Hunter and hunted had been alike too much occupied to note what had been
going on elsewhere. Gray's anxious gaze when he rose to the surface had
been directed backward at his pursuers, and for the time being the
steamer and her occupants were forgotten. On the other hand, the
Malays, keen on the scent of blood, intently watched the place where
their quarry dived, and calculated where he would rise.
So it was then that just as one of the men in the prow of the boat was
about to savagely stab the nerveless swimmer, whose glazing eye met his
with more of defiance than menace therein, there was a rattling volley
from half-a-dozen rifles, the two spearmen fell over the side, to be
swept away by the stream, and their companions, on starting up and
seeing one of the steamer's cutters coming rapidly on, to a man leaped
overboard and swam for their lives, some making for the island, some for
the opposite shore.
Adam Gray was so exhausted and surprised that it was some time before he
realised that the danger was past, but that, unless he made a fresh
effort, a new peril would await him, and he would lose his life by
drowning.
Just then, though, the Malay boat was swept close to him, and he threw
one arm over the side, holding on till he was dragged into the cutter,
which was then rowed rapidly back to the steamer.
"That was a narrow squeak for you, Mr Soldier," said Bob Roberts. "My
marines only spoke up just in time."
"I cannot find words to thank you now, sir," panted Gray, who was pale
with exhaustion.
"All right!" said Bob; "and don't find any words to thank me by-and-by.
I'm glad we were in time. You'd have done as much for any of us, my
man."
"Of course, sir; of course," said Gray, huskily.
"Yes, of course you would; but how came you in the river?"
"I was swimming off with a message to Lieutenant Johnson, sir," replied
Gray.
"Then if I were you I wouldn't go such a long way round next time," said
Bob. "Steady there, marines. Let them see you cover them, and they'll
rush off behind the trees."
This was in regard to some Malays who were showing themselves menacingly
on the edge of the river; but the moment they saw that the marines'
rifles were directed at them they ran to cover, and the cutter was soon
alongside of the steamer, the falls were hooked on, and the boat swung
by the davits, her mission being at an end.
Two anchors had been carried some distance out, steam got up, and with
the screw going at high pressure and men at work at the capstan, every
effort was being made to get the vessel out of her unpleasant position,
but in vain.
Lieutenant Johnson heard the message brought by Gray, and then pointed
to what was being done.
"I am making every effort," he said rather angrily. "Does Captain
Smithers think I want to stay in this disgraceful position? You can
tell him, though, that if I can get free I shall divide my time between
chasing these rascally prahus and lying where he suggests."
The efforts went on, the men hauling and straining on the anchors, and
the steam going furiously, but all in vain; the vessel would not move.
Then another plan was tried; all the ship's company were sent to one
side of the bulwarks, and then run across to the other, to give a
swaying motion to the vessel, so as to loosen the keel in the deep mud;
but though the careening was effected, the steamer could not be moved,
either ahead or astern.
Then the last plan was tried again, with the addition of the guns being
run all over to the port-side, but still there was no change; and
Lieutenant Johnson's brow knit with annoyance as he more fully realised
the fact that they would be lying in that helpless position when the
captain returned.
"The disgrace is enough to kill me, Roberts," he exclaimed.
"Let's set every sail, sir," said the middy; "there's a nice breeze
coming down the river now, and that may send her over nearly upon her
beam-ends."
"Yes!" exclaimed the lieutenant eagerly; and the order being given, the
men ran up aloft, and sail after sail was lowered, Ali standing with
folded arms watching the proceedings, and then turning to lean upon the
bulwark and gaze down the river.
Just then Adam Gray saluted the lieutenant.
"Will you be good enough to have me set ashore now, sir?"
"Set you ashore, my man?" replied Lieutenant Johnson, "Why, you had
better wait till night."
"I ought to get back with your message, sir."
"Wait a little while, and perhaps I can run you round to the other side
of the island."
Gray, now that he had somewhat recovered, was eager to get back, but he
could not quit the ship without the lieutenant's consent, and hence he
waited patiently for the required permission, watching the steamer's
sails drop down one by one, and fill and flap as the breeze rose and
fell.
Now and then a dusky face could be seen amidst the palm-trees watching
their proceedings, but it disappeared directly, and the clothing of the
vessel with canvas went on without interruption, till pretty well every
stitch was set save a studding-sail or two. Then a puff of hot air
came, and the steamer bent well over, the sails being so trimmed that
the vessel's course would have been astern had she shown any disposition
to move; but though the steam was on full, and the men brought the
capstan to bear on the cables, she did not budge an inch.
