e nt ry c ame in vi ew He w as asl eep wi th his b ack

. ,

44
 TH E KAND E R O NG CAV E S

a ag in st t h e post and b oth Jack and Mahomed pass e d hi m in

,

safety ; but he Opened his eyes j ust in time to see Ah Lu ng :

An d n o w he made a mistake Had he s h outed at on ce .

th e fugi tiv es wou l d have bo l ted but instead he stretched , ,

o u t hi s h and fo r hi s r i fle thinking the C hinaman had n o t

,

notice d h i m .

A wil d cat co u ld not have sp r ung mo r e s wift ly and

m o r e sil entl y than did Ah Lung A ki nd o f gu r g l e whi ch .
,

ended in a gas p was a ll t h at sent r y got o u t b efo r e thos e

,

l ean yellow h ands t h ro t tled h im .

Plenty fine rifle and cartridge be l t th e C el estial ,

mutt ered as he hu rried aft er the ot h er tw o .

D awn found t h em a good ten mil es from Raj a Sey e d s ’

capit al Fo rtune had ce rtain l y continu e d t o favo ur the m

.
,

fo r an hou r afte r th e i r escape a heavy rai n had fal l e n

, , ,

e nt ir ely washi ng awa y their S poo r .

The Britis h sett l ements l a y to th e e ast and it w as saf e ,

t o assume that an y pursuers would hunt fo r them in that

directi on ; b u t at A h L ung s s u gg estion th ey head e d
,
’

no rth to w ards the s e a As h e pointed o u t th ey co uld

.
,

follow the coast lin e r o u nd with t h e ce rtainty Of finding

what the y so u ght wh er eas in the j u ngle th e y might e asil y
, , ,

st ri ke too fa r inland .

Hithe rto the y had b een fo r cing thei r wa y thr o u gh

,

j ungl e in th e darkness ; b u t j ust as it became light ,

e no u gh to s ee they fo u nd themselves o n the crest o f a

,

s m al l rise Jack gave an e xc l amation of surpris e Th ere

. .
,

bu t a q u a rte r o f a mile awa y w as a hi gh cli ff ha ving in , ,

it what appea r ed to b e th e mo u ths o f half a do z en cav es .

T h es e e ntr anc es w er e o f va rio u s si ze s and at th e si d e o f , ,

t h e la r g es t o n e w as a long lo w shelte r o f pal m leaves and

, ,

bamboo As he looked Jack s aw a b i r d so me thing l ik e

. ,

a swall o w co me o u t o f t h e b ig e ntr anc e A f ew seco nds .

late r there wer e bi r ds in sco res th e n i n h u nd re ds , .

45
 TH E K AND E R O NG CAV E S

A h Lu ng n o dded K e nderong Caves h e r ema r ked

.
, .

Plent y bird s ne s t fo r soup there p l enty good chop

’ ”
, .

But Jack was t h inking of a very di ff erent as pect Of th e

case T h ere would a ls o be sc o res O f t h e Ye ll ow Dwarf s
.
’

natives round t h e caves T h ey cou l d hardly h ave blun .

dered on to a w o r s e place More o ver he co u l d se e no w that

'

.
,

the r e was only about a h undred yards O f open land O l d ,

rice fi el d s b etween the foot o f the c l i ff s and th e rive r

-
, .

To attempt to cross t h at in day l ig h t wo u ld b e to ask

f or capture T h e on l y thing to d o seemed to b e to
.

turn back and try to find s o me ot h er way round t h e

,

K an d e r o n g Cl i fi s yet by d o ing so t h e y would ve ry like ly

, ,

run right int o o ne of Piet Van de r H u m m s sea r ch pa rties ’

.

He was sti ll t r ying t o decide what to do when a rifl e ,

cracked out some fou r o r five hundred yards behi nd them .

Fo r an instant t h e t h ree fugitives stared at one an o the r in

dismay SO t h eir pur s uers were on their track afte r all
.
,

Then Ah Lung gripped Jack s a r m ’

.

Hide in cav e there litt l e p i e cee cav e No o ne co m e

, .

”
there .

Jack understoo d at once Th e e nt r ance t o o n e Of the .

s m alle r caves was partia ll y hidd en by bush ; evidently it

was not u sed at a ll by t h e nest co ll ector s ; and from where -
,

they were they could ea s i l y r each it u nobserved The

, .

enemy wou l d neve r d r eam o f their taking refug e so t o ,

s peak in the lion s mouth

,
’
.

A quarter of an hou r l at er s aw them lying j ust insid e th e

t u nnel watch ing for their fo e s through the sc r een Of b u sh
, .

They had on l y j ust been in time f o r they had hard l y s at ,

d own before a party Of a dozen o f th e hideo u s littl e

P al ap o gs s w e pt past Within a hund r ed ya r ds e vid e ntly ,

on the look o u t fo r them A smal l dee r slung o n th e .

back o f o n e o f the savages explained th e r i fl e Shot th ey -

had heard Lu ckily th e g r ound was ve r y stony at th e

. ,

46
 TH E KAND E R O NG CAV E S

foot o f the c l i ff s and it wou l d h ave puzz l ed e v e n an

,

Af rican b u shman to detect thei r spoo r .

Ah Lung gave a sigh o f relief Now can r est h e said . , ,

and wi thout mo re ad o b e st r etched h i mse l f out and went

t o sl eep.

Mah omed gr u nted pe ere d onc e mor e th r ough the b u s h

, ,

then fo ll owed the Ch inaman s e xamp l e F or a few minutes ’

.

Jack tried t o r emain o n guard gripping t h e rifle wh ic h , , ,

with the exception Of M ah o m e d s knife w as th eir on l y ’

,

weapon then h is h ead too d r opped and he fe ll fast a sl eep

, ,
.

T h e s un was l o w in t h e west wh en Jack awoke F o r a .

moment h e cou l d n o t reca ll where he was ; th en he re

membered and looked around To h is d ismay he found .

that h e was alone and wh at was mor e that th e ri fl e and

, ,

cartridge be l t h ad gone A ho r rib l e feeling Of hope l essness

.

swept ove r him Natura ll y enough he assumed t h at his

.
,

companions had crept away trying t o save t h emse l v e s by ,

l eaving h im t o his fate In a way t h e y were right h e

.
,

told him self—they w er e st r onge r than h e was fa r more ,

accustomed t o the j ung l e ab l e to do with l ess food and h is

, ,

p r esenc e could on l y be a drag on th em .

F o r a f u ll hou r he s at there staring at nothing wonde r , ,

ing va gu el y in what form death wou l d com e t o h im T hen .

h e j u mped to h is feet lo o king round wildly for a weapon

,

o f some ki nd F ootsteps were app r oac h ing him from

.

inside the cav e A short piece of dry w ood l ay a coup l e Of

.

yard s away He s prang forward and s eized this ; then

.

a l most unconscious l y h e s h outed a c h all enge

Who s t h ere
'
Come o n and fini s h it ! ,

There was a quiet l au g h and t h en Ah Lung s voice saying

,
’

N O makee t o o much noise P l enty Pal ap o g o u t s ide .

,

pl e nty S l ave man in cave Mah omed br ing slav e man s

-
.
-
’

chop .

A min u te l at e r Mah omed appea re d c a rr ying som e ,

47
 TH E KAND E R O NG CAV E S

ea r th e nwa re d ish es o f b oile d r ic e and fish I mm ediat el y .

Jack r ea l is ed h o w hungry he r eall y was h o w many ho ur s ,

had gone by since h e h ad tasted anything more substantial

t han fruit . Fortunate l y Mahomed had taken the p r e
c aution O f bringing a l l he could find and even afte r th e , ,

thr ee o f th em had e at e n their fu ll the re was stil l some,

l e ft
.

Ah Lu ng p u t h is dish down with a sigh ru bb e d h is ,

stomach contented l y and then explain e d They had gone

, .

down the cav e mo r e o u t o f c u riosity than anythi ng els e ,

and at first they had t h ought that it was quite a small

o n e especia l ly as there we r e n o nests in it but a sudden
, ,

turn had brought them t o a tunne l wh ich led into the main,

cavern T h r ough this t h ey had been ab l e t o steal down

.

t o t h e p l ace w h ere th e nest co ll ecto r s had l eft thei r d ish es

-

o f food and appropriat e some o f th e latte r

, .

Th e Chinaman laugh e d softl y at the r ecoll e cti on o f th e i r

r aid .

E ver y slav e man sa y othe r slav e man plenty thi ef

- -
.

We watch By and by Pal ap o g came along and beat

.
,

all v e ry much hard .

Then h e went o n t o e xplain h o w all th e act u al w o r k o f

n est co l lecting w ork o f th e most dange r ous nat ure w as
-
, ,

don e by ordinar y natives who we re nothing more o r l ess

,

than slaves the d re aded Pal ap o gs acting as slave drive r s

,
-
.

It was al m ost dark n o w and the heavy meal they had

,

had —heavy in comparison t o what th e y had eaten latel y

had made th em a l l drows y ; consequent l y th e y decided ,

t o r emain where th e y were fo r the night It was to l e r ably .

ce rta i n that n o o n e would disturb them and b y w aiting , , ,

t hey wou l d give the Ye l lo w D w a rf s sea r ch pa rt i es ti m e

’

t o return empty handed .

P l enty nice soft plac e fo r sl eep ins ide No st or m .

”
c o me th e r e Ah Lung said
,
.

48
 TH E KAND E R O NG CAV E S

He we nt back t o where they h ad s l ept and s at do wn ,

again The on l y c o ur s e w as to wait Apparently they

. .

h ad taken refuge in t h e mo s t unfortunate p l ace p o s s ible .

More o r le s s unc o nsci o u sl y— for h is mind w as fu l l of t h e

dangers outside—h e began t o examine t h at curious sp o ngy
carpet o f the cave and to hi s ast o ni sh ment f ou nd t h at
, , ,

it rea ll y c o n s i s ted O f t h e dried remains O f tens O f m i l l i o ns

of insect s O f t h e type o f a h uge gra ssho pper .
‘

He picked up a h a n dfu l O f the stu ff and as he did so , , ,

h i s finger s came in c o ntact with s o mething h a r d A moment .

l ate r h e h ad unearthed a large curved sword with an

iv o ry hi l t
.

A h Lung w ho had b een watc h ing l eaned fo rw ard

, , ,

quivering wit h excitement C h inaman s swo rd

.
”
he ’

exclaimed . Plenty big Vicer o y s s wo rd W h at him’

.

makee h ere ? T h en h e too began t o scrape away

, ,

stu ff o n the cavern fl o or .

Th i s is t
ac u a l l y t h e case i n t h e c av es .

3
“
 C H AP T E R V I

TH E B L ACK P E AR L
H LUN G S first find was a kind o f hal berd
'
.

Belong Viceroy s guard he announced ’

, .

Plenty big mandarin die her e O ne China .

man bury all his things ”

He gl anced r ound and his eye
.
,

fe ll on w hat appeared to be seve r al small heaps o f the

deposit a few feet away
, .

It was onl y the work of a minute to u ncov er a S kul l ,

th e n an entire s ke l et o n with rags of clothing still r ound

,

it In all the y f o und the r emains of f o u r men as well

.
, ,

as a couple m o re sw o rd s o f a p l ainer type and an O l d ,

pistol bea ring an E ngl i s h make r s mark and having som e

,
'

Ch ines e ca r ving o n the stock .

That howeve r seemed to be the l imit Of what the y

, ,

were going to di s cover and Jack was j ust ab o u t to give

,

up the search when once more h e fe l t s o methi ng metallic

, , , .

It p r oved to be a small b r onze box with Chi nes e designs ,

embos s ed o n it .

Wh at s this Ah Lung
’

, he asked .

Th e Ce l esti al who w as still exam ining th e skeletons

, ,

looked up ; t h en he a l m os t snatc h ed t h e b o x o ut o f the

b o y s hand s It was the Viceroy s l etter case he exc l aimed
’
.
’

, .

The task of o pening th e bronze bo x was no ea s y o n e ;

bu t at last the Chi naman touched some s ecret spring
and t h e lid flew Open r ev e a li ng a roll cove r ed with Chinese
,

characters .

5 1
 TH E B LA CK P E AR L

A m in u t e l a t er C anto n V ic er o y h e mu tt ered
, Ca n , .

r ead these writings .

Jack watched him in s ilenc e He had a l ways suspect e d .

that Ah Lu ng was gr e at l y superio r to the o r dina ry co o lie and ,

w as n o t s u rpri sed to find he could read the script Of his

o wn count r y ; but he was surp rised at the change w hich
gradual l y cam e ove r that usually impas s ive face .

B l ack Pearl o f Pe i h o o Ah Lung l o oked up quickl y .

B l ack Pearl v ery gr e at t h ing O f Chi nese Em pe ro r O ne

,

Chinaman st e al e e long ago Al l about him he r e T hen. .

he went o n with his r eading .

At last he finished r eplaced the r ol l with a d ec i de dl y

,

u nsteady hand and t ur n e d to th e b o y

, .

Black Pe a r l o f P eih o o hid e him nea r he re w ith pl e nt y ,

m o r e p e a rl We find him and get plent y dolla r so man y

.
,

dolla r no know how to count He d rew his hand ac r oss

.

h is fo r ehead as tho u gh he was s l ight ly da z ed th e n gave

, ,

Jack the sto ry as he had r ead it o n th e r oll

, .

Th e Black Pearl he explained had be en o ne o f th e

, ,

most famo u s and most sacred poss e ssions o f the C hin ese
, ,

E mperors I t s histor y went b ack to th e ver y beginning

.

O f things : in fact it w as supp o sed once to hav e belonged

,

to Conf u cius hi mself Fo r twenty fi v e centuries S pecial

.
-

se ntries h ad g u a r d e d it day and night c o nseq u ent l y when ,

it b ecame known t h at the j ewel as we l l as a large n u m b er ,

of lesse r pearls had b een sto l en there was th e u tmost

, ,

consternation th r oughout the F lower y L and .

”
Pl e nt y chop O fl gu ards heads A h Lu ng adde d
’
, .

”
E xecutione r man v er y much tired
-
.

When w as that Wh at y e a r Jack as k ed .

Ah L ung counted back with the patient accuracy o f his

”
race unti l h e reac h ed I 85 2
,
That was th e yea r he
. ,

s aid. Sinc e t h en nothing had been h e ard o f th e great

,

pe ar l though a l l Chinamen knew o f the matte r ; hen ce

,

52
 TH E B L ACK P E AR L

his ex cit eme nt ov er th e di scov er y of th e p apers f o r in ,

th es e was th e sto ry of th e P e a r l s fat e ’

.

It was a ta l e s uffi cientl y dramatic t o st ir an y on e Th e .

writ er C hang Ho sec r eta r y t o Wang F u Sin Vic er oy Of

, , ,

Ca nton had set it all dow n ca r eful l y i n t h e fo rm of a r epo r t

, ,

t o the E mp er o r Th e Viceroy it appeared had s e iz ed a

. , ,

suspicious characte r and after torturing hi m su fli ci ent l y

, , ,

h ad lea rnt t h at the Great Pea r l w as o n its way by se a t o , ,

Cey l on where it w as to b e handed ove r to the agent o f an

,

e no rmously we althy In di an p r ince who had long c ov e ted ,

the j ewe l .

At onc e th e Vic er oy him self had s et Off in p ur s u it .

T ru e the thiev es had ten days sta rt bu t th e y had onl y

,
’
,

an o r dina ry j unk whilst he had a s wif t wa r j unk and it

,
-
,

was saf e to ass u m e that h e w ould r each C e ylon a h ead o f

th e cri minals .

Howev er h e w as destin e d n ev er t o compl ete his j o ur ney

, .

O n e day a j unk s boat w as sighted and picked u p In it

’
.

w ere t w o dead men and o n e wh o was near l y dead th e ,

sol e s urvi vors o f th e c rew o f the v esse l belongi ng t o th e

r obbe r s Th e res cued man liv e d j ust l ong enough t o te l l
.

his tale Bad weat h e r had driven the j unk close t o the
.

sho r e o f Bo rn e o whe r e she had been attack e d by pirat es

, ,

th e sub j ec t s o f Raj a Sey e d s grandfathe r During th e ’

.

fight th e thr ee men h ad managed to escap e i n the boat ,

th e pi r at es being afterwards t o o bu sy looting thei r prize

t o wor ry about pu r suing them .

Wang F u Sin made up his mind i n stantly H e knew .

n o w wher e th e B l ack Pear l w as in th e po s s e ssion o f th is ,

foreign ru l er Raj a Ismail and h is d u ty was t o r ecove r it

, , .

H e had a larg e and well a rm ed cre w and fo r cent u ri es -

, ,

pas t h is nati on had been accustomed t o r aiding all th e

,

p or ts o f Borneo and the adj acent islan ds M oreov er th e . ,

c aptai n o f h i s j u nk kn e w the way u p th e r iv er t o Is mail s

'

53
 TH E B L ACK P E AR L

town the p l ace in wh ich Jack had r ecently bee n a

,

prisone r .

The attack made at night was succ es s ful T h e Sacred

, , .

Pea r l was found Ismai l h imself ki ll ed and the j unk star ted
, ,

back down with the river a distance o f about fifteen mi l es , .

Then t h e l uck changed The v essel r an on a sandbank .

,

and before Sh e could be r e fl o at e d the P al ap o gs who had , ,

n o w recove r ed from their de f eat swept down on h er , .

Tim e aft er time the Ch i namen beat them O ff b u t in the , ,

e nd the j unk was s e t on fire Five o f his company escap ed

,
.

- th e Viceroy his sec r etary and th r ee sai l ors ; and with

, , ,

th em went th e G r eat Pearl

,
.

F o r days th ey hid in t h e j ungle th en seeing no hop e of , ,

getting away and knowing that his strength w as going

, ,

t h e Ol d Mandarin decided to put the Pearl wh er e n o savage

could ever reac h it Into the H ol e where devi l s b r eathe
.

o u t smoke th e treasure was l owered carefu ll y solemnly , , ,

unti l t h e box r ested on the first l edge T h en l ike a great .

,

nob l eman the Viceroy went to t h e K an d e r o n g Cav es t o

, ,

pray to the spirits o f his ancesto r s u ntil death sho ul d

”
re l ease h im .

A h Lung told t h e story quiet l y b u t none the l e ss he ,

was evident l y moved by it proud Of it Jack t o o was , .

, ,

moved He c o u l d pictu r e the O l d man dying pict ur e t h e

.
,

secretary faith fu l t o the last writing U p h is report e ven

, , ,

wh en it seemed impo ss ib l e that anyone s h ou l d eve r r ead

it and then dying too perhaps committing suicide b e ca u se
, ,

his chief was dead Probab l y all but o n e o f the party.

did th e sam e Th e last man must h ave covered the b odies

.

w i t h some o f that strange deposit an d th e n hav e gon e t o ,

seek death Outside .

Wh e n Ah Lu ng ha d finish ed ,

Wh at does that mean The hol e wh ere d ev ils brea th e ,

o u t smoke Jack asked .

54
 TH E B L ACK P E AR L

Th e Chinaman who was n ursing th e l ittle br onze b o x

,

on h is knees shook h i s head

, .

“
N o can te l l yet B u t find him by and by
. Find .

B l ack Pearl too T h en plenty do l lar

, . .

Jack cou l d n o t h e l p s mi li ng then suddenl y h e g rew , , ,

s erious After all they themse l ve s wer e in l itt le b ette r

.
,

case than th e Vice r oy had been except that the y were ,

not O l d and infirm TO speak o f finding th e Pearl

.

seemed absurd T he y wou l d be lucky t o escap e w ith

.

th eir l ives .

T h e s ound o f a shot fired outside t he cav e b rou ght him

back t o th e immediate pre s ent A pparent l y however .
, ,

it was merel y a fa ls e a l arm fo r the party Of P al ap o gs ,

was stil l camped in t h e same place and j udging by t h e , ,

fact that rough she l ter s Of pa l m l eaves were being put up ,

th ere seemed no chance Of the savages shifti ng o n that

night .

Jack s hea r t fe ll They had fi n ish e d a l l thei r food now

’
.
,

and they had no water At t h e end o f another tw enty

.

four hours they wo u ld indeed be i n a bad w ay Yet . ,

to ventu r e outside t h e cave was to ask fo r death He .

s h udde r ed at the very thought Of fa ll ing again into the

hands o f the Yellow Dwarf and his gang o f fiends .

Th e hours dragged by with dead l y slown ess To ki l l .

time they made a fresh search for furthe r r emains o f th e

,

Viceroy and hi s fo ll owers but found nothing mor e T h en

, .

t h ey lay down keeping as sti ll as pos s ible in the hope o f

, ,

fig h ting O fi hunger and t h irst .

It was j ust before sundown t h at Ah Lung r os e .

Go and get some more chop and some wate r he ,

said No make any good stay her e

“
Then taking .
,

t h e Viceroy s sw o rd with him he started to climb u p to

’

the hole th r o u g h w h ich the main cav e w as r each e d .

Jack w atc h ed him go with a cu r io u s mix t ure of hop e

55
 T H E B L ACK P E A R L

and despai r Real ly thei r plight s ee med t o g r o w st eadily

. ,

wo rse and h e felt that if anything happened to Ah Lu ng

, , ,

the re w ould be no chance left fo r M ahom ed and hi mself .

At the sam e time he longed d es pe rately t o see the Chinaman

,

r etu rning with s o me food and wate r especiall y wat er , .

T he su n w ent down ; the short twi l ight cam e to an

end ; thro ugh the mouth o f the cav e the y co u ld se e the
stars twinkl ing ; and sti l l there w as no S ign o f Ah Lu ng .

Mahomed w ho had bee n on g u a r d at th e ent r an ce c r aw led

, ,

back .

Pal ap o g going to have dan c e s a hi b h e said hoa r s el y , , .

The y light b ig fire N o chance we ge t o ut O f h er e

.

to nig h t
-
”
.

Th e b o y g r oan e d If as no w s eem e d likel y th e China

.
, ,

man had come to grief this m e ant that they would have ,

once mo r e to go thr ough the a w ful agony o f thirst He .

lay down o n h is b ack and tried to pe rs u ade himsel f that

,

the darkness had broug h t r elief bu t the attempt w as ,

not a success ; instead he began to r ecall t h e to r tu res ,

h e had suffered when a prisone r at Raj a Sey e d s to wn ’

.

Suddenl y he w as awa re o f a tiny light S hining in the

cave itself He sat u p q u ic kly gripping the r i fle th e n
. , ,

made o u t the figure o f the Celestial emerging f r om the

connecting passage a tiny torch in on e hand whilst w ith
, ,

the other hand h e was gripping the w aistcl o th Of a nativ e

you ngste r .

All right P r ison er h e car ry chop a nd w at er Ah

. ,

Lu ng announced and J ack cou l d se e that th e capti ve

,

h ad a large calabash and a basket The bo y gav e a S igh .

of r elief It was as though they had been g r ant e d a n ew

.

leas e Of life .

The C hinaman stuck h is to r ch in a c revi ce in th e w al l ,

w here th e ligh t co u ld n o t b e seen f r o m outsid e th e n , ,

as soon as Jack and Mahomed had had some wat er tol d o f ,

56
 TH E B L ACK P E AR L

Ab d u lla ans w e r ed
'

V er y r el u ct an t l y

Yes ther e i s o n e leading o u t at the b ack You

, ,

could reach it easi l y without being seen by anyone

, .

Danger had made Jack sharp Witted a l ert At once -

, .

h e s aw what seemed t o be t h e weak S pot in t h e sto ry .

Wh y if t h ere was thi s entrance did not the slaves in the

, ,

cavern try to e s cape

Abdu ll a s answer b r ought Ah Lu ng to his feet with
’

a cry O f ming l ed s urprise and de l igh t .

Yo u cann o t get out t h ere because yo u have to pass

,

the H o le wh ere devi l s breat h e out smoke and th e devils ,

’

wou l d pull you down t h e pris o ner answ ere d

”
, .

Ah Lung turned quick l y t o Jack .

We g o t h ere out fr om cave and fi n d e e him Black

, ,

”
Pearl of P e i h o o .

In h i s excitement he r each e d Out f or the tin y t o rch

but as he gripped it the flame flickered out He began
, ,
.

t o mutter angri l y—for a Cele s tial he was unusually mov ed

but Jack seized his arm and pointed t o wa r ds t h e mouth
,

Of t h e cave T h ere si l houetted against the sky easi l y

.
, ,

recognisab l e by t h e big s u n helm et was the S iniste r figu re ,

O f the Yello w D wa r f .
 C H AP T E R VI I

TH E S M O KE H O L E
E S the r e w as no questi o n ab ou t it Th e m an in
,
.

the ent r ance o f the cav e w as u ndoubtedl y Pi et

V an de r Hum m .

A minute afte r he appea r ed anothe r figu r e climb e d u p

b es ide h im evident l y one O f t h e P al ap o gs
, .

Jack s blood ran co l d Had t h ey been t r aced a ft er

’
.

a l l ? He forg o t Of course that th ough they could s e e

, ,

th e Yell ow Dwarf c l ear l y b e mo s t certain l y cou l d not

,

see them in the b l ac kness o f t h e cave .

A h L ung himse l f w as the fir s t t o r ecover from the s h ock .

O nly watch P al ap o g men dance -

”
h e whispered and , ,

i n th e e nd he p r oved to be righ t t h oug h afte r wards that , , ,

w ait in th e cav e had an immense influence o n the fort u n e s

o f a ll
, fo r Maho m ed sp e nt the time in talking t o
Abdu ll a .

At last th e sho u ts o f th e danc er s di e d down ; aft er a

few final b u rsts Of n o ise the drumme r s s e emed t o hav e
,

retired fo r th e nigh t then the Ye ll ow Dwarf rose st r etch e d ,

himself and disappeared as suddenl y as he had come

, .

Th e moment t h e way was c l ea r A h Lu ng produced ,

a b o x Of m atches from some secret h iding place o n his -

pe r son re l ighted th e torc h then led th e w ay thr o u gh

, ,

th e smal l tunnel into the main cave r n .

A t first Jack sta r ed round in ama zeme nt Th e place .

was h u ge ful l y a h u ndr e d and fifty f e et in h eight w ith

, ,

a vast fl oo r a re a E ven in d aytime with t h e s u n l ight

.
,

59
 TH E S M O K E H O L E

com in g in th r o u gh the ent r ance i t would hav e s e emed ,

strange ; but at night it was absolutely uncanny .

D own below th e r e was no lighting o f any so r t n o t e v e n ,

a fi re ; but j ust b eneath th e r oof apparent l y swinging ,

from it w e r e sco res and scor es o f litt l e torches sim ila r

, ,

t o the o n e which A h Lung had captured F o r a mom e nt .

Jack s aw only these specks o f ligh t then h e made o u t ,

numb er s o f rop e s hangin g from th e r oof and h e u nd er ,

stood E ach o f those torch es r ep res e nt e d a nest gath erer

.
-

at t h e t o p o f a r ope l adde r -
.

P l enty bad work t h at Ah Lu ng whisp er ed ; S lav e

”
,

m an n o l i kee Ladder b r eak and h im fall ve r y ha r d

. .

The cave was so large that thei r guide had n o diffi c u lt y

in taking them r ound a way i n which t h ere w as little
chanc e o f th ei r encountering anyone F inally afte r .
,

turning s h arp l y t o t h e left and c l imbing a S h ort ri s e th ey ,

caugh t sig h t o f th e S ky th r ough a small Op ening on ly som e

twenty yards ahead .

T h e guide stopped dead and be gan t o S peak r apidl y ,

t o Ma h omed wh o in tu r n interpreted t o Jack

, , , .

He says h e has d one his wo r k n o w sahi b and h e , ,

w ants t o go back He soon er be slav e than be cau ght by

.

devils o u t th er e .

Jack had been exp e cting this and had alr e ady m ade
u p his mind There cou l d be n o question o f a l lowing
.

Abdu ll a t o retu r n He wo ul d be certain t o te ll some Of

.

his fe l low slav e s o f what h e had seen t h at night ; they

w ou l d d isc u ss it amongst th emse l ves th e Pal ap o gs would
ov e r h ea r ; and in a very few ho u rs Piet Van de r Hum m
would once mo r e be o n the right scent .

”
H e s go t t o com e t o o Mahomed th e b o y said ste r nl y
'
, .
,

”
T e ll h im so I ll guard him from any evil spirits
.
’
.

It was evident that Mahome d h ims e lf was afraid b u t ,

in hi s cas e th ere w as no cho ice H e had t o go o n o r fall . ,

60
 TH E S M O KE H O L E

i nt o th e hands of th e Pal ap ogs ; b u t h e p u t in anoth er

plea fo r Abdu ll a decla r ing that the latter cou l d be t ru st e d
,

n o t t o talk Jack f r own ed It was n o t th e tim e fo r d is

. .

eus s ions Of this ki nd .

B r ing him along A h Lung h e said ste r nly this is

, , ,

all ru bbish abo u t the devils outside He ll be glad e nou gh .

’

”
l at er t o find hi m s e l f a free man .

Th e Ch inaman stretched o u t his hand intendin g t o ,

s eiz e t h e nativ e by th e waistcloth but he was a li t tl e ,

t o o lat e . With a sudden twist Of his bod y A bdu ll a e luded ,

hi m and das h ed back into t h e darkness Of the cave r n .

F o r a moment th e others stared at o n e anothe r i n d is

may—probab ly they had now turn e d the guide into an
e n emy then Jack sh r ugged his shou l ders and said ,

We must h ur ry Oh that s al l He may n ot bet r a y

,
’
.

u s ; b u t he did not b eliev e his o wn wo r ds .

A few min u t es lat er t h ey had sc r amb l ed ac r oss a st r etch

o f broken rock and wer e onc e more in the open A
, .

single g l anc e show e d them that they h ad n o w go t into a

typ e o f co u nt r y very diff e r ent f r om that o n th e oth er
side o f t h e cav e s It was j u st as though some imm ens e
.

volcano had b e en blown t o piec es b y an inter nal explosion .

Huge m asses Of j agged r ock we r e b edded in what had

bee n streams o f mol t e n l ava T here w er e n o t ree s n o .
,

grass o n ly an all p ervading sme l l o f su l phu r ; whil st

-

the a i r was ful l o f what s e em e d lik e the so u nd o f th e b o iling

o f a vast ke t tl e o f wate r .

Although it still need e d some ho u rs t o dawn af t er the ,

darkn ess Of th e cave r n they wer e able t o s ee things outside

w ith comparativ e ease .

I don t wonde r th e natives avo i d thi s plac e Jack

’

mu tt e r e d . It is ab o u t the limit f or d esolation an d the ,

”
s u lph ur is n e a rl y enough to kill yo u The n h e gri p p e d Ah .

Lu ng s a rm an d po int e d to a plac e o n th e l e ft w he n ce
’

61
 TH E S M O KE H O L E

a puff o f smoke had suddenly issued Is that the devi l s .

’

breat h ing h o le ? he asked .

The Chi nam an had noticed it too .

Th i n ke e SO Wait and see him by and by w hen su n

.
,

light come
No no Jack p r otest e d
, , We m ust g e t on Ah .
,

Lung Never mind about that Dayli gh t o r not we

. .
,

haven t g o t a minute t o lose

’
.

But for o nc e th e Chinaman mutinied To him the

, , .

Black Pearl was somethi ng infinitel y mo r e important than

even hi s own life and he was n o t going on until he had
,

asce rtained if the plac e whence the smoke was issuing

was re ally whe r e Wang F u Sin had hi dd e n it In despair .
,

Jack gl anced at Mahomed but s aw at onc e that there was ,

no help to b e O bt ai ned in t h at q uarte r It was on ly t o o .

plain that the latter was scared o ut o f his wits So he .

had to giv e in and as it appeared to agre e to waste sev e ral

, , ,

p recio u s h o urs in that vile atmospher e me r el y to gr atify ,

th e Ch inaman s c uriosit y ’
.

He was fu rious abo u t it so furious that had i t been ,

possib l e he w ould have pushed o n alone but such a thing

was out of the qu estion ; consequ entl y h e squatt e d d o wn ,

with his two companions beh ind a huge bo ul de r to wait ,

for the dawn .

T h ere must hav e been somet h ing in t h e atmo s phere

which made t h em d rowsy something whic h from th e ve ry
, ,

moment when t h ey emerged fr o m the cave made them ,

take st r ange views of everything A t any r ate th e s un .

,

was high when Jack awoke h eavy —eyed with a curious , ,

tas te in his m o ut h and even then he had no easy task

,

in awakening A h L ung and Maho me d .

However once t h e C h in aman was on his feet he

, ,

r e membere d .

A huge pu ff o f whit e sm o ke ca me o u t of the ground 3

62
 TH E S M O KE H O L E

hu n dre d y a rd s a wa y hung motion l ess in t he air fo r a few

,

seconds then sp r ead o u t and desc e nded on the m

, .

Ah L ung r ub be d h is eyes —the y we re blear e d and blood

s hot.

We l ookee now he said , Pl e nt y s m ok e c o m e th e n

.
,

no smoke P lent y bad place this

. .

Al l thr ee Of them staggered as they st arted towards

th e sm o ke ho le It seemed t o Jack as t h ough the g round
.

itse l f was ri s ing in b ill o ws in fr o nt O f hi m to meet his feet

as h e put th em down And then afte r w hat seemed an
.
,

amazingly long i nte r val h e was standing o n th e edg e o f

,

a hu ge pit a pit witho u t a b ottom gripping Ah Lu ng s

, ,
’

arm .

A moment late r he was vagu el y awa r e that th e Ch ina

man was speaking t h at he w as pointing do wn th e pit
, ,

t r ying to make him s e e so met hi ng .

Then he s aw it c l early Ye s it w as the re r esting o n a

.
, ,

l edge s o me forty feet down a th ing that looked like a bo x

, .

Anothe r p u fl of sm o ke came u p sudden l y l ike the smoke ,

f r om a gun and after t h at Jack remembered nothing

,

unt i l he w as awakened by Mahomed po u ring wate r over hi s

h ead His m o ut h w as very bad ho r rib l e and hi s head
. , ,

w as achi ng as th o ugh it w o u l d burst ; but he u nderstood

clear ly enough w h en Ah Lung exp l ained .

The Chi naman and Maho med had carr i e d hi m so m e

distance away F o rtunately the y had not b een aff ected
.

s o much b y t h e foul gas es as he had been othe rwise all ,

of them would p r obab l y hav e perished No w t h ey we r e .

in a comparatively safe p l ace hi dden a m ongst som e j u ngl e ,

o n the o t h e r si d e Of the vo l ca n ic ridge .

Jack drew his hand ac r oss his forehead .

I seem to r em ember s e eing som ethi ng o n a l ed g e ,

he muttered .

Th e Chi naman s ey es gl eame d

’
.

63
 TH E S M O K E H O L E

Bo x th ere y es he ans were d

, , Plenty big C hi n es e
b o x Vicer oy s b o x Black Pea r l o f Peih o o in b o x B u t
’
. .
,

n o can get b eca u se o f sm o ke

”
.

T he bo y was te rribly d r ows y still H e felt that at all

.
,

costs h e mu st slee p—s l eep fo r ho ur s ; ye t the re was some

,

t h i ng he wanted to s ay first .

I f yo u had smoke helmets the things they u se in mi ne

-
,

d is ast ers y o u would get down ther e e asil y e nough Ah

, ,

Lu ng h e murm ur ed then his eye s clos ed aga in an d he

”
, ,

fo r got e v eryt hing .

 M AH O M E D S I ND I S CR E T I O N
’

unmistakable signs o f the v e ssel having s u ffer e d b ad l y

in a fight w hilst the second j u nk o f wh ich A bdulla had
, ,

told them was nowh er e to b e seen It was quite possib l e

, .

fo r the re to have been heavy firing on the bank witho u t

Jack and his companions hearing anythi ng o f it a t the
other sid e o f th e K and e r o n g Rang e .

We ll I suppose we ought t o be gratefu l to those pirate s

, ,

Jack tol d h imse l f If it had n o t been for them P iet Van

.
,

der Humm wo u ld probably have found u s They kept .

”
h im b u sy .

