Doctor Bolter had been very proud of the cure he had effected in the
case of Adam Gray, whom, from that day forward, he looked upon in quite
a different light, obtaining his services as often as possible in
carrying out what he called his measures for preserving the camp in
health, and he was constantly sending Gray on missions to the major.
But the doctor and his plans were set aside one morning, when there was
an order for a general parade; and it was evident that there was
something important on the way, for a good deal of bustle was visible on
the deck of the steamer.
The news soon leaked out that the resident and officers were to make a
state visit, full of ceremony, to the sultan; and in consequence there
was a general turn out, in full review order, with the band. The
sailors landed, and were drawn up on the shore, looking smart in their
white, easy-fitting dress; and the steamer's cutters were soon after
busy, landing the greater portion of the troops with their officers, in
full uniform; while quite a crowd of Malays assembled on the beach,
staring, some in wonderment, some manifestly in dislike, at the
strangers.
The grand muster took place beneath the shade of some large trees, as
far as was possible, for the heat was intense. Every one was in his
best; and Ensign Long marched by Bob Roberts with a very bright sword
beneath his arm, and putting on a pair of white kid gloves.
The middy tried to take matters coolly; but the thoroughly consequential
air of his companion roused his ire, and he longed to do something to
upset him.
That was, however, impossible, for the arrangements were complete; and
the march inland, about a couple of miles, commenced with the Malays now
drawing off into the woods, till--what looked rather ominous--the little
force was left entirely alone.
The officers commented upon the fact, and felt a little suspicious, but
their doubts were set aside by the appearance of a little party, of
evidently some importance, for two, who seemed to be chiefs, were
mounted upon small elephants, and these, by the voice of one of the
party--a handsome, dark youth, in brilliant silk sarong and baju--
announced themselves as coming from the sultan to act as guides.
This changed the state of affairs, and the idea that there might be
treachery afoot was completely dismissed from the minds of all, save
when, now and then, the gleam of a spear head was seen amidst the trees
in the jungle; and Major Sandars pointed out how easily they might be
led into an ambush.
Captain Horton was by his side, and that officer agreed that it would be
easy; but, at the same time, gave it as his opinion that the best policy
they could affect was an appearance of full confidence in the Malay
potentate, while they kept strictly on their guard.
Farther back in the line of troops Private Gray was marching along,
feeling anything but easy in his mind; for as he glanced now and then to
his left, he kept making out the gleam of steel, or the white garments
of some Malay amidst the trees; and at last, just as Captain Smithers
was abreast, he pointed out to him the fact.
The captain felt disposed to resent it as a breach of discipline; but
the young man's manner was so earnest, that he nodded, and watchfully
turned his head in the same direction.
"What do you think then, Gray?" said the captain. "They are only people
taking an interest in what is, to them, a great sight."
"I'm suspicious, sir, by nature," said Gray, "and I can't help feeling
that we are living on the edge of a volcano."
"Do you always make use of such fine language, Gray?" said Captain
Smithers with a sneer.
"I beg your pardon, sir," was the reply; "I was trying to speak
respectfully to my officer," replied Gray.
Captain Smithers frowned, and felt annoyed with himself for his
meanness.
"Yes, yes, of course, Gray," he said, hastily; "but there is nothing to
fear."
"Nothing to fear!" thought Private Gray; "and we are trusting ourselves
entirely to these people, who are known to be treacherous; and the
ladies and the women of the regiment are all on that island, protected
by only a weak force!"
Strangely enough, Captain Smithers had very similar thoughts to these as
they rambled on, in tolerable coolness now, for they were beneath the
trees.
They both thought afterwards that their fears were needless; and
following the guides, they soon after were formed up in front of the
sultan's house and those of his principal men, all of which, though
certainly somewhat better than the sergeant's account to Dick Dunnage,
would have led any one to expect, were of an extremely simple and lowly
character.
Here the officers waited for their audience of the great man, Mr Linton
being particularly anxious to make arrangements for carrying out the
political business, upon which he was engaged; but after waiting half an
hour, one of the principal chiefs came out to announce that the sultan
was too unwell to receive them.