"Here, my lads, back with these guns," said the lieutenant; and for the
next half-hour the men were busy replacing the heavy guns, when Ali, who
since his escape had been remaining in sanctuary upon the steamer,
suddenly gave the alarm.
"A prahu coming down," he exclaimed, running to the lieutenant and
catching his arm, pointing out as he did so something moving round a
reach of the river, and seen now and then where the growth was thin.
"Two prahus coming up stream," reported one of the look-out men.
"Look! look!" cried Ali, pointing up the river. "There is another--two
more. They are coming to take the steamer," he cried.
"And we aground!" exclaimed the lieutenant, stamping his foot with rage
as he gave the necessary orders. The drum beat to quarters directly;
the magazine was opened; and the men ran eagerly to their posts; while
Ali went quietly into the cabin, and returned with a sword, revolver,
and a spotting rifle, lent him by the lieutenant for shooting
crocodiles.
"Are you going to fight?" exclaimed Bob Roberts, who looked flushed and
excited.
"Yes," said Ali, "with this;" and he tapped the rifle.
"But against your own people?"
"Rajah Gantang's pirates are not my own people," said Ali,
contemptuously. "Besides, the English are my friends, and if we could I
would have gone to help those ashore."
"All right," said Bob, "then we will fight together. I say, it's going
to be a hot affair, isn't it?"
"They think to take the steamer easily," said Ali, "as she is ashore,
but you will not let them?"
"Let them!" said Lieutenant Johnson, "no, Mr Ali, we will not. We
shall fight to the last, and the last will be that I'll blow the vessel
up. I can't sink her, for she is aground."
Ali nodded his approval: he seemed in no wise moved at the prospect of
the steamer being destroyed. And now he stood watching the coming of
the great prahus, with their regular sweeps, twenty to thirty on each
side, and alternated this with watching the loading of the guns and
disposal of the men.
Just then an idea seemed to have struck Bob Roberts, who ran across the
deck to where old Dick was standing ready by a gun.
"Here, Dick, I want you. Wilson, come and take his place."
"Ay, ay, sir!" cried the man; but old Dick growled.
"Don't take me away, Mr Roberts, sir," he said, querulously. "I was
longing for a shot at them dirty pirates, and now I'm losing my chance."
"Look here, Dick," cried Bob, and he raised himself on tiptoe and
whispered something to him, old Dick's soured face undergoing a complete
change to one full of mirth. The wrinkles became puckers, and his eyes
nearly closed, while his mouth seemed drawn out at the corners till
nearly double its usual length.
"It will be just right, Dick," said the middy.
"To a T, Mr Roberts, sir. Well, you are a clever one, you are! Who'd
ha' thought of that?"
"You be ready, Dick; I depend upon you, mind," cried the middy; and he
ran back to his post.
The prahus were coming steadily on, up and down stream, and it could be
seen from the steamer's deck that they were full of men, and bristling
with spears, while any doubt as to the unfriendliness of their
intentions was soon dispelled by the noise of beating gongs on board
each vessel, the object being apparently to encourage each other and to
excite alarm in the breasts of their foes, a result which in this case
the noise decidedly failed in obtaining.
The men kept glancing anxiously at their commander, who seemed to be
letting the prahus approach very closely, which appeared to be a bad
policy, seeing that the Malays were about ten to one, and their object
would doubtless be to board the steamer and engage in a hand-to-hand
fight; but Lieutenant Johnson had made his plans, and was abiding his
time. He himself carefully pointed the guns, depressing them somewhat,
so that the shot should strike low; and then leaving the task in the
hands of the captain of each piece, he waited the result.
The prahus were now within a couple of hundred yards of the steamer, and
had begun firing iron shot from their little brass lelahs, when the
first gun spoke out. There was a round puff of smoke and a deafening
roar, and the shot struck the nearest right in the stem, tearing a great
hole in her bows, and passing through her with such deadly effect that
the prahu immediately began to sink, and her crew leaped overboard in
confusion and began to swim ashore.
Grape-shot from the smaller guns or musketry from the marines would have
destroyed numbers of the Malays struggling in the water, but looking
upon them as out of the fight, Lieutenant Johnson left them to struggle,
some to one bank, some to the other, and gave his orders merely to the
men at the great guns.