T h at night found them a ful l tw e nty m iles neare r

civilisation They had passed several vil lage s but had
.
,

been care fu l to k e ep o u t o f Sigh t o f th e natives a s in all , ,

probabil i ty th e y wer e still in Raj a Sey e d s ter ritory O n

,
’
.

the othe r hand Mahomed had succeeded in creeping up

,

to an i s ol ated hut wh ich proved to be empty at th e moment

, ,

and securing a cooking pot and a bask e t o f rice whi lst , ,

j u s t before sundown Jack had shot a sma ll wil d pig , .

Consequ entl y th e y had th e first r e all y sat i sfy in g meal

,
~

fo r many days .

A fte rwards as th e y sat beside th e fi re A h Lu ng began

, ,

once mor e to t al k o f t he Black Pearl He h ad o f cour s e .

, ,

brought the o l d Viceroy s paper s with hi m and as he '

, ,

read th em through again by th e fli ckering ligh t o f t he flames ,

th e description fitted exactl y .

T h e box th ey h ad seen o n the l edge was o f hammered

bronze he dec l ared and though the foul gases must have
, ,

a ffected the Outside they wou l d not have got to th e contents

,
.

T h e precious gem the P ear l of a ll pearls w as stil l the r e

, , ,

on ly s ome forty feet down t h e pit .

A s h e spoke o f it t h e C h inaman s voic e sh o ck with

,
'

excitement A ll h is oriental ca l m s e emed t o l eave him

. .

N o t on l y was t h ere a for t une t o b e mad e by r ecovering

th e b o x —i t appear e d that th e oth er g ems were wo rth
66
 M A H O M E D S I N D IS CR E TI O N ’

an immens e sum i n them selv e s—but th ere was al s o th e

g l o ry o f restorin g the Black Pea r l t o Chi na Thei r names .
,

an d th e names o f th eir anc esto r s w o u ld be gl orio u s fo r ,

e ve r h e decla re d
, .

Jack nodded All da y long hi s mind had be en f u l l

.

o f the q u e stion He t o o had n o dou bt as t o what was

.
, ,

in that b o x and he knew that w it h a s moke h e l met and

, ,

a r cp e ladd er it wou ld be a simp l e matter to bring the b o x

,

t o t h e surface O n the othe r hand the r e w as the r i s k o f

.
,

th e natives He w e nt cold at t h e ve r y idea o f fall ing onc e

.

mo r e into the h ands of the Yel l ow Dwarf though o f course , , ,

i t w as q u ite possible that befo r e many m o nths we re

past some civil ised nation w ou l d hav e w iped ou t th e
abominations of Raj a Sey e d s r ul e ’
.

The idea o f t h e adv e ntu r e fi red h i m e speciall y no w ,

that th e food had giv e n hi m n ew st r engt h Yes it would .

,

b e a gr eat thi ng to do and if eve r the oppo r tunity occ u r r ed

, , .

h e w o u ld do it Sti ll h e di d not forget the cl aims o f his

. ,

companions The y mu st o f co u rse shar e in the adventu r e

. , ,

t o o and h e dete rmin e d that as soon as t h ey r eac h ed

, ,

civilisati on again h e w o u ld get a n agr e ement p ro per ly

,

d r awn u p and sign e d .

H e had no misgivings regarding Ah Lung Wh e n a .

Chinaman makes a bargain eithe r verbally o r in w riting , ,

he stands by it abs ol ute l y b eing the m os t ho nest business

, ,

man in the world but Mahomed was di fferent He would .

probably hasten back to hi s village and as soon as h e , ,

had fil led hi m s e l f up with native spi rits the whole sto ry ,

would bec o me pub l ic prope rty .

Jack g l anced at t h e native Yes he had proved hi m . , !

self br ave and fait h ful ; they owed thei r very liv es t o
him ; but c o uld he be trusted t o keep a secret ?
A moment lat er that question was answere d by M ahomed
h imself .

5 67
 MA H O M E D S I N D I S CR E TI O N
’

Yell o w D warf kno w ab o u t Black Pea r l hidden so me

"
w here sah i b h e announc e d
”
, , The y m u ch w ant to find
.

him .

Both Jack and Ah Lung turned on him quickl y .

H o w d o y o u kn o w the b o y demanded .

And t h en it ca m e o ut Whi ls t t h ey we r e waiting in the

.

c ave Mah omed h ad told A bdu ll a of t h e finding o f the

,

V icer o y s paper s ! True Mahomed knew no detai l s

’

, ,

and A bdu ll a had fled before t h ey di s c o vered t h e box

lying on t h e l edge b ut a great deal o f mischi ef h ad been
,

d o ne . A bdul l a knew that Jack and A h Lung he l d t h e

s ecret and it wa s m o re than likely that he w o u l d try
,

t o curry favou r with P iet Van de r H u mm b y tel l ing hi m

o f t h e fact .

Ma l a y man plenty big fool Ah Lu ng gr ow l ed w r ath ,

fu ll y . Cann o t trust o ne l ittle p i e ce e and he went on

”
, ,

gr u mb l ing t o h im s e l f in his o wn tongue .

Jack o n the o t h er hand shrugged his shou l ders T he

, , .

har m wa s done and t h ere wa s no u s e in comp l aining ab o ut

,

it A fter all t h e Ye llo w Dwarf c o u l d o n l y l earn that

. ,

they knew Abdu ll a c o u l d not furnis h hi m with a S ing l e

.

detail and t h e c h ances o f any o ne g o ing into t h at dead l y

,

piece O f country at the back o f t h e caves were ve r y small

sma ll er s ti ll was t h e c h ance Of anyone peering down the
Sm o ke H ol e and n o ticing the b o x as it l ay o n t h e l edge .

St i ll it did pr o ve t h at M ah o m e d s discreti o n was n o t

,
’

t o be t ru st d and n o w o f c o ur s e Maho med knew as we ll

e .
, ,

as they d i d w h ere the Black Pearl w as .

68
 C H AP T E R IX
B Y TH E S K I N O F T H E I R T EE T H
T noon the fo llo wi ng day Jack call ed a h a l t at the
fo ot of a sma ll h ill T h ey had made an exce ll ent
.

trek and once m o re Mah omed had succeeded in

,

Obtaini n g som e r ic e so that the y were al l right as regarded

,

food .

W hi lst th e pot was coo ki ng M ahomed st r olled away ,

U p t h e hi l l side w h ence he would be able to get s o me idea

-
,

o f the country a h ead of them Fiv e minut es late r they

.

hear d hi m shouting excitedly

Come here sah ib and lo o k The re i s a st e amer a
, , .
,

steame r of t h e E nglis h in t h e lit tl e ba y

,
”
.

Jack needed no second bidding O n e glance confirmed .

t h e native s repo rt Yes there sh e was a c o aster o f s o me

’
.
, ,

fiv e or si x hundred ton s anchored not a mi l e away from

,

them apparently taking in ca r go f r o m a little fleet of

,

dug o u t canoes
-
.

The boy h eaved a big sigh o f r elief and a real hea rtfelt ,

prayer o f gr atitud e went up from him He h ad been .

protected in a ma rve ll ous manner thr o ughout that l o ng

and peri lo us j ou rne y and he was n o t as h amed to ackno w
,

ledge t h e fact In hi s direct honest natu r e t h ere was no

.
,

room for any o f that c o ward l y s h yness o f admitting his

faith which makes so many y o ungs ters give up prayer at
,

the very time w h en the y need its supp ort t h e most .

Mahomed prayed op e nly at the tim es laid down by his

69
 B Y TH E S K I N O F T H E I R T EE TH

cree d p ro bably Ah Lu ng did the same in his way ; and ,

i f o nl y becau s e he was thei r leade r and a whi t e man ,

J ack s very pride would have made hi m keep u p th e

’

o u tward forms of h is belie f The voic e o f M ah omed who .

,

had climbed a t ree i n o r d er to g et a bett er vi ew br oke i n ,

o n his th o ug h ts .

I can se e th e vill ag e no w sahib It is a mongst th e , .

palms o n the beach T h ere a re—O h ! Th e snak e ! h e

.

e nded in a terribl e cr y o f hor ro r .

Jack swung round in s tantly to s ee hi m fling fro m hi m ,

a thick greenish snake some two feet in length ,

Has it bitten y o u the b o y gasped .

F o r answe r Mahomed sli d to the gro u nd a n d d r aw i ng

, ,

hi s knife began frenziedly to slash t h e flesh o f his thigh

ac r oss and ac r oss groaning the whi l e
, .

Ah Lung who ha d r a ce d u p at the fir st alarm shook his

, ,

head sadl y .

N o can do a n y thing h e s aid ,N o m e dicin e .

“
.

T he memo ry o f what foll owed seem e d to bu rn it s elf into

J ack s b r ain F ortunately it lasted bu t a qua rte r o f an
’
.
,

hou r ; then th e rigid limbs sudden ly r elaxed the foam ,

ceas ed t o bu bbl e fro m thos e livi d li ps a n d i t was all ,

ove r.

As th ey cov ere d th e bod y with palm l e av es th e onl y fo rm ,

o f b u rial t h ey cou l d give it t h e re the boy remembered with ,

a sob his thoug hts o f the nig h t before his irritation with
. ,

M ah o med fo r ha vi ng go s siped to Abdul l a t h e uneasine s s ,

he had felt r egarding the futu r e Now t h at question was .

settled fo r ever ; tho ugh he told him s elf with perfect

sincerity that he wou l d hav e given al l his chances o f
,

re covering t h e Black Pearl if by so doing M ahomed might

,

have been s aved .

A cr y o f astonishme nt fro m the nativ es gre et ed Jack

a n d Ah Lun g as th ey e nte r ed th e villag e dis cov ere d by
70
 B Y TH E S K I N O F TH E I R T E E TH

plac e a fi e r c e disp u t e w as i n p r ogress bet wee n th e me n

,

of t h e place and a party of s t r angers .

Ah Lung gripped Jack s arm '

Yo u kno w h im The y
.

come cat ch e e u s because of Black Pearl and Canton es e

”
papers Him Ye ll ow Dwa rf and plent y Pal apo g
. .

Th e b oy nodded Alre ad y he had mad e o ut th e

.

figu re o f Piet Van de r Hum m T h ere was no m istaki ng .

the hideous litt le ha l f b re e d-

.

So he had fo l lowed the m a ft er a ll ! H e had e v e n

,

invaded the British te rr ito ry i n th e hop e o f re captu ring

,

them and w r esting f rom them th e s e cret o f the Pearl o f

P e ih o o I Fo r a moment the b o y shiv er ed a t th e tho u ght
of h o w na r r o wl y the y had escaped .

”
B y the skin of ou r teeth he mur m ure d, An ho ur
late r o n o u r part and h e wo u ld hav e had u s
, Then his .

e yes flashed We v e be at e n him so fa r and we ll beat

’

,
’

hi m again W e ll come b ack to fin d th e Pearl an d th en

.
’

we ll get Mr Van de r H u mm hanged

’
.
 C H AP T E R X

IN PO R TH KE LLO

E RY f e w strange rs e ve r go to Po r t h ke ll o To .

b egin with it is on e o f t h e least accessib l e vi llages

,

in Cornwa ll ; t h en it h as no bat h ing beach no ,

accom mo dati o n f o r visit o rs whi l st its inhabitants hav e a

,

w el l deserved name fo r sur l ine s s toward s new come r s

- -
.

In t h e O l d days Po rt h ke ll o was one o f the centres o f

the wrecking indust ry Ve s sel aft er vessel has been
.

lured as h or e t h ere by means o f false lights t h e cargo being ,

l oo ted as it was was h ed o n to the beach and not a hand ,

b eing extended to save the dr o wning cre w .

A huge c l eft in the r ocks o n e st r eet w ith little stone

,

houses o n eit h e r sid e and a tin y harbou r fo rmed b y a

, ,

b ig stone breakwate r at the fo o t o f i t —t h at is Po rt h kel l o .

”
T h e Lo gan A rms whi ch stands a l most o n the quay
,

itself is the principal building ; and at the period o f

, ,

”
thi s sto r y J o hn Tr e v e n n a the land lo rd o f th e Logan
, , ,

considered himse l f the biggest man in the p l ace Al most .

every one w as in his debt He it was wh o b ought the

.

t o bacco and ru m whi ch y ou got o ff the F rench fi sh ermen

in t h e Channel and it was he who denounced you t o th e
,

coastguard as a smuggle r if yo u dared t o obj ect t o t h e

low prices h e paid It was no u s e trying to escape f r om
.

his clutches His nephe w Ralph Williams managed

. , , ,

someho w t o fi n d o ut if y o u were deal ing with a n y one

,

e ls e
.

73
 I N PO R TH KE LLO

Th ere had bee n gre at h e a rt bur nings i n Po rt h kel l o

w he n it becam e known that Captain O B r i e n lat e R N ’

, . .
,

had taken the cottage hal fwa y u p th e gul ly Not onl y .

did he b elong to the Se rvice which had don e so m u ch towa r ds

p u t t ing down wreckin g not on ly was he a foreigne r ,
”
,

in the Co r ni s h sense o f th e w o r d b u t h e was also bringing ,

with him anothe r fo r eign er in th e for m o f Joseph

Richardson V C late gu nn er in His M aj esty s N avy
, . .
,
'

as well as his on ly so n Barne y O B r i e n

’
.
,

Wh y do the y com e he re the m fo r eign ers ? th e ,

me n o f Po r t h kell o had asked and had received no answe r , .

When Si r Walte r Tr e fu sis the local squi re had asked , ,

the same ques t ion co urteo u sl y at dinn er Ca ptain O B r i e n

, , ,
’

had answe r ed it
B e cause there s an e xc ellent ha rbo ur w here I ca n
’

k ee p m y y acht ; be cau se living is cheap ; and bec au s e

ther e s the fi nest s e a fis h i n g o n t h e E ng lish co as t
'
-
.

Si r Walte r had shru gged his shoulders .

Yo u re down amongst a to u gh c r owd O B r ie n Look

’
,
'
.

o u t fo r yourse l f and fo r y o ur b oat

, The y s t i ck at nothi ng .
,

thos e fellows ”
.

C aptain O B r i en had j u st be gu n to re alis e th e t r uth o f

’

the squire s w o r ds wh e n an old w o u nd gain ed with th e

'

, ,

Naval B rigade i n E gy pt—h e and G u nne r Richardson

had h eld a co r ne r o f a broken squa re against th e D e rv ish es
b rok e o u t af r esh and he had died l e avi ng Ba rne y alone
, ,

in the w orld h e ir to the moto r y acht M oll y Haw k t h e

,
-
,

c o ttag e and some ten tho u s and po u n d s th e w hol e b eing

, ,

at the b o y s absolut e dispos al

’
.

O n e thing also Bar ney inh e rit ed tho u gh it was not me n ,

t i o n e d in th e w ill a nd th a t was th e d e votio n o f Jos ep h

,

Ri ch ardson .

A re al so u th w esterl y gal e was b oo mi ng up t h e Channe l

-
,

74
 I N PO RT H KE LLO
maki ng e v ery o ne who w as at se a wis h h e were asho re a nd ,

making man y o n shore mu rmur prayers f o r their l oved on es

at se a ; b ut in Po rt h ke ll o all the local c r aft we r e kn o wn
to b e in ; and at the Lo gan Ar ms a dozen Po rt h kell o
m e n were congr atu lating themselv es o n being dry and
w arm w hi lst so m an y others w er e in dange r o f the ir
,

liv es .

“
U s co u ld do with a good wre ck to n ight
,
It was old .

Ja mes C harles a toothl ess r ogue of ni nety w ho gr o w l e d

, ,

o u t the w o r ds .

Seve r al member s o f th e company w agged thei r gr ey

he ads Aye aye James Charl es that w e co u ld If ou r
.
, , , .

y o u ng m en w e r e l ike u s used to b e there d b e a lante rn ,

’

”
a wagging o n the East Head to night bringing vessels in -
,
.

J ohn Tr e v e nn a the land l ord fr owned and glan c ed

, , ,

towa rds a figu re in the co r ne r a short enormously b r oad

, ,

man with a huge b lack b eard and a wooden leg who w as ,

smoki ng quiet ly in th e co r n er Ac ross the b r east o f his

.

uni fo rm like j acket was a line o f m edal ribbons b egin ni ng

-
,

with that of the Vict o ria Cross .

You may well wag yo ur head Tr ev enn a It was th e , .

wooden legged man who spoke

-
I h e a r d em and I
.
’
,

kno w their ways Yo u ought to b e ashamed of y o ur

.

custome rs landlo r d A ni gh t l ike this the y ought to be

, .

praying fo r tho s e a t s e a instead o f hop i ng the y d be

,
’

”
wrecked Heathen savages co u ldn t do wors e
.
’
.

A murm ur o f disapprov al r an thr o u gh th e s m ok e l ad e n -

atmosphe re o f th e r oo m .

Aye bu t Mr Richar dson som e o n e v e nt ure d to

, , .
,

”
begi n Yo u don t know w e Po rt h kell o folk
.
’
.

I d o kn o w y o u the gu nne r t ur n e d on him fiercel y

”
, .

I wi sh I ha d had y o u all und er me in th e Se rvice that s ,

’

th e pla ce to mak e m en o f the li k e o f y o u D is ci plin e y o u .

”
wa nt d is c ipl in e a n d har d work
, .

75
 IN P O R TH KE L LO

f‘ T hat s all v ery we ll G unn er ; b ut yo u w ork now fo r

’

young M r Barney O B r i e n and he isn t in t h e n av y

.
’

,
’
.

He s like me ; he s too wise

’ ”
Th e speaker a weedy ’
.
,

y outh with a cigarette hanging o ut o f th e c o r n er of his

,

m outh gave a fat u ous laugh

, .

L ike a fl ash th e o ne legge d ma n s wu ng r o u n d i n hi s

,
-

c h ai r .

Sa y that again Ralph Williams ! h e r oa red Say , .

that again y o u u seless swab ! Yo u dare menti o n y o ur

,

s e lf in the same breath as Maste r Ba rne y m y o l d ,

skippe r s onl y so n ! T he y w ouldn t have had y o u in His

’ ’

M aj est y s Navy b ecause y o u had been birc h ed for stealing

’

an o l d woman s fow l s ; b ut Maste r Barne y i s n t a mid

’ ’

S hipman to da y only becaus e a land l ubbe r o f a docto r

-
,
-

spotted som e sca r s o n his neck and wouldn t pass him ,

’

th r ough hi s medical examination Thos e a re not li k e th e

scars o n y o ur r eco r d Williams , .

That s not fai r Gunne r Yo u re t o o ha r d on the lad

’

, .
’
.

”
W e isn t Nav y men here a growl came from t h e c o rn er
’
,

o f th e r oo m in b r oad Co r nish accents , What do y o u .

a nd Maste r Barney want in Po r t h ke l l o an yw a y Yo u re ’

”
fo r eigne r s Co rnishmen fo r Co rn w all I says
.
, .

There was no do ub t that th e s pe ake r voice d th e Opini ons

of the compan y .

Aye Co r nishme n fo r C o r n wal l th e others echo ed

, ,

th e w o r ds .

“
No fo reign ers n ee ded neith er E ngl ish men no r I r ish ,

”
me n .

“
Yo u re o nl y spies maybe loo ki ng o ut t o s ee that poo r
'
, ,

folk don t get an y thi ng o u t o f wr ecks o r thr ough r unning

'

i n som e tobacco o r br and y Spies—that s w hat y o u .

'

are . Who pu t th e c o astg uard o n to J ohn C har l e s l ast

m onth
F r om b eing e ntir el y p e ace fu l th e a tm osph ere h ad ,

76
 IN PO R TH KE LLO

s udd enly b ecom e electric It was th e o l d q u a r rel o f th e .

Cornis h wrecker against the Se rvic e wh ich had p u t down

wr ecking a quarre l as bitter as it is foolis h
,
.

Gunne r Joseph Ric h ardson V C go t u p ab r u ptl y ,

. .
, .

He wa s n o t a very patient man and h e had a l ways regretted ,

that t he youth o f P o r t h ke ll o especia ll y Ral ph Wil l iams , ,

had n o t been under hi s care during h is Service days N o w .

,

he banged a fist th e size o f a leg o f mutton o n t h e table .

unti l the gl asses j umped and j umped again and to l d t h e ,

company exact l y wh at h e t h oug h t o f wreckers smuggl ers , ,

and ot h e r longs h oremen his voic e seeming t o drown the

’
,

howling o f t h e gal e outside .

B u t he w as o n e against a d ozen—C orni shmen always

hold togeth e r r ig h t o r wrong— and moreov er in spite
, , ,

o f h i s enormous strengt h he h ad on l y o n e l eg , .

P u t h im o u t ! Wh y does h e come and inte r fe re with

we It was young Wi ll iams who spoke .

Ha l f the m en pr esent rose at t h e words and a mom ent , ,

late r t h e ex gunner wou l d have been t h e centre o f an ug l y

,
-
,

and hopeless fig h t ; b u t before another move could be

, ,

made the door be h ind h im opened and a tall lean yell ow

, , , ,

faced figur e appeared its face g l ist e ning from th e r a in

, ,

w at er dripping from its pigtail .

”
Pl enty m u ch e e nois e Ah Lu ng gr inn e d at the .

com pan y as he took his plac e be side J oseph Ri chardson

, .

”
To o m u ch e e noise fo r Ch inese man Then with seeming .
,

u nconce r n h e p r oduc e d a long knif e fr om hi s sl ee v e a nd

, ,

began t o strop it o n his a rm .

Th e hint w as q u ite s u ffi ci e nt for th e comp an y T h e .

la ndlo r d gav e an u n eas y l au gh .

I t s onl y a j ok e We r e all f r i en ds h ere Chi ng h e

’ ’
.
, ,

said That s s o isn t it G u nn er

’ ’
. , ,

T h e sailor squ ared his should ers .

”
So y o u s ay Mr Tr ev enn a h e an s wered st er nl y th en
, . ,
,

77
 I N POR TH KE LLO

h e t urn ed sha rp l y o n hi s h eel an d l eft th e r oom f ollowed ,

by A h Lung .

As t h e doo r clos e d behi n d th em Ralph Williams s e emed ,

to fin d hi s co u rage again .

Who s h e to come he re a b ullying hon est folk ? he

’
-

d emanded . It w as b ad eno u gh before that gunne r ,

and yo u ng M r Barne y O B ri e n but n o w t h ey ve go t t h at

.
’
,
’

heathen Chi ne e and that Mr Jack Wayne ther e s n o . ,

’

h ol ding th e m They w ant t o ru le th e village they d o

.
, .

But if fo l k only knew what I know and h e broke o ff

wi t h a great ai r o f myster y .

Wh at d o y o u know R al ph Willi am s , se v eral voices

d e mande d .

The youth S hook hi s h e ad .

That d be tal kin g I v e got a fr i e n d w h a t kn ows a ll

'
.
'

ab o u t t h em and h e says
,

A vice like hand gripped hi s a rm th e hand o f a m an wh o

-
,

had j u st sl ipped in f r om an inn er r oom u nobse rv e d b y ,

th e r est o f th e compan y .

H e sa y s yo u re to hold y o ur tongu e th e new —

’
comer ,

”
hi ssed in hi s ea r I w ant y o u inside
. .

When the doo r had clos e d behi nd th e p air th e o th er ,

me n e xchanged gl anc es .

Who w as that landlo r d ? J ames Cha rl es q u av ere d

,
.

He was u gly e no u gh t o hav e bee n ol d D avy J on es

”
hi m s elf
.
 DURI NG T H E ST O R M

In London o l d Jonas Way n e Jack s u n cl e a n d onl y

, ,
’

r elative had greeted the bo y sourl y

, .

” "
Turned u p like a bad penn y h e had gr o w led I
, , .

thought y o u were fixed f or a few yea rs Wh at d y o u w ant .

’

”
o f me n o w ? I ve n o mon e y to l e nd
’
.

Jack h ad flus h ed
I want noth ing he had reto rt ed , G ood b y e .
-
.

As h e went d o wn stair s—Jonas Wayne s o ffice was i n

’

the heart o f the City—h e had r un r ight into h i s former

sch ool fe llo w Se b ag Tolhurst Th e latt er had shown no
, .

s u rpri s e at the meeting .

I h eard y ou were b ack Wa yne h e had said , Im , .

’

in my father s o fii ce now and we re agents fo r a l o t o f Fa r

’ ’

E aste r n companies Yo u r e looking p r etty fit Com e along

. .

and hav e some l u nch w ith me and t e ll me all a b o u t ,

”
it.

J ack had declin e d T h e oil y y o u th with th e w a rm

.
,

damp hands had neve r been a friend of his r athe r the ,

r everse and h e was now t h e last person t o who m he would

,

confide his stor y He had made an excus e and had left

.
,

y et great l y to his surprise the follo w ing mo r ning had

, ,

found young T o lhurst at his lodgings .

Go t t h e address from y ou r uncle Seb ag had explain ed

”
, .

Th e g o ve rno r wants to see you to ask yo u abo u t Born e o , .

Come a lo ng It may be a g o od thing for you

.
”
.

This time it would have been almost imp o ssible to r efus e ,

b ut Jack h ad been o n h is gu ard and o l d Alderman Tolhu rst ,

h ad learnt litt l e from him s o litt l e that after the visitor

,

had left th e o ffi ce th e me rchant had t ur ned angril y to

,

his son .

He s not the f o ol y o u said he w as Seh ag h e had

’

, ,

grunted ; if he kn o ws w h at o u r f riends want to find o u t .

”
he s n o t go ing t o give it away
’
.

Y o u ng Se h ag had shru gged hi s sho u ld er s .

80
 DU R I N G T H E ST OR M

H e s onl y got a v ery little m one y Wh en that s fi n ish ed

’
.
’
,

h e will tell us all I w ill keep in touch w ith him

. .

He had been as g o od as hi s word greatl y t o Jack s ,

’

annoyance Not a day passed without Se b ag putting

.

in an appearance He seemed utter l y u nab l e t o take a

.

snub M eanwhi le Jack had had ot h e r worries He kne w

. , .

no one t o whom he c o u l d go fo r the capita l b e required

fo r an expedi t ion in qu e st o f t h e B l ack Pear l and all ,

the time o f cours e the expense o f keeping hi m s elf and Ah

, ,

Lung had been eating into hi s l itt l e s t o ck o f m o ney .

Yet curi o u sl y en o ugh in t h e end it h ad been t h e detested

, ,

Se b ag who h ad h el ped him he l ped him quite unc o nsci o us ly , .

Ta l king ove r o l d scho o l days T ol hurst had said 2 ,

Yo u r emembe r O B r i e n Barney O B r i e n ? Well a

’ ’

, ,

month o r two ago when I was m o t o ring wit h the governo r

, ,

I came acros s hi m He s got a cott age in C o rnwa ll at .

’
,

Po r t h ke l l o ; lives there with an o l d sai lo r wh o served unde r

hi s fathe r Just fancy bu ryi ng y o ur s e l f li ke th at ! He
.

says he s making experiments with m o t o r b o ats His

’
-
.

fat h e r left him a few t h ousand p o unds I t ol d h i m if .

he d l et me hav e it to invest
’
and h e had grinned
expre s sive ly .

T h at very ni ght Jack had posted a lette r t o C o rnwall ,

wit h t h e re s u l t that n o w he w as seated in a big ar m c h ai r -

b eside a big fire with Barney sma ll eager excitab l e

, , , , ,

y et wo nderfu ll y wiry and tough c u rled u p in a simila r ,

chair o pp o sit e hi m .

Of cou r s e I ll go into pa rtn er ship with y o u and help

,
’
,

y o u get t h e P ear l B arney dec l ared for t

,
h e tw entieth
time I ve g o t all t h e m o ney we sho u l d need—m y
’

fat h er l eft it u nder m y o wn control— and thi s ll be a fine ’

”
i nve stment .

81
 D U RI N G TH E ST O R M

J a c k w ho had kept no singl e deta il b ack s eemed t o

, ,

have becom e ve ry c au tio u s now that th e sch e m e w as a

possibil ity .

It s an e xt remel y risky i nv estm e nt h e said slo w l y

’

, .

Remember besides the ri s k of g et ting the Pearl o u t o f

,

the ho l e and t h e risk o f finding it sp o il t there s the dange r ,

’

from the Yellow Dwarf and the P al ap o gs They w ill se e .

u s land—at an y r ate they will see our steame r waiting

,

o ff t h e coast ; and the cost of that st e ame r al one wi ll

b e tremend o us .

The o t h er b oy lau ghed quietl y music all y , , .

But we s h an t have a steame r o l d man We shall go

’

, .

o u t in the Mo l l y Hawk my big motor boat go o u t all ,

’
-
,

the way in he r O f c o urs e we must fi t h er w ith masts an d

.

”
sails as well .

Jack sat u p sudde nl y .

I hadn t thought o f that Yes we c o u ld hide h er in

’
.
,

o n e o f those l ittle creeks a m ongst th e m ang r ov e s B u t ho w .

about a cr e w
Barney answer ed p r omptl y .

The gunne r u nderstands navigation so do I —at l e ast , ,

I know enough fo r o u r purpose With Ah L ung that would .

make fou r plent y fo r all we n e ed —O h h er e a re t h e gunne r

, .
,

and the Chinaman

Bad night si r Joseph Richardson said as he entered
, , ,

the room very bad nig h t and I ve been in bad c o mpany

, ,
’

down t h e re at the Logan Arms I ve got to thank .

’ ’

Pigtail he r e fo r getting awa y w ith a who l e skin .

His young employer looked r ound quickly .

T h e Logan Ar ms l I tho ught yo u neve r we nt ther e .

Neithe r I d o sir ordinaril y the o l d sai lo r answered

, , , .

But I wanted to s e e who was in the r e t o night because -

,

I heard of a hard looking st r ange r being in the village

-
,

an d this is a prop er Wrecker s wind If the y p u t a ’

.
’

82
 D U RI N G TH E S T O R M

light o n th e E ast Head as th e y u s e d to do it m ight br in g , ,

”
a c r aft asho re e as y as an ything ,
.

J ack star ed at him i n a m a z em ent bu t B arney w ho , ,

kn ew Po r t h kell o w ell nodd e d He had gr o w n very .

gr av e no w Y es you re right G u nne r Th ey co u ld d o

, , , .

it and so me o f the m w o u ld if the y dare d But d i d y o u

, , .

s ee th e str ange r ? Who is h e 9

Th e sailo r shook hi s h e ad No si r B u t he s th ere ’

, , . ,

I kn o w He cam e do w n last night in a m oto r ca r wi t h

.
-

that y o u ng Mr Seb ag Tolh u rst I didn t h ea r of him .

’

till thi s evening .

What I Seb ag Tolh ur st 1

Both the b o y s st art e d u p in astonishme nt w hilst B ar n ey ,

we nt o n
Wh y didn t h e co me o n a nd se e u s ? Wh ere s h e
’ ’

gone t o i ‘

Richar dson nodd ed Aye a y e si r I ask e d myse l f

.
, , .

thos e qu estions He and his moto r a r e at St Chads

. .
,

three mil es away waiting b u t h i s fr iend—ah u gl y f or eigne r

, , ,

—
a kin d o f D ago I he ar i s at the Logan Ar ms still
,
”
.

Bar ne y tu r n ed to Jack .

T her e may be nothi ng in it b u t it looks q ue e r I , .

n ev er tr u st e d M aste r Seb ag an y more than yo u did y e t ,

wr ecki ng s ee ms ha rdl y in hi s line Sti ll it may b e hi s .

,

friend s lin e I vote we go up o n th e E ast Head and see if

’
.
,

t he r e a r e any lights the r e They u sed to ar r ange them so .

that the y cou l d on ly be s ee n fro m the sea I t s a r otten .

’

night I kno w
,

That s not hi ng Ja c k cu t hi m sho rt

’
I m with
, .
’

y o u .

Fiv e min u tes l at er th e c ott ag e had bee n locked u p ,

a n d th e little pa rty o f fo ur were breas ti ng the steep r ise ,

fighti n g th e i r wa y against th e wind u p t o the E ast Head .

The g u nn er ha d strap p e d an o l d N a vy cu tl ass o n t o h is

6 83
 D U RI N G TH E ST OR M

si de w hilst Ba r n ey had p roduced a co u pl e o f revolv er s

,

from a desk o n e o f which h e had handed to hi s ch um

, .

Yo u neve r kn ow he remarked simp ly , .

Th e cli mb was by no means an easy one u nde r th e

co nditions A f u ll half ho ur had elapsed befo r e the y
.
-

fo u nd the mselves on the summit and even then t h e y , , ,

had to c r awl cautious ly to the edg e to make s u r e if ther e ,

we re lights o r no .

T h ere s a ki nd o f little nat ur al g alle ry w he r e the y

’
,

u sed to swing a lantern maki ng it look like a ship s r iding ,

’

li ght Barne y explained t h en oth er craft would c o me

”
, ,

in thinking it was safe No th er e s nothing there

,
.
,
’

to night so w e may as well g e t back W e might have

-
, .

saved ourselv e s a wetting an d a ha r d t r am p after all , .

The o l d sail o r grunted .

D uty s i r he answe r ed
”
, , Al w ay s do y o ur dut y to .

y o ur God and y ou r ki ng yo ur fathe r u sed to sa y It ,

’
.

w on t b e f o rg o tten in you r log book u p above that yo u

’
-

cam e o u t to night It l l go down Th e G re at Skipper as

-
.
’
.
,

I call Him remembers all these things

, .

Neithe r o f the boys made any repl y Ba r ney o f co ur s e .

, ,

knew his henchman o f o l d w hi l st already Jack had l earnt ,

t o u nderstand and t o r espect th e v e t er an s simpl e though

’
, ,

oft e n strange l y express e d piet y .

It was a much easie r j ob r et ur ning w ith the w i nd at

thei r backs and they w e r e soon within sight o f th e cottage
ag ai n Then s u dd e nl y Ba r n ey gav e v e nt t o an e x c lamation
. , ,

o f surpris e .

W e le f t no lights ! B u t look th ere so me on e s br oken ,

’

in I
It s eem ed as if h e were r ight In th e t wo b ack r ooms .

li ghts we re certainly s h owing though a moment late r ,

these disappeared and a beam shone th r o u gh th e passag e

,

win do w Th e int ru d er s were m oving ab o u t

. .

84
 DU RI NG TH E ST O R M

! u ick ! Ba r n ey cr i e d bre akin g in to a ru n Ah

, .

Lu ng and Jack followe d h im closely though th e g u nn er s ,

’

w ood e n leg ca u s ed him soon t o drop behind .

T h ey had a couple o f hu ndr e d yards t o go r o u gh br ok e n , ,

gr ound an d had cove r ed mo re t h an half o f it w h e n the

,

ligh ts suddenl y disappea re d ; then Jack c r ied

Look at tha t red li ght ! T h er e s a m oto r ca r o u tsid e ’
-

th e doo r 1
Fift y yards f o r t y ya rd s t we nt y fi v e ya rd s—i t s e em e d
, ,
-

as if t h ey w e r e going t o catch th e thiev e s r ed handed -

tw enty yards fift e en —then the doo r bang e d the e ngi ne

, ,

o f the ca r began t o wh ir fu riously the clutch w as thrown ,

in v i ol e ntly an d w i th a j a r an d a j e rk th e v e hicl e sta rt e d

,

o ff

Th e tyres Ba r n e y Fi re at th e b ack t y r e s l
, It w as
Jack wh o shouted as h e p u ll e d o u t h is r evolve r
, .

It was a ve ry dark night and the red tail li ght w as a ,

-

poo r guide yet by a ma r vellous piece o f luck the fifth

, , ,

b ullet went home Ther e was a l oud report as the r ubb er

.

ble w to pieces ; the r ed light seemed t o swe r ve suddenl y ,

as though t h e ca r we re g o ing ove r th e n th e d r ive r r egained ,

contro l and a m ome nt lat er t h e c a r w as r o u nd th e c ur v e

,

o f the r oad .

Th e y v e go t cl e an away Ba r n e y ex claim e d disgu st edly

’
, .

Jack laughe d Still they ve got t o driv e o n a rim

.
,
’
,

so the po l ice may catch them if w e giv e notic e at once

Th e po l ic e will b e as leep and t here s n o telephone ,

’
,

Barney retorted Did y o u mak e o u t the n u mb er ? It

.