The English officers flushed up, and looked upon the message as an
insult, and for the moment there seemed a disposition to resent it; but
the wise counsels of Mr Linton prevailed, and the order was given to
march back.
Just then the young chief who had acted as interpreter before, and who
spoke very good English, approached the place where Bob Roberts and the
ensign were standing.
"I am very sorry," he said; "I meant to ask you to refreshments. Will
you take cigars?"
They had only time to thank the young chief for his courtesy and take
their places, as the march back was commenced--this time without guides,
for none came forward, which was looked upon as so ominous a sign that
extra care was taken, the men marching with loaded arms.
The precautions were not unnecessary; for they had hardly effected half
their march, when there was the loud beating of a gong heard upon their
right, followed by the same deafening din on the left.
The men were steadied in the ranks, and every one was on the alert; but
still there came nothing more to cause alarm till they had arrived
within half a mile of their landing-place, when, as they were passing
through a more open portion of the track, there was a shout, and a
shower of limbings came whizzing past them. Again a shout, this time on
their left, and another shower of the keenly-pointed spears whizzed by.
There was a short, sharp command or two as the soldiers faced outwards,
and every other man fired, sending a ringing volley crashing through the
forest.
There was another din, made by the beating of gongs, and a few more
spears were thrown, one of which struck Ensign Long; and these were
replied to by another sharp volley, which crashed through the trees,
making the twigs and leaves rattle as they pattered down. Then there
was a dead silence, as the troops waited for fresh orders.
Bob Roberts, who was close by the ensign, turned pale as ashes as he saw
the ensign stagger back, to stand literally pinned to a tree, in which
the blade of the limbing had buried itself. All feeling of jealousy had
passed away, and, catching Long by the hand, he gazed earnestly in his
face.
"Are you much hurt, old fellow?" he cried hoarsely, as he realised the
fact that the keen spear had passed diagonally through the youth's
breast before it buried itself in the soft endogenous tree.
"I don't know yet," said Tom Long quietly; "but the brutes have ruined
my best tunic."
"Hang your tunic!" cried Bob, excitedly. "Here, fetch the doctor. No;
help here to get Mr Long to the residency. Bring up a dhooly."
"I suppose I shall feel it when they draw out the spear," said Tom Long
calmly.
"Do you feel faint?" cried the middy. "Here, who has a little rack?"
"Here's some water, sir, in my canteen," said Sergeant Lund. "Forward!"
rang out from behind just then; and then the voice of Captain Smithers
made itself heard,--
"Who's that down?"
"Ensign Long, sir," some one said.
"Poor lad! poor lad!" cried the captain. "Ah, Long, my dear boy, how is
it with you? Good heavens! Quick, my lads; bring up a dhooly."
"Hadn't we better get the spear out, sir?" said Bob Roberts, anxiously.
"Yes, out of the tree, of course," said the captain; "but mind--steady!
Here, let me. I won't hurt you more than I can help," he continued, as
he drew the spear out of the palm, and then hesitated as to how they
were to manage to carry the injured man, with the lengthy shaft passing
through his chest.
Tom Long solved the question himself by taking hold of the spear handle
with both hands and giving it a tug, while every one present gazed at
him with horror, expecting to see the terrible stains that must follow.
Bob Roberts dragged out his handkerchief and rapidly doubled it, ready
to form a pad to staunch the bleeding--rushing forward to clap it to the
wound, as the ensign tore the spear from his breast.
"Open his tunic first," cried Captain Smithers; and he bore Tom Long
back on to the ground, tearing open his scarlet uniform, while the
injured object of his attentions began to work his left arm about.
"I say, gently," he said. "I don't think I'm much hurt."
"You don't feel it yet," cried Bob Roberts.
"Look out there!" cried a voice in authority somewhere behind; and then
a couple of men ran up with a light hospital litter for wounded or sick
men.
"It went--it went--" said Tom Long, slowly.
"Why, confound you, Long," said Captain Smithers; "you've not been
scratched."