It was one from the port-side that had wrought this mischief. Now one
from the starboard spoke out. There was once more the great white ball
of smoke, the deafening roar, and the shot struck the water about twenty
yards from the nearest prahu, ricochetted, and passed clean through her,
going down the river afterwards in a series of richochets.
This shot caused no little confusion on board, and several of the sweeps
fell uselessly in the water; but the prahu still came on, with the
occupants yelling and beating their gongs.
Another shot struck the water, and though well aimed for the next prahu,
it rose and went over her, merely making a great gap in the
matting-screen from behind which the Malays were keeping up a brisk but
ineffectual fire.
Another shot at one of the prahus coming down stream; and this went
clean over, and crashed through the palm-trees a quarter of a mile away.
But the next shot produced a hearty cheer from the sailors, for it
struck the slight vessel right on the water-line, made a tremendous gap,
and must have caused terrible slaughter, for the Malays were thrown into
confusion, the sweeps clashed one with the other, and all governance
seemed gone, the prahu turning broadside on, and then floating slowly
with the stream for a few yards before settling down and sinking,
leaving her masts and the top of the mat screens visible, for the water
was shallow where she sank.
The two prahus coming down stream were thus effectually disposed of; but
the two coming up were now close at hand, and before another gun could
be brought to bear their bows struck the sides of the steamer,
grappling-irons were thrown over the bulwarks and into the chains, and
yelling savagely their crews of fierce fighting men came swarming upon
the deck.
It was sharp work leaving the guns and preparing for the boarders; but
the sailors and marines were ready, and received the fierce, yelling
crowd of Malays with a sharp fire and the point of the bayonet, while
these latter attacked fiercely with kris and spear. Their charge was
most daring, and they came on in such numbers, and fought with so great
a display of courage, that the little party of Englishmen, in spite of
their heroic defence, were driven back step by step, till Lieutenant
Johnson began to bitterly regret that he had not signalled for help from
the fort.
His heart sank within him as, in spite of his bravery and the example he
set his men he saw them giving way on all sides.
Bob Roberts, young as he was, fought bravely and well, while Ali did
good service with his rifle. But all seemed in vain; the Malays were
gradually getting possession of the deck, and the question was arising
in the lieutenant's mind whether it would not be wiser to take refuge in
the cabin, and fire from thence as they could.
Men fell rapidly on either side, but while the Malays had three or four
to leap into the places of those who went down, every wounded Englishman
weakened the force terribly by his loss.
Still there was no sign of flinching, the men giving way solely from
being forced back by the numbers that pressed upon them.
Three times over by a determined rally did the lieutenant strive to
force the enemy back, but in vain; and the last time he nearly lost his
life, for the Malays made at him at once, and in his efforts to avoid
them he slipped and fell.
With a yell of triumph a couple of the enemy dashed at him spear in
hand, when there was a sharp double report from a rifle, and one leaped
in the air to fall flat on the deck beside his intended victim, the
other staggered back and retreated to the rear.
Those shots were fired by the young chief Ali, who coolly reloaded his
piece, and stood watching Bob Roberts, whose excitement was intense.
He had forgotten Dick and his instructions to the old sailor in the
fierce passions of the fray, and poor old Dick had gone down almost at
the first rush, to crawl afterwards under the bulwarks, where he bound
up his head, and lay watching the fight as he strove more than once to
join in.
But each time old Dick essayed to rise, a terrible sickness came over
him, and he sank back trying to recall some order he had received from
the midshipman, but unable to make out what it was.
He fainted away twice in his efforts to get up, and then lay back, sick
at heart, and with just enough consciousness left to know that the fight
was going against the English, and that he had it in his power to change
the fortunes of the day.
"What was it Mr Roberts told him to do? What was it Mr Roberts told
him to do?"
That was the question he wanted solved, but the sense had all seemed to
escape out of the cut in his head, so he told himself, and the more he
tried to recall what it was, the more did he grow confused, and at last
he lay there helpless, listening to the yelling of the Malays, and the
cheers and shouts of the comrades he could not help.
He could see clearly enough all that was going on, and feel bitterly
every phase of ill fortune in the fight, while he regretted the
powerless state in which he lay as he saw some companion worsted by the
enemy.
"If I could only think what it was Mr Roberts told me to do, I might do
it now," he muttered, "and that would help the poor lads."