”
b egan wit h an M and so does Seb ag Tol h ur st s
,
’
.

T h e othe r b o y gav e a whist le .

That s exciting ! Let s see w h a t th ey v e don e in sid e

’ ’ '

”
th e cottage .

Hithe r to A h L u ng h ad s aid n o thi n g b ut now h e took ,

J a ck by th e sl ee v e .

85
 D U R I N G TH E ST O R M

Yo u s ee h im come o u t s e e t wo fo re ign d e v i l come o u t

,

N o Chi naman plent y s ee no mak ee mistak e O n e

, .

fo re ign d evil did not see well oth er o n e h im Ye llo w D w a r f

, .
”

Jack s wu ng r o u nd q u ickly .

Wh at I Pie t Van de r Humm Are y o u s ure

Th e C e l estial nodded .

No m ak ee m istak e h e r ep e at e d
, Kn ow hi m pl e nty
.

”
t oo we ll.

86
 A S U DD E N R E S O L U TI O N

I thought so h e mu tt ere d the y v e ta ke n e v ery single

, ,
’

pape r o f min e .

His chum w ho had n o t ye t re cove re d f r om h is s urpris e

, ,

r an his fingers through his c u rly hair .

But w hat does it all me an ? h e ask ed What w er e .

they aft er
Th e other boy lau ghed a little n er vou sl y .

It means o l d fell ow that t h e quest o f the Blac k Pearl

, ,

o f P e ih o o is not g o ing to be a pa r ticu l arly safe and healt h y

occupation The Yello w Dwarf is very much in earnest

. .

He came down her e to t r y and steal t h e Viceroy s l etter ’

ca s e o r rathe r to steal the doc u ment out of it th e Chines e

, ,

”
papers containing the secret .

Ba r ney s eyes Opened very wide and h e gave vent t o

’
,

a l ong w hi s tle Thund er ! A nd has h e got it ? I don t ’

se e it anyw h er e .

He s got th e c ase J a c k ans wered

’
bu t tha t s all
, ,
’
,

eh A h Lung
,

Th e Chi naman g r inn e d o p en e d his shi r t and showed , ,

a litt l e waterproof package hanging from h i s n e ck Plent y .

safe the r e Can t cat ch e e pape r u nl ess cat ch ee Chinese

.
’
,

m an fi r st —sav ee
Barney gave a sigh of r el ief Fo r a moment I thought .

”
it was a ll up he said but w hat a cheek they ve got !
, ,
’

A b it mo r e t h an a cheek si r ; it w as the gunne r who ,

spoke ; dangerous lot o f criminals they a re Lo ok h er e ! .

I picked it up in the doo rw ay and h e handed the boy

"
,

an ug l y looki ng Malay kris ; t h ey were quite r ead y t o do

-

”
murde r if we had inte r rupted the m
, Th en calm l y he .
, ,

began to gathe r u p the scatte r ed papers .

A moment late r h e l anded o n anoth er d isc ov ery as a ,

q u ick exclamation showed .

”
Ma ster Ba r ne y h e c r ied look at this cap o ne o f
, ,

th em dropp ed I v e seen that before man y a t im e s ee n

.
’
, ,

88
 A S U DD E N R E S O L U TI O N

it o n t h e h ead of Ralph Wil li am s He was th e oth er on e .

”
w ho ran o u t .

The boys sat u p til l we ll aft er midnight d iscu ssing

t h e a ff air To Barney it seemed wh o ll y my s terious
. ,

but Jack had had some experience of th e ways o f Piet

Van de r H u mm and knew that he was daring enough to ,

r isk an yt hi ng and as full of resou r c e as o f courage

,
.

”
B u t w he re co u ld y o u ng Seb ag c ome in ? Ba r ney
obj ected .

Jack smiled .

T h at s quite simple ; in f act I can see n ow why h e

’
,

made such a fu s s o f me in town Al derm an T olhurst .

is agent fo r a numbe r o f Far E astern c ompani es and , ,

pr obab l y h e s agent fo r the Raj a as well T h e Ye llo w

,
’
.

Dwarf must h ave got a Dutc h steame r and a s we were ,

detained a fortni gh t in Singapore he coul d ea s il y have been ,

i n London first He wo u l d go t o o l d To lh ur s t and wou l d

.

find o f cou r s e that Seb ag kn ew me I t s q u it e s imp l e

, , .
’

”
r eal l y .

Barney nodded .

I supp os e it is wh e n y o u p u t it that way I r emember

, .
,

too t h at wh en Seb ag was down h ere l ast year young

, ,

Will iams who s an u tt e r waste r c l eaned h is car fo r h im

,
’
, ,

and t h ey g o t ve r y ch u mmy B u t w hat s o u r n e xt m ove ? .

’

Te ll the po li ce
T h e oth er sh ook hi s head .

No no T h at wou l d mean making th e who le sto r y o f

, .

the Pear l p u bli c T h e yarn wou l d be cab l ed o u t t o Ch ina

.
,

and w h en we r eached Borneo t h ere wou l d be ha lf a dozen - -

j unks fu l l o f pirates waiting to steal the P ea rl from u s .

We ve got enough dange r s al ready D on t yo u agree with

’
.
’

me Gunner
,

T h e old sail o r st r oked hi s gr ey bear d .

I do sir We r e g o ing to tak e ou r li v es in o ur h a nd s

, .
’

89
 A SU D D E N R E S O L UTI O N

as i t is bu t i t isn t as if we were going to r o b a n y o ne

’
,

so t h e G re at S kippe r w ill look afte r u s as H e look e d afte r ,

yo u u p in that j ungle D epend u pon it H e s going to be .

,
’

o n o u r sid e Well good night M ast er Ba r ne y : good night

.
,
-
,
-
,

”
sir, and he st u mped o ff to hi s o wn r oom .

That s all right Barn e y lau ghe d as soon as th e doo r

’

, ,

had closed the gu nne r w ill help u s now thr ough t hick
, ,

and thin O nce he s decided that a thing is r ight he s

.
’

,
’

s o ce rtain o f D ivin e protecti on that h e go es st r aight ah ead ,

"
without a tho u ght o f fea r I t s awf t amu s i ng at tim es .
’
.

Jack looked u p q u ickl y .

I sh o uldn t put it that w ay o l d m an h e a ns were d

’
, , .

I v e—well I v e felt I w anted p r ot e ction sometimes and

’
,
’
,

hav e asked fo r it and got it I daresa y y o u ll fe el much

, .
’

t he sam e befo re w e re th r o u gh w ith thi s t rip And no w

,
’
. ,

I think I ll turn in too

’
.

The foll owing mo rning w h il st Ah Lu ng w as p re pa r ing ,

breakfast—th e Celestial had co nstituted hi mself cook

and g e ne r al s er vant the moment he a rr ived—Joseph
Richa r dson took a st r oll th r o u gh th e vil lag e H e r epo rt ed .

to Barne y as soon as he r et ur ned .

Ralph Williams has gon e M ast er Ba r n ey Th ey t ry , .

and bl uff it o u t but I can s ee the y r e mo r e than u neas y

,
’

abo u t him A nd I lea r n too f r o m Bi l l M o r co m t h at t h e r e

.
, ,

was an u gl y looking little half b r eed at th e Logan Ar ms

- -

last night That ll b e the Yello w D warf o f whom y o u we r e

.
’

talking . The y all kno w down in th e vi ll age ab o u t

the r o b be ry he re they knew it w as coming o ff and now
t h ey re wondering w hat we re going to do It ll be as
' ’
.
’

well to k e ep a gu ard ove r th e M o lly Hawk as w ell as ,

’

ov er this cottag e They ll t r y and get o n e in o n u s so

.
’

that w e don t get that Williams c aught A b a d lot

’
.
,

Maste r Ba r ne y with th eir jaw ab o u t Co rnw all fo r th e

,

Co r nish m en .
’

90
 A S U DD E N R E SO L U TI O N

Ba r n ey s face was v er y gr ave as h e m a de hi s re po r t

’

to Jack .

Th e gu nn er s right h e s aid we m u st k e ep a sha r p

’

, ,

look o u t no w They re th e most clannish lot in the w o rld

-
.
’

thes e Co rni sh fish ermen .

Wh y not take the Moll y Hawk awa y ? Jack

sugg est e d ; it s on ly thi rty o r fo rt y mil es to Plymo u th
“ ’

Sound She wou l d b e safe th ere ; and we co u ld fit he r

.

o u t fa r mo r e easil y .

Th e oth er bo y sp r ang o u t o f h i s chai r .

A fin e idea ! he exclaimed ; we ll do i t to day I l l ’

-
.
’

w ir e to the ho u s e agents at St Chads to come and clear

-
.

o u t m y f ur nitu re and wa r eho u se it ; th e n we can b e o ff

to mo rr ow The r e s nothing like doing things p r omptly

-
.
’
.

Jack helped hi mse l f to s o me fi sh .

O ne h as to b e prompt sometim e s h e ans w ered a little , ,

gri ml y . If w e r e going to get hold o f th e Black Pearl

’

o f P e i h oo w e s h a ll hav e to be read y to move quickly

, .

Things m a y happen fa r mo re r apidly than we w ant them

”
to do .
 C H APT E R X I I I
“
TH E MO L L Y H A W K
F Captain O B r i e n Barney s father had not b een
’

,
’

a di s tinguis h ed naval o ffice r he would probab l y

have made his mark eithe r as an engineer or as
a naval a r chitect He was a splendid a ll r ound man
.
-
,

and t h e M o l l y Hawk whi ch was c o mp l eted j ust bef o re

”
,

his death was a craft w h ic h did the utm os t credit to his

,

genius He had s e t o u t to de s ign a moto r boat whic h

.
-

could venture on to any seas and could yet be hand l ed ,

by a ve r y small crew and he had ce rtain ly succeeded

, .

T h ere were p o ints about the M oll y Hawk which no

o t he r simi l ar c r aft possessed Ve r y strong l y b uil t with .
,

ample freeboard and plenty of beam sh e had none the , ,

less fine line s and in an yt h ing like go od weathe r could

, , ,

e asily d o twelve kn o ts an hou r Her engines—twin s cre w .

-
,

e ach engine s ix cy l inde r with dup l icate magneto ignition

-
,

a l l throug h—were in the ste r n ; amid s hips was a large

cabin wit h f o u r berths leading into a sma ll saloon ; forw ard
,

o f t hat again was a s t o r e r o o rn and in the b o w qua r ters , ,

fo r a c o up l e of hands T h ere were no deckh o uses of an y

.

kind O rdinarily coo ki ng would be done forward ; but

. ,

there w as a l so a stov e and a d u plicat e s et o f u t e nsi l s

, ,

i n the s al o on .

M ore o ve r it was p o ssible to navigat e th e vessel w itho u t

,

anyone being on deck In addition to the ordina ry steering

.

gear the re was another wheel in the saloon w ith a per iscop e
, ,

92
 TH E MOLLY H A W K
arr ang eme nt si mila r t o that o n a sub m arin e Cons e q ue nt l y .
,

i n heav y we ath er all hatches could be closed A tiny .

,

di r ect co u pl e d o il e ngin e a nd dyna m o supplied e lect ri c

- -

light .

E v ery detail had bee n tho u ght o u t most ca r efull y With .

r ega r d to b oth o il and w at e r tanks the cra ft w as u n u s u al l y -

,

we ll p r ovided whi l st th e sto r eroom w as a model o f its

,

kind Moreov er she had a feat ur e se l d o m possessed

.
,

by a boat o f he r class—a Maxim g u n arranged so that , ,

with a ve ry l ittl e t r ouble it c o uld be mounted eithe r in ,

the b ow o r stern though ordinaril y it w as kept o u t of

, , ,

sight a l togethe r in a box a b aft the main skylight

, .

There s no telling whe r e we may want to g o C aptain

’

O B r i e n had explained and though he himself had not

’
,

lived to u se the weapon th e b oys we re no w v ery grateful ,

fo r his forethought .

So fa r the o nl y m ast o n th e M olly Hawk was a short

,

o n e fo r signa ll ing pu r pos es t h ough he r designer had always ,

intended t o hav e he r rigged as a fore and aft schooner - -

,

in the ev ent o f his u nde rtaking a long cruise and arrange ,

m e nts had bee n m ad e s o that th e m asts could e asily be

stepped .

Jack h e av e d a sigh o f relief w h e n h e fo u nd h imself

o n board th e boat The house agents fr om St Chads
.
-
.

had sent down promptly and taken away Barney s furnitu r e ’

fo r storage a proceeding whic h had been watched with

,

sur l y disfavou r by t h e vi ll age loafers wh o n ow complained ,

t h at B arn e y was t o o mean t o S pend his money o n the

”
poo r fi sh e r fo l k Possib l y severa l o f th em would have
-
. ,

done mo re than g r owl had it not been fo r A h Lung wh o , ,

s u pe r intended e verything w it h the Yellow Dwarf s kris ’

stuck in his be l t and a gr im smile o n his f ac e The gunne r

, .

had gon e dow n e ar l y t o the Mol l y Hawk t o g e t h er

re a dy fo r sea and also t o keep g u ar d ov er h er
, .

93
 TH E M O LLY H AW K

At last th e va ns were fu l l th e l u ggag e ha d b ee n tak e n

'

ab oa r d th e y acht and the cotta ge doo r l ocked , .

Well i t s good bye to P o r t h ke l l o

,
’
Jack sai d as -
,
’
, ,

w ith the gu nn er at th e w h e el th e y h e ad e d ou t o f th e ,

little harbou r .

Ba r ne y nodded .

Yes I m not altog e th er so rry Then h e happ e n e d t o

,
’
.

l ook back and gave a start o f s u rpris e

, Wel l I m .
,
’

j iggered ! The re o n th e quay ! That b egga r Ralph ,

Wil l iams has come back I s u ppos e you r fr i e nd Pi et h as .

”
sent h i m to find o u t whe r e we r e going to ’
.

Joseph Ri chardson glanced ove r his shoulde r .

A y e aye that s h im W e to l d them P l ymouth Mast er

, ,
’
.
,

Ba rney No w if I wer e y ou I w ould go o n t o Portsmouth

.
, ,

inst e ad You ll get y o ur masts and gea r and stores cheap er

.
’

and quicke r th ere I kn ow a fi r st r at e litt l e ya r d u p the .

-
,

Wo rp l e r iv er We may b e o ff before that the r e yello w

.

”
chap can find u s and t ry any more o f his m onkey t ricks .

T h e y oung owne r agr e ed readily .

I was going t o ask y o u any w ay G u nne r h e said , , .

It ll gi v e u s a f e w da y s b r eathi ng space w hi l st Pie t Seb ag

’ ’
, ,

”
and Co a re s ea r chi ng fo r u s r o u nd Plym o u th
. .

Jack wh o w as s itting o n the skylight nodded

, , .

Ye s b ut Barn e y we m u st never take chanc es wi th th e

, , ,

Yellow D wa rf Don t forget that h e s much olde r than we

.
’ ’

are and u tte rly u nsc ru p u lo u s A nd he s go t an y amount

, .
’

o f mone y b ehind h i m t o o I vot e that the fi rst thing , .

we d o in Po r tsm o u th is t o g e t a u to m atic pistols fo r all

hands .

Not fo r me si r th e g u nn er shi ft e d h i s pl u g o f tob ac c o

,
-

round in his mouth G i ve m e th e goo d o l d Nav y .

revolve r o r a c u tlass I don t know th e s e n ew fa ngl ed

,
.
’
-

to y s . What do y o u say Pigta il ,

Ah Lu ng w ho had j u st th ru st h is h e ad ou t of th e
,

94
 “
TH E MO L LY H AW K

I t h i nk we l l fi n d th e Bla c k P ear l a lm ost as muc h as we

’

”
can manage .

But the o l d sailo r was in ea r n e st .

We s h a ll manag e it all sir D on t y o u m ak e any , .

’

mistake abo u t that I can se e i t coming o u t r ight i n th e

.

”
e nd.

Th e Wo r p l e riv er is r eall y nothing mo re than a d e ep

m u ddy creek r unning some miles inland a qu a r te r o f an
, ,

hou r s r ai l way j ourney f r om Portsmouth town O n o n e

’
.

side th e banks ar e ste e p and w ood ed but o n th e Oppo s it e ,

shor e mud fl ats e xposed at low tide fo rm sp l endid

, , ,

be r ths fo r laying up vessels a fact of w hich th e y acht ,

builde r s have taken f ul l advantage .

Half a doz e n fai r S i zed yards a r e k e pt b u sy all th e ye a r

-

rou nd eithe r b u i l ding new yachts o r preparing o l d ones

, ,

fo r the coming season Yo u can always s e e a sco re o r

.

m o r e o f fine craft d r awn u p o n th o s e mud be r ths and a -

,

number more anchored o u t in t h e stream itse l f .

Th e vi l lage of Wo r p l e stragg l es upwards fro m th e shore

fo r a mi le o r so to th e crest o f the rise where fo r a ll practica l , ,

pu rpo s es it ends in the two riva l h otels —the B l ue E nsign

,

”—
and t h e Ne l son s Head ’
w hich fac e e ach othe r f r om
opposite sides o f the road .

E verybody in Wo r p l e talks a b o u t y achts eve r ybody ,

l ives direct l y o r indi rect l y o n yachts w ith th e r es ul t

, , ,

that the individual yac h tsman eith e r o wn er or hand , ,

e xcit es fa r l ess attention than a landsman would d o .

By a stroke of luck the builde r to whom th e bo y s we nt

,

was not ve r y bus y H e w as abl e to giv e th e Mo lly

.

Hawk a berth at once and to p u t a full gang t o w o r k,

o n h er .

She ll sail w ell Mr O B r i e n h e said a ft er h e had

’

, .
'
, ,

e xamined he r with keen p r ofessional ey e s I r emem ber .

y o ur fath er we ll H e kn ew w hat h e w as ab o u t did Capt ai n

.
,

96
 “
TH E MOLLY H A W K

O B ri e n
’
. I s up pos e y o u re going to m ak e a deep s ea
’
-

tr ip this time
F o r a moment Bar n ey hesitat e d Wh y t e ll a n y on e w hat .

the ir p l ans w ere P

Yes
”
he answ ere d at last wi th s e eming ca r el essness
, , .

I shou l dn t be s urprised if we we r e awa y some m onths

’
.

They say it s a go o d season fo r the W es t Indies

’ ”
.

The bui l der nodded .

Y o u ought to manage that all r ight i f y o u hav e good ,

hands and sail wheneve r you ve a fai r wind so as to

,
’

save o il We fit o u t a lot of c r aft fo r long voyages he r e in

.

Wo r p l e M y neig h bour in the next y ard has j ust so l d that

.

v essel —h e p o inted to a large white painted yacht lying ,

-
,

o u t i n the stream She s going out to th e Far E ast

.
’

I u nderstand Ah the r e go es th e ne w o w n er that

. , ,

”
qu ee r little man i n the pinnace .

Jack who had j ust stro ll ed u p tu r ned r ound to look at

, ,

the m o t or boat which had j ust shot out fr om t h e next

-
,

wh ar f Th en quite involunta r il y h e gripp e d Ba r ney s

. , ,
’

a rm .

The new owne r the que er littl e m an was n on e other

, ,

th a n Pi et Va n d er Hum m .

97
 C H APT E R X I V

A CH A N G E O F P LA NS
HAT afte r noon a co u ncil o f w a r w as held in th e
sitt i ng r oo m o f the Bl u e E nsign hotel w h e r e
-
,

the boys had tak e n u p thei r qua rte r s the gu nn er ,

and Ah Lu ng having fo u nd lodgings low er d own th e village .

”
It s she e r chan ce o f co ur s e J ack said
’

, Th e Raj a , .

w ant e d a steam er— I s u ppose he s going to ar m he r to ’

d riv e o ff pi r ate j u nks— and this is the most nat ur al place

fo r Piet Van de r Hu m m to fi nd o n e j ust as it s th e most ,
’

nat ur al plac e fo r u s to bring the M ol l y Ha w k to r efit ‘ ’

.

It s j oll y unfo r t u nat e bu t the re s nothing my sterious

’
,
’

”
a b out it and h e gav e a q u i c k glance at Ba r ne y wh o
, , ,

li k e so m an y I r ishmen was apt to be s u p er stitio u s

, .

Perhaps Ba r n ey u n der stoo d hi s i d ea ; at a n y ra t e h e ,

laughed lightl y .

That s a l l r ight Ja c k T h e q ue st ion i s not h o w it

’

, .

came ab o u t but ho w i t s going to a ffect u s Isn t that so

,
’
.
'

Gunne r ? and h e p r oceeded to get i nto his f avo urite

position coiled u p in a big a rm chai r looking fo r all the
,
-
,

w o r ld l ike a m ischi e vous c urly hai r ed i m p ,

-
.

The o l d sailo r was cu tting a n ew plug o f to b ac c o a nd ,

h e waited to th r ust that i nto his mo u th b efo re ans we ring .

Ay e a ye M aste r Ba r ne y it does affect u s a b ig l o t

, , , , .

She s a fas t cr aft that steamboat and o f co urse sh e co u ld

’
, , , ,

k e ep th e se a w hen we should hav e t o ru n i nto sh e lt er .

T he n if sh e ship s so me g u ns as sh e s s ure to do a se ven

, ,
’

98
 A C H A N G E O F P LA NS

is re ally S er vi ce work b e cause w hen we v e go t t h e B l ack ,

’

Pear l and wiped o u t all the Pal ap o gs and s e t the sl av es

, ,

free we ll be ab le to tur n th e count ry ov er t o the Briti sh

,
’

”
Government .

W i t h o n e o f hi s s ud d e n chang es o f m ood Jack bur st ,

o u t l aug h ing .

O h I s ay G u nn er ! The commission is g r owing t o o

, ,

f ast ! In the beginning w e w e re on l y going fo r the Pearl

o f Peih o o n o w we re to co ll ar t h e who l e territory
’ "
.

B igger th ing s h ave been done wi t h less means s ir , ,

the o l d sai l or retorted I m o l d enough t o remembe r

.
’

w h at Raj a B rooke did in that s ame is l and Just y o u ship .

two more gun s Master B arney two long o n e pounders

, ,
-

s h e won t stand a seven pounde r—and we ll be fit t o tackl e

’ ’
-

everyt h ing we meet o n th at coast I don t talk about it .

’

often but I don t forget that I us ed to be c h ampion

,
’

gunner of t h e Briti s h Navy Twe l ve inch in t h e ba r .

-

bette o r o n e pounde r on a launch—it s all th e same t o

,
-
’

”
me .

So far A h Lung had only listened and an onlooker might ,

have d o ubted w h et h e r h e u nderstood the conversation ;

but now h e c h imed in .

Get h im B lack Pearl h e remarked cheerfull y , Then .

go and fetch p l enty Canton es e pirat e men in j unks kill ,

”
all Pal ap o g Ca n d o .

Rea ll y it was t h at can d o which decided Jack

, .

T h ere w as s uch a ca l m assumption o f certainty about it ,

that know ing A h Lung s o well o f o l d h e seemed to feel

, ,

succes s mu s t be assured Jack wanted to go ; h e was .

des perate l y anxiou s t o g o ; but h e h ad fe l t h e cou l d not

ho l d h i s c o mrade s t o t h eir promises u nl ess they r eal is e d ,

th e n e w danger s wh ic h h ad ari s en .

N o w everyt h i ng appeared once mo r e t o be straight

,

forward T h ere wa s no lo nger any questi on o i gi v i ng u p

.

1 00
 A C H A N G E O F P LA NS

th e v e nture : i t was onl y a mat ter of ta kin g th e wis est

pos s ible precautions .

S h e ll need a c rew of tw e nty fi v e at th e v ery least

’
-
, ,

all told , Ric h ardson d ec l ared r eferring t o t h e Raj a s ,

’

steame r . N o w what does that mean ?

, It mean s t h at
he ll have t o wait to att ack us unti l he s o u t o n the coas t
’ ’

o f B o rneo Yo u may pick up a crew o f twenty fi v e pirates

.
-

here ; but you can t be sure o f th em He ll j ust s hi p an

’
.
’

or di nary crew and change it w h en h e gets t o his port

, .

Jack rubbed hi s c h in a litt l e doubtfu ll y Thi s seemed .

t o be going t o the othe r extr eme so fa r as ove r co n fi d e n ce ,

-

w as concerned .

I v ote we don t r isk it al l the same he s ai d

’
, What , .

I m going t o propo se i s a big thing It ll make a l ot o f

’
.
’

di ff erence so far as tim e i s concerned but I m sure w e ,

’

sha ll be s af e r—th e Raj a s s teamer wi ll go o u t t h rough the

’

Suez Cana l o f course and wil l be on the l ook o u t fo r u s a ll

, ,
-

t h e way I sugg est w e go ou t r ound the Cape and so dodge

.
,

h er a l together .

F o r a moment the others se em ed t o o g reatly s u rprised

to s peak T h e c h ange in their plans wou l d be enorm o u s
.
,

and t h e difficulti es o f navigati on wou l d pr o bab l y be

large l y increased O n the oth er hand as Jack s ai d it
. , ,

w a s safe t o as s ume that they wou l d s h ake o ff any pur s uit ,

and th ey wou l d be able t o cho o se their o wn m o ment fo r

a sudden swoo p down in quest o f the B l ack Pear l A s .

far as th e extra ti me they wou l d take wa s c o ncerned that ,

did n o t seem t o matter ; in fact it migh t a lm o s t be an ,

advantage as thei r enemies wou l d begin t o assume they

,

w ere n o t coming afte r all It was n o t as if t h e Ye ll ow

, .

Dwarf h ad th e l ea s t idea w h ere th e B l ack Pearl was hidden ,

and wou l d find it fo r himsel f meanw hi l e .

It seems a good idea Master Ba rn ey Th e o l d sailor,

.

was the first t o sp e ak .

I OI
 A CH A N G E O F P L A NS
" I’ ” "
m sure i t is Barney answe re d , Wa i t a bi t .
,

a nd h e dived into his bedroom r eturning w ith a large ,

”
m ap o f the world Lo o k h ere h e went o n eager l y
.
, ,

we make Madeira first and fill up with Oil t h ere T h en

, .

down t h e wes t coast o f A frica to Capetown fi ll up again , .

At D e l ago a B ay we can get m o re o i l and after t h at ,

H e g l anced questi o ning l y at the oth ers wh o were bending ,

over th e map bes ide hi m .

T h roug h t h e M o zambiqu e Channel to Mo mb asa and ,

thence to Co l ombo Jack suggested

”
, .

The gu nner frown ed .

”
Per h aps he answe r ed slowl y
, O r e ls e ac r oss t o .

Mauritiu s and f r om there to Cey l on T h at s a point t o

, .
'

se ttle late r Anyway from Co l ombo it ll be s imple en o ugh ’

. .
,

I f we can avoid going t o Singap o re and get Oil and st o res ,

at some sma ll er port so muc h the bette r They ll be ’

, .

w atchi ng fo r us at Singapore very like l y , .

Barney r oll ed up t h e map with a quick deci s ive acti on , .

T h en it s sett l ed We g o round t h e Cape o f Good H o pe

’
. .

That s o n e beauty about t h is j ob —we re o u r o w n mas ters

’ ’
.

g
Yes 1 W h o s that ’
C o me in ”
as t h ere w as a knock ,

at t h e doo r which Opened to a d mit t h e fat figu re o f Seb ag

,

Tol hu rst.

1 02
 SE B AG I S F RI G H T E N E D

cur l ed hi m self u p onc e m o re in his chai r a nd be g an to ,

laugh quietly whilst J ack leaned hi s e l b o w s o n th e tab l e ,

and answered the unwilling guest .

So y o u came to s e e u s To l hu r st T hat s kind o f y o u

,
'
.

D id you have to get a n ew rim as w ell as a n ew ty re befo r e, ,

y ou m o t o red down
T h e o t h er went d e adl y w hite It was plain that h e ha d .

not believed that the y kn ew o f h is sha re i n th e r o b b ery at

P o r t h ke l l o .

I hav e n t th e l e ast i dea w hat y o u me an h e bluste r ed

’
, .

Have y o u all gone mad If so the soone r I leave he r e ,

t h e bette r Tell that Chinaman to stand away fr o m th e

.

d o o r I ve got friends w aiting fo r me Outside

.
’
.

Are the y police m en ? Ba r ney inqui re d i nnocentl y .

If so I suppose we mu st l et th em h a v e y o u What d y o u
, .
’

think Jack ,

The latte r nod ded .

T h ey m u st have h i m som e t ime o f c o ur s e T h e Bo y , .

Burg l a r th e papers will call hi m B u t it ll be r ott e n fo r .

’

”
the reputation o f th e o l d School .

I can t think w h y the y e ve r had him the re Ba r n ey

’

answered gravel y Perhaps th e w a rr ant is o ut unde r

.

an o t h e r name eh T olh urst , a n d h e t ur n ed to th e

,

unf o rtunate prison er .

Thei r sarcasms s eem ed t o h a v e gi v e n S eh ag fr e sh heart .

He was sh r ewd eno u gh to se e that th ey d i d not i ntend to

have him ar r ested .

It s y o u who ll be pr os ecu t ed fo r d etai ning me h e

’ '

r eto r ted What e v er y o u i nsin u at e ab o u t b urgla ry

.
,

y ou ve got no p r oof O nc e mo re I o r d er y o u to tell that

’
.
,

y e ll ow b rut e to Op e n th e doo r It s j ust w hat I sho u l d .

’

”
expect o f y o u to e mplo y a savag e lik e that
, .

F o r a mom e nt th ere w as an u gl y glea m in Ah Lu ng s

’

e yes . H e u nd er stood E nglish fa r be tt er th a n h e s p ok e it ,

1 04
 SE B AG I S FRI G HT E N E D

and the r e i s n o gr eate r insult an d no mo r e foolish acti o n , ,

than t o tr eat a C hinaman with his five t h ousand years ,

O f civi l i s ati o n behind him as a barbarian T h en h e smi l ed , .

danger o u sl y and p r oceed e d to pull a driving glov e o u t o f

,

hi s p o cket .

Pick hi m u p Outside cottage th e night thief men ,

-

came he said as he h anded the thing to Jack

”
, , Plent y .

”
name written inside him .

O ne l o o k su mce d fo r Jack Se b ag T o l h urst he r ead .

o ut. It s your h andwriting too T olh urst I r emembe r

’

, , .

it well at s ch ool w h en you used t o give us receipts fo r the

,

money we paid you fo r stamps o ff approva l sheets—a

ro tt en l ot t h ey were too Y o u were a l ways keen o n busi , .

nes s but you make a p o or burg l ar l eaving clues like this

, , ,

a nd keeping you r tai l lamp a l ight

Sudden l y t h e pri s oner covered his fac e with his hands .

His nerve had deserted him at th e sight Of that proof o f

his gu i l t .

Barney glance d tow ards Jack R e al l y h e was ra th er .

,

s orry they had eve r cap t ured the wretched youth .

What s h al l we d o with hi m h e ask e d .

The gu nner answered

Leave h im t o me s i r t o m e and the Pigtail H e , , ..

w ouldn t be the fir s t wh om I d seen have twenty fi v e

’ ’
-
,
’

as we say in the Nav y It w ou l d be a week o r t wo be fo re .

”
h e w anted t o si t do w n and driv e a moto r ca r -
.

Ah Lung grinned .

" ”
Chinaman plenty savag e sometim es h e rem a r k ed ,

b ut the miserable Seb ag tu rned deat hl y whit e and began ,

t o gro vel .

O h I sa y O B r i en Wayn e don t leave m e t o th es e

, ,
’
, ,
’

f ellows ! I m n o t l ike One Of the boys in the Navy o r a

’
,

Chinese b o y I m —I m awfu l ly sen s itiv e I n e ve r co u ld

.
’ ’
.

stand be ing h ur t I ll pr omi se an y thing t ell y ou an y thin g

.
’
, ,

1 05
 SE B A C I S FR I GH T E N E D

if y o u l l l e t me go They don t unde r stand th es e fellows

’
.
’
,

”
don t how sensiti ve chaps li ke mysel f a re
’
,
.

The gu nne r laugh e d w hilst Jack and Ba r n ey exch ang e d

,

looks o f disgu st .

Sha ll t h e P igtail go o u t and get an—an impleme nt ,

si r the o l d sailo r asked solemnly O n e s u itab le for a .

sensitive skin
Barney t urned sha r p l y to th e c ul prit .

What have you got to te l l us he demande d :

A crafty look fla s h e d into To l h u r st s eyes So h e was ’
.

going t o escape aft er all ! Then h e p r etend ed t o w ip e

,

away some tears .

I cam e do w n t o t e ll y ou I w as so rr y fo r th e r ott e n
”
pa rt I had p l ay e d he said M r Van de r Hum m is
, . .

an important c l ient Of o u rs and we didn t rea l ise what h e ,

’

w anted u s t o d o N o w we v e finished with h im though

.
’
,

w e ve made him promise n o t to interfere with y o u again

’
.

”
My fat h e r was awfu ll y angry about t h e bu s in ess .

The gunne r snorted If that s the b est h e can say .

’
,

Mast er Barney bett er l e t the Pigtai l go fo r that

,

Barney cut hi m short He was sick Of th e sight of Seb ag s .

’

w hit e fac e w ith the g re at b eads Of p e rspi r ation standing

,

o n it .

A l l r ight C lea r o u t h e said

. A h Lu ng Op e n the , .
,

doo r But if we catch y o u at thes e game s again it ll

. ,
’

”
b e mo re than twenty fi v e y ou ll get -
’
.

Seb ag Tolhu r st n e eded n o s e cond b idding Like a .

fl ash h e w as gone g reatl y t o the disgu st o f th e g u nne r

, ,

wh o r emarked s e vere l y :
A t least h e o u ght t o hav e be en s ear ch e d Mast er
, ,

”
Barne y .

Five minutes lat er i n th e r ival hot el Seb ag h ims elf

, ,

was saying much the same thing t o the Yello w Dwa rf .

”
I w ent to th e wr ong place h e ad mi tted That was , .

1 06
 C H APT E R X V I

B A RN E Y MA KE S A M I S T A KE
O W the y know w e
re he r e w e can t be too ca r eful ’

,
’
.

It was Jack w ho spok e There s on l y a s l eepy .

’

Old watchman down at th e y ard kept there in ,

cas e o f fi r e and the y cou l d make sho rt work o f the M o l l y

,

Hawk I vote we take up ou r q u a rte rs aboa r d

.
’
.

Barne y sh ru gged his shou l ders .

As you lik e But I don t se e w hy the y should w ant to

.
’

touch the boat now It would be too risky and the y wo uld . ,

gain nothing T h ey must kno w we have th e impo r tant

.

paper s hidden .

I m going t o s e nd the m to th e b ank to da y Jack

’
-
,

answered We don t want them now e xcept fo r

.
’

cu r io s ities Ah Lu ng and I both kno w the place exactl y

. .

We ve act u all y seen the bo x containing th e Black Pearl

’

but non e th e less Piet V an de r Humm is quite vicious

, ,

enough t o bur n th e M oll y Haw k o u t Of shee r

S pite .

The shi p b uil der was a littl e s ur p r ise d wh e n h e heard

-

O f his cli ents decision to live ab o ar d As a ru le people

’
.
,

w ho could a ffo r d to o wn a b eautiful c r aft like the Moll y

Hawk did not like the smell of t h e mud r ound the y ards .

Still he was b eing paid w ell fo r his w ork and it w as not

, ,

his concern Had the y hinted at the t ru e r eason that

.
,

th ey we r e af r aid fo r the m o to r y acht s safety he woul d -

’
, ,

in all p r o b ab ilit y hav e bee n mo r e s ur p r is ed st ill a n d w o u l d

, ,

1 08
 B A RN E Y M A KE S A M I ST A KE

hav e told th em that pi r ac y and kind re d c rimes do no t

happen t o day u nde r t h e e yes o f th e c o u nty polic e and
-

th e coastgu ar d se rvice .