"No; I do not think I am," said the ensign, getting up, feeling himself
carefully about the chest. "It went through my tunic and under my left
arm."
"Why, you've got about six inches of padding in your coat," said Bob
Roberts, whose hands were busy about the young man's breast.
"Yes," said Tom Long; "more or less."
"Forward!" shouted Captain Smithers; and the march was resumed, with Tom
Long looking very woeful about the two holes that had been made in his
scarlet tunic, and gradually growing terribly annoyed, as he saw Bob
Roberts pretending to stifle his laughter; while the men, in spite of
the danger on either side, tittered and grinned as they kept catching
sight of the young officer's scarlet cloth wounds.
Major Sandars was equally anxious with the resident to get back to the
island, for a feeling of dread had risen up that the residency might
have been attacked during their absence. In fact, it seemed now that
they had been out-generalled; and if their fort, and provisions, and
stores should be in the hands of the Malays, their position would be
perilous in the extreme.
As Bob Roberts went on, he found the men eagerly discussing the matter,
not from a feeling of fear, but of love of excitement; and, among
others, Private Sim was saying in a low voice, that if he had only been
well and strong, nothing would have pleased him better than fighting his
way back through the jungle, "anywheres--to the world's end if they
liked."
Meanwhile, though it was evident that there was a large body of Malays
on their right, the answer they had got to their first attack had kept
them off, and the long line of troops and blue-jackets went on
unmolested by their enemies. Every precaution was taken; and in some of
the denser portions of the jungle they regularly felt their way with
advance guards and flankers, who, poor fellows, had a most tough job to
force their way through the tangled creepers and undergrowth.
At length, however, the river was reached, and it was evident, to the
great delight and relief of all, that the island was safe, and the
steamer lay in its old position, unmolested by prahu or attack from the
shore.
Every man breathed more freely on seeing this; and the boats coming off,
the whole party were rapidly transferred to steamer and to isle, where a
council was called, and the situation discussed.
It was a peculiar position for the little force which had been sent up
the country to help and protect Sultan Hamet, who, in return,--had
refused to see Her Majesty's representative, and allowed them to be
attacked by his people on their way back.
The question to decide was, whether, after such an insult as they had
received, the little force ought not to at once retire from their
position, though the bolder spirits were in favour of holding it at all
costs, and trying to read the sultan such a lesson as should scare his
people from venturing to molest the English any more.
The council was interrupted by an embassy of a couple of chiefs from the
sultan himself, who solved the difficulty by announcing that the attack
was not made by their ruler's people, but by a certain rajah, whose
campong, or village, was a few miles up the river. This chief was a
respecter of no one, but levied black mail of all who passed down the
stream. Every boat laden with slabs of tin or bags of rice had to pay
toll for permission to pass on in peace; and if resistance was offered,
he had guns mounted upon his stockade, and a couple of well-armed
prahus, whose crews liked nothing better than confiscating any boat
whose owner endeavoured to resist the rajah's demands.
Any doubts as to the truth of this story were set aside by the sultan's
earnest request that the English officers should at once proceed up the
river and severely punish this rajah, who was a thorn in Hamet's side.
With the promise that the matter should have proper consideration, the
two chiefs took their departure; and the rest of the evening was spent
in examining different Malays from the village, all of whom told the
same story, that it was Rajah Gantang who had made the attack, and that
he was a perfect scourge to the people round.
The next day further investigations were made; and had any doubt
remained, it was chased away by the appearance of two long war prahus,
pulled by a large number of rowers, and crammed with Malays.
These vessels were allowed to float gently down with the stream, stern
foremost, when, as much out of bravado as anything, several shots were
fired from the small brass swivel guns on board, the little balls
rattling through the steep roof of the men's quarters; while before a
gun could be brought to bear, the oars rapidly plashed the water, and
the two prahus were swept back round a wooded point up stream, well out
of sight.
This was sufficient for the officers in command, who issued such orders
as placed all the men in a state of the most intense excitement, for it
was evident that there was to be an expedition up the river to punish
the audacious chief, who was probably in profound ignorance of the
strength of the power he had braved.