They agreed t o tak e t wo ho ur watch es fr o m dusk till -

,

dawn The fi r st three nights passed un eventfu ll y as did

.
,

also the da y s Though the y kept thei r eyes constantly

.

o n the Sultan s steame r—the y had lea r nt that he r na m e

’

was n o w th e Pang Ye en —the y s aw n o o n e save th e ,

builders men go aboard her and the most careful inquiri e s

’
, ,

o n the part o f th e gu nne r w ho seemed ab l e to mak e ,

friends at onc e w ith every on e along the w ate r side l e ft -

,

them no w ise r She had been sold to fo r eigners an d

.
,

sh e w as b eing thoroughl y overhau l ed without an y fanc y ,

deco r ation—t h at was all the o l d sailo r managed to learn .

That sh e was some five hundred tons register and co u l d ,

do fifteen knots the y lear nt from books of r eference

, .

I think we re giving ou r se l ves a lot o f u nn ecessa ry

’

t r ouble Ba r ney r emarked as they sat down t o s u pper o n

,
”
,

the fourth evening None Of those Pang Yee m people

.

are about the vil lage and there s no sign o f the m aboard
,
’
.

Besides the y w ouldn t r isk doing anything to u s he re

,
’
.

T h e y d rememb er that Parkhu rst Prison is onl y a few

’

m iles away I vot e w e d r op this sentry go

.
" -
.

J ack fl ush e d quickl y It was the first hi nt o f a re al

.

disagreement between them and he felt r ightl y that , , ,

it w as a challenge to hims e lf E videntl y Barney had .

,

not yet re a l ised th e characte r o f thei r opponent he did not ,

u nderstand that in the c ase o f the Yello w D w arf some o n e

, ,

had a l ways to b e o n the ale rt that Piet Van d er H u mm ,

fear ed nothing and w o u ld stick at nothing

, .

V e ry well h e answ er ed r ather stimy

”
, If y ou .

d on t thi nk it wo r th w hil e Ba rne y I will tak e y o ur w atch

’
, ,

a s well as my o wn F o r m y p art I co u ld n o t sl eep u nl ess

. ,

”
I kn ew there was so me o ne o n th e look o ut -
.

1 09
 B A RN E Y MA KE S A M I S T A KE

N ow it was Barney s tu rn to fl ush Fo r a m o me nt ’

.

h e w as furio u s at th e impl ied r ebuk e then h e held o u t ,

h i s hand .

Don t be cross old man he said

’

, O f cou rse I ll , .
’

d o my turn But I ve never seen an ythi ng s o far during

.
’

my watch except the searchlig h ts flas hing fr om th e

,

”
Spithead F o rts and it s Often a j ob to keep awake
,
’
.

Jack laughed and with t h at the matter seemed t o hav e

,

dr o pped a l together though Ah Lung w h o had j u s t br o ught

, ,

in some c o ff ee and had overheard it al l th o ug ht h e detected

, ,

an anxious look sti ll lurking in hi s be l oved maste r s eyes ’

.

That night the first two h ours watch fel l t o J o seph

,
’

Ri chardson At ten O clock Ah L ung r e l ieved the gunne r

.
’
.

Then came Barney s turn ’

.

The othe r s had r epo rted All w ell as they went o fl

duty Th e y ard watchman could be seen from t h e bow
.
,

s l eeping peacefu l l y in his litt l e box his lantern beside ,

h im . All t h e lig h ts in the vi ll age we r e o u t and t h e waning ,

m oon had a l ready set Rea lly beyond the watc h man s .
,
’

lantern all that Barney cou l d se e were the lights Of tw o

,

o r t hr ee craft o u t in t h e river .

He was very s l eepy and somehow part Of his Obj ecti on, , ,

to d o ing wh at he ca l led sentry go seemed t o have -

r etu r ned It was all so fo ol is h he t ol d himse l f as he s at

.
, ,

down on the sky l ight Jack w as an awfu ll y good so rt .

,

and once they got to s ea it wou l d be imp o ssib l e to be t o o

, ,

ca r eful ; but what o n ea rth was the use O f all these p r e

cautions i n a yacht bui l der s y ard on the Wo r pl e r ive r ?
-
'

Wh y th e polic e station was a b a re h u nd r ed y a r ds

,
-

aw a y !
He looke d a t t h e w atchman s l ante r n look e d at t h e ’
,

l ights in the stre am ag ai n butt o ned u p h is coat c los e r o u nd,

h is t h roat mutter e d something very i mpo l i t e ab out J ack

,

Way n e s fads—th e n f ell fas t asleep

’
.

I IO
 B AR N E Y M A KE S A M I S T A KE

som e little distanc e a w a y ; bu t the r e was a ladd er ag ainst

the yac h t s side and down this the prisone r w as carried
'

w ith t h at same w onderf u ll y quiet ca ution w hich had

marked the whole r aid .

N ow I ve got yo u th e Ye llo w D w a rf said as the y

” ’

, ,

got clea r o f the Mo ll y Hawk s st er n and were l p p i n g ’

t h rough the oo ze Now I ve got you Mr O B r i e n I

.
’

, .
’
.

w ish it had been y ou r chum but y ou ll do I m sure yo u ’

.
’

know the secret o f the B l ack Pea r l And I can make y o u .

tell me I know th ings which will make anyone s peak in

.

the end —things that hu rt ve ry much You will have .

”
told me e ver yt h ing befo re th e night i s o ut a n d h e gave a ,

hideous litt l e chuckle .

Ba r ney gave no sign that h e had e v e n h ea rd th e w o r ds .

T h e gag closed his mouth but that horribl e ye llow fac e ,

w as pee ring down i nto his and he could have answered wi t h ,

his eyes Stil l Piet Van de r H u mm did n o t have t h e

.
,

satisfaction o f seeing fea r o n h i s face and p e rhaps f o r that , ,

r eason he lost his tempe r and st ru ck th e b o y o n the side

, ,

Of the face with his fi st .

A moment later he hi m se l f w as s ent fl ying b y a t r em e n

,

dous b lo w then o n e o f the men who was ca rr ying Barney

w ent down h eavily into the mu d a l low in g Ba r n ey t o be ,

ha l f smot h ered in the slim e .

T h e oth e r men did n o t wait It s ee m ed as though t h ey .

ha r d l y lo o ked round t o se e whence the attack had come .

P r obab l y in thei r o wn country they would have turn e d

, ,

and fought savage l y but here in E ngland even to thei r

, , ,

semi savage instincts the fear Of the police w as all powerful

-
,
-
.

They had come o n the e r r and u nwillingly and they w er e ,

o nl y t o o g l ad t o escap e anyway , .

Yet t h e attacking force consisted only o f o n e man Ah ,

Lung Some curi o us sense o f danger h ad brough t h im

.

o n d eck j ust as Barne y was being tak e n do w n t he ladde r ,

I IZ
 B AR N E Y M A KE S A M I STA KE

a n d w ithout w ait i ng t o r o u s e th e o th er s h e ha d followed

, ,

and made the rush from behind .

The Ye ll ow Dwarf had stagge r ed fo rwar ds had caught ,

h is foot in a c h ain cab l e and come down o n hands and ,

knees F o r t h e moment he was ab sol ute l y at Ah Lung s

.
’

mercy and his caree r wou l d certain l y have ended t h ere

,

and t h en with o n e th rust from t h e Chinaman s terrib l e

,
’

knife but fo r the fact t h at t h e assai l ant himse l f go t stuck

,

in t h at h orrib l e mud By t h e time he was free P iet Van . ,

der Humm h ad a ls o r ecov e red his footing and had drawn ,

hi s knife O n hard gr o und there must have been a fig h t

.

t o t h e fini sh but the mud prevented eit h e r from S pringing

,

at t h e ot h e r and before they could get t o with in stabbing

, ,

di s tance t h e watc h man wh o had been awakened by

, ,

the commotion w as h urrying down s h outing , , .

F o r once th e Ye ll ow Dwarf fled abs ol ute l y foi l ed H is , .

men were a l ready in the boat and in anot h e r sec o nd o r ,

t w o h e h im s e l f would be trapped Lu ck was o n h i s sid e .

now He h appened t o get o n a comparative l y firm ridge in

.

th e mud w h ils t A h Lung s truck anot h er very s oft patc h

, .

”
Wh at was t h at there ? the watc h man panted as
he came up What s a l l this unru l y r umpus
.
’

T h e Ce l es tial p o inted towards the boat w hi ch was n ow ,

some ten yards from th e s h ore .

P l enty pirate man he answ ered

” -
, .

T h e watc h man snorted .

P irate man h e growled ; some mu d larks com e

- -

”
t o stea l cab l e I supp os e y o u mean ,T h en h i s eye s fe ll .

On t h e figure o f B arney l ashed up in the hor s e c lo th ,

-
,

and his expres s ion changed We ll I m blowed l h e .

,
’

muttered If this d o esn t b eat all !

.
’

Ah Lung gr inned amiab l y .

Ch inaman s ay P l enty pirate man h e r epeat e d th en -

,
’
, ,

qu ite ca lm ly h e p r oceeded t o cut the boy s bon d s

,
’
.

1 1 3
 C H APT E R XV I I

MA N Y PR E P A R A TI O N S
ARN EY w as v ery much ashamed o f hi m sel f as
he climbed painfu ll y a b oa r d th e M oll y Hawk ”

and faced his comrad e s .

I was a slacke r he said f r ankl y an d as a r es u lt

, , , ,

I r isked ru ining the w ho l e sho w in addition to getting ,

into a frightfu l position myself That Yellow D w arf ! .

He drew his h and across his forehead a n d sh u dd ere d , .

Jack laid a hand o n hi s shoulde r .

”
Neve r mind Old fellow he said gentl y
,
Al l s w ell
, , .
’

that ends well We ve beaten Van der Humm once mo r e

.
’

”
as we l l always beat hi m
’
D on t w o rry ab o ut it
.
’
.

The other shook his head It s ve ry decent o f y o u .

’

bu t I d o worry I feel non e o f you will t r ust me now

. .

Bef o re Jack co u ld repl y the gunn er p u t his head th r o u gh

,

the s k ylight .

I ve got th e night w atchman a b oa r d h ere si r h e s aid

’

, , .

Just now he s h aving some c o ff ee b ut w hat a re w e going

’

to tell hi m He s properly m az e d ov er it all and wa nts

’

to go t o the p o lice .

Jack sprang up quickl y .

No no That would n e v er d o W e sho u l d h a v e a

, . .

”
s war m o f reporters here b y midday .

But it s a fine chance to get that y ellow fiend a rrested

’

Barney prot est ed I co u ld swe a r t o hi m and so could

.
,

Ah Lu ng ”
.

1 1 4
 M A N Y P R E P AR A T IO NS

La t er in th e m o r ning as th e tw o bo ys were w al ki ng up ,

t h e vi llage to the hot el w h ere th ey u s ua ll y l u nch e d Ba r n ey ,

stopp e d a bru ptl y .

Jack I ve got an i d e a h e s ai d
,
’
N o d on t laugh , .
,
’
.

It s this O n e o f th e head men in the N aval Intel ligenc e

’
.

D epa rtment at Po rtsmouth was a great friend o f my fat h er s ’

.

He knows m e w e l l and i f I to l d h i m something about the

,

Pang Y eem and he r c r ew he d have he r w atched every ,

’

w he r e The re s no need e ven to hi nt at th e Pe arl bu siness

.
'
.

”
We l l go ther e this aft e rnoon
’
.

T h e d oo rkeepe r at the Naval Intellige n ce O fli ce d eclined

t o s ay if C aptain Smith w as i n .

”
I ll s ee s ir he said as h e took Ba r n ey s name A
’ ’
, , , .

co u pl e o f m in u tes lat er h e r et u rned Will you come .

thi s wa y he aske d then showed them into a larg e ,

r oom with a v e ry s m al l naval o ffice r seated at a desk

, .

We ll w hat is it ?
, Th e o ffi c e r looked u p sharpl y .

Ba r ne y hesitated .

I wanted C aptain Smith h e answ ere d , .

”
I m he re in Captain Smith s place th e oth er sn a pp e d
’ ’

ba ck at him Wh at s yo ur b usiness ’

The b o y fl ushed Fo r a moment he w as incl in e d to .

s ay that the matte r was a pure l y private o n e and to leave ; ,

then c h anged h i s mind and told a s b r i efl y as possi bl e , , ,

w hat t h ei r er rand w as .

At the end o f th e sto r y th e l ittl e o fli cer l au gh ed non e ,

t oo pleasantl y .

I w ou l d giv e u p r eading a d v e nt ure sto r ies if I we r e ,

y o u my lad That s all shee r r ubbish If the r e had been

,
.
’
.

an ything in i t I and he slapped his own chest impo rt

,
-

e ntl y I sho u ld have h e a r d o f it long be fo re y o u did , .

Go od aft er noon .

Ba r n e y s fac e w as c rim son as h e we nt o u t

’
.

Th e i diot ! h e g r owl e d t o Jack Lu ckil y th ere r e .

,
’
 M A N Y P R E P AR A TI O NS

not ma n y li k e h im in th e S er v ice It s eems w e ll have .

’

”
t o d e pend sol el y o n o ur s e lv es .

The oth er b oy nodd e d .

I v e tho u ght so all along h e ans wered quietl y

’
, .

Th e d e pa r t ure of th e Pang Ye e n was a distinct relie f

”
t o all hands o n b oa r d th e M olly Hawk T rue they did .
,

n o t r elax th e i r vigilan ce in th e v ery l e ast degr e e — ther e

w as n o q u esti on o f Ba rney sl e eping o n w atch again—b ut i t
w as pleasant n o t t o feel that th e b ig steam y acht was th ere -
,

j ust outs id e t h e y a r d lik e a gua r dshi p

, .

The rigging of th e m oto r yacht w e nt on apa ce a nd sh e

-
,

soon began t o pres e nt a totally di ff e r ent appearance from

he r f orme r styl e Many had been th e councils o f w a r he l d
.

in the littl e saloon The questi on O f stor es w as o n e o f

.

vital importanc e and lists had bee n made o u t and revised ,

and r evised aga i n u nt il Ba r n ey d e clared that h e d r eam t

,

all night o f tinne d me at and b isc u its .

Wait until y o u eat them all day and e v ery day M ast er ,

”
Ba rn ey the gu nn er reto r t e d
, Still tinned meat s n o t
.
“
,
’

like the ol d salt pork we u s e d to hav e This i s going t o be .

”
w hat I c al l l u x ur y all t h e t ime .

Jack r ememb ering that t er rib l e j o urn ey d o w n th e

,

u nkn own r ive r in Bo r n e o nodded ; bu t Ba r n ey wh o had

, ,

n ev er yet been o u t o f to u ch w ith shops mad e a grimac e , .

I hop e we g et fresh me at and vegetab l e s o c casionally ,

h e said .

A r ath er an xi o u s loo k c ame i nto Jack s eyes At t ime s ’

.

he felt troub l ed ove r his ch um w o r ried as t o th e futu re , .

Although he and Ba rn ey w ere p r actical l y the sam e age ,

he f elt h imself t o be m u ch th e old er o f th e t w o It w as .

on l y natur al So fa r e xc e pt for th e loss o f h is fath er

.
, ,

l ife had been e as y fo r Ba r ne y H e had n ev er c ome u p .

against te r rible re aliti es n ev er be en re al l y t est e d

, .

Th er e was no q ues ti on a s t o h is mere p h ys ic al co ur ag e .

1 1 7
 MANY P R E P ARA TI O NS

J ack ha d s ee n h im p r ov e that a score o f t im es i n t h e p ast

”
bu t there was a qu estion o f h is staying pow er o f h i s ,

a bility t o go o n day afte r day in t he fac e o f contin u ed

, ,

ill luck
-
.

To a v ery gre at ex t e nt Borneo had sob er ed Jack He .

was st i l l a boy ce rtain l y but h e was a boy wh o h ad spent

, ,

weeks with death sta l king by hi s side by day s quatting ,

besid e his couch at nig h t and fo r that reason a l one th ere , , ,

w as a vast diff e r ence between Barney and himse l f He .

had self co n fi d e n ce because h e knew his Own powers ;

-

Barn ey was se l f co n fi d e n t because his powers had neve r

-

b een put to th e test He was a l ways laugh ing always

.
,

r eady to assum e that matters would turn out j ust as he

w anted the m t o do and —this was what filled Jack wit h
,

—
u neasiness r e ady to neg l ect precautions beca u s e luck "

w ou l d be s u re t o be o n thei r side ”
.

The gunne r o f course was di fferent H e bel iev e d not

, , .

that l uck but that t h e Almighty w ou l d he l p t h em because

, , ,

of the j ustness Of t hei r cause beca u s e a r esult o f th eir ,

e xpedition would probab l y b e th e downfall o f Raj a

, ,

Se y e d s tyranny ; b ut being religious in t he rea l clean

’
, ,

sens e o f th e w ord he did not expect God t o do h is

,

w ork fo r him His praye r s we r e all fo r guidanc e and

.

p r otection not fo r mirac les

, .

O n t h at point he and Jack were at o n e a fact each ,

u nderstood perfectly th ough th e question was neve r,

m entioned direct l y between them Peop l e to whom re l igion .

i s actual l y part o f t h eir lives ve r y seldom ta l k o f it It is .

t o o sacred a thing But Barney seemed sti ll t o o excitab l e

.
,

t o o light headed even to take anything rea ll y seriousl y

-
, .

How wou l d his ch u m t u rn o u t in t h e end P

O ften wh en they w er e seated r ound the littl e saloon
tab l e discu ss ing that vita l ly important qu estion o f stores
,

a nd e quip ment dr aw ing u p lists consulting catalogu es

, , ,

H 8
 M AN Y P R E P ARA TI O NS

Jos e ph Ri ch ard son s s u gg e sti on were take n ab o ar d wi th

’
,

equ al s e cr e c y N o o n e in the y ard had the least i dea

.

what w as in those heav y cases though j udging b y t he , ,

labels—which had b een p rocur e d fro m the b uild er s of th e

e ngines—the y wer e assum ed to be s par e pa rts t w o l e ngths ,

o f s h aft and some heav y c astings

, .

T he arrival of those guns show e d th e Ol d sailo r u p i n

a ne w light Hithe rto he had be en cal m almost r igid
.
,

in his attention to his w o r k n e v er e vincing a t r ac e o f ,

excitement ; b ut on c e th e gu ns were a b oard a n d sto wed ,

temp o rarily b elow he began to g r o w re stl ess

, .

Barne y watched hi m with a grin .

S u re h e won t be ab le to leave the m alon e h e said

,
’

to Jack . He ll b e finding so me e xcus e fo r getting the m

’

”
u npacked be fore long .

The p r ophec y p rov e d to be co rrec t Th e gu ns ha d .

b een hoisted o n to th e M oll y Hawk j u st aft er mi dday .

All that a fternoon th e g u nne r w orked fe verishl y a r ranging ,

stores be l o w che c king th e c ont e nts of cases arguing with

, ,

Ah Lung as to stowage He w ould ha r dl y knock o ff fo r .

tea b ut hurr i e d b a c k to th e sto rer oo m a ltho u gh th ere

, ,

w as r eall y no r eason fo r hast e .

H e s t ry ing to f org e t th ey re th ere Ba r n ey rem ar ke d

’ ’
,

to Jack . He s all o n fire to e xamin e th em bu t h e s

’

,
'

"
too pro u d o r too sh y to s u gg e st i t yet
, , .

J ack laugh e d .

Yo u s u ggest it th e n .

Al most at th e fi rst w o rd fr o m th e b o y th e v e t era n ,

b egan to c lam b e r o ut o f the sto rer oo m hi s f ac e lite r all y ,

be aming .

O f co urse th ey o u ght to be e xami n ed a t on ce M ast er ,

Barney h e e xclaimed
,
”
It s m y fault fo r not thi nking
.
’

Of it befo r e T he re ma y b e all so r ts o f pa rts m issing and

. ,

it do esn t d o t o l e av e th e s e things t i ll th e l as t m o me nt
’
.

1 20
 MA N Y P R E P A R ATI O NS
Fo r th e rest o f that day and w ell o n into th e ni ght
, ,

th e gunn er was bl issful l y happ y He would ba r e l y co n s ent

.

to sit down to suppe r E very pa rt had t o be examined

.

and r e examined with lo v ing care tried in its p l ace taken

-
, ,

out again then t ried again Probab l y that nigh t Jo s eph

, . , ,

Richar dson V C was the happiest man in the w hole

, . .
,

neig h bourhood .

Was h e not a gu nne r w ho had onc e mo re got b ack

amongst t h e gu ns which h e believ e d h e w ould n e ve r touc h
again afte r leaving th e S erv ice ?
 C H APT E R XV I I I

O FF A T LAS T
T last all th e p re parations were com pl et e Th e .

shipbui l de r had ca r ried o u t hi s contract in ex

c e ll e n t style ; o i l and w ate r tanks had b e e n fi lle d -

t o thei r u tmost capacity ; the storeroom w as as f ull as it

w o uld hold ; in the m ain cabin a shin ing stand o f sm all
a rms Barney s pa rticul a r de l ight had been s e t u p against
,
’

the after b u l khead —i n sho r t the Mo ll y Hawk w as,

re ady for s ea re ad y t o star t o n h er adv e nt ur o u s t rip half

,

r ound the w orld .

Af te r l eaving the ber th o n th e mu d th ey ancho re d fo r ,

the nigh t in m id stream alm ost a t th e same spot th e

-
,

Pang Ye e n had Occupied .

Afte r s u pp e r the gu nne r and Ah Lu ng took th e dinghy

—t h e yacht carried two boats—and w ent fo r a final visit
asho r e leaving the b oys alon e o n b oa r d
, .

F o r a t i me they s at in sil e nc e w atchin g th e m oo n rising

,

b ehi nd the hills ; then

I w onde r w hat s in sto re f o r u s
’
J ack sa i d s udden l y .

Ba r ne y looked u p and l au gh e d j .

A j oll y good t ime I re ckon an d lots of ad v entu res

, , ,

h e answer e d .

His ch um ho wev er w as n o t i n a la u ghin g m o o d

, , .

”
I hop e w e p u ll i t O ff he sigh e d
, I t s a b ig jo b b igg er
.
’
,

th an y ou th ink Lu ck il y neith er y ou n or I hav e any

. ,

1 22
 O F F A T LA ST

b e f o re a n y on e knew O f o u r p re s e nc e I t s a ll a chan ce a .
’
. s

Hullo w hat does this chap w ant

,

A dingh y wit h t w o m e n in it had j u st p u t o u t fr o m th e

, ,

q u a y and was obviously maki ng fo r the yacht

, .

Is th at the Mo l l y Hawk the man in th e st er n

h ail e d the m I ve go t some bad n e ws fo r yo u si r Yo ur
.
’
, .

m an Gunn er Ri chardson has been knocked down by

, ,

a moto r ca r and th e y don t think h e ll l ive more than

-
,
’ ’

an hou r o r so H e s consc i o u s though and w ants t o .

’
, ,

”
s e e y o u both .

Barney went deadl y pal e and g ri ppe d th e r ail fo r s u ppo r t , .

O h I s ay Jack the poo r o l d gunne r

, , he gasped He s
, .
’

be en almost l ike a s e cond f ath er t o me Le t s get asho re .

’

”
at once .

I can l e av e m y m at e ab oa rd as w atchman si r th e , ,

st range r spoke again T h e n I can take both o f y o u .

ashor e i n thi s dingh y My m at e li s ee t o y o ur lights .

’
,

and s o o n .

F o r a mom e nt J ack h es i tat ed Th ey ha d dec i ded t o

’

ru n n o ri sks O f thi s so r t b ut at t h e sam e t im e h e f elt , , ,

almost as anxious as did Barney himself t o s ay Good bye -

t o t he o l d sa i lo r befor e th e la tt er we nt t o m ak e hi s r epo r t
,

”
to his Great Skippe r .

H e glanced down at th e s e con d m an th e o n e wh o w as ,

r owing and not i ced that h e was appa r entl y an ordina ry

, , ,

longsh oreman thi n an d na rr o w ch e st e d wi th a sm all ,

-
,

b lack b e ard .

“
A ll right h e said " W e ll go bu t bef o re going .
’
, ,

dow n th e s i d e h e c los e d th e co m panion hatch and locke d

, ,

it.

Th e m an wi th t h e b ea rd clam ber ed ab oa r d w itho u t a

word then the othe r man took th e sc u lls and wi t h Jack
, ,

a nd Ba r ney i n th e st ern of th e dingh y st ar t ed b a c k fo r ,

th e q u ay .

1 24
 O F F A T LA ST
B arn ey quiv erin g wi th grief an d anxie ty p l ied th e
, ,

str ange r w ith qu esti ons w hich were answe re d r ea dil y , .

It was a f o r eign er s ca r th e m an said i t had come s u ddenl y

’
,

r ound a co r n er and had gone clean ov er th e gu nn er

, .

The docto r had b e en o n th e spot a min u te o r two lat er an d ,

the y had ca r ri ed t h e v ictim into the n e arest hous e th e ,

Black D o g inn N o it had n ot happ e n e d in th e m ain

. ,

str eet but u p a sid e t urn i ng

,
.

They w e re j u st alongside th e qu ay a nd th eir gu i de ,

actua lly had hold o f o n e o f the ru sty Old shackl es wh e n ,

th e sound o f a voic e ab ov e them at th e t o p o f th e steps , ,

m ade Ba rn ey wh o ha d j ust ris e n t o hi s fe et star t s o

, ,

v i o l ently that h e sat down again .

Wh ere s o u r dingh y Pigtai l ? W e l ef t it at th es e

’
,

”
st e ps ce r tain
,
It was th e gu nne r h im sel f sp e aking
. .

T he b oys kn ew th e voic e instantl y and so it s e em ed , , ,

did th e strange r wh o ha d b r ought the m asho re With .

a savag e oath h e sp r ang o n t o t h e st eps dashed u p them , ,

h e ed l ess o f th e risk o f sli pping o n th e s e aw eed flu ng asid e ,

A h Lu ng wh o happ en e d t o be in hi s w a y and v a nish e d

, ,

into th e da r kn ess .

Th e gu nn er sta red af t er h im in am a z e me nt " H e s .

’

”
lost someth ing I should th i nk h e remarked th e n a ha i l
, , ,

f r om Jack chang e d th e c urre nt O f h i s t ho u ghts wi th grea t

s u ddenn ess .

“
We v e bee n hoaxed th e b oy cried
’
H urry up ! , .

”
The r e s a st r ang er ab oa rd th e y acht
’
.

As the y r ow e d b ack t o the Moll y Hawk Ba rn ey ,

s t r aining his ha r d est at th e sc ull s Jack explained h u rriedl y , .

”
The swab s J os eph Ri ch a r dson growled
, It mu st .

hav e be e n th e sam e gang w hich t ri ed t o g e t hold o f u s .

Th e y told m e that if I we nt u p t o th e Black D o g inn

, ,

I should m e e t an o l d ship m at e o f m in e M a r t in Fox e ; ,

bu t w h en I O pen ed th e d oo r a nd saw t h e so r t of crowd ,

1 25
 O FF A T L AS T

inside I sa i d t o m yse lf I f thos e a re M a r tin s ch urns I

,
’

don t want t o s ee Ma r tin again Th e y tried to get me i n

’
.
’
,

bu t I was O ff That s where t hei r p l an went wrong

.
" ’
.

3 Jack nodded We ve got one Of t h em t r apped though

.
’
, .

I w ou l dn t like t o be feeli ng as he w ill be in a min u t e o r

’

t wo
,
”
he said gr imly .

N o o n e was visib l e o n th e deck o f th e Mo ll y Hawk

as t h e heavily laden dinghy came u p a l ongsid e but th e
-
,

moment Jack sprang aboa r d a h e ad appea re d fr o m th e

foreh atch .

H e s he r e C om e o n Bar ney Ah Lu ng Jack sho u t e d

’
. .
, , ,

The words w e r e hard l y o u t o f his mouth before there

was a flash and a report Th e r evolve r bullet j ust missed .
-

Jack then knocked a spli nte r o ff the stern r ail ; b ut th e

,

assai lant did not fire twic e Ba r n e y had seized a heavy .

iron bel aying pin and this whiz z ed th r ough the ai r knocking
, ,

th e pistol o u t Of the w ou l d b e m u rdere r s han d -

’
.

Then like a w i ld cat A h Lung was o n h im

, , .

”
Stead y st e ady Ah Lu ng
,
It was Jack w ho spok e
,
. .

We don t w ant h im quite ki ll e d H u l l o l His b eard s

’
.
’

come o ff I s ay Barney —the re w as a note o f del ight

,

in his voice d y o u s ee wh o it is ? It s that scamp

’ ’

Ra l ph Wi ll iams .

Jack was right St ri pp e d o f i t s f alse b ea r d and w hiskers

.
,

the pa l lid trembling figu r e w hich s at u p painfu ll y w h en

, ,

r e l eased b y Ah Lung was u ndoubtedly that o f the Cornish ,

youth All his cou r age had gon e n ow—rea ll y it was fea r
. ,

which had m ad e h im shoot at Jack—and h e w as i n a t ru ly

pi t iful stat e .

T h ey mad e me d o it M ast er Ba rn ey h e began in , ,

a whi n ing voice but th e gu nn er c u t him sho rt

, .

”
Stop that noise prison er he growled em phasising , , ,

th e command w i t h his foot Yo u ll try him in th e .

’

m o r ning I s u p p os e si r
, h e t ur n e d to Ba r n e y
, Mean .

1 26
 C H AP T E R X I X

A N U NP L E ASA NT S U RPR I S E
IS i s a b solutel y great 1 Ba r ney wh o had j u st ,

co me o n d e ck stretched himse l f re vel l ing in

, ,

the sunshine Th e w ind j ust O f th e r igh t

.
,

strength was o n the q u art er and the Mol l y Hawk w as

, ,

p r ovi ng h o w w el l sh e cou l d d o und er canvas Hitherto . ,

coming across the Bay o f Biscay they had u sed the engines ,

e nti rel y b u t n o w they w er e able to dispens e with thes e

, .

G r eat abso l ute l y gr e at I

, Barn e y re peat e d h is
w ords . A nd can t s h e j ust sail
’

Jack wh o was at th e wheel nodded P ersonal l y j ust

, , .
,

th e n he was thinking more abo u t his bre akfast than ab out

anything e l se He had come on at six o clock and it was
.
’

now clo s e o n eight when h e w ou l d hand Ov er to the gu nner

, .

There was o n e de l icate question which bo th the boys

had avoided tack l ing u ntil the last mom e nt—the question
o f w h o w as to be skippe r Both re alised that o n e member
.

o f the ship s company must b e suprem e b u t it w as v er y

’
,

d ifi cu l t t o decid e w hic h mem ber that sho u ld be .

Barn ey as owner seemed to hav e a very good claim

, ,

m oreove r he kne w how to hand l e th e Mo ll y Hawk

, .

O n th e othe r hand he had n e v er b e e n abroad b e f ore

, ,

n e ve r had his co ur ag e r eally bee n t e st ed a n d i t was st il l ,

u ncertain how h e would shap e .

Jack o n the othe r hand w as e xp e r ie nc ed a nd the re was

, , ,

n o question a bo u t his taking co m m and l ater o n w h e n t h e y ,

1 28
 A N U NP L E A S A NT SU R P R IS E

rea ch ed th e coast of Bo rn e o At th e s ame tim e h e was .

,

extremely anxio u s n ot to h u rt hi s ch u m s f e e l ings i n an y ’

w ay and r ath er sh r ank fr o m w hat be in g skipp er m ight

,

involve .

As fo r th e gu nn er h e o f co ur s e knew f a r m or e abo u t
, , ,

th e se a than eithe r o f th e b oys and their safety wou l d ,

have to depend o n hi s ski ll t o a ve r y great extent To .

put hi m in comm and at s e a appeared to be t h e simpl est ,

w i sest plan bu t w h e n th ey sugge st e d i t t o h im he shook

, ,

his h ead .

N O Maste r Ba r ne y n o Mast er Jack I t s n o t fo r me

’
.
, , ,

t o gi ve y o u orders n o t by a l ong wa y I ll help all I know ’

.
, ,

and I m sure you ll take my advice bu t I w on t b e ski pp er

’ ’ ”
,
’
.

Barney h ad l aughed ruefull y .

Who shou l d be t h en ,

Maste r Jack th e answe r had com e promptly ; he s

”
,
’

the o n e who knows all about this P earl bu s iness and I ,

know you ll Obey him even t h ough you a re th e own e r

’
, .

A nd Barney had t u rned r o u nd q u ickl y and had held ,

o u t hi s hand t o Jack .

O f course I wil l O l d man So that s settled and n o t

, .
’

a word more w ould e ithe r he o r th e gu nne r h e a r o n t h e

subj ect .

T h e ar r ange me nt o f the w atches was th e natur al o n e

Jack and Ah Lung Barney and the gunne r Reall y wh en
, .
,

t h ey w ere n o t unde r sail t h e wheel was the principa l thi ng

, .

T h e engi n es required practically n o attention—t h ey had

been des igned wit h that idea Al l the lubricators w ere o f .

e xtra large size a l l t h e b ea ri ngs v er y heavy with the

, ,

s h afts perfectly bedded in Moreov er the leve r s w er e s o .

,

arranged t h at th e m an at the whee l had comp l ete control

o f t h e mach in er y e ven to t h e startin g o f it if nec essary
, , ,

ther e being a second s e t o f l ev er s in th e cabin w h er e th e ,

s ec ond w heel w as .

1 29
 A N U NP L E A S A NT S U R PR I S E

The re wa s o f course pl e nty o f w ork to b e d on e during

, ,

the da y F irst th e deck had t o b e wash e d down th e n th e

.
, ,

e ngine r oom had to b e c l eaned the cabins c le ared up and

-
, , ,

afte r that th e r e was a l ways w o rk connected with the g e a r

,

and equipment Ah Lung w as i n comp l et e control so fa r

.

as the feeding a r rangements were concern e d and both th e ,

boys we re read y t o ackno wl edg e that they had n ev er liv e d

so well .

F o r th e t im e being th e re gu la r ship s co m pan y e scap e d

’
,

the rough es t and di r ti est work s u ch as c le aning th e engi n e ,

r oom floo r That w as done by Ralph Wi l liams wh o also

.
,

had t o scou r al l A h Lu ng s pots and w ash all th e cloth e s ’

, .

Wh en he had seen that the Molly Hawk was re ally going

t o sea the young Cornis hm an had broken i nto s u ch pit if ul
,

l amentati ons that Jack had orde r ed him t o be shut down

in t h e forep e ak with the ancho r cable and the spa re gea r
,

but af t er a few ho ur s th e r e he had b e en allo we d o n deck

, ,

again .

He ha d com e u p shi v er ing w ith fr ight thinking that ,

at last he w as going t o b e thrown overboard b u t

w hen h e had r ea l i s ed t h at h is l ife was t o be spa r ed and ,

that he was t o be p u t ash ore at th e first port o f call a ,

c u nning l ook had flas h ed i nto his e yes He had done h i s .

work h umb l y Obedientl y but a l l th e t ime he h ad b e e n

, ,
'

straining his ears t o catch sc r aps o f conv e r s ation f r om

the oth ers wh o t h oug h cautious eno u gh at first had
, , ,

gradually go t used t o thei r prisoner s p r esenc e o n boa r d ’

and h ad a ll owed hi m t o overhea r certain th i ngs a piec e of ,

f ol l y fo r which t h e y w e r e d e stin ed t o pay heavil y late r o n .

We l l make Madeira t o m o rr o w afte r noon with any

’
,

”
sort o f luck Jack re mark e d as h e s at do w n t o bre akfast
, , .

Barney nodded .

Yes It w on t tak e long t o g e t w hat we w ant th er e

’
.

o il
,
fresh pr ov isions and v e getab l es ; th en we ll ju st ,
’

1 30
 A N UNP L E A S A NT S U R P R I S E

b eautiful in v iting when s ee n f rom the s e a e v il sm e ll ing

, , ,
-

wh en y o u go t asho re .

Barney reve ll ed in it all Neve r be f ore had h e se en .

the w o nderfu l b l ue Of t h ose s outh ern waters T h e Old .

f ort t h e quaint wh ite h ou s e s wit h t h eir big verandas th e

, ,

marve llo us l y green f ol iage th e great h il l in t h e background , ,

studded wit h picturesque vill a s the anch orage with i t s ,

weird varie t y o f craft ranging from a h uge Sout h A frican

,

l iner d o wn to a quaint P o rtuguese sc ho oner— all t hese

were un l i k e anyt h ing e l se h e h ad eve r viewed bef o re .

A d w h en t h ey l anded bot h h e and Jack f o und it mo r e

n ,

fas c i na t i ng st i l l S l oven l y P ortuguese Customs O fi ce r s

.

h ad me t th em and h ad s uggested wit h out any apparent

, ,

sh ame o r sh yness t h at a small bribe wou l d save them a

,

grea t dea l o f tr o ub l e .

I t s t h e cu s tom o f the country s i r the gunner had

’

, ,

cut in ; y o u a l way s d o it with Dagos Better give .

”
th em w h at t h ey ask and s o t h e offi cers had departed
,

r ej o i c i ng
.

O n t h e quay were sent r y boxes against each o f which ,

l o unged a d i rty P o rtugue s e so l dier with a so i l ed uniform , ,

ru st y S i de arms and a cigarette hanging o u t o f the corne r

-
,

o f h i s m o u th .

T h e s entri es t o ok n o notice o f anybody o r anythi ng ,

but a d o zen t o ut s gu i de s and the l i k e made a ru sh at

, ,

t h e b o y s w h i lst be h i nd t h e t o ut s h ob b l ed a s many beggars

, ,

dreadfu l looki ng creatures maim h a l t covered wi th

-
, , ,

g h a stl y so re s .

Barney began to laugh at the c h orus of bad E ngl ish

wh i c h went up t h e o ff er s t o c o nduct t h em t o wine sho ps
, ,

t o t h e b u llo ck sl edge s t o c hurc h e s t o s upp l y t h em w it h

-
, ,

everyt hi ng fro m dec k c h a i rs t o o range s t h e whi ni ng -

,

reque st fo r a l ms ; but J ac k be i ng m o re exper i enced , ,

t h ru s t t h em a ll on o ne s ide n o ne t oo gent ly , .

1 32
 A N U NP L E A S A NT S U R PRI S E

Th e agent s office is u p the re amongst the tr ee s

’
,

o n t h at P l aza he said ,
We don t want t o m e ss a bout .
’

wit h t hi s s cum .

O ne at l east o f th e little c row d r ound them c au ght

, ,

the wo rd scum and underst oo d its mea n ing H e , .

was a hal f breed a mi xture o f Po r tuguese and E ng l ish

-
, ,

fair l y well dressed and an ugly loo k came into his eyes
, .

So that s w h at you cal l

”
“
Scum ! he muttered .
“ ’

us Mr Wa yne I ll teach y o u better manne rs yet

,
. .
’ ”
.

He was t h e onl y o n e w h o h ad the energy to f o l l ow

the b o ys as far as the agents o ni ce and afte r they h ad ’

, ,

d o ne their bu s iness t h ere and had a rr anged fo r all thei r ,

o il and st o res he was still waiting out s ide

,
.

Guide sen ho res ?

,
he said raising h i s st raw hat , .

N o w y o u ve d o ne business yo u w ant to see all t h e sights

’
, .

Pl enty fine sights in Madei ra "

.

Barney tu rn ed t o h is c h u m .

S h a ll w e he began .

But Jack sho ok hi s h ead .

Remembe r wh at th e gu nn er told u s ab o u t Funchal ,

Barney N o —h e turn ed t o the gu ide we don t ’

.

want y o u I t o ld y o u so bef or e Clear Off

.
”
. .

T h e h a l f breed came a step neare r h i m

-
.

Pl enty fine sig hts sen ho r he r epeated

”
I M ano e l
, , .
,

da Si l va sho w y o u all Yo u giv e me five shi l li ngs and

, .
,

”
I take y o u eve rywh ere .

O nce m o re Jack s h ook h i s head No I told y o u . .

to c l ear O ff "
.

But Da Sil va was n o t t o b e rebuffed so easil y .

F ive s h il l ing s senho r ve ry l itt l e money for you

, , .

You d o n t want to s ee t h e sight s

’
No We ll you gi ve m e ,

five pounds an d I sho w y o u big sight sho w y o u o n e Ye ll o w ,

D warf l
A sav age look fl ashed into h is e yes at t h e w o r ds th e n , ,

1 33
 A N UNP L EA S A NT SU R P R IS E

witho u t w aiting fo r a n ans wer h e tur n e d i nto a side st re et

,

a nd was lost t o vie w .

The boys looked at o n e anothe r in co nste r nati on .

He said Y e llo w D wa r f didn t h e ? Barn ey asked

,
’ ’

in a l o w v o ice
.

J ack nodded :

Yes T h ere was no m istak e abo u t i t T hey re o n

. .
’

o ur track ,
and he gave it awa y because h e w as m a d
”
with u s W e ve got t o
.
’
o u t fo r o u rselv e s no w .

1 34
 WH A T H A PP E N E D A T MA D E I R A

have three do z en at least Ah Lu ng has mad e a c at

, .

o f nine tai ls s pecia l ly fo r h im si r a very g oo d o ne

- -
, , .

Ra l ph Wi ll iams Overh eard the words as he was intended ,

t o d o and t h e b o w l h e se t up cou l d h ave been heard aboard

,

the big U nion Cas tle l in er w hich had j u st com e t o an anc h o r

-
,

near by .

St o p that noise Jack s voic e was v ery seve re It '

.

w i ll be time enough t o cry when I h ave ordered y o u t o

have t h e fl o gging You r e a miserable coward and fo r
.
’
,

t h at reason I s h al l b e m o r e s e v e r e o n y o u
, Come d o w n .

to t h e cabin Gunne r I want both y o u and Ah Lung

, .

t h ere Al ready Jack was quite t h e ski ppe r T h ey h ad

.
”
, .

put him in command and he rea l ised h is respon s ibi l ities , .

Jack to o k h i s seat at the head of the tab l e wit h Barney ,

o n h is rig h t hand th e gu nn er at h i s left and Ah Lu ng

, ,

next t o t h e gu nne r .

We ve been t r acked s o f a r h e said bl u n t l y

’
t hey re ,
’

watching u s and w e ve go t t o keep a sharp l ook o u t fo r

,
’
-

th eir agents a ll the t ime We must neve r r eckon o u r .

se l ves safe anyw her e Now have any o f y o u fello w s an y .

,

suggesti o ns t o make as t o th e next mov e

Ah Lung grinned .

Ch o p o ff h im head h im p ri son er man No goo d , . .

”
N O work plenty eat , .

T h e ot h ers l aughed though th e C hin am an s vo i c e show ed

,
'

that h e was quite in e a rnest .

We ll s i r w e must go o n as q u ick as we can It was

, , .

the gu nne r wh o spoke now ; I suggest we make f or the

West A frican Coast and keep wel l in o u t o f the ordinary , ,

track thoug h i t s no t likel y the y w o u ld da re t o to u ch u s

,
’

o n t h e h ig h seas .

Barney ran his fi n g ers th ro u gh hi s ha ir .

Yo u can t be sure They seem a p r etty d esp erate l o t

’
. .

S urely the P earl isn t w orth all this t r o ub l e

,
’
.

1 36
 W H A T H A P P E N E D A T MA D E I R A

It
’
worth an i mmense sum Jack answered
s bu t , ,

y ou re righ t B arney in a way I don t be l ieve th e Raj a

’
, , .
’

knows ab o ut the P ear l What h e has t ol d Van der Hum m .

t o d o is t o de s troy us in cas e we lead t h e Britis h down int o

,

t h at country ”
.

The gu nner nodded .

T h at s it si r T h ey kno w it m ean s the e nd o f th ei r

’
, .

c r ue l tie s w h en the U ni o n Jack flies Over th ei r to wn .

A nd we will fly it t h ere si r if we h ave t o ki ll every o ne , ,

o f t h o s e P al ap o gs y o u ta l k o f Righ t is o n o u r side and t he .

,

Great Ski pper wi ll se e u s t h rough and h i s fin e o l d e yes ,

simp l y g l owed wit h ent h usia s m .

”
Can d o Th e Ch inaman beamed o n th em all
. Pl enty .

s av e e a ll o f us get p l enty Cantonese pirate man by and b y

t o cut o ff P al ap o gs h eads
”
Yes Can d o
’
. . .

T h eir f oll owers ent h usiasm put new h eart i nt o the

’

b oys Neith er the gunner n o r t h e Ch i naman c o u l d b e

.

described as being in any way f oolh ardy Rat h er oth erwise . .

B ot h o f t h em h ad knocked about the wor l d b o t h h ad ,

carried t h eir l ives in t h eir h ands and t h ey wou l d certain l y ,

n o t go into an adventure whic h t h ey be l ieved t o be h ope l ess .

Very we ll t h en we l l make fo r t h e Coast ”Jack

,
’
.

to o k th e c h art o u t o f the rack and unro ll ed it T hi s wil l .

b e o u r course n o w ”
.

A fter th ey h ad pricked it o ff Joseph Richardson s aid

I sugge s t we mount o u r o n e pounder s n o w sir W e -
, .

n ever know w h at we re g o in g t o meet We c o u l d p u t th e

’
.

Maxim amid sh ips A s s oon as we r e aw ay fr om h e r e we

.
’

o u g h t t o begi n practi ce
”
.

Jack agreed readil y .

T h at s y o ur departm ent Gunn er h e sai d y o u a re

’

, , ,

In comm and t h ere remembe r th at , 5 N ow as t o thi s . s ,

”
wr etc h ed creatu r e Willi ams .

T h e gu nn er gav e v ent t o a g r ow l .

I S7
 WH AT H AP P E N E D A T M A D E I R A

L and him at o n e o f th e small er Cape d e Ver d e Island s ,

si r
. Just dump him ashore and let h im go t o th e Cons u l ,

fo r he l p He w on t da re t e ll th e tru th s o we can t g e t
.
’
,
'

”
into troub l e ove r it .

”
All r ight Jack bent ov er th e cha r t again
. I f we .

g cr — w hat w as that ? He j u mp e d up s ud denl y a t th e

sound o f oa r s u nde r the po r thol e .

Barney was the first t o re ach the deck .

H e s gone
’
h e c r ied o u t
, Th e y v e been t o o smart .
’

”
f or u s .

He w as r ight In a sho r e b oat mann e d by t w o pow erf ul

.
,

natives w ere Manoel da S i lva and Ra l ph Wi ll iams A t

, .

Ba rney s cry the l atte r c r ouc h ed down as t h o u gh expecting

’
, ,

a shot bu t th e ha l f br e ed kn ew that the boys w o u ld n ot

-

r i s k firing .

I wil l give yo ur ki nd regards t o Senho r V an de r Hum m ,

he shouted back Yo u can t v e ry w ell overtak e u s

’
.
,

and h e pointed t o thei r dinghy w h i ch Wi l li am s ha d ,

e vident l y sent adrift .

By this time Ba r ney w as r ag i ng bu t Jack mere l y ,

shrugged his sh oulde r s .

O n e O f the s h ore boats wil l bring h er back t o u s As .

f or Wi ll iams i t s a score fo r h im but he doesn t know mu ch

,
’
,
’

Of o u r p l ans and I don t s e e h ow he can get i nto touch

,
’

w ith the Pang Ye en Still i t s a w a r ning t o u s t o be

.
’
,
’

”
m ore carefu l .

They w atch ed Wi ll iams and h i s co m pan i on lan d and ,

Barney ground hi s teeth as th e t wo Of the m stood at th e

end o f t h e quay and swept o ff thei r hats w i th e labo r at e
,

sarcasm t h en t h ey strol l ed u p t o th e Plaza and were lost ,

t o sight amongst t h e trees .

Meanwhi l e a loca l boatm an wh o ha d bee n ho v eri n g

, ,

n e ar had picked u p th e dinghy and was n o w haggli n g

, ,

wi th t h e gu nn er as t o th e r ewa r d h e o u ght t o h av e .

1 38
 WH A T H A P P E N E D A T M A D E I R A

g u a rd a ll th r o u gh —re all y non e o f them fel t like s l e e p

,

b u t at dawn there had been n o al arm o f any kind .

Shortly afte r sunrise t h eir agents l aunc h came a l ong ’

si de and pi l oted th em t o the quay w h ere t h ey t o ok t h ei r

, ,

stores aboard and fi ll ed u p both th eir o il and water tanks

,
-
.

We ve done we ll w onderfu ll y we ll Jack said as he

’
, , ,

st u died the acco u nt fo r t h e Oil I certain l y t hough t w e .

had u sed more than t h at amount N o w according t o .

,

these figures we ve go t enough t o car ry u s t o D el ago a

,
’

Bay even if we never used the sails onc e

,
"
.

Ba rney s face beamed

’
.

S h e s the finest moto r y acht in the world h e d ecla r e d

’
-
, ,

then he h urried forward to l oose the head rope -

.

A coup l e o f minutes l ater w hen t h ey were about six feet ,

o ff the q u a y a r otten orange a very rotten o n e caught

, , ,

h im o n t he cheek and burst With a ye ll o f wrat h h e .

look ed round t o see Ral ph Wi l liams and D a S i l va scut t lin g

,

away be h in d some cases .

Jack and the gu nne r coul d n o t h el p la u gh i ng at t he

expr ession o n h is fac e as h e wi ped aw ay the ye ll ow m ess
,

b ut t h ere was somethi ng m o re than indignati on in Ba rn ey s ’

eyes .

Next t im a M ast er William s h e g r owl ed N ext , .

tim e y o u won t get o ff so e asi l y then s u ddenly h e st i fl e n e d

’ ”
, , ,

up . Lo ok ther e Jack I h e pointed o u t t o s e a

, Ther e . ,

beyond the C ap e lin er that v e ss e l ju st coming in It s

, .
’

the Pang Ye en .
’

1 4°
 C H APT E R XX I

A N A RR O W S H AV E F O R JA CK
A RN E Y righ t as t o th e Pang Ye en
was The re .

w as n o p o s s ibil ity o f mistaking h e r .

In s tinctive l y t h e bo y s exc h anged gl anc es in ,

whi ch there was more th an a hi nt o f dis may T h e Ye ll o w .

D wa rf s v essel w as far l arger and probab l y a go o d deal

’

, , ,

faster than theirs and they knew al ready by bi t ter e x p e r i

, ,

e nce h o w few scrup l es o r fear s its commande r h ad

, .

”
D o n t y o u worry s i r t h e gu nner s cheery voice broke
’
, ,
’

in He had caught those g l anc es and he understood , .

We ll dodge h er never fea r Such a bad l o t as t h at t h ere

’
, .

Van de r Humm will never be allowed to succeed Ri ght .

is o n o u r side an d we can get i nto s h al l ow wate r s w h er e

,

s h e can t com e T h en t o o he ro ll ed h i s p l ug o f tobacco

’
. , ,

r e fl e ct i v e l y they h aven t go t anyone wh o can l ay a gu n

,
’

as I can I don t care if th ey ve go t seven pounde rs o r

.
’ ’
-

even fo urteen pounders ; with o ne o f those l ittl e bea uti es

-

down be l ow I l l al ways knock em o u t

,
’ ’
.

Jack laughed .

He is thrice a rm ed wh o has h is qu arr el ju st , ,

But ten ti mes h e wh o gets hi s b l ow home fu st .

b e quot ed We ll h e went o n
. w e ve seen h i m an d
, ,
’

he s see n u s I notice they ve go t wireless n o w s o I exp ect

’
.
’

they ve had a mes sage from Da Silva T h ere s n o h arm i n

’
.
’

go i ng a l ittle n ear er h er q u it e n ear j u st t o show we r e , ,

’

not af raid .

1 41
 A N ARRO W SH AVE FO R JA CK

T he gunne r s fac e be ame d ’

.

T h at s it si r that s th e p rope r spi r it I ll stee r w ithi n

’

, ,
’
.
’

o u r own length o f h er I want to hav e a look at that u gl y .

”
half b reed
-
.

T he Pang Ye e n was go ing dead slo w as th e Molly

Hawk d re w nea r he r Sh e was flying the flag fo r th e .

Po rt Docto r w hi ch me ant that sh e intended co mi ng t o a n

,

ancho r .

The re h e is the re s th e Yello w D wa rf J ack g ripp e d

,
’
.

Barney s a rm and p o inted to a heavy squat figure o n the

’

, ,

”
vesse l s bridge
’
But w ho s that be side him ?
.
’

Barney laughe d
Don t you recognis e him ? D on t y o u kn o w the
’ ’

Credit to the Ol d Scho o l Se b ag T olhurs t

- - - -
,

I thoug h t it was Jack answered bu t look at th os e

”
, ,

fellows o n th e fo r edeck ! What a c r o w d o f pi r at e s !

Where can he have r aised th em
T h e gunne r gav e the wheel a t ur n so as to a pproach a ,

litt le neare r to th e ot h e r vessel .

Dagos si r h e gro wled

, there s n ev er an y diffic u lt y
,
’

in finding enough Dag o s for an y di rty work Stil l t h er e re .

,
’

some ug l y l oo king savages thos e with the long sticks I

-
, .

wonde r
A c r y from Ah Lu ng w ho was standing by the fo remast , ,

c u t J o seph Richard s on s spe e ch sho rt ’

.

Pl enty murder man with poison e d d a rts h e sho u ted -

, .

G et below get b elow ,

T he y we re no w within thirt y y a rd s o f th e Pang Ye e n ,

and they were t r avelling at thre e qu a rter sp ee d o n a -

,

cou rs e which would b ring the m much nea re r .

Barn e y stared at the Ch inaman in ama z e me nt H e .

d id not u nde rsta nd in t h e l east ; b ut J ack u ndersto od .

The long sticks o f whi ch the gu nn e r had spok en w e re

-

b lo w can e s sho oting poisoned da r ts

-
, .

1 42
 A N AR R O W S H AV E F O R JAC K

da rts st ru ck h im in th e boots o r clothing bu t not a sin gl e ,

o n e t o uc h ed h i s flesh .

A coup l e of minut es late r they we r e well o ut o f range ,

a nd t h e Pang Ye e n was back o n he r course T he .

Ye llo w Dwarf h a d fai l ed again and he had no wish t o ,

attract t h e attenti o n o f ot h er vesse ls in t h e po r t .

F or a m o ment Jack stood ve ry still his hand ov er hi s ,

eyes .

J os eph Richa rdson u nderstood

T h at s rig h t si r he said alwa y s thank th e G re at
’ ”
, , ,

Skipper when H e s s e en y o u th roug h a big dange r—o r a

’

li tt l e o n e ”
.

It was a n e a r thing J ack m u t te red ho ars e l y

, .

The o l d sai l or laid a hand o n his shoulde r .

It cou l dn t have been neare r si r

’
A p rope r , .

m urder t r ick ! But t he re s o ne advantage we al l

'

’
- -

kn o w o u r skippe r now and he n ee d no t w o rry a bo ut o u r

,

b acking hi m up right through ,

Barne y had dr o pped into the chair at th e foot o f th e

tab l e He was ve ry w h ite and t here were big be ads o f
.
,

perspiration o n his fo r ehead D eath had been at ve ry .

clo s e quart e rs with them an d h e was t ryi n g t o get his ideas

,

s o rted o u t pr o perl y .

Someh o w it s ee med rotten o n o u r par t scoot i ng

, ,

bel o w and l eaving y o u to it Jack he murmu red

,
"
, , .

Jo s eph Ric h ardson answered him .

We o beyed orders Master Ba r ne y D on t y o u wo rry

, .
'

ab o ut t h at part A nd now it s fu ll speed a h ead with

.
’

as few stops as possi b l e until we reac h the coast o f Bo r n e o .

1 44
 C H APT E R XXI I

U P TH E V IT O R IVE R
H E R E S the Af ri can C oast at last
’
.

Jack pointed at w hat appea r ed t o be a long

l o w point o f l and some five mil es awa y .

Ba r ne y who had j ust come o n deck s h aded h i s ey es

, ,

with hi s h and It do e sn t look v ery in terest ing Wh at

.
’
.

part is it exactly ,

”
Cape Bantu t h e oth e r a nsw ere d
, Th e mo uth .

o f t h e Vit o Ri ve r is a li ttl e way beyond it the gunne r ,

say s He s hunted slave rs there in the o l d days

.
’ ”
.

A ye aye si r m any o f them

, ,
The gunne r h ad
, .

st umped aft t o take the w h eel T h e re s a good anc ho rage .

'

inside t h e ba r and we can fi ll up with fresh w at er as well

, ,

as get c h ic k ens and fresh vegetab les .

Jack rai s ed hi s eyebro ws .

Water ! Sure l y we ve go t amp le t o last u s t o Ca p e

’

Town Wh y we o n l y fill ed t h e tanks at Madeira l

. ,

Ah Lung h as j ust reported t h at o n e tank at least , ,

is bad J os ep h Ric h ards o n rep lied

, I t ol d h im t o .

bring some aft to you and try the ot h e r tan k s It s , .

’

t h e Madei r a w ate r We haven t had to touch that .

’

”
bef o re .

T h e news w as di s t inct l y wo rrying and it was more ,

t han c o nfirmed a few m inutes l ate r by t h e Chinaman ,

w ho bro ug ht samp l e s w i t h hi m Wit h t h e excepti o n .

o f t h e o n e tank o u t o f wh ich they had been d ra win g l ate ly ,

1 4s
 U P T H E V I T O RIVE R

all th e tanks had ha d w at er p u t i nto th em at t h e isl and ,

an d all w er e must y .

It s ve r y quee r J ack s ai d afte r h e h ad c onv in ced

’

, ,

himse l f Of the trut h o f the Celestial s repo r t The stu ff ’

.

i s terri ble and e ven afte r it had been boiled I don t ’

, , ,

b elieve it w o u l d be fit fo r u s e Ye t that ag e nt s ee me d
.

a decent en o ug h fell o w .

Ba rney turned to him q u ic kl y .

D o y o u think it was done on p urpose the n ,

His c h um hesitated I wouldn t go so fa r as that

.
’
.

But it is s t range Lu ckil y fo r us w e can re pla ce th e b ad

.

”
w ate r at once .

At its mouth th e Vito Riv er p rove d to be a fu ll mil e

across fringed o n eithe r sid e w ith m ang roves b ehind
, ,

w hi ch the bush rose q u ic kl y to a li n e o f lo w hills Th ere .

was the usu al ba r across th e e ntranc e with an u gl y li n e ,

o f broken wate r fo r three pa rts o f its lengt h ; b u t

close to the southern bank th e bo y s c o u ld ma k e o u t a
comparativel y smooth st retch .

S h a ll yo u risk it Ba rne y ask e d .

J ack g l anced towa rds the gunne r who no dde d readil y , .

Yes si r I remembe r it no w T hat s whe re we took

, . .
’

in t h e o l d M ongoos e gunboat an d sh e drew m o re w at er

,

than w e do .

De s pite the o l d sail o r s assuranc e it w as an anx io u s

’
,

time for t h e two b o ys A s they drew nea r the ba r th e

.
,

ground swel l increa s ed rapidly and the b reakers seemed to

,

appea r fa r more fo r midable But fo r Ah L ung s re po r t

.
’

o n the wat er the y would neve r ha v e d re am e d o f t ry ing

,

to ente r the rive r .

J o seph Ric h ardson took th e w h e el w hilst Ba rn ey ,

was in ch arge o f t h e engines Fifty y ards fr o m the ba r

.

t h e little Molly Hawk was j u mping about like a cork

twe nty y a rds fro m it s h e was ta king so l id l u m ps o f wa t er
1 46
 U P T H E V IT O RI V E R

a bo u t T he outlook certainl y w as not a pl e as a nt o n e

. , , .

T h ey had t o go ash o re and there was no te l ling wh at t h ey

,

might find t h e re Natives who r u n away at the outset ha v e

.

an awkward t rick o f retu rning t o attack you sudden ly .

Still the re wa s no u se in waiting and as s oo n as po s sib l e

, , , ,

the boat was lowered and the two boys and Ah Lung all
, ,

armed with rifles and automatic pisto l s r owed t o wards the ,

b each whil st the gunne r sat down o n an ammunition box

, ,

be s ide t h e Maxim ready to supp o r t them if nece s sary

, .

The b o at s bow grounded o n the shingle and Jack and

’

Barney j umped asho re lea v ing th e Chi naman as guard , .

G o sl o wl y Jack said
”
, I wi l l give t h em a hail
. He .

raised hi s v o ice H u l l o l We are f ri ends

.
“ ”
he shouted , .

A m o ment late r a tall neg ro cla d in w hit e a ppea re d

, , ,

from behind the nea rest hut .

Yo u E ng l is h men he d em and ed .

T he b oy s b oth answe red p romptl y and then as if by , ,

magic t h e vi ll age b ecame ali ve again men w omen and

, , ,

c h i l dren hur r ying back lau ghing and chatt eri ng e v identl y
, ,

re lieved from a g reat fea r .

Th e tall nativ e who had hai l ed th em first came u p a nd

saluted hi s face no w beaming with deli ght
, .

We think hi m Po r t u gu ese ship he s aid pointing , ,

towards the M oll y Hawk ”

Portuguese man come .

here catch bl ack me n fo r w o r k g ro wing c o c oa at San ,

”
T ho m e and Pr incipe Islands .

There was no dou b t as to the fr iendlin e ss o f the savages .

The very name of E nglishman had acted like a cha rm .

The women and Chi l d ren sti ll held b ack shyl y staring at , ,

the fi rst white men they had e ve r seen save as enemies ,

but the male p o rti o n o f the populati o n C lustered r o und t h e

boys full o f eagerness to kno w what they w anted to b u y
, ,

and more impo rtant sti ll to kno w if the y w ould remain and
, ,

p r ot ect th em fr om th e hated Po rt u g ue se labo ur a ge nts .

1 48
 U P T H E V IT O RIV E R

It ap p ea r ed tha t th e E nglish sp ea ki ng nati v e in w hit e -

was the lo cal chief H e soon showe d hi s a u tho rit y With

. .

a few cu rt w o rds h e made th e cro w d stan d b a c k w hilst

, ,

he ta l ked t o the bo y s .

Wate r ? Yes The r e was a perfect l y c l ea n st re a m

.
,

an d he would p u t tw e nty me n to work at onc e first to ,

pump o u t the Mo lly Hawk s tanks then to take the ’

new supp ly aboa r d i n ea r thenwa re j a r s T he y ha d p l enty .

o f can o es it seemed hidden a wa y am ongst the mangroves

, , .

As fo r fowls a n d vegeta b l e s the y co uld su ppl y thos e in ,

a bundan ce .

Barney was i mme ns e l y int ere st ed in the village which ,

was t h e fi rst he had e ve r s ee n T he r o u nd h u ts wi th thei r .

,

mud walls and thatched roofs w e re fu l l o f fascination fo r ,

him as were t o o the chubb y lit tle piccanins and t h ei r

, , , ,

grinning w oo ll y haired pare nts He w ould g l ad l y hav e

,
-
.

spent t h e w hol e day the re e xamining thi ngs t rying t o , ,

tal k to the savage s but Jack insisted o n keeping s tri ct ly

,

t o business an d as soon as matte rs had been arranged

, , ,

they went back to the boat whe re t h e y fo und A h L ung ,

p l acidl y ignoring the comments o f half a hund red negroes .

,

none o f who m had ev er seen a y ellow man b efor e .

It was not long befo re Ti m b o t a th e chief follo we d the m , ,

”
ab oard the Moll y Hawk being b rought o ut in a larg e ,

d ug out cano e He was i m mensely polit e—it appeared

-
.

that he had been ed u cated in o n e o f the British West

African co l o nies —and extremely interested in al l he saw .

With th e ai d o f many vi go rous gestu res he explained ,

how greatly his tribe suff ered at t h e hands o f the Portugue s e ,

wh o c l aimed sove reign t y over thei r te rr it o ry T h e o l d .

slave trade ca rried o n b y private adventure rs had bee n

, ,

put down ; but its place had b een taken b y the ne w

s lave trade ru n b y th e Po rtu guese government in o rd er
, ,

t o su p p l y b lack l ab o ur f o r the co coa plant ati o ns .

1 49
 U P T H E V I T O R I VE R

Cat ch b la ck m an ; take him to Island of San Thome ,

Island o f P rincip e ; whip hi m hi m die the re th e c h ief , ,

explaine d This th e tim e o f yea r Po rt u g u e se com e

.
,

so all people re ad y to ru n a w a y .

Ba rney m ad e a wry face Che erf ul lot the Po rt u gu e s e .

,

”
s ee m to be .

T he Chief took up th e wo rds e age rl y .

Bad m e n sar Yo u st ay h ere sa r a n d d riv e Po rt u

, . , ,

”
gu ese awa y .

I m af rai d n ot J a c k who wa s stand ing besid e Ba rney

’

, , ,

lau ghed . We re not o u t to act as naval police— and

’

p erhaps get hanged fo r o ur pains N o I wi sh we c ould .

,

”
help y o u Ti m b o t a bu t I m af r aid we can t
, ,
’ ’
.

Ti m b o t a m ade a hope l ess gest ure :

E nglis h man al w ays the sam e Ver y s o rr y f o r black man .
,

b u t a l l th e t i me do nothing I se e those he pointed t o

"
.
,

the guns and think you dr iv e away slave catche r peop l e

,
” -
.

Then he shook his head s e ve r al times and went ove r t o

w he r e some o f h is men u nde r A h Lung s supervi s ion wer e , ,

p umping the f oul Madei r a wate r o u t o f t h e tanks .

It makes you f eel so rr y Barn e y r emarked r e fle ct i v e l y

”
, .

J ack s h rugged his sh o u l ders .

We ve got enough trouble O f ou r o w n a l r e ad y Bes i des

’
.
,

ou r government knows all about this P ortugu ese cocoa

s l avery— I ve read about it often— and if t h ey d o n t inte r
’ ’

fere w e can t Th e soon er w e re awa y f ro m her e th e

,
’
.
'

bette r "
.

The gu nne r wh o had j u st st um p e d af t p u t i n hi s w ord

, , .

You r e right si r A prope r feve r hole t his is A nd if

'
, . .

a Portugues e v essel did h appen to come in here sh e might

make it awkward f o r u s They re a low down people .
’
-
,

those Dago s and they know i t and act up to it

, ,
.

Hard l y were t h e words out o f h is mouth wh en t h er e

was a sho u t f rom o n e o f Ti m b ot a s men A m om e n t ’
.

1 50
 C H APTE R XXI I I

TH E W AY S O F TH E P O R TU G UE S E
T th e sight o f th e Po r t u gu es e gu n b oat Gu nn er ,

Joseph Ri cha r dson V C m ad e a wr y f ac e

, . .
, .

We had b e tt er g e t u p som e amm u nitio n

”
fo r the On e pounders si r h e said
-
, , If I star t a t on ce .
,

I can sink he r be f o re sh e gets t o o n e a r .

Jack Wayn e sta r ed at h im i n am azeme nt .

Sink h er ! h e ec ho ed B u t sh e s n o t d o ne u s an y
.
“ ’

harm
”
It d o es n t mean sh e w on t th e ol d s ailo r a nsw ere d
’ '

Sh e hasn t had ti m e—
,

grim l y .
’
that s all D agos a re '
.

always b ad and th e w orst D ago i s th e Po r tu gu es e Wh en

, .

they re th e strongest th ey make th eir o wn laws Wh o

’
,
.

knows we r e here i n th e V i to Ri ve r
’
, The M ol l y Hawk
wo u l d b e a big pri ze f o r th em th e s wee ps and afte r th ey
, , ,

had cut my throat y o u w o u l d d o w ell fo r th e cocoa

,

”
p l antati ons Yo u w o u ldn t be th e onl y B r itons the re
.
’
.

T h ere was s u ch an ai r o f conv i ction abo u t t h e gu nne r s ’

w ords that th e b oys did n o t h esitat e ove r s e tting t o work

fetc h ing up th e am mun i ti on bu t Ja ck d ec lin ed po in t
, ,

b lank t o fir e the first shot

, .

W e must w a i t and see h e de clared , .

T h ey had n o t long t o wa i t Th e gu n b o a t a n cho red .

a bar e t wo h u nd red ya r ds fr om th em and w i t h what

was quite c r editabl e speed fo r Po r tugu es e —B ri ti sh sailors
, ,

w o uld hav e tak e n a tenth o f th e t i me—low ered a co upl e

1 52
 TH E W AY S O F TH E P O RTU G U E S E

of boats th e larger o f which c ramme d w i th slov e nl y

, ,

looking men dr ess ed in al l so r ts o f unif orms and a rmed

, ,

w ith r ifles made fo r the shore w hi l st the o th er i n w hich

, , ,

w as an o fli cer and half a doz e n f a ir ly t i dy sa ilo r s h ea d ed

, ,

”
towards th e M o ll y Hawk .

T h ey v e picked th e i r c l ea n est s pecime ns t o c all o n

’

u s Ba rn ey r em ark e d
, .

T he gu nne r g r unt e d .

A ll Dagos a r e equ all y d ir t y at h ear t Mast er Ba rn e y ,

.

NO u se p r aying fo r t h e i r souls I can tell y o u Cal l ,

th o se s ail ors and ca l l that a man O f wa r 1

,
H e S pat o u t - -

hi s p l ug disgu sted l y No w sir t o Jack giv e e m a

" ’
, , ,

”
hai l before they get a l ongside then h e sw u ng the Maxim
, ,

r ound so as t o cov er the app r oaching boat

, .

It did n o t n e ed Jack s hai l t o mak e th e Po rt u gu ese ’

lay t o o n th eir oa r s The gu nner s action w as su ffi cient

.
’
.

W e a re friends s e nho r the P o r t u gu es e o fli ce r

”
, ,

shouted .T el l yo ur ma n t o be caref u l T hos e gu ns d o .

”
go o ff sometimes .

Jack went t o th e rail .

We a r e fr iends t o o ; but we d on t take arme d p a rt ies

,
’

o f st r ange r s aboa r d What d o y o u w ant .

To see you r pape r s s enho r the offi ce r replie d Yo u

, , .

a r e in Po r tuguese w ate r s ; yo ur v essel ca r ries guns ; and

”
we natu r all y a s k most politely fo r your exp l anations
, ,
.

T h e young skipper g l anced at h i s co m r ad e s .

We can t ve ry well r efus e he said th en t o th e

’
, , ,

Po r tugu ese : Al l righ t Yo u yo ur self may come aboa r d . ,

”
b ut at t h e fi r st sign o f h ostility w e sh a ll sink your boat .

Wh i ls t the o fli cer w as in t he cabin w ith Jack t h e r est ,

o f the s h ip s company stood t o t h ei r arms keep i ng a very

’
,

sharp look o ut o n the boat s c rew ; but i t seemed an

-
’

u nneces sa r y p re caution as the men merel y lo un g ed ab o u t , ,

y a wn i ng a nd sm oking ciga r ett es

, .

1 53
 TH E WAYS OF THE P O RTUG U E S E
Aft e r a whi le the offi ce r re app ea re d ac compani e d by
.
,

Jack The Po rt u gues e b o wed p rofo u ndl y wh e n he re ach e d

.

the side .

I am obliged most deepl y se n ho r All is in o rde r I , . .

a m sure my captain wi ll gladl y as s ist in filling y o ur w at er

tanks If t h ose nativ e s do not ret urn h e wil l l e nd y ou
.
,

”
some o f o u r men .

A s t h e b o at r owed back to wa rd s the gu nbo a t ,

D o n t have thei r he l p si r Joseph Richa rdso n s aid

’ ”
, , .

N e v er tru s t those folk They r e here fo r no good be lie v e

.
’

me . H u ll o l What s that ?
'

A volle y had suddenl y ru ng o ut o n sho re F or t he .

m oment the b o y s had fo rg o tten the other b oatload o f

Po rtugu ese ; b ut no w the y co ul d see the me n dodging ,

about amongst the palm trees rifl es in ha n d B u t th ere , .

w e re white soldiers th e re no w as w ell and s c o res o f st ru g ,

gl ing nativ es and m or e than o n e b la c k fi gure st ret ch ed

,

o u t m oti o nless o n the g r ound .

Aft e r that fi rst v o ll ey the fi ring be ca me fi t ful bu t th ere ,

w e re sh rie ks a nd g roans t o sho w ho w the b ulle ts h ad got

home .

J os e ph Ri c hard son w as th e first to gras p w hat had

hap pe ned .

T h e re w e re soldi ers—Po rt u g u ese o f cou rse—bringing ,

down a gang o f labou re rs as t h e y call them fo r the sailo rs

, ,

to take aboa rd And th e nigge rs have b e en t ry ing to

.

b reak free T he r e the y go again as a score o f rifle s

.
”
,

rang o u t togethe r What s o n no w

. O h i t s o u r f r iend
’

,
’

the chief wi th his cro w d The y re t ry ing to re sc ue th e

, .
'

”
slaves .

The boys were q u iv eri ng with ex cite me nt Th e g u nne r s .

’

exp l anation w as ri ght A fi erce c on fl ict w as raging o n

.

sho re T h e local natives armed onl y with sp ea rs had

.
, ,

m ade a d e sp erat e ru sh to sav e the i r fello w c o u nt rymen

.
-

1 54
 TH E W AY S O F T H E P O R T U G U E S E

the re wh o can u se thei r s e ven pounde r and the y da ren t

-
,
'

let us escape We re in a thundering b ad fi x si r as bad

.
’

, ,

as can be U nl e ss I m mistaken it w on t b e long be fo re

.
'

,
'

tr ouble begins .

T he words we re ha rd l y o u t o f h is m o u th when a seven

p ound er sh e ll w hizz ed be t ween th e M olly Hawk s
’

m ast s
.

1 56
 C H APT E R XXIV

D E A D M E N T E L L N O T AL E S
N STI N CTI V E LY th e b o ys du cked their h eads as
th e Po rt u gu es e sh el l passed o v er t h em 3 bu t Joseph
Ri chardson o nly laughed .

E ve ry one do es that first tim e u nd er fi r e h e re ma r k ed

, , ,

B u t t hat was onl y a ki nd o f w arning the Dago s vis itin g ,

’

c a r d H e r e comes thei r boat n o w with a flag o f t ru ce

. , .

It was th e same o fli ce r wh o came aboard again tho u gh

‘
,

n ow h e w as rece iv e d i n far l ess f riendl y sty l e All th e .

M olly Hawks were fu l l y a rm ed and th e boat s cr ew ,

’

was told t o go b ack t o w he re it co u ld b e cove re d by t h e

M axim gu n Th e o fli cer s eemed n er vo u s an xio u s t o b e
.
‘
,

aw ay again .

M y capta i n th i nks diff ere ntl y fr o m m ys elf s e nho r , ,

h e sai d H e is n o t satisfi e d w ith yo ur pape r s and

. ,

yo ur e xplanations o f w hy y o u a re h er e in Portugu ese ,

w ate rs and h e says y o u must co me along w ith u s t o A ngo l a

, ,

fo r th e Gov e rno r t o decid e Yo u a re t o st ri k e y o ur fl ag

at onc e o r h e wil l sink y ou
,
.

J ack fl ushed cr im son .

Strike th e B r itish Flag to a Po r tu gues e ! A Po r t u

gu es e l Senho r y o u have come a b oard here u nde r a flag
, ,

o f t ru c e t ru sting t o B r it ish hono ur and y o u shal l go in

, ,

safety b u t r eally I o ught t o hang y o u b oth as a slav e

, , , ,

”
t r ad er and f o r th e ins u lt t o o u r natio n .

Th e o ffi ce r h urried o v er t h e s i d e H e ha d al w a ys .

I 57
 D E A D M E N T E L L N O TA L E S

looked o n th e E nglish as a h o t h e aded ob j ectionab l e p eo pl e -

, ,

and n o w h e was c erta i n that that V i e w w as th e co rrect

one

We re i n fo r it J ack mu tte re d
’
, What d o y o u .

fe ll ows t h ink we had bett e r d o

Barney answered promptly
Get u p t h e anchor ru n past h er an d chanc e i t all
, , .

"
The gu nne r nodded That s th e w ay si r if y o u
.
'

, ,

wo n t fire first S h e l l shoot quick enough I fancy

’
.
’
,

but I ll be r eady f o r h er As fo r th e w ate r we mu st try

’
.
,

and get t h at low er down th e coast .

T h ey had j ust begun t o heave u p the ancho r as th e

gunboat s office r m ad e h is r epo rt t o h is o w n skippe r
'
.

T h e m oto r engines w ere r evolving slow l y the gunner being

-
,

at t h e w hee l A moment late r o n e o f th e P ortuguese

. ,

vesse l s s even pounders—sh e had t wo o n e o n eith er sid e

’
-
,

o f t h e uppe r deck—r oa re d o u t th e sh e ll j u st missing th e ,

cabin sky l igh t .

Jo s eph Richa rd son did not w ait any long er With a .

growl o f w r at h he sp r ang t o his b e l oved o n e pounde r

,
- .

train e d it in what s e em ed an inc re dibly sho rt S pac e o f

tim e then pul l ed th e trigge r
, .

H e had been the finest g u nn er in th e British Navy ,

and his hand had not lost i t s sk ill H e had intended .

t o put that P ortuguese gun o u t o f action and he had ,

done s o H e had s h orn it o f its s ights j ammed the breech

. ,

action and ki ll ed the man behind i t F o r t h e moment

,
.
,

t h e gunboat was power l ess t o ha rm th e Mo ll y Hawk .

T h ere had b e e n a ru sh t o cove r o n the pa r t o f th e

P ortuguese on l y he r captain and o n e o f he r o fli c er s
,

r emaining o n deck but as th e Mo lly Hawk got und er

,

weig h s o me o f the men w er e shamed into re t u rning and

, ,

the rifle bu ll ets began to patte r about the m otor boat -

.

Go be lo w si r St eer h er fr o m b elo w
,
. Josep h .

1 5 8
 D E A D M E N T E L L N O T A LES

hau l ed down th e fl ag o f th e Repub lic an d w av e d hi s hand s ,

f r enzied l y in su r rend er .

But it was t o o lat e His bo a t be g an to s e ttl e Real isin g

. .

his dange r th e captain o rd ered his cre w in to th e boats

, .

Ha r dl y had the y sta rted f or the opp o site shore wh en th e

fren z ied captiv es r us h ed u p o n d eck p l unged o v erboard and ,

s wa m to t h eir sid e o f the r iv er w h ere the y were re c e iv ed ,

wi th gr eat demonstr ati o ns o f j o y .

Then —a sudden lu r ch t o starboa r d ; as s u dden a re cov ery

An e ven more sudden lurch t o po rt—and n o r ecove r y
.

O ve r ov er ove r—and th e Po r t u gu es e gu n b oat had t urne d

, ,

t u rtl e and gone down .

It w as kill o r b e kill ed s i r th e gu nn er said as h e ,

’
, ,

w ip e d the pe rspi r ation o ff his f ac e The y w ould hav e .

gi ven u s n o q u a rt er And no w I exp ect o u r niggers

.

will com e back and giv e u s all th e w at er we w ant if we go ,

”
t o o u r o l d ancho r ag e .

Th e p r oph e c y p r ov e d t o be co rre ct Th e n a ti v es mu st .

have been w atchin g f ro m the palm gr ov e fo r long b efo re , ,

th e Mo l l y Hawk had brought u p again dug o u t cano es ,

-

had be en d ragg e d fr om all sorts o f u n exp e cted hiding plac es -

,

and a yell ing c r o w d half m ad with d elight w as s urr o u nd in g

, ,

t h e moto r boat -
.

F o r man y m onths t o co me th e vil l ag es up th e Vi to ,

Ri ve r w ould hav e peace f o r th e Po r tu guese had n o oth er

,

gu nboat i n t h e se w at er s s u itab l e fo r th e a b o m ina b l e

t r afli c in hum an flesh and b lood .

Fort y e igh t hou r s late r w h e n th e M olly Haw k onc e

-
,

m or e c r ossed the ba r o f the riv er h er tanks w ere fu ll o f ,

s weet f res h wat er w hi l st f orwa r d Ah Lu ng had coop af t er

”

, ,

c0 0 p o f chick e ns and fa r mo re v e g e ta b l es than th ey co u l d

,

pos s ib l y eat .

I t s be e n an u g ly e xp e rience Jack sigh ed as th e y

’
, ,

r eached the Op e n se a a ga in and sta r ted s o u th w a r ds un d er ,

1 60
 D EA D M E N T E LL N O T AL E S

s ail
. I hope th ere ll be no fu rth er t r o ub l e W e v e
’
.
’

”
str ained thin gs p rett y fa r .

Ba r ney nodded .

What a sto ry fo r th e ne w spap er s Th ey w o u ld make .

h er oes o f u s but th e la w migh t insist o n hanging us

- ”
.

”
Th e se men will tel l n o ta l es sir the gunne r wh o w as
, , ,

at the wh ee l cut in that gunboat is lost An d no nigge r

,
‘
.
’

o n t he coast wi ll e ve r S p l it o n u s If he did his li f e wo u ld

.
,

n o t be worth an ho ur s purchas e The chi ef told m e so

’
. .

It ma y have seemed horrib l e si r sending s om e o f thos e

, ,

peop l e t o face th e G re at Ski pper suddenly and hand in ,

their l o g b ooks j u st as they stood but w e did right : th ey

-

we re en gaged in an u nla wful act and b es ides had wanto nly

, , ,

attacked u s first Th e on l y th ing is that when we r e ach

.
,

C ape Town w e m ust n o t br e ath e a w o r d ab o u t it fo r w e d o

, ,

n o t wan t to be detain e d and o u r whe r eabo u ts mad e p ubl ic :

W e shall hav e w o rr y e no u gh witho u t tha t tack ed on "
.
 C H APT E R XXV

R O U ND TH E COAS T
H A T a gloomy hole I T h at ho r ri b l e fl at topped ,
-

m ountain seems t o ov erhang us all the time .

A nd the p e O p l e l Half cast es Mala ys Bo ers -

, ,

”
a hatef u l crowd I shall b e glad to be a w a y
. .

The boys were w alking u p A dderl e y St reet C ape Town , ,

an d Ba r ney was m aking th e comment w h ich ris es t o the

l ips o f most Britons wh o pass thro u gh that po r t .

Tab l e Mountain huge thr e at e ning u nbea u tif u l s e ems

, , , ,

to oppress the w hole sc e n e b y its vastness The to w n at .

its foot squa l id u n d igni fi e d u n E nglish exc ept as r ega rds

, , ,
-
,

a few hundr e d ya r ds o f Add e rley Str e et is always a dis ,

appointm ent t o the newcome r He expects a fin e city as .

the capita l o f a Briti s h colon y and he finds instead an , , ,

”
overgro wn Boe r do r p with a nu mb er o f u n w hol esome
,

A siatics in addition t o th e inevitable A frican nativ es

, .

T he Mo ll y Hawk had made a ve r y good passag e

fr om th e Vito Riv er doing the great er part o f th e distance
,

unde r sail only d ur ing the last three days had sh e st ru ck

b ad weathe r w hi ch had kept all hands hard at work most
,

o f the tim e Stil l sh e had proved he r se l f so fine a se a boat

.
,
-

t h at t h ere had nev e r been any dange r w hich he r c r ew could

n o t m eet .N o w s he w as l ying be s id e o n e o f th e q u ays ,

having he r o i l tanks fil l ed up afresh

-
.

This ti me t h e boys had b een mo r e ca r e f ul Th e y had .

h a d t h e contents o f th e tanks t es ted m os t c ar eful l y and ,

1 6;
 RO UND T H E COA ST

Jack pant ed H e w as going t o m u rde r Ah Lun g I f

.
“
.

on l y I cou l d have got my h ands o n t h e brute 1

Barney had gone rat h er white from excitement n o t ,

f rom fea r I wonder if he was put up to it by the Yel l ow

.

D warf he said .

A moment l ate r that question s ee med t o be an s wered

,

b y Ah Lung wh o had taken h i s own nar r ow escape from

,

death very coo ll y .

P l enty P al ap o g m an that h e rem a r k e d M e se e , .

the Pal ap o g charm o n hi s a rm .

T h e fo llo wing m o rning saw the Mol l y Hawk onc e

more at s e a T h e night had been an anxious o n e It
. .

seemed a matter o f absol u te nece s sity t o keep a constant

w atc h yet all th e ti me there was the dread o f o n e o f
, , ,

th os e horrib le l itt l e p o i s oned darts coming o u t o f th e

darkn ess Stil l in the end the re w as no a l arm of an y
.
, ,

sort .

O rigina ll y th e boys ha d i ntended t o p u t in next at

D urban o r D e l ago a B ay ; but n o w t h ey changed th ei r
minds It was more th an l ike l y t h at t h e Ye llo w Dwarf
.

had agents at tho se places o n the l o o k o u t fo r t h em and ,

t h ey h ad no de s ire to run unnecess ary ri s ks s o t h ey decided , ,

i n s tead t o g o rig h t o n t o B eira

,
.

”
I kn o w th at port si r t h e gunne r said i t s the o nl y
, , ,
’

o n e in t h e M o z am bique Territory O f c o urse i t s P o rt u . ,

’

g u e se,
but t h e B riti sh rea ll y rule it Th e rai l way t o .

”
Mas h ona l and s ta r ts th ere .

A t t h e mention o f th e Portu guese Barne y made a w r y ,

f ace.

I f t h ey ve hea r d any r umou r s f rom th e V ito Rive r

’

he began .

T h e gunner s ho ok his head .

T h ey w o n t and if t h e s t o ry did come o u t we should

’
, ,

b e he l d up ju s t th e s ame in a B ritis h p o rt We sh al l o n l y .

1 64
 RO U ND T H E CO A S T

b e i n B ei r a a f e w hou r s j ust fo r wat e r and o il and p re

,

vi s i o ns I t s n o t a h ea l th y spot I was o u t th ere i n th e

.
’

ear l y day s o f t h e railway bui l ding .

A nd t h en h e went o n to tell them the t er r ib l e sto ry

o f t h e con s tructi o n o f the B eira Rai l way t h e line whi c h , ,

th ey s ay cost a h uman lif e fo r every s l eepe r l aid T he

, .

fever was appall ing and as so often h appens in such ci r

,

c u m st an c es men began to l ose t h ei r ne r ve and t oo k t o drink

, ,

t o r e st o re t h ei r courage ; with t h e r esu l t that in t h e end , ,

liquor and fea r claimed m or e victim s than al l th e natu ral

di s eas es put t o geth er .

T h ey died the gunne r s aid l i ke rotten sheep

, Very , .

often th ey neve r even drew thei r first month s pa y O f ’

.

th e o rigina l sta ff on l y abo u t thre e lived t o se e th e line

,

th r oug h t o t h e h ig h ve l d .

In addi t ion t o t h e feve r the r e w e re te r ribl e floods which

, ,

in an ho ur destroyed t h e work o f m ont h s T h ere wer e

, .

l i o n s al way s round t h e camps r eady t o pick up straggl ers , ,

hyenas ready to dig up t h e dead T h ere w as t h e c o n s tant .

fear o f a native rebe ll ion T h ere w as a pitil e s s su n w hi ch

.

rendered exertion o f any sort a veritab l e misery .

Yet al l t h e tim e t h e w o rk went o n S l ow l y very .

,

s low l y t h e l in e —i t w as on l y t wo foot gauge a mere toy -

ra ilway at fi r st —crept al ong th rough that dense j ung l e

, ,

ri s ing steadil y all t h e t ime until at Macqu ec e it reach ed ,

th e f o ot o f th e Great Central Pl ateau ; and there afte r ,

tw enty m i l es o f zig zagging am o ngs t the m o untains it was

-
,

o n t h e h ig h ve l d t h e P r o mi s ed Land
, .

O nl y o u r o w n countrymen cou l d h av e done it t he ,

gu nner said pr o ud l y It s a big story a very big o n e

.
’

but it s o n e o f th o s e that never gets into the papers w o rs e

’

l uck It s m o re h eal thy reading than a ya rn about s om e

.
’

l o w d o wn murder o r a div o rce cas e

- ”
.

An d t h e boy s bein g heal t h y min ded agr e ed h e a r til y

,
-
, .

1 65
 RO UN D T H E COAS T

Th e we ath er r o u n d the coast was u n u s u ally fin e tho u gh ,

the r e w as o f course the etern al heav y sw ell beatin g i n

, , ,

against t h at iron bound s h ore -

.

T h ey passed wit h in a mile o f Po r t E lizabeth and w o n ,

d e red w h y t h at Open roadstead o n e o f the mo s t dangerous ,

in t h e wor l d s h ould b e ca ll ed a port

, E veryt h ing h ad .

t o be di s c h arged into lig h te r s n o easy task w h en the ,

v essel is r oll ing heav i l y T h e town itself bu i lt along the .

,

shore looked singul arly u natt r activ e

, .

E ast Lond o n is little bette r fo r tho u gh th er e is a rive r ,

ther e only th e smallest vessels can c r oss i t s ab ominable

,

b ar .

Th e b a r at D urb an u s e d t o be a t err o r t o o th e , ,

gunn er r emarked I ve known i t silt u p till t h ere w as

.
’

onl y nine feet o f wate r at high tide but n o w they manage

t o keep it down with d r edge r s Still t h e only rea ll y g o od . ,

port is D e l ago a Bay We co ul d hav e bough t t h at for a

.

few thou s ands twenty fi v e yea r s ago but as we u s ual l y

-
, ,

d o we l o s t o u r c h anc e and let the D agos keep it

, , .

To day it s th e Gat e o f So u th Africa as we fo u nd o u t

’
-
,

”
during the Boe r Wa r .

As t h ey went up the Z u l u lan d co ast t h e g u nn er point e d ,

o u t a break in the lin e .

That s a treas ure h u n t ing plac e s i r h e said

’ ” -
It s , , .
’

St L ucia Bay wh ere o l d President K ruger s m i ll i o ns ar e

.
,
’

suppo s ed t o be D uring t h e wa r they sh ipped th e g ol d

. ,

down t o D e l ago a and it w as supposed t o be put o n b o ard

,

a vesse l ca ll ed the Dorothea We ll a few day s l ate r .

’
, ,

news came t h at the D o roth ea h ad gone down mys ’

t e r i o u s l y in St Lucia Bay . Since th en ever so many . ,

expeditions h ave tried t o get at th e wreck and h ave come ,

t o grief D o zens o f lives h ave been los t over it

.
"
.

Why ? Jack asked " What s t h e d iffi c ul ty ? .

’

Can t the y l o cate h er P

’

1 66
 C H APT E R XXV I
I N TH E I ND I A N O CE A N
V E R YO N E wh o knows B e i r a w ill tel l y ou i t is t h e
hott est m ost det es tabl e litt l e port in the Indian
,

O cean .

Th e b ay re al ly th e m o u th o f the Pu ngwe Ri ve r is
, ,

large and w e ll shelte re d the shores being covered with

-
,

horrib l e mangroves The town itself stands o n a sandy

.

b eac h but a fe w f eet above se a leve l and appears at

, , ,

fir s t sight t o consi s t o f little mor e than a few score o f

,

swe l tering galvanis e d i r on s h anties When you land at

,
-
.

the l ittle stone qua y and pass the u nc l ean l y sentine l s

,

w ith thei r ru sty r ifl es and etern al cigare t te s y o u find that ,

th e r oads are a ll heavy sand t h at ordinar y wh ee l ed t r afli c

,
‘

is quite impossible all t r anspo rt w ork being carried o u t

,

b y mean s of l ittle tro ll ies ru nning o n tiny tram li nes Yo u -

.
,

y ourself have to c h arte r a tro ll y with a c h ai r o n it and

, ,

be pushed along by two white c l ad natives -

.

Yo u will notice t oo t h at t h e r e is the fin est co l l e c

, ,

tion o f s am me s o f r ascaldom fr om a ll parts o f th e world

lounging about th e li tt le caf ! s near t h e qua y the very ,

s cum o f b oth e ast and w e st E very second buil ding i s a

.

liquor shop E v er y w hit e m an looks y e llo w f rom fe v e r

. ,

and utterl y w eary .

"
This is w orse th an Cap e Town "
B arn ey rem ark ed ,

as t h ey were b eing trund l ed u p t o their agent s sto re

’
.

"
Do esn t t h is wretch e d t r am j olt ? And t h e h eat ! I
’

1 68
 I N T H E I ND I A N OC E A N

don t wonde r men die quickly here So far the only

’
.
,

”
pe op l e we ve seen d o ing anyt hi n g have been drinking
’
.

T h e agent w h o proved to be a fat German wa s s itting

, ,

under a punk ah perspiring He was very c o rdia l and

, . ,

expres s ed h im s e l f as being ready t o d o anyth ing f o r t h em ,

but a minu t e l a t er h e dash ed th e i r ho pes t o th e ground .

Heavy o il fo y o ur m o tor engi nes P A ch m m T h ere

r -
,
e .

is n o ne in Beir a none at all ,

T h at I kn ow we ll as I . ,

am th e on l y pe rson who se lls it he r e and my s t o ck is ru n ,

o u t o f l ate .

Jack drumme d o n the table with hi s finge rs They .

had u s ed a g o o d dea l o f oil s ince Cape Town and it was an ,

i mp o rtant matter to get t h e tank s refi ll ed .

Wh en will y o u h ave s o me m o re h e a s ked .

”
I h ave p l enty at Zanzibar the German ans wered , .

T h ere is a steamer l eaving t h e r e t o morrow and I can ,

cab l e h er to bring s ome d o wn .

Jack Sh o o K h i s h ead That means a w e ek s d el a y h e r e

.
’
.

N o th anks W e have e nough left to ca r ry us o n t o

, .

Zanzibar so w e cou l d g e t it ourse l ves

, .

T h e Ge rman beamed That is good very good I am

.
, .

glad my young friends I wil l cab le my manager to b e

, .

”
sure and r eserv e som e .

T h at settles the q uesti on o f w h ethe r we go u p th e

”
coast o r v i a M au r iti us
, Jack re marked as th e y left
, ,

th e stor e H u llo the re s th e Post Offi c e Le t s go and

.
,
’
.
’

”
get some stamps .

T h ey made th e i r pu rchas es fr om th e di r ty G oan es e

posta l clerk and wer e j u st about t o l e av e wh en a nati ve
, ,

came in w ith a telegr am w hic h h e han ded t o the offi cial , .

T h e latter scanned it frowned th e n ca ll ed t o th e bo ys

, , .

Se nh o rs l I littl e E ng l ish spik I cannot thi s w ord .

re ad Wo u ld y ou assist
. a n d h e h el d out t h e slip of
p aper .

1 69
 IN TH E IN D IA N O C E A N

Jack took it Cas u al beggar s h e r emark e d

. no t , ,

m u c h secrecy h e re t h en hi s expr es sion changed s u dd e nl y

, ,

fo r th e E ng l ish word was Pang Ye e n I

Stil l h e kept control ove r hi m s elf n o t saying a w o r d
, ,

t o Barney w ho had a l ready stro l led t o th e doo r and w as

, ,

looking o u t N o t u ntil they were b oth in th e st re et did

.

he let hi m self go ; t h en
”
Bar ney h e said very qu ietly we v e had a na rr ow
, , ,
’

escape That telegram was t o t h e Ye ll ow Dwarf aboa r d

.
,

t h e Pang Ye e n at Zanzibar t e lling h im we re coming ,

’

up .

The oth er gave vent t o a low whistle .

Th unde r 1 We s h ou l d have g o ne straight into h i s j aws ,

and been chewed up H e s organised hi s sp y se r vice p r ett y.

’

t h oroug hl y What s t h e move now

.
’

”
Mauriti u s Jack answered promptly Le t th e Ge rman
, .

thi nk w e re going to Zanziba r That ll keep th e Pang

’
.
’ ‘

Y e e n hanging a b o u t o n th e coast and give u s a f air

’
,

start .

The Ge rm an seemed most anxious t o assist th em t o get

o ff speedi l y So we ll did he besti r h i m s e l f th at b y t h e
.

evening t he y had everyt h ing they r equired aboa r d r ead y ,

t o leav e at da w n He li tera ll y beamed o n them as he

.

said goo d b y e —h e had tak e n th e t r o u ble t o com e down

-

h imself .

Now I hav e i nst r ucted m y ag e nt w ho will m e et y o u ,

o n ar r ival he added , Good by e and good luck t o .

-
,

”
y ourselves and this your most w onderful yacht
, .

H yp ocrit e Barney growl e d as he watched th e sto u t

, , ,

w hite clad figu r e c l ambering o n t o th e qua y

-
I h e pe .

w e ll hav e the chance o f getti ng sq u a r e with y o u y e t

’
.

The gu nn er sho o k h i s h e ad .

Leav e him to th e Gre at Skipp e r M ast e r Ba r n ey H e l l ,

.
’

”
ge t his rew a r d lat er on .

1 70
 I N TH E I ND IA N OC E A N
O utw ard l y at least the plac e is s afe and de l ightf ul a v ery
, , ,

haven o f refuge ; but it h as i t s drawbacks as th e boys ,

were so o n t o l earn .

T h e po rt docto r a stout Fr e nchm an allowed them to

, ,

e nter after a great dea l o f unnece ss ary fus s and de l ay .

I s ho u l d t h ink t h ey must be a j o ll y c l ean l ot o n s h or e

to need a l l th e s e precaution s Barney grow l ed afte r t h e , ,

ves s el had been fumigated and all th ei r di r t y linen ,

dipped in disinfectants .

C l ean 1 Joseph Ri cha r dson sno rt ed I t s th e .

’

dirtie s t to wn in t h e E mpire o u t an d awa y O n e great , .

big s me ll—t h at s w h at it is I ’

T h e fir s t t h ing t h at struck th e b o y s o n e nt e ring w as

t h at every ves s e l was m oo red bow and stern T h e pi l ot .

took th em t o t h ei r mo o rings w h ich were we l l t o the side ,

o f t h e harbou r and t h ey proceeded t o make the

, M oll y
Hawk fas t T h ey had j ust fini sh ed t h eir tas k and were
.
,

ab o ut t o clean themselv es w h en a sudden commotion ,

broke o u t o n the quay men s h outing rus h ing about hithe r

, ,

and t h it h er hurrying away t h e h orses and carts w hic h h ad

,

been carrying sugar t o t he lighters fren z i e dl y try in g t o g e t ,

e veryt hing unde r cov er .

Ha l f a dozen shore boats put o u t f r o m th e landin g stag e -

,

and began t o r o w in f ranti c hast e to w a r ds th e la rg er

steamers .

Wh at e v er can i t m e an J ack ask ed i n asto nishme nt .

The gu nne r answe r ed

A cy cl o n e s coming si r I m af r aid The y v e j u st go t th e
’ ’ ’
.
, ,

w arning from t h e observatory A ye look the re as .

, ,

t h e s tea mer nearest t h em began t o belch smoke o u t o f he r

f u nnel. T h ose w h o can get t o s e a ar e going t o d o so .

It s saf er for t h em t h an being in this tra p

’
.

O ught we to g o P Ba r ney ask e d .

T h e ol d sa ilo r sh ook hi s h e a d .

1 72
 I N TH E I NDI A N O CE A N

No . We r e bett e r as w e ar e The Mo ll y Hawk

’
.
‘

w asn t intended t o weat h er Indian O cean cyc lo nes It

’
.

w o u l d be di fferent if we had more hands But we can .

doub l e o u r m oo ring ropes ”

.

F o r t h e next h our t h ey we r e too bu s y t o pay attention

t o an y thi ng but t h e i r w o rk A fte r seeing to th e m oo rings
.
,

th ey s truck b o th t h e topmas ts and made a ll loos e gear as

secure as it was p o ss ib l e t o d o T h en t h ey l o oked round . .

Hal f th e s teamer s h ad managed t o get outs ide t h e h arbour

o f t h e res t s o me h ad not en o ug h steam up w hi l st th e oth e rs
, ,

w ere t o o li gh t t o face a h eavy sea .

O n s ho re it was l ike a city o f th e dead N o t a sou l

, .

was t o be seen E very window w as clo s ed w ith thick

.

heavil y barred shutters

-
.

When t h ey entered th e po rt ther e had be e n a light , ,

p l easant breeze N o w there w as a horrib l e u ncanny

.
, ,

stil l n e ss in the ai r a curious gr eyness in th e sky

,

”
It s e erie Jack said w ith a little shiv er
’

, L i st e n l .

What s that
’

A faint humming nois e was all th e oth e rs could hear

at fi rst ; b u t with in a few seconds it was more like a
, ,

d ista nt roa r Joseph Ri c h ardson recognis ed it

. .

”
D o wn below all o f y o u he s ai d , Th e cyclon e is
, .

on us . May th e Gre at Ski ppe r s e e u s safely th r o u gh l

1 73
 C H APT E R XX V I I

TH E CYCLO N E

T s eem e d t o the litt l e party in th e saloon—they

had battened down t h e f o rehatch and were all
toget h er— t h at it was on l y a few seconds before
t h e cyc l one wa s o n th em F rom t h at ti me onwards f o r th e
.

next h a lf h our t h ey could s e e noth ing owing t o t h e sp r a y

-
,

o n t h e port l ig h ts nor cou l d they h ear eac h ot h er speak

, .

The Mo ll y Hawk seemed t o s h ive r all t h rough at

”

th e first b l ast but wi thin an incredib l y short space o f

,

time t h e s e a had got up and s h e was t oss ing a b out

,

vio l ent l y in a way wh ich made t h em t r emble fo r thei r

,

moorings extra strong though these were

, .

Severa l t imes a sharp j a r to l d t h em that some thing

had been driven against the yac h t o n e O f the s h ore boats ,

probabl y and onc e a h e avy obj e ct act u all y landed o n t h e

,

deck .

A t last th e nois e be gan t o a b at e then alm ost b efo re , ,

they r ealised that they could onc e mo re mak e o n e anoth er

hear it had died down a l tog e th er
, .

”
I t s Ove r Barney said as h e p r oceede d t o Ope n th e
’
,

doo r o f th e companion w ay .

The gunne r shook his head .

O ver f or the m ome nt It m ay c om e b ack Most of

. .

th em d o s o .

T h e re was blank a stoni shm en t on t h e f ac es of t h e b oys

as the y ga ze d r o u nd th e harbour Th ei r s s eeme d t o be.

1 74
 TH E CY CLO N E

t o it s f o rmer c o ur s e Thi s tim e p erhaps be cau s e the y

. ,

r eali s ed th e terrific fo r c e Of the wind the boy s were far ,

m ore unea s y and th e l ips o f both moved in prayer

, .

About t h e same space Of t ime as in t h e first in s tanc e

elap s ed before it w as Ove r—i t h ad only been a littl e mor e
than an hour f rom start t o fi n i sh —but now t h ere was
n o fea r Of a retu r n It was j u s t a qu es t ion Of re ckoning
u p the damage —and counting the dead
.

A t first g l ance w h en they opened t h e hatch and steppe d

,

o n t o the deck it seemed t o the boys t h at in its second

.

pas s age t h e sto rm had done little perhaps becau s e it h a d ,

already accomplished al l t h at was po s sib l e Yet a second .

look s h owed them that it h ad r eall y compl eted the wreck

o f the s h ipping o f which w ith the so l e exception o f t h e
, ,

Mo l ly Hawk th er e was n o t a s ing l e ves s e l which w as n o t

,

e ithe r a wreck o r tota ll y disab l ed E ven the Mo ll y

, .

Hawk had n o t escaped entire l y fo r in addition to som e ,

damage t o he r paintwork ca u sed b y s h ore boats being ,

d as h ed against her a heavy shutte r ripped O ff a house o n

, ,

shore had been flung o n t o h er deck smashing in t h e

, ,

f ore companion hatch

- -
.

But t hey quickly had so m ething m o re s erious than that

to think Of a dange r w h ich made them m o ve as perha ps
, , ,

they had neve r moved bef o re A large t r amp st eame r .

,

w hich had been l y ing in mi d harb o ur had been d riven ashore -

,

at the fi rst o n s laught o f t h e cycl o ne he r bows being st o ve ,

i n ; but o n it s ret urn t h e st o rm had so me h ow r e fl o at e d

, , ,

he r and now sh e was d r i fting he l p l e s s ly we l l d o wn at th e

, ,

head drifting right o n to them t o fo u l them perh aps to

, , ,

d rag them d o wn wit h he r

Ax es l Jack cried C ut o u r moorings Ba rne y Ah
.
, ,

Lung I Take t h e wh eel Gunner wh i l st I start t he engine s

, , .

If any o ne o f t hem h ad fai l ed di s aster w o u l d have been ,

i nevi table if on e h ad even s tumbl ed and so lo s t a secon d

,

1 76
 T H E CYC L O N E

or t wo . Jack go t the e ngin es going so t he ot h ers

B ut as ,

ha cked thr oug h t h e mooring ro pes .

The great steame r was actuall y o n them her b lack ,

hull t o wering ove r them but a f oot o r t wo away wh en , ,

t he M oll y Hawk began t o move Half a minute l ater .

,

with a lu rch t h e steame r set t led down unti l onl y her

, ,

bridge and p a rt O f he r u pper deck were w srb l e abov e

the wate r .

D uring the next three days and nights the b oy s hard ly

c l o sed th ei r ey es The loss o f life in t h e to wn h ad been
.

very great ove r a tho usand and in it s blind terr o r the

, , , ,

co lo ured popu l ation seemed to get o u t o f hand As a .

r es u l t the Govern or proc l aimed ma rti al l aw w hich gav e

, ,

him power to commandee r anyt hing .

He wou l d have co mmandee red the Mo lly Hawk as ,

b eing t h e o nl y e ffect ive craft in the port but before he , ,

c o u l d do so the b o ys had voluntaril y p l aced he r at h is

,

di s p o s al He f o und them p l ent y o f wo rk t o d o but in

. , ,

retu r n he did them a favour—h e a ll owed no privat e

,

me ss age s mentioning t h e mot o r yac ht to g o o u t and at -

,

t h e same time as if by mi s take he permitted h er t o be

, ,

inc l uded i n t h e li s t Of t o tal wrecks T hey had to l d hi m .

somet h ing o f th ei r venture and as by a l ucky c h ance h e , ,

knew B o rne o we l l he was read y to he l p in hoodwi nking

,

th e Ye llo w Dwarf .

Van de r Humm o r o n e o f his agents is ce r tain to get

, ,

the news Jack excl aimed

,
’
N o w he wil l wo rry ab o ut .
,

us no m o re Fo r us at lea s t the cyc lo ne has been a g o o d

.
, ,

”
thing .

Ba r ney nodded then p o i nted t o th e stricken t own , .

N o t fo r t hos e p oo r wretc he s t h ere t houg h I h ear t o o , .

, ,

that t h e s ugar p l antati o n s are utt erl y r uined It mea n s .

Whol e sa l e st arvati o n t h e G o vern o r sa y s

”
, .

F o rtu n ate ly fo r t h e b o ys the st o re containi ng the o il .

1 77
 TH E CYCLO N E

t h ev needed had escaped damage and the Gove rno r r eadil y

,

gave them permi s si o n to have their tanks refill ed Th us .

it wa s t hat on t h e fifth da y aft er t h ei r arriva l they f o und

, ,

t h em s e l ves runni ng o ut Of the h ar b o u r of Port Louis ,

b o und for Colo mb o t h e l ast stag e but on e o f the i r long

,

and adv en t u r ou s v o yag e

.
 A B I D F O R TH E P E ARL

an d j u st ice and san e regu lations A gr eat to wn a m agn ifi .

,

cent t o wn Co lo mbo is one o f t h e fine s t j ewel s in o ur Imperial

,

Cr o wn H ol ding Colom bo w e hold half the cont rol of th e

.
,

Indian O cean .

T h e b o ys m ade the i r a rrangements fo r a supply Of o il

and water then at Jack s suggestion they tu r n ed into
, ,
’

the Grand As iatic H o te l f o r tea .

E ve r y o ne in t h e E ast knows t h e Grand A siatic It is .

o n e o f t h e m os t fam o us meeting p l aces in the w o r l d O n its -

.

bro ad veranda overlo oking the h arb o ur ha lf of t h e m o st

, ,

famous pe o pl e o f to day have s at at some time o r o t h er

-
, ,

and taken tea o r iced drinks and ge t angry with t h e

, ,

swarm o f nativ e de al ers in cu ri o s o r p reciou s st o nes w h o ,

a r e a ll o w (1 t o peste r the life out O f eve r y new comer -

.

Barney neve r h aving been in Asia befo re w o u l d have

, ,

been as wax in t h e hands O f t h ese touts and cadgers but ,

Jack h ad l ea rnt t h ings on his f orme r trip and a w o rd o r ,

two fr o m him was en o ugh to send m o st of t h em wadd l ing

off But there was one o f the m apparent l y an ordinary
. ,

Hindu se ll e r o f j ewe l s wh o wou l d not be sent o fi He

, .

hovered ro und waiting until all the rest had gone then
, ,

c ame c los e to t h e boys a st range gleam in hi s ey es

, .

Sa h ib he said to Jack in a lo w t o ne I do not want

”
, , ,

t o se ll you j ewels I want t o bu y j ewels f ro m y ou B y

. .

”
and by I want t o bu y the B l ack Pearl o f Pe ih o o
, .

T h e words came o ut s o suddenl y so u nexpectedl y that , ,

both the boys started vio l ently The native having .

,

fi red h is shot st o od ve r y still regarding them with an

, ,

insc ru tab l e lo ok o n his face ; then he smi led gent ly as ,

he saw that the y would not could not den y all knowledge , ,

o f t h e matte r .

It sp o ke well fo r th e b o y s co m mon s e ns e that the y did ’

not attempt to li e o r to b lu ste r Both cou rs es w ould .

hav e b een equ al ly u s el e ss This Hind u kn ew o f t heir .

1 80
 A B I D F OR TH E P E A R L

quest an d appa rentl y he was no t an ene my H e was

, , , .

pre pa re d t o buy t h e Black Pe a rl—w he n the y h ad o b t ain ed

possession o f it .

We have not got th e Pearl y e t Jack ans wer ed , ,

qu ietl y When we h av e i t —i i w e find o u t where it is

.

the re will be time enough to talk of sell ing it Wh at hav e .

y ou t o do with the matter

The nati ve had squatted down and a rra ng e d his t ray ,

o f c h eap j ewels in front o f him so that an y onl ooke r might ,

have imagi ned he was t rying to d o an ord inary deal .

My name is Gobind Ch and he s aid I am the so n , .

o f the so n of that othe r Gobind C h and to w ho m th e Pearl ,

o f Pe ih oo was c o nsigned E ver since it fail ed to a rrive

.

have we been l oo king f or it waiting first m y grandfat h e r

, , ,

then m y fathe r then yo ur se rvant h er e No w at l a st

, .
, ,

we shall succeed .

Both t h e boys w ere conscio u s of an e eri e fe eling T his .

s u av e h umble nati v e see m ed to be so ho rr ib ly ce rtain to

, ,

know so much .

How di d y o u fi nd o u t th a t we he ld the s e c re t
Jack asked .

Go bind Chand s m i l ed .

T he re a re d r ugs which ma ke me n talk So me o f t h e se .

d ru g s I gave to the yo ung s ahib who has gone t o B o rneo

with t h at Yellow Dwarf the th rice accu rsed The sa hi b s
,
-
.
'

name is To lh u s To m e he told many things so t h at

.
’
,

I know all ab o ut the matte r And now when t h e .

,

sahi bs have the B l ack Pea rl the y w ill sell it to m e ,

”
.

Jack and Barne y e xchanged gl ances It was r athe r .

like co u nting you r chickens bef o re t h ey we re hatched

mo reov er it did not see m pos s ib l e that t h is humble looki ng
,
-

Hindu in h i s t h in cheap m u s li n with his t ray o f cheap

, , ,

j ewe l s co ul d raise t h e m o ney t o p urch ase t h e most valuabl e

,

Pea rl t h e w o r ld had e v e r kn o w n .

1 81
 A B I D F O R TH E PE AR I :

Still , as h e knew so m u ch it wa s e vid e ntly n ot good ,

policy to q u ar rel with him .

When w e hav e the Pearl we can talk abo ut that , ,

Jack said ; m ean w hile it s going to tak e us all o u r time

,
'

"
to get it .

A nothe r hawke r passed and fo r a m oment Go b ind , , ,

Chand appeared to be busy with his t r a y then :

I can he l p the s ahi bs much he m urm u red t h ere , ,

a re things I know and I a m honest in g r eat mat t e rs e ven

, ,

though I hawk j ewels i n Colo mb o T h e s ahi b s should .

”
take me with the m .

B u t Jack shook his h ead H e w as going t o h av e n o .

unkn o wn natives o n the vent ure .

”
We can do it b y o u rselves h e ans wer ed Late r if , .
,

we succe e d we s hal l be back here in C olomb o th e n y o u c an

, , ,

m ake us an O ffe r fo r the Pearl ”

.

A fl ush Of anno y anc e c r osse d th e Hind u s f ac e th e n h e ’

,

salaamed .

Ve ry w ell Th e sahi b w ill k ee p hi s w o rd An d I

. .

”
shal l b e he r e t o buy , .

As they wal ked away f r o m the hot e l

”
I don t like it a bit Barney said
’
,H o w does that .

fello w know about o u r quest My o w n idea t o o is t h at , ,

he is fa r mo r e l ikely t o t ry and st e al th e P e arl f rom u s

than t o buy it from u s .

”
It can t be he l ped Jack answer e d
’
, I did my best .

t o keep h i m f riend l y I f he had been an enemy I don t '

.
,

t h ink h e would h ave tack l ed u s at a l l Stil l it is strange .

,

h o w t h is stor y o f t h e Pear l seems t o have go t round am ong s t

the nat i v e s I shall be glad now whe n th e q ue st is all
.

”
ove r.

The re w as nothing pa rti c u la r t o d o o n b oa r d th e yacht

t h ey had arranged fo r th e tanks t o be fi ll ed th e fo ll owing
m o r n in g— s o at B ar n ey s s u ggestion th ey s t r ol l ed up i n to
’
, ,

1 82
 C H APT E R XX I X

THE CA N TONE S E
WO o f th e most e vil looking brut es I eve r s aw
-

that was the description o f th e two Ch inamen

w hich Barne y gav e th e gunne r af terwards .

Ce rt ai nl y th ey acted up t o thei r appearance T h ey must

,
.

h ave reali s ed at once wh o th e boys w e r e fo r letting go , ,

of Ab Lung wh o stagge r ed and th e n f ell t o th e ground

, ,

th e y t ur ned savagel y o n Jack and Ba rne y .

T h e boys we r e tota l ly u na rmed—One does not ca rr y

weapons in day light in a Bri t ish cit y o f th e typ e o f C o lombo
- b u t the C e l esti als had kni v e s w hich they w h ipped o u t
,

hasti l y Stil l though the y th reat e n ed they di d n o t

. , ,

attempt to d o an y thing at once .

What y o u w an t ee with o u r broth er ? o n e o f them

grow l ed coming v er y c l os e t o Jack whi l st th e oth er did
, ,

t h e sam e t o Ba r ney .

T h e bo y s g l anc e d r o u nd quickl y Th e st reet appea r ed

.

t o be d es e rt e d s ave fo r a couple more Chinam en lounging

,

in a doorway som e twenty ya r ds Off and a Ci n gal e e who , ,

had t ur ned ta il at the first hint o f t r oub l e Ah Lung was .

lying j ust as he had fallen t h e bo y s assailants n o w having

,
’

their backs t o h im .

To hav e att empted resista n ce w o u ld hav e b ee n m adn ess ,

asking fo r c ertain d eath .

We don t want to int erf er e J ack answ ered slowl y

’
, ,

try ing t o ga in tim e i n the h O p e Of help ap pe ar ing W e

, .

1 84
 TH E CA NT O N E S E

h u ght i t was o ur coo k y o u had the re an d we w ant e d

t o ,

t o get h im back t o o u r y acht I f you l l bring him al ong ’

.

”
we l l pay w e ll
’
.

The Ce l es tials snarled .

This n o your cook Yo u go w a y n o w pl ent y q u ick

.
, .

Save s and th e big knives flashed omino u s l y .

Ba r ney g l anced at Jack There seemed t o be n o cours e

.

Open to them save r etreat mortifyin g t h ough t h at w o uld

,

be Perhaps they wou l d be ab l e t o res cue A h Lung w h en

.

they returned later with th e p ol ic e .

A ll rig h t We r e going Barney began ; keep that

.
’
,

bea s t l y kn i fe away from my rib s can t y o u ! Ah ,

’

There w as good rea s on f o r t he exc l amation f o r without , ,

the s l ightest apparent cause the two C h inamen w e r e ,

j erked vi ol ently backwards landing o n their heads , .

Ah Lung had recove r ed his s en ses and h ad s eized each ,

Of t h em by an ankle s o u nexpected l y t h at they had not

had a chanc e to save them s elv es .

It was the w ork o f a moment for the boys t o j ump o n

th e m and wres t the knives fr o m t h eir h and s w hil s t A h
, ,

Lung s taggered t o hi s feet r eady t o h e l p if need be B u t

, .

hi s fe llo w countr ym en knew t h e game was up

-
T h ei r .

o wn kniv es were pre ss ed again s t t h eir t h r e at s and t h e ,

lo o k in t h e boys fac es told them that t h ey wou l d not

’

get much mercy .

Ki l l t h em Plenty pirate man Ah Lung gr owled

.
-
, .

”
Le t me ki ll if you no want e e d o it .

The bo y s were in a fix O f cours e it w as o u t Of the

.
,

que s tion to f ollo w Ah Lung s advice yet at t h e same ’

, ,

time it wa s dangerous to re l eas e t h eir priso ne r s H o w

, .

e ver the matter w as sett led fo r them b y t h e appearance

,

o f a co up l e O f native police at the end of t h e road .

”
Le t t h em g o now Jack s aid qu ickl y We d o n t ’
, .

w ant to be in a p olic e c ou rt case ”

.

1 85
 TH E CA NT O N E S E
As they we re released th e tw o Celestials sk u lked
so o n as ,

o fl hurried l y and were l os t to view down a na rr ow alley

, .

A couple O f r u pees se r ved to allay the c o nstab l es curiosity ’

and make them v o luntee r to c o nduct the sahi bs o u t o f

what was Obvi ou s l y a dangerous area .

A s the y went Ah Lung explained He had been to find

, .

a co u sin o f hi s and had quite by chance fal len in with

, , ,

this pai r o f sco undre l s who u nder the pr etext of showing ,

him where h i s cou s in n o w lived had taken him to an ,

Opium den intending apparentl y to drug him

, .

Real ising that h e was in a danger o us position he had ,

prete nded to b e thoroughly d ru nk hoping for a chance ,

to escape a th ing which he pro bab l y w o uld not have

,

accomp l ished had it not been fo r the boys unexpe ct ed '

appearance j ust as h e was being take n f rom th e Opiu m

,

den to his capto r s o wn abode ’

.

”
But w hat was thei r m otive ? Ro bb ery ? Ba rne y
asked .

The Celestial shook hi s head emphatically N o it was .

,

not robbery He kn ew far bette r than to g o do wn to that

.

pa rt with anything w o rth stealing on him but t h ese men

were no ordinary thieves being in fact his pet aversi o ns , , , ,

Cant o nese pirate men The y t o o l i ke Gobind Chand

-
. , , ,

h ad l ea rnt o f t h e discove r y of the Black P earl O f Pe ih o o

and f or m o nths past they had been waiting to ki dnap
, ,

Ah Lung in o rder to extract the s ecret from h i m

, .

H e was vi sibly shaken u n u suall y shaken ov er the , ,

narrowness of his o wn escape

Plenty bad men those he exclaimed K ill me if
,
.
,

not te ll the m ab o ut B l ack Pear l ; then send j unks to

take Moll y Hawk and kil l a l l Save s ,
’

Certai nl y the boys did s av e e o nly too well The y

, ,
.

we re mo re than thankfu l for Ah Lung s escape but at th e ’

, ,

same ti m e the n ew s h e had given them w as most dist urb ing

, ,

1 86
 T H E CA NT O N E S E

Th at ni ght it fell to J ack to take th e tw elv e t ill fou r

anch or watch He saw the l igh ts on shore go o u t at fi rst
.
,

i n great batches as t h e hote l s c lo sed t hen sing l y as t h e

, ,

last r eve ll e rs went to bed A patrol launch pa ss ed the .

Mo l l y Hawk and he gave it Al l s we ll

”
,
"
Tw o ancient ’
.

brigs decrepit enoug h by da y but l o o king statel y and

, ,

digni fied in the mo o n l ig h t sl ipped pa s t on t h e tide f ol lowed

, ,

cl os e l y by a Maldive I sl and craft wit h wei r d matting sai l s ,

and a j abbering crowd on he r ste r n Then all seemed to .

bec o me sudden l y s ti ll .

Jack went t o t h e ste rn rail and star ed towards the ,

Open se a Neve r bef o re h ad t he despe rate natu re o f their

.

mi s si o n c o me ho me to him so strongl y and neve r b efore ,

had h e prayed so pas s i o nate ly fo r hel p and guidance .

Sudden l y h e swung ro und as a h and was laid o n his a rm , ,

a lean ne rv o us ye ll ow h and wit h l o ng fi nge p n ail s

, , .

Ca n do ”
.It was A h Lung s voice confident almost ’

, ,

afl e ct i o n at e a ra re thing in a Celest ial

, Ca n do no .

wro ng sav e e ? Yo u lookee—there g o es Ca nt onese pi rate

,

man and he pointed t o a ju nk whi ch was j u st leaving

,

some inne r wh a r f towed b y a fussy l ittle steam launch

, .

Ch ine s e trade r h ere plenty go o d Big Chinese me rchant

, .
,

C hinese banke r believe him all right ; b u t v ery m uch

,

pirate o u t there in B o rneo "

.

T h e yo ung s kipper o f t h e M oll y Hawk sta red gloomil y

at the j unk Certainl y s h e did not look a fo rmidab l e
.
,

enem y but it was unsafe to pr o p hes y knowing as h e did

, , , ,

how keen and res o urceful we r e t h eir fe e s .

Per h ap s A h Lung u nder s t oo d what was in his mind .

A t any rate he tried to c h eer hi m u p

, .

Can d o he repeate d can get Black Pearl of P e ih o o

”
, , .

”
Me t el l y o u that .

1 88
 C H APT E R XXX

TH E LAS T S T A G E
”
M olly Hawk s l ipp e d o u t o f Colombo ve r y
E
quiet l y aft er dark O nce more the Pearl s eeker s
, .

had been ob l iged t o c h ange t h ei r p l ans Instead .

of putt ing i n at Singap or e th e y w er e going t o r un straigh t

,

o n t o to u ch no w he re e l s e u nti l th ey re ach e d th e co ast o f

,

Born eo .

A s soon as th ey were well o u t at s e a the gu ns which , ,

had been sent be l ow some ti me p r evious l y were fetc h ed ,

u p and t e mo u nted Th er e w as plenty O f ammunition

,
-
.

fo r th e m and ever y day the gunner insisted o n giving

,

the boys target practice at a s cr e en t o wing a s tern

-
I may .

get d i sabled h e said

”
, A nd anyw ay if w e get a re al
.
,

fight we s h a l l want t o u s e b oth o u r o n e pounders

,
” -
.

The Ma xim t oo was te s ted and put into perfect orde r

, , ,

and a ll the s m a l l a rm s w er e over h au l ed most carefu ll y .

Then the re we r e t h e smoke hel met s t o be tried A ft er .

a great deal o f disc u ssion it had been arranged that A h

,

Lung should m ak e the actual des c e nt into th e s m oke

ho l e t o fetch o u t the Vice r oy s b o x wh i l st Barney ’
,

w as t o be r ese r ve man fo r th e task ; -

con s equent l y ,

both o f these p r actised wearin g the u nwie l dy gear in

the fie r ce g l a re o f the su n s o that w hen the crucial , ,

m oment came th ey sho ul d not fin d th e d r ess and

,

h elmets str ang e .

Th e d a ys s ee m ed t o sli p by with ligh tnin g r a p i d i ty .

 TH E LAS T ST A G E

It was a fai r we ather passag e all t hr ough and the y made ,

very good running T h ey had got o u t a c o urse w hi ch

.

w oul d keep them well o u t o f the t r ack o f most v esse l s ,

and t h oug h onc e t h ey got down am ongst t h e is l ands

, ,

navigation b e cam e a ne r vous task th ey n eve r actual ly ,

go t t h ei r l ittle vess e l into dange r .

As t h ey drew nea r to their de s tination a c u rio u s res tl es s ,

ness seemed t o take h o l d o f them a l l Little w as said n o w .

about t h eir venture but everyone w as keen l y o n t h e q u i

,

vive It b e came difficult to sleep du r ing t h e watch below

.
,

d ifficult t o r e frain from continua ll y consulting the patent

l o g and then l ooking at the chart
, A t l ast t h ere cam e .

a day w h en Jack was able to announce at no o n that , ,

t h ey w e r e act u a ll y within fifty miles o f the mouth o f

Raj a Sey e d s r iv er A dim haze showed them w h e re th e
’
.

coast o f B or neo was and befo r e long the y could make

,

o u t c le a r ly a line o f m ountains fa r inland .

A h Lung pointed t o a c ertain great p eak The y had .

pas s ed wit h in a f ew mi l es o f that o n t he i r memorabl e

canoe j ourn e y aft er thei r escap e fr om the h e ad h u nt ers
,
-
,

h e dec l ared .

Jack nodded in silence H e t o o had r ecognised t h e

.
, ,

mountain but the memori e s it b r ought back were a l most

t o o muc h for h im then as he thoug h t Of w hat the next
,

few days might bring w h e n he thought o f the possibilit y

,

Of once more fa ll ing into the hands Of Raj a Se y ed and

the Ye llow Dwarf a sudden c h ill ran t h roug h h is veins If
, .

any Of his comrad es came t o gr i ef thei r blood w o u ld be

o n h is h ead he to l d him se l f
,
.

T h e p l ans for t h e landing h ad been w o r ke d o u t c a refull y .

”
The Mo ll y Hawk was to b e ru n into a s m a ll cr e ek
whic h fo rmed the near est point o f t h e s ea to the Smoke
Hole O n account Of his wooden l e g th e g u nn er w as
. ,

t o b e left o n b oa r d in c ha rg e o f the y acht ; w hi lst th e

,

1 9 0
 TH E L A ST ST AG E

T ru st th e Gre at Skippe r s i r he said sim pl y T ru st in , , .

H is r eal Mig h t D idn t H e se e y o u through befor e ? C an t

.
’ ’

H e d o it again ? The s e Pal ap o gs and Sultans an d , ,

Raj as and Yel l ow Dwarfs a r e a ll clean against Him and

,

His teac h ing Say yo u r praye rs and se e that th ere s

.
,
’

n o gr it i n th e action o f yo ur ri fle an d y o u v e nothing t o
’
,

’
fe ar J
The b o y smi l ed a litt le sadly Th e re sponsi b ility o f
, .

having brought the othe rs o n thi s que st s eemed terri bl e

at t imes .

And y ou Gunne r h e asked ; we r e going to l eav e

,
'

y ou a l one pe rhaps to face hundreds

, .

NO si r n o t alone
,
”
,J o seph Ri cha rdson answe red ,

s toutly There s the G re at Skippe r and the r e r e thos e

.
’

,
’

l itt le pets O f mine too He pointed meaningl y to the

, .

Maxim and h i s beloved o ne pounde rs Toys t he y ca l l -

.

’
em t oys l h e snorted contemptuo u sl y
,
Perhaps they re '

to ys f or a ma r ine but not fo r m e That D ago c ra ft in,

the Vito Ri ve r lea rnt that lesson .

They had sl o wed the Mol l y Hawk do w n t o l es s than

half speed as the y did not w ant to be s ee n o ff th e Raj a s
,
’

coast in dayl ight .

We ll get opposit e that creek by daw n Jack sai d

’

, .

Then make a quick dash in Perhaps w e shall no t .

b e sighted At any rate we ought to hav e a fe w ho urs

. ,
’

grace bef ore the Yellow D wa rf can hea r .

There s a ste ame r o n t h e horizon

’ ”
I t w as Ba rn ey wh o .
,

had gone u p a lo ft t o get a bette r vie w who hai l ed th e ,

deck . She l oo ks to me very m uch like the Pang Yes u ,

’

and she s co m ing this way

'
.

1 95
 C H APT E R XXX I

AS H O R E A T LAS T
T did not ta ke Jack long t o j oin his ch um up aloft .

T h e s u n had j us t se t but the re was still plenty o f

,

l ight and it was e as y to mak e o u t a small steam er

,

w ith t wo masts and o ne funnel .

Yes I think it is the Pang Yee n w o rse luck

, ,
’
,

Jack s ai d aft e r he had h ad a good look

, I t s hard t o say
.
’

fo r certain but the c h ances are that it is the Raj a s c ra ft

,
’
.

The question is—will sh e sight u s ?

Barney glanced at the glow in the west We a re .

again s t the sun t o he r so we ve got a c h ance If we don t

,
’
.
’

se e h er c h ange h er c o urse b e fo re da rk we ma y ass ume sh e s

'
,

”
miss ed us .

Th ey we re two very anx ious b oys who w atch e d the distant

st eame r in the dying light O nce Barney dec l ared t h at
.
,

he could se e by h e r masts t h at s h e had ch anged h er c o u r s e

then h e decided h e h ad been mi s taken and afte r th at he , ,

retu rned t o his f o r me r attitude .

Jack w o u l d give no Opini o n the r esult b eing that w hen ,

t h ey descended t o t h e deck onc e mo re t h e y were who ll y ,

u ncert ain as to whet h e r the y had been sighted o r no ,

whethe r they might n o t in an hou r o r so h av e a search

, ,

light suddenl y tu rne d o n t o them .

Still there w as nothing they could d o sav e work slo wl y

, ,

up to w a rd s thei r d e stination and wait fo r wh at mig h t

happe n .

1 93
 AS H O R E A T LAS T
N on e Of the ship s compan y reall y tu rned in that night
’
.

F ro m time to time o ne o r ot h e r o f t h e b o ys dozed on the

,

sal o on sky l igh t whi l st Ah L ung had a b l an k et sp read j u st

,

forward of t h e foremast but it was not l ike real s l eep The y

, .

h ad been wo rki ng up s o l ong t o t hi s crisis that no w they

were all Overstrung Rea ll y they we re in the n erv y cas e
.
,

of men w h o wo u l d sho ot at t h e very fir s t a l ar m .

When you are search ing in the darkne s s f or the m o uth

, ,

o f a creek whi c h i s n o t marked o n y o ur chart the chances ,

are that y ou mi s s the p l ace and make a mess o f things ,

generally ; but luck was o n the side of the c re w o f the

M olly Hawk D a wn found them a b a re mile f rom
.

s h ore—they had not intended to g e t so close i n—b ut it

al s o found them exactl y Opposit e the e nt r an ce fo r w hich
t h ey we re ma king .

Bot h Jack and Ah Lu ng re cognised the localit y at once .

T h e mouth o f Raj a Sey e d s r ive r w h e re we saw the ’

j unks which had b een t ry ing t o l o ot the birds nests is ’

”
t h ere about th ree miles away Jack said a nd I suppose
, , ,

t h e Raj a s town is fifteen miles u p the stream which is

’

tida l so fa r I wish y ou would go aloft Ba rne y and

.
, ,

se e if there is any sign o f the Pang Ye s u ’

.

Five minutes late r afte r a most caref u l sc ru tin y o f the

,

ho ri zon Barney r eported that the re w as not a sail in sight

,

no r could he see any sign Of life on sho re not a sing l e whis p ,

of sm o ke was rising in the sti ll air .

Jack heaved a sigh of relief .

”
V e r y well h e said to the g u nne r who w as at the
, ,

wheel ru n straight into t h e creek It is high tide and

, .
,

t here wil l b e p l ent y Of w ater fo r the M ol ly Hawk .

’

We ll anc h o r in mid st rea m and l and in the di nghy hiding

’
-
, ,

”
her in the bu s hes .

A strange si l ence fe ll o n the m a l l as they e nt ere d the

creek At last t hey were act u ally in Bo r neo a ct ual l y
.
,

1 94
 A S H O R E A T L AS T

O ur luck is e v ident l y going to hold goo d h e sai d , .

The Chi naman nodded .

Him ki llee yo u p l ent y quick that snake h e answe re d , .

T h ey found an easy landing p l ace j ust at the f oo t o f -

,

the tree t ru nk made t h ei r di ng h y fas t then got thei r st u ff

, ,

o u t o n to t h e bank Not a moment was wasted Jack . .

had arranged everyt hi ng perfectly the loads we re a ll ,

re ad v and each knew exact l y what he had to do

, .

T h ere was o f c o u rse n o th ing in the nature o f a path

, , ,

an d at fi r s t it w as n o easy ta s k t o fo rce one s way through

’
, ,

t h e den s e bu s h a lo ng the side o f t h e creek ; but o n t he ,

ot h er h and as J ack was glad t o note there was no human

, ,

spoo r t o be seen anyw h ere E vi dent ly the natives had .

no i l l ages in the i mmediate neigh bo urho o d

V .

O nce t h ey were awa y from the c reek howe v er the , ,

u ndergrowt h became less tro ub l e so me and it was p oss ible ,

bo t h t o f ollo w a fair l y s traig ht cour s e and to travel fair ly ,

quic kly A l ready Jack could make o u t fa m il ia r l and

.

m ark s The range of bi l l s at the back o f the K an d e r o n g

.

Cave s had o f cour s e been visible since dawn ; but n o w

, , ,

as t h ey breasted t h e firs t rise he was ab l e to p o int o u t ,

to B arney the gap through which the y w ould have to

pas s .

The Smoke H o le is onl y a mile beyond that he said , .

O nl y a mi l e ! Thi nk o f tha t Old man ! Then we shall ,

have t h e B l ack Pearl .

Barney n o dded but he did n o t answe r Al ready h e , .

was breat h less Du ring t h e voyage he had got di stinct ly

.

o u t o f training w hi ls t o f cour s e t h is was hi s ve ry fir st

, , ,

experi ence of t h e Tro pic s T h e h eat t h e t o il o f pus hing .

,

as i de t h e leaves and branche s and o f cours e the , , ,

unaccu s t o med l o ad were te ll ing o n h i m sore l y even at

. ,

t h e s ta r t He wa s de t ermi ned n o t t o g i ve in determined

.
, ,

if p oss i b l e n o t to l et h i s c o mpan i o ns see how d i stres s e d

,

1 9 6
 AS H O R E A T LAS T
h e was yet when h e lo o ked forw ard an d saw t h e di st ance
, ,

which had t o be covered hi s s pi r its fell t o z er o , .

H o w was h e g o ing t o do it
F o r th e next c o up l e o f miles how e v er he managed t o , ,

st r ugg l e o n ma nf u ll y figh ti ng hard to keep u p with th e

,

oth ers S o meho w th e dangers o f the ventu re seemed

.
,

t o be as n o t hi ng now co mpared with h i s o wn suff erings .

H o w h e env ied Jack and Ah Lung During the next mil e

he went as if in a dream afterwards he cou l d recall li ttle ,

o r n o th i ng o f it ; th en suddenl y he co ll apsed go ing

, , ,

down l ike a log At t h e sound o f hi s load fa ll ing against

.

a s t o ne Jack loo ked r o und A m o ment late r hi s o wn ki t

. , .
,

was on t h e gr o und and he was hasteni ng t o t h e assis t a n ce

,

Of his c h um .

I ll be a ll ri g ht soon quite all rig h t Ba rney gasped b u t

’

, ,

bot h t h e Chi naman and Jack kn ew better Barney would .

not be fit t o carry anyt h ing heavier than a rifle t h at day .

Wh at w as t o be d o ne ? It did not take Jack long

t o make up hi s mi nd O ne O f t ho se l ife saving s u its and
.
-

smo ke h el mets must be l eft behi nd After all the c h anc es

-
.
,

w ere great l y again s t the s pare o n e being needed B y .

leaving it it wo u l d be po s s ib l e t o reduce Ba rney s load

,
’

d o wn to t h e rifl e and h i s own pro visi o ns .

A quar te r of an hour s rest sufficed to allow Barney ’

to rec o ve r At fi rst he pr otested strong l y against th e

.

propo sed aband o nment o f t h e gear but Jack wo u ld listen ,

t o n o argument and at last Ba rney gave in wit h an

, ,

i n ward se n se Of t h an kfu l nes s After all h e kne w he co uld

.
,

n o t face t h at march wit h t h e full lo ad .

T h e sun was n o w hi gh in th e heavens and th e heat ,

had become i nten s e but still th ey started O ff again at a

,

go o d pace T hi ngs seemed t o b e i n t h ei r favo ur afte r al l

.
, .

T h ey had se en no sign o f nativ es had not e ve n cross ed a ,

nati v e footpath .

I 97
 A S H O R E A T LAS T
The n su ddenly Ah L ung b r ought hi s r ifl e t o his should er
, ,

and fired A brown figu re sprang in to the ai r from behi n d

.

a bu sh then coll ap s ed inert l y

, .

Pal apo g
”
the Ce le s tial grunted ; no d o an y mo re
,

kil l e e n o w and he gave a li ttle gri n o f satisfaction

”
.
,

B u t J ack w ho h ad dashed behind the bu sh and h ad

, ,

been t r y ing vain l y to get a s ight o f s ometh ing came b ack

,

with a ve ry g loo my loo k on h i s face .

The re was an o ther o f the be gga rs he sai d h e s go t

, ,
‘

cl ea n awa y with th e news .

 D O WN TH E SMO KE H O L E

As fo r th e shor e pa rty thei r o n e chanc e was t o h urr y

,

o n still mor e . T h e y had shed o n e o f thei r life s aving -

suits and smoke helm ets n o w Jack decided sti l l f u rth er

-
,

to lighten th e loads by shedding all the provisions except ,

o n e sm all package which m e ntally he r e se r v e d fo r Ba rn ey

,
.

Ah Lu ng nodded wisely at the o rde r .

Have l ived o n f ru it before l ong tim e Ca n d o again

, . .

In additi on t o t h at th e y sh ed eve ry r ag o f cloth ing th ey

,

cou l d st ripping th emse l ves down t o v ests t r ouse r s an d

, , ,

boots What did shi rts m atte r when n o t onl y th e Black

.

P earl o f Pe ih o o bu t thei r o wn lives as well we r e at stak e

,

The lig h tening o f th e loads combined w ith th e s ens e ,

o f i mmediate ,pr essing dange r led t o a gr e at inc reas e ,

of speed A h Lung wh o had a sp l endid sense o f localit y

.
, ,

strode in f r ont heading a l wa y s fo r th e gap i n th e r ang e

,

t h rough w hich t h e Smoke Hole w as r eached Neve r .

onc e ev e n i n the thickest j ung l e did h e s e em t o g e t o u t

, ,

o f the st r aight cou r s e Clos e o n his h eels c ame Ba rn e y

.
,

whil s t Jack now act ed as r ea r g u a r d -

.

O n and on toiling u p th e hil ls st ru ggl i ng th r o u gh th e

, ,

mud in th e dips panting ho rribl y m ost o f th e ti me th e

, ,

perspiration always smarting in thei r e y es th e th ree ,

t r easure seeke rs h urri ed towards thei r goal

-
.

O n and o n ! Th e y ha d th e sta rt Ov er an y p urs uer s ,

and they w er e dete r m i ned t o mak e the most Of that fa c t .

O n and o n It was a t err ible t r ek a ve ritable nightma re ,

O f a trek b y r e ason o f the h e at the m u d th e she er physi cal

, , ,

e xe r ti on e v e n apa r t fr om t h e me nta l st r ain but still

, , ,

once th e y w er e tu ne d u p t o i t non e o f th em falt ere d in

T h e y were o u t t o w in—
,

t h e v ery le ast deg ree . o r t o d ie .

At last the y w e re i n the gap wi thi n a m il e Of t h e Smoke ,

”
Ho le th e Hol e w h er e the d e vi ls breathe s m ok e wi thin
,
“
,

a m il e o f that Black P ea r l Of Peih oo w h ic h h ad alread y ,

c os t s o m an y li v es .

2 00
 D O WN T H E SMO KE H O LE

In the gap Jack stopped abr uptly drew a de e p b r eath

, , ,

then l ooked back in t h e direction wh ence th ey h ad come .

Be lo w t h em t h e h i lls and dip s alm ost l o s t am ongst

,

the im mensity o f the f o res t tree s w as t he j ungl e thr ough ,

whi c h t h ey h ad j u s t forced t h eir way a vast s ea o f green -

.

Beyond t h at j ungl e was the s e a b l ue serene and o n , , ,

that s ea almost Opposite the mouth Of the c r eek in which

,

th e Mo ll y Hawk was h idden wa s a steame r , .

The Pang Ye s u B arney exc l a i med She s go t

’ ’
.
,

”
the gunne r sh u t i n They ll hav e h i m a n d h e gav e a
.
’

queer l itt l e so b .

But Jack s h ook hi s head .

I t s n o t the
’
Pang Ye e n Thi s c r aft has n ot go t a .
’

”
fi d d l e b ow
-
She may be an ordinary t r ade r
. .

Ah Lung p l ucked h im by the s l eeve and pointed towa r d s ,

the east Cantonese pi r ate j unk s he remarked ,

”
quiet l y . Pl e nty tr o uble by and by .

F o ll o wi ng the direction o f t h e Ce l estial s finge r the bo ys ’

could s ee t h ree large j unks coming ro und a head l and some ,

five m i l es f rom t h e mouth o f the creek The y must hav e .

seen the steame r some tim e be fore yet appar e ntl y h er ,

p resence did no t di sturb th em in the leas t deg ree .

Jack t u r ned awa y impatient ly .

We can t he l p th ings now ; w e can t alte r thi ngs so

’ '

fa r as the se a is conce r ne d Ou r busin ess is t o s ecure t h e

.

Pear l and t o chance t h e rest

, .

It was no t long befo re Jack cl u tched Ba rney s ar m and ’

pointed to a c l oud o f smoke fl o a t ing sl o wly up wards ,

a puff o f smoke such as migh t ha ve b een blown o u t by

,

some m o ns trous s m o ke r .

That com es from the plac e h e said f ro m t h e S m o k e , ,

Hole it elf It is inte ttent not like a t y pi cal volca no

s . r m i ”
, .

And then al most be fo re th e y kn ew what h ad happen ed

, ,

they w e r e standing o n th e ve ry ed g e o f tha t a w fu l pi t ,

2 01
 D O WN TH E SM O KE H O L E

and Jack in the most q u i et m atter O i fact ton e s—s trangel y

, ,
- -

matte r O i fact— was pointing o u t to h i s chum the Vice roy s

- -
'

box o n t h e ledge fo rt y feet below them .

Th e Black Pearl o f Pe i h o o is in that in that he , ,

repeated the w ords mo re o r less m echanicall y It is .

still there N o one e l se has f o und it

.
"
.

Th en anothe r o f th ose te r rible p u fl s o f s m ok e cam e u p ,

and the y ha d to dash away f rom th e ed ge choking and ,

half blinded
-
.

O ne g l ance had su ffic e d fo r A h Lung As soon as he .

was certain that the t r ea s ure had not been taken a l ready ,

he began in t h e m ost matter o i fact w a y t o u ntie the

,
- -
,

various packages o f gear the smoke helm et the rope ,

-
,

ladde rs He was not going to los e a min u t e e v ery s econd

.

was preci o us .

His example se t t h e boys o n t o o The r e was n o t ree , .

anywhere nea r the edge of that horribl e pit but the re w ere ,

plent y Of huge boulders and t h e y had some spare rope

,

co n s equent ly it was not a difli cul t matte r to get a so u nd

,
‘

fi xi ng for thei r rope ladder -

.

Ah Lung was to be the one t o d e scend Both the bo y s .

were dead l y keen t o have the honour but common sense ,

-

p revailed The C elestial was fa r to u ghe r than eithe r o f

.

t h em fa r l ess likel y to t urn gidd y o r to los e h is ne rve

, , .

M oreov er if h e w ent t h ere could be no rival ry bet wee n

, ,

t h em .

Whil st the y we r e fi xing the rope ladde r their com p anion -

,

was a rr anging his sm o ke helmet — o r t r y ing to arrang e it

-
.

N O ca n do 1 Th e boy s t urn ed sharpl y at the w o rds .

No can do No u se at a ll
.

The Ch ina man w as regarding th e helm e t w ith the m ost

intens e disfavo ur Then the y u nd erstood B y so m e
. .

horr ibl e ove rsight w hen t h ey abandoned the other suit

, ,

the y ha d also a b andoned pa r t O f thi s on e It was quit e .

2 02
 D O WN TH E S MO KE H OL E

Ca n d o he repe ate d
, B e tt er m ake hast e o r Pal apo g
.
,

”
me n come .

Ve r y re l uctantly Jack ga v e w a y The bandage was .

p ut on carefu ll y so as to allow as much c h ance as po ss ib l e

,

fo r breat h ing but even then it was a cas e O f semi

, , ,

s u ff o cati o n .

T h e rope la dde r was lowered do wn i mmediate ly afte r

-

o n e o f the huge puffs of smoke had as ce nd e d It reached .

the ledge e asily and had it not been f or those g h ast l y

, ,

f u mes the recove ry Of t h e b ro nze box would have been

,

a v e r y simple matte r But no man could say what was .

the natu r e o f the atmosphe re fo rt y f ee t down w h ethe r ,

i t would be possib l e to breathe at all F o r all the y knew .

,

Ah Lung m igh t be s u ffocated b efo re h e ha d descended

ten fe e t .

Yet non e th e less he did descen d and so fa r as the

, , , ,

b oys c ou ld see h e was absolute ly calm and u n t r oubled

, ,

ab solu tely without an y sens e of fea r O utward ly at .

,

l ea st the y we re fa r m o re ne r vo u s than he was

, .

The ladde r swung to and f ro as he went down bu t his ,

grip o n it w as sur e a nd there seem e d no l ikelihood o f hi s

,

s lipping O nce he glanced up at the boys an d smiled

.
, ,

as though telling them that all was r ight .

Then j ust as his foot was above the ledge j ust as he

, ,

w as withi n a few feet o f the B l ack Pearl itself o ne of those ,

terrible puffs of smoke sudden ly bur s t upwards The boy s .

,

who ha d b e en leaning ove r the brink j umped back and , ,

att empted to keep O ff the fume s b y cov e ring thei r faces

w ith thei r hands bu t Ah Lu ng wa s do wn be lo w r ight in ,

the ho rr o r o f it .

The moment the smoke was clea r th e b oys we re back ,

dreading t o find t h e l adder hanging loose to find t h at the ,

faithful Ch ina man had fallen head lo ng into that i nferno .

Ye t th ere he was c l ingi ng d e s perat e l y t o t h e ladd e r h is

, ,

2 04
 D O WN T H E SMO KE H O L E

hea d loll ing o n o ne s id e lik e that o f a hope lessl y dru nken

,

m an ; but sti ll he was st r ugg l in g upwa r ds ru ng b y ru ng

, ,

and i n the b ag wh ich he had taken with h im slung ove r his

,

b ack was the b ron ze bo x c ontaining th e Black

,

of
 C H APT E R XXX I I I

TH E S T E AM E R O U T S I D E
O U LD Ah Lung d o it Wo u ld his st rengt h hold
o u t until he reached the su rface

The bo y s held their breath as th ey w atched

h i m st ru ggling to keep his self contr o l st ru ggl ing t o p re v e nt
-
,

th e last o f his st rength f ro m slipping away fi ght ing to ,

be o u t o f that te r rible pit b efo re the n e xt p uff o f smoke

s ho u ld be o n him .

Wo u ld he do it ? It is onl y fai r to say tha t du ring ,

thos e f ew agonising seconds th e b o y s tho u ghts w e re all

,
’

o f the m an , and not o f the treasu re which that man w as

ca rry i ng T ogethe r they knelt o n t he v ery edge at
.
,

the top o f the ladde r waiting fo r a chanc e to sei z e the

,

man the moment he came w ithin re ach The fumes rose .

into th e i r nost rils and e y es choking them half blinding

, ,
-

the m but the y we r e ba re l y consci o us o f this Wh at could .

thei r su fl e r i n gs be compare d w ith tho s e of the man b elo w

the m
S ix feet from the top Ah Lu ng stopped Th e b o y s
, .

groan e d Was he d o ne ? Was he go ing to fai l when

.

so close to safety ? A few s e conds mo re and on e o f ,

those te r rible pu ff s o f smoke wou l d be d ue Yet there .

was nothing the y c o uld do n o thing at all

, .

The Chinaman s head had fa ll en f or wa r d no w and he

’

seemed t o have lost all sense of where he was Hitherto .

the b o y s h ad n o t s aid a w or d but n o w Jack ha i l e d s ud d e nl y .

2 06
 TH E S T E AM E R O U T S I D E

use l ess r ope l adder and s m o ke he l met int o the pit then
- -
, .

wit h h ard l y a w o rd h aving been s p o ken t h ey w e re r eady ,

t o start o n t h eir way back .

Y o u takee t h i s ”
T h e Celestial had taken the li ttl e
.

bag o ff his back and h e l d it o u t to Jack

, .

But the latter s hoo k h i s head .

NO , he an s wered kn o wing h o w t h e trust wo ul d p le as e

,

h i s fait h fu l f ollo wer Y o u keep it A h Lung It s s afe r

.
, .
'

Wi t h y o u Let s get out t h rough t h e gap as quickly as we

’
.

can— t h at s w h ere we may be trapped —t h en we wil l make

’

a bit o f a sweep to the righ t to keep away fr o m o ur fo rme r

,

”
track .

Beyond t h e Pear l and the o n e sma ll package O f fo o d

, ,

t h e i r on l y lo ad s now c o n s i s ted o f th ei r weap o ns m o r e

ove r though t h ere were many dip s and rises they we re
, ,

rea ll y descending all the time ; c o nsequently thei r pa ce ,

was bette r t h an it had bee n coming up .

It must be admitted t h at a ll three were v e ry ne rvous

as t h ey reac hed the gap If any party of Pal apo gs had got
.

o n their trai l quickl y after the a l a rm it was at the gap ,

that t hey wo u l d pr o bab l y wait for their victims .

Jack went fir s t h i s rifle ready t h e o t h ers f ollo wing close

, ,

at hi s hee l s T h ey peered round cauti o us l y expecting

.
,

eve r y m o ment t o h ear a r ifl e s ho t o r wor s e stil l to hav e

-
, , ,

o n e O f t ho se dead l y l itt l e da r ts in their flesh But n o thing .

happened I h ere wa s n o t a s ign o f life

.
"
.

As th ey entered t h e j ung l e o n the oth er side o f the gap ,

the b o ys breat h ed praye rs o f gr atitude O ne gr eat p eril .

,

o n e m o re great peri l was safe l y past , .

N o w for th e dash to t h e creek Jack began bu t the

”
, ,

wo rds were hard l y o ut of his m o uth when f ro m a b a re , ,

twenty yards away came t h e s o unds o f voices

, .

In s tant l y t h e t h ree treasure h unters sank do wn into the

-

undergrowt h T h e speake rs we r e h idd e n f ro m th em by

.

2 08
 TH E ST E A M E R O U TSI D E

a scree n o f bu sh bu t it was o b vio u s tha t th ey c onsist e d

o f a large bod y o f nativ e s ther e cam e a voic e t h e sound ,

o f which made Jack gri p Ba r ne y s a rm fie r cel y

’
.

We ve got t h em it said in E nglish

’
, They ve gon e .
’

o n the r e am o ngst t h e r ocks and there s no othe r way o u t

’

, , ,

except that through the Kan d e r o n g Cav e s w here I v e got ,

’

”
men o n watch .

T h e Yello w D wa rf Jack wh ispe re d He neve r

, .

s u spects we have b een so q u ick It wi ll give us a chance ”

. .

An o ther E ng l ish voice answered Piet Van de r Hum m .

”
I m glad we re going t o get the Pearl but there was a
’ ’

, ,

dist i nct shudde r in the tone that seems a ho rr ib l e p l ace , ,

amongst all th os e r o c ks and if the y see us fi r st and

sho o t
It s Se b ag Tolh ur st ! This ti m e th e whisp er came f ro m
'

Barne y D oesn t h e sound sca red ? I would be t o o

.
’

if I wer e in the D wa r f s hands and ha d s uch a r ott e n reco rd

’

”
as that skunk has .

A cu rt orde r from the D wa r f t o h i s m e n an d th e n it ,

w as e vident that the p a r ty wa s m oving o n again thr ough ,

the gap .

I don t like it Ca n t I w ait he re

’
. they hea r d Se b ag
’

protesting hea r d a sho r t savage negative from t h e half

, ,

ca ste and then the voices died awa y in t h e d istance

, .

”
N o w fo r t h e c r eek Jack said as h e sto o d u p and
,

stret ched h imself I am glad we heaved all t h at gea r

.

down the Sm o ke Hole We left no sp oor o n those ro cks

.

by wh ich they cou l d track us T h ey ll perh aps spend .

’

hours searching th nking we r e sti ll s o mewh ere there

i ,
” ’

The tramp do wn t o the creek seemed strange l y uneventful .

Not a s ign o f any natives did they se e wh il st having no , ,

loads the going appeared very easy T h en t o o th ere

, .
, ,

was t h e kn o wl edge t h at they had the B l ack Pear l o f Pe ih o o ,

that the y had s u c ceeded in their amazing v ent ure .

20 9
 TH E S T E AM E R O U TSI D E

Yet it is doubtful whethe r an y o f the m re alis ed fu l l y

what the y had done Their minds had been o n the subj ect
.

so long that it was d ifficult for th em to grasp the fact t h at

that porti o n of th ei r adventure was ove r that so fa r as , ,

the y were c o ncerned the Sm o ke Hole no longer existed

, ,

that all they had to do no w was to get a wa y w ith their

b ooty .

At the head of the creek Jack halted

We must go carefu ll y he said
”
The chances are , .

that s o me o ne is watc h ing the M ol ly Hawk and we ma y ,

’

b l under r ight into t h em ”

.

It was a so u nd p o licy yet on that da y O f astonishing , ,

luck t h e precautions appeared to have been u nnece ssa r y

, .

Th rough a break in the j ungle the y saw the moto r yacht ,

-

at anchor t h e gunne r sitting o n the cabin sky light smoking

, ,

r e fl e ct i v e l y and when th ey reache d the place whe re the y

had left the dinghy the lit tle c raft was stil l there
, .

As they emerged f rom unde r the g reat overhanging ,

tree the gunne r caught sigh t o f them and gave a hai l

, ,

o f delig h t which was redoubled w h en h e lea rn t o f thei r

,

success that t h ey act ua l ly had the Pearl with the m He

, .

insisted o n shaking hands wit h them again and again ,

the tears o f j oy in his eyes sh owing h ow great h is anx iety

must have been during their ab s ence then he came down
to the nece ss ities of t h eir po s iti o n .

I ve had no ala rms s ir h e said no sign of any o f

’
, ,
”
,

tho s e murde ring h eat h en ; but I t h ink t h at the s o oner

we re away the bett e r That P ang Ye en may turn up
’
. .

We kn o w sh e s somewhere in t h ese water s or that Ye ll ow

’
,

”
Dwa rf and y o ung T o l h urst wou l dn t be here ’
.

Jack nodded T h e advice was very sen s ib l e They wer e

. .

a ll a nxi o us more than anxi o us to examin e the br o nze

, ,

box and see that it reall y did contain the B l ack Pearl ,

see w hat othe r j ewels it mig ht contain as w ell ; bu t it

21 0
 C H APT E R XXX I V

B E TW E E N TW O FI R E S
T n e v er occu rr ed to the b o y s o r t o th e gu n n er , ,

to d o ubt t h e co r re ctness of Ah Lung s inf o rmati o n '

.

The C h inaman had been the he r o o f th e day ; he

ha d v i ndicated the hon o u r of h is great nation so splendidly
- its grim u nswe rv ing courage and determination—that
,
'

he was no w full y o n an equal it y with hi s companions .

The appearance o f t h e s trange vessel w o u l d alone have

s u ffic e d to make anyone suspicio u s She lacked paint .
,

polish e ve r ything that made fo r sma r tness but o n the

, , ,

othe r hand she had a searchlight on the bridge and an

, ,

u nmi stakable seven pounder in the b ow and another

-

in the stern Moreove r sh e seem e d simply to b e swarmin g

.
,

with Chinamen .

What are we going to do Barne y t u rned anx ious l y

to Jack Those fe ll o w s a r e o u t afte r the Pearl and
.
,

they ll s tick at n o t hing to get it O ur lives will be no

’
.

”
safe r wi th them than with the Yellow Dwarf .

Jack nodd e d He was t ry ing to c alc u lat e o u t distances

.

and speeds .

T h ere a re onl y two cou rs e s h e answe red at last , , .

We must fight h er o u r o n e pounders against he r seven

,
-

pounders fou r of u s against the hundred o r more o n

,

board he r o r we must all land abandon the M oll y ,

Hawk and try and reach British ter rito ry o n foot as

,
’
,

Ah L ung and I did before .

21 2
 B E TW E E N TW O F I R E S .

All Bar ney s pu gna cio u s ins tinct s were o n fi r e at once

’
.

Fight J ack ! We mu st fight ! Ju st fa nc y t h e sham e

,

o f r u nnin g aw ay fr o m C hine se p i r at es ! As fo r la nding

again
I thi nk th at is o ut o f th e q u estion sir th e gu nne r , ,

”
c u t him sho rt Look t h e re o n the b ank o f th e creek
. ,
.

J ack who was at the wheel m e rely g l an ce d ove r his

, ,

shoulde r bu t Ba r ney stare d in am a ze ment The who l e of

,
.

Raj a Se y e d s a rm y seemed to be crowdin g d own hundred s

’

o f th e ho rribl e P al apo gs and amongst th em w e re three

,

figu res in E uropean attir e T he distan ce was so sh o rt .

that the bo ys re cognis e d the thre e at once ; they were

the Ye l l o w Dw arf Seb ag Tolhu rst and Ra l ph Wi lliams
, , .

The re s no land i ng now Barne y muttered

’
Thos e
, .

be ggars m u st have be e n clos e on o ur hee l s at t h e e nd .

”
It s a figh ting chanc e Jack
’

, .

The y o ung skippe r s m iled g riml y He had s e en what .

was o n sh ore and no w h e was try ing to decide h o w best

,

to deal with the enemy at sea The re was of cou rse a .

, ,

great d i fl e r e n ce b etwe e n their position and t h at o f the

Canton ese pirates Th e one ob j ect o f the la t te r was t o
.

o btain posse ss ion o f th e Pe arl which m eant that on no ,

a cco u nt must the y sink the Molly Hawk But the .

cr e w o f the latte r me r el y want e d to es c ape and t h erefore , , ,

were free to s i nk their e ne my .

”
We ll cro ss the i r b o w Jack sai d
’
I do ub t if th e y
, .

use t heir s even pounde rs They l l t ry to shoot u s down

-
.
’

wit h r ifl es But we can ste er f r om be l ow and if w e have

.
,

to use the guns they have sh ie l ds lucki l y

,
”
, .

Meanwhile Piet Van d er Humm and his p ar ty o f sa vages

,

had suddenly disappear ed into the j ungle th er eb y sho wing ,

their sense fo r without waiting fo r o r de rs the gu nn e r

, , ,

had s wung his Max im ro u nd so that it bo re o n them ; ,

b u t a fe w se conds l a t er the y p rov ed th at th ey h ad n o

, ,

21 3
 B E TW EE N TW O FI R E S

i nt e ntion of al lowing thei r pr ey to escap e fo r fro m am ongst , ,

the bush a ragged volley squibbed out

, .

Most o f the bull et s flew high well o ver the moto r y acht s
,
-
’

deck ; but one knocked the heel o fl Jack s b oot wh ilst '

another smashed t h e binnacle lamp .

”
Tim e to get belo w Jack c ri e d , G o down y o u .
,

fel l ows .
”

B arne y and Ah Lu ng o beye d and as soon as his ch um , ,

had ho ld o f the wheel in the cabin Jack fo llowed on ly , ,

too glad to get away fro m the bullets which we re now ,

coming thick and fast b u t t h e gunne r r emained on d e ck ,

b ehind the s h ield o f the Maxim gun .

A y ell o f de l ight went u p fro m th e Pal apo gs the m o m ent

the y saw the yacht apparently left t o stee r herself b ut ,

the de l ight changed to consternation as the Max im s u ddenl y

b elc h ed o ut a veritable ha il of bul l ets on them .

Backwards and forwa r ds the gunne r seemed to have ,

an almost uncann y sens e of wh ere the y we r e h iding It .

was impossible even to guess how many he hit bu t j udging , ,

by the groans and shrieks the numbe r m ust have been ,

la rge A few futile shots cam e back bu t t h ough the

. , ,

shield o f t h e Maxim was dented and a f e w splinte rs r ipp e d ,

o ff the deck n o rea l damage was done

, .

As the y got out of the creek into the op e n s e a Jack , ,

re tu r ned o n deck fol lowed by Ba rney and Ah Lung Fo r

, .

the time b eing they we r e practica ll y c l ea r o f th ei r fo e s

,

on shore and they n o w had to tackle the fo e outside

, .

Th e C hinese pirate steame r was about a mil e o fi th e

s h ore waiting like a hawk ready to pounc e o n the littl e
, , ,

Molly Hawk waiting to see what c ou rs e the c rew o f

,

the latte r wou l d ad o pt J ack se t his fac e ha rd

. Im .
’

”
go ing to keep as close in as I dare he said Will y o u , .

ot h ers see to the gu n s ? The m om ent sh e sho w s a sign .

o f hosti l i t y l e t h er h a v e i t
, .

21 4
 B E TW EE N TW O FI R E S

f ro m b oth th e bo ys H e had hi t the other gu n fai rly

.
,

u nshipping it .

The gunn er gav e a litt le gru nt o f satisfaction .

That s the Navy w a y th e B r itish Navy w a y h e

’

, ,

mut t e r ed .

Al l this time th e t w o v essels had b e en app r oaching one

anothe r and the re was no w but some e ight hund red yards
,

of wate r b etwee n them a space which w as being le ssened

,

eve ry mome nt Th e pi r ates answe r to the gunn er s

.
’ ’

s u ccessful shot came q u ickl y F r o m behind he r bu lwarks .

fift y Ch ina me n sprang up and l ining he r side po ur ed

, , ,

down a hail o f rifle bu l lets th e i r shooting b eing far more

,

acc u rat e than that o f the Pal ap o gs had be e n Jack s .

’

left shoulde r wa s gr a z ed Barney s ha t ca r ri e d awa y

.
’

whilst Ah Lu ng w ent do w n i n a heap his l e g b r ok e n , .

T his won t do si r Ge t belo w again I ve got th e

'

, . .
’

gun shi eld t o pr otect me t h e o l d s ailo r sho u t e d

, I ll .
’

fix he r yet .

Ba rn ey had al ready s pru ng fo rwar d to h elp t h e Chinaman ,

but Ah Lu ng w ave d him b ack almost fiercel y A l read y , .

h e was d ragging hims e l f to shelte r do wn the fo re c ompanion -

,

and h e was not going to allo w o n e o f hi s yo u ng maste r s

to run e xt ra risks on hi s b ehalf .

It was not the fi rst tim e the y had re ason t o be gr ate fu l

f o r the a rr angem e nt o f the second wheel and th e pe r iscope .

I t had b e e n u se fu l b e fo r e v ery useful b ut o n this occasio n

, ,

i t undoubtedl y sav e d the lives o f all of the m So acc ur at e .

w as th e sho o ting o f thos e Chin e se r ifl e m en that no o n e ,

could have live d a m inu te at the o r dina r y wheel The .

steersma n mu st hav e b een shot d o w n and th e moto r y acht -

captu r e d .

St ill the main da nger remained T h e pir at e v e s se l

, .

was comi ng dow n o n th em r api d l y It seemed t o be o nl y .

a quest io n o f minu t es be fo re she was a lo n gside the m ,

21 6
 B E TW EE N TW O FI R ES

befo re h er crew o f cu t th ro ats was po uri ng o n t o the

-

Mol l y Hawk s deck

’
.

Wh y did n o t the gu nn er fir e agai n ? What was the

m att e r with hi m ? Ba rne y p u t hi s head out o f th e
companion ca u tiousl y and as he did so the o l d sailo r
, , ,

p ull ed the t rigge r of h i s o n e pounde r -

.

Not oft en did J o seph Ri chard s on sho w t r ac es o f ex cit e

me nt but afte r this shot he waved hi s cap gl eefully
, .

”
Go t he r ! he c ried I ve smas h ed h e r wh e el to
’
.

smi thereens si r N o w she ca n t do much whil st I m

, .
,
’ ’

finish ing smash ing he r u p I ll riddle her like a sieve

.
’
.

H e had already re l oaded and was j ust aimi ng to p l ant

, ,

a shell in he r e ngin e r oom w hen the r e was a sudden

-
,

rending of timb e r and the damaged for emast o f th e

,

Moll y Hawk which all o f them had fo rgotten fell

,
”
,

with a c r ash ov er th e sid e .

21 7
 C H APT E R XXXV

TH E LAS T
N o rdinary c i rc u mstanc e s the fall o f th e fo rem ast ,

in such fi ne w eather would not have involv e d an y

serious dange r Ther e we re ax e s hand y a n d it
.
,

co u ld easily have b een c ut ad rift B ut no w ex po sed as .

,

t he y were to th e fi re o f the Ch i nese r ifl e m e n the task o f ,

clearing t h e w reckag e w o u ld be o n e o f s u p reme dange r .

J ack who was at the whe el could not l e ave it t o help

, ,

Ah Lung was absolutel y helpless in t h e fo re c ab i n ; so ,

-

there remained onl y the gunne r and Ba r n ey T he lat t er .

made u p hi s mind quick ly .

Get aft to the M axim G u nn er h e sho u t ed , Th e , .

sh ield will protect y o u and yo u ll be ab l e to stop m ost

,
’

o f thei r fi r e whilst I m c u tting the mast ad r ift

’
.

T h e gunne r plugged o n e shell cle a n into th e pirate s ’

engine r o om apparently hitting the m ain steampipe if

-
, ,

one could j udge by th e dense clouds of steam wh ich began

t o pour out through th e sky l ight then he mad e a dash fo r ,

the Maxim r eaching it u nharmed t h ough a scor e o f

, ,

bu ll ets whi z zed close past h im A mo m ent late r h e had .

the gun at work driving e ve ry C hinese r ifl e m an to sh elt er

, .

Hur rah 1 That s th e way I

’
Ba r ney sprang o n d eck
with an axe and began c u tting furio u s ly at the r iggi ng
,
.

In a fe w seconds howeve r the r i fl e fi r e sta rt e d again

, , ,

t hi s time from t h e pirate s po rtholes bu t perhaps bec au s e

’

, ,

o f t h e fea r o f the Maxim which was turne d o n to whe rev er

,

a r ifle b a rre l appea red the shooting was no t so a ccurat e

-
,

21 8
 TH E LA ST

us f ro m b oth s ides and if I t ry th e M ax i m o n th e Pal apo gs ,

the Ch ows will shoot us d o wn at o nc e ”

.

Jack tu rned towards t h e companion again .

Let s fetch u p o u r mattr esses Ba rne y Th e y ll be a

’

, .
'

litt l e p rotection ; and all the ri fle s an d be lts We ll fig h t .

’

”
t o the end .

The Molly Hawk was d rifting fai rl y r apidl y and , ,

so far as they could s e e sh e wou l d go asho r e o n a po int

,

ab o ut a mi l e awa y T h ere was no time to l o se and the

.
,

b oys set about their task—pe rhaps it would b e the last

they would ever have to do—as quickl y as po s sibl e O ut .

o f the mattresses t h e y made a kind of screen which w ould ,

probab l y save them a little then a r ranged rifl es and am

,

muniti o n so that th ey sho u ld b e re ad i l y available when

the crisis cam e .

Hardl y had they finish e d when a rifle b ullet fro m th e

shore buried itself in the skyl igh t Al read y th e Pal apo gs .

had got ro u nd the end o f the creek and wer e follo wing ,

them u p r ead y t o attack th e moment th e moto r boat

,
-

grounded Th e Chinamen o n t h e other hand had ceased

. , ,

firing fo r the tim e being Thei r vessel w o u ld go ashore

.

”
quit e close to th e Mo ll y Hawk and do u btless they ,

tho u ght that th e i r chance wo u ld com e then Though not .

so numero u s as the Pal ap o gs the y were bette r armed and ,

be t te r shots Ce rtainly the r e seemed eve ry likelihood

.
,

of a horrible slau ghte r befo re the strange three sided figh t ,

-

fo r t h e p os sessi o n o f th e Black Pea rl o f Pe ih o o was d ecid e d .

Ah Lu ng who had m anaged to b ind up his w ounded

,

leg crawl e d on deck again and j oin e d the others Though

, , .

h e co ul d not stand he co u ld still shoot lying do wn and h e

, ,

was determined t o di e gam e N o o n e looking at h i s fac e.

, ,

would have imagine d the p ai n h e was su ff e ring L ik e all .

hi s r ace he had ma rv el lo u s po wer s o f e ndu rance in that

,

re sp e ct a n d the onl y expre ssion o f hi s feat ure s was one

,

2 20
 T H E LA ST

whi ch t o l d o f e g rim dete r mi nation to kill as man y o f h i s

.

e ne mi e s as possible .

Th e bullets f rom th e sho re b egan to come q u icke r and

quick er though the enem y wa rned b y past experienc e
, , ,

kept as fa r as p o ssib l e o u t o f sight O nce howeve r

, , .
, ,

the b o ys go t a glimp s e o f the Dwa rf and his two wh ite

companions tho ugh th ere was n o c hanc e t o shoot at
,

the m .

Two o r th ree minutes m o re si r b e fo re w e g r o u nd , , .

We had bett er shake hands and sa y g oo d by e Th e

,
-
.
’

gunne r glanced towards the s h o r e gauging the distance , .

Th e handshak es we re exchanged in silence Th er e .

s eem e d so much still to say and so ve r y little tim e t h at , ,

it was no t wo rth whil e beginning ; then the o l d s ai lo r

b a red his head and in a fe w broken halting phr as es
, , ,

c ommended thei r souls t o the Almight y God .

”
T he b o ys e cho e d h i s Ame n whi lst Ah Lu ng no d d e d ,

gr av el y .

Very goo d J oss y o ur J oss h e m u tt ere d

, , .

N o o n e w as fi ring no w It se e med as tho u gh b oth

.

pa rti es o f enemi e s we re res erving themselves fo r th e final

st ruggl e Th e c rew o f th e M ol ly Hawk was doom e d
.
,

and so fa r as anyone could se e th e real fight wou l d b e

, ,

afte r they we re dead b etween th e rival gangs o f scoundrels

, .

T o the bo y s the wait i ng was awf u l ne rve shatte ring

, ,
-
.

T hey longed fo r so mething t o break the silenc e whi ch

had fal len so s u dde nl y ; they wa nt ed to g et it all ov er ,

t o hav e th e agon y ended .

T he moto r yacht was v ery close i n now only so m e

-
,

t we nty y a rds f rom the sho r e but owing to a c ross c urrent ,

-

sh e w as movin g almost pa rallel to th e b each F o r five .

mi n u tes this continu e d tho u gh it w as obvio u s that sh e

,

mu st soon st ri k e as there wa s a long s p it of sa nd onl y

,

a little w a y a he ad o f h er
. .

221
 T H E LA ST

S ud d e nl y Ba rney who had glan ce d r o u n d at the disab led

, ,

pi rate steame r gave a c ry o f su r p ris e

,
.

Look the re ! D o y o u se e those m asts sho win g abo v e

th e point It m ust be the Pang Ye e n co ming in .

Jack nodded gr imly Th e n th e Pea r l wi ll go t o th e

.

Yello w D wa rf afte r al l , .

U nl e ss we h a v e th e l u ck to shoot him B arney g r o w l e d ,

v i cio u sl y .

A m om e nt late r a voll ey bu rst o ut fro m am ongst th e

,

t re es
. T he last fi ght had begu n in ea rnest .

If the b oys had had to write an a cco u nt o f w hat

occu rre d d u ring th e ne xt fe w minutes th e y w ould ha ve ,

found th e task almost impossible It was j ust a b l u r r .

o f noise and the ac rid smel l o f the co rdite th e ripp ing

, ,

o f bu ll ets th e whi rr o f th e M axim of b lood fl owing fr o m

, ,

w o u n ds o f y elling savag es o n s h o r e of yelling Chi n ame n

, ,

o n th e wate r a ve ritabl e ni ghtma r e

,
.

The y lost all s e ns e o f fea r All they tho u ght o f was .

t o kill to beat o ff th e i r e n em ies u ntil the l ast possi b le

,

m dm e nt .

Alre a dy Ja c k was disab l ed a bu llet th ro u gh hi s right ,

hand whi lst Ba rney s fac e was st re a min g w ith blood

,
’
.

It could not last much long er Reall y th e w ond er was .

,

that it had last ed so long .

Suddenl y the Max im stoppe d .

I t s j ammed
’
th e gu nne r c ri e d as h e s eize d a ri fle
, , .

The end was ve r y close no w .

A fl ash o f flame a terrible explosion o n sho re r ight, ,

amongst the Pal apo gs w hat could it mean -

Jos e ph Richa rdso n was th e firs t to u n derstand He .

kn ew a twelve pounde r shell and look e d ro u nd t o s ee

-
,

whence it co u ld have com e .

A c ru ise r lads a B rit ish cru is er t o o ur re sc ue h e

, , ,

sh o u t e d .
 TH E LA ST

it. H e was ju st t ur ning to go wh en h e c a u ght sight o f ,

the o l d sailo r A look o f s urpris e and deli ght ca m e into

hi s e y es G u nne r Richards o n
. he ex c laim ed Now .

I know why that pirate steame r is disab l ed and t o the ”

, ,

other s inten s e j oy a captain in the Ro yal Navy shook

’

him hea rtily by t h e hand not once but many times , ,

The c ru ise r s surgeon dressed th e wounds o f the M olly

’

Hawk s c r e w the n insisted on taking th em all o ff t o the

’

man o f wa r
-
Yo u c an t b e o f any u s e o n boa r d this
-
.
'
.

y acht he said, An d I can attend t o y o u p r oper l y if

.

y o u come T he captain will p u t a fre sh crew o n th e M ol ly

.

”
Hawk fo r y o u .

As the y ente red th e cru is er s la u nch Jack was carr yi ng

'
,

a br o nze b o x At last the Black Pe a rl was in safety u nde r

.
,

the British Flag .

W e v e fo u nd a lot o f dea d savag e s th e ca ptain told

’

them when h e cam e aboa r d again And two white .

y ouths E ng l ish men came crawling along to sur r ender

, ,

their names a re To l hu rst and W i lliams T hey say they .

were dragged into th e a ffai r by that s co u nd re l Van der

”
Humm .

Jack s m iled .

He wo uld say t h ey wer e his pa rtne rs .

T h e captain sho ok his h ead .

He wi l l s ay noth ing m o re now h e ans were d gr avely ,

.

O ur first s hell b l ew hal f hi s head o ff Well gentlemen .

, ,

I am going t o put a cre w o n y o ur yacht fo r y o u and of , ,

co urse patch u p t h at pirate steame r and tak e her into port

, ,

too There wil l be some pri ze money the r e You may b e

. .

”
g l ad o f yo u r s h are u nless and his kin d ly g rey e yes , ,

twinkl ed u nless y ou ve got such a b ig p rize y o u don t

,
’ ’

”
need it .

The bo y s looked at hi m i n astonishm ent H o w co ul d .

he kn o w o f t h e B lack Pearl ?
2 24
 T H E LA ST

H e saw thei r expre ssions a nd smil e d .

I ll exp l ain lat er M a y I se e the fam o u s j ewel

’
.

W e haven t seen it ourselve s yet Jack answ ered

’

, .

There s been n o chan ce to op e n the b o x ; but we ll do

’ ’

s o now M a y we go into th e sick b a y and do it in f r ont

.
,

of A h Lu ng P
It was no eas y task t o op e n th e bo x e ven when A h ,

L ung h a d exp l ai ned the wa y to do it The fumes of that .

dead l y Smoke Hole had aff ected the b ronze considerably ,

and in the end it was nece s sary to use a ha mmer and chisel
, ,
.

Then O h what a pearl !

,

The expression br o ke from them all simultan eo u sly .

Never befo re had an y o f them s ee n o r even imagined , ,

anyth ing to approach it .

Ah L ung gave it o n e look the n sa nk back on his co t,

.

”
That is Black Pearl of Pe i h o o ind ee d h e mu tte red ,
.

All r ight now Plent y rich now .

”
.

Th e captain nodd e d .

He s r ight It is to othe r pearls what th e Ko h i noo r

’
.
- -

is to o the r diam o nds You will all be rich Go b ind Chand

. .

didn t exaggerate in his cab l e to me

’ ”
.

Gobind Chand ? Barney exclaimed .

Yes
”
the offi ce r smiled
, You owe you r resc ue to
him He knows me o f o l d—h e s an enormously r ich
.
’

banke r— and wh en he fo und tha t t h e Ch inese pirates were

,

after y ou —h e heard t h at some h ow— h e cabled a s king me

t o try and save you That s how I know of t h e Pear l
.
’
.

Barney turned to his chum .

He s hall have t h e first chance to buy it then he ,

exc l aimed Jack a greed readi l y and in t h e end the Hind u

.
, , ,

p u rchased not onl y the Black Pearl itself but als o t h e other
, ,

j ewe ls wh ich wer e in t h e box the sum h e gave being ,

suffi cient to rende r all four of th e M oll y Hawk s crow ’

rich fo r th e rest of th ei r liv es .

2 25
 TH E LAS T

And no w a b o u t those wr etch ed p risone rs P the captain

s aid
,
when the preci ou s bronze box had been locked u p
in the safe I don t se e what we can charge the m w ith
.
’
,

e xcept attempted m u rde r and that might not be possible ,

as the y w e re fighting fo r th e Raj a Yet the y o u ght t o .

”
b e punished .

The gunne r w ho w as present saluted

, , .

I th ink si r if y o u would let me have two m en and

, , ,

something in th e way o f a cat — o nine tails I would take ’

- -
,

the m as h or e fo r half an ho u r and talk to them The y , .

”
w ould be sor ry afterwards .

All right th e captain laughed

”
,
D on t t e ll m e a ny .
’

”
m o re abo u t it Gunn er Yo u had b ette r do it at once
, . .

W h en Seb ag To l hu rst and Ralph Will iams r eturned to

the c ru i s e r an hou r late r the y seemed to find som e diffic u lty
,

in m ounting the ladde r ; wh ilst the boat s cre w appea red ’

co nsiderabl y amused ove r what h ad happ e ned on sho r e .

Not even to his fathe r at hom e did Se b ag ev er vol u ntee r

, ,

an y account of the proceedings H e had l e a rnt his l es son . .

An d af t er having be e n lost fo r ove r half a c entury

so , ,

the B l ack Pearl o f Pe ih o o once more saw the light Mo re .

ove r soli d good came o f it a ll fo r as a result o f the

, , ,

”
attack o n the Mo l l y Hawk the B ritish Gove rnment ,
~

decided to put an end to Raj a Se y e d s independence ’

.

All s well that ends well Jack remarked as a few

’

, , !

m onths late r he r ead th e news in an E ngli s h newspape r

”
It j ol l y nearly ended b adl y Ba rney retorted If , .

we hadn t had luck w e co u ld never have got th rough

’
.

Luck ! No lads it was the G re at Skippe r s hel p the

, ,
’

gu nn er p u t in q u i etl y .

P RI N TE D m GR E AT s mu m nv r m ; w m r s r m ans n e ss Lr o
LO N D O N AN D t oNs ca
‘
.
 U N I V E R SI T Y O F C A L I F O R N I A L I B R A R Y

L o s A n ge l es

Th is b o o k is D U E o n t he l td t t
as a e s am
ped b e l o w .

m L 9 - Se r ie s 4 9 3 9