His head was growing clearer, though, and he became more and more
excited as he saw sailors, marines, and officers driven back, step by
step, along the deck, with the prospect before them of being slain to a
man, and the steamer taken.
That idea was horrible to Dick, and he thought of the captain, officers,
and men away in the jungle, and what would be their feelings when they
returned.
"If I could only help!" thought Dick. "Bravo, lad! Why he fights like
a man," he muttered; "and there's that Mr Ali using his gun
wonderfully, and him only a nigger; while I lie here with my orders on
me, and do nothing to help my mates. Oh, if I only had strength," he
groaned.
Still the fight went on, and to his horror Lieutenant Johnson saw that
another prahu and a naga or dragon-boat were coming up to the attack,
while in place of being able to repel them with a few shots from his
guns, he and his men were hemmed-in by quite a mob of yelling Malays,
every one of whom was thirsting for the Englishmen's blood.
All at once, in the thick of the fight, and just as he was panting, and
too helpless to deliver another stroke, Bob Roberts recalled for a
moment the orders he had given old Dick. But he felt that it was too
late now, and stung by the disgrace of their position, he tried to
reload his revolver, wondering whether Lieutenant Johnson would execute
his threat of blowing up the ship.
Had the lieutenant been ever so disposed, though, he could not have
accomplished his design, for a living wall of Malays was between him and
the way down to the magazine, and he was weak and spent with his
efforts, to such an extent that he could hardly raise his sword.
"It is all over," he thought to himself, "but we'll die fighting like
Englishmen. Oh, my poor lads," he groaned, "my poor lads!" And he
wondered whether he could have done anything else to lead them to
victory, instead of this bitter defeat.
It did indeed seem to be all over, for the fresh boats had reached the
steamer, and their men were swarming over the side, when suddenly the
remembrance of his orders flashed across old Dick's clouded brain,
bringing with it renewed strength, for the faintness seemed to be driven
away.
Abdullah, or rather Rajah Gantang, saw the fresh forces arriving, and he
shouted to them to come on, stepping back half-a-dozen yards, and then
leaping on to one of the wired skylights, kris in hand.
Close beside him he saw a rough old wounded sailor screwing on something
bright that looked like a copper pipe, and then seize hold of an iron
spanner; and out of sheer thirst for blood the rajah, after waving to
the new comers to come on, made a leap down at the old sailor, who faced
him with what seemed to the rajah like a copper gun, presented, and
fired--
No, that's wrong, he watered; for Bob Roberts' commands were at last
executed, and a shower of scalding water from the boilers was sent by
means of the hose and branch full in the rajah's face, driving him away
yelling with agony, as Dick made a dash along the deck, the hose
trailing after him, took the Malays in flank just as they were making
their final dash at the hemmed-in defenders of the vessel, and the
fortunes of the day were changed.
_Whizz, squish_, out flew the steaming water in a scalding shower, and
in an instant the fierce crowd of Malays were turned into a set of
agonised, dancing, maniacs, a dozen of them turning furiously on Dick,
and rushing at him, kris and spear in hand; but with a grim smile on his
rough visage, old Dick gave the copper branch a waving motion, and the
scalding shower stopped the fiercest of them, drove them back, and as
they fled the fresh party summoned by the rajah came running along the
deck.
Dick did not flinch, but mentally praying that the supply might hold
out, delivered the stream full in their faces as they came yelling up,
and after a brave effort to withstand it for a few moments, sending them
back, crushed and beaten, stamping, shrieking, leaping overboard, making
frantic efforts to escape the pain, while Dick steadily followed them
up, playing the boiling water amongst them, and literally cleaning the
decks, amidst the cheering of the men.
"Quick there," cried Lieutenant Johnson, "A man there at the wheel--two!
quick! two! She's afloat. Down there in the engine-room," he shouted,
as he mounted the bridge, for a breeze had sprung up, and the mud that
clung round the steamer's keel having been loosened by the firing, the
motion of the vessel, and the pressure on the sails, the corvette had,
unperceived, been afloat some minutes, and slowly floating down stream.
In another few seconds she was under full command; and as the men flew
to the guns, the lieutenant took deadly revenge upon his fierce enemies
by manoeuvring the steamer so that, in spite of the efforts of her crew
with their sweeps; he literally sent her over the biggest of the three
prahus, the stem of the steamer cutting it in two as if it had been made
of paper, and then sinking the naga by a well-directed shot, the crews
of both swimming easily towards the shore.
By this time the other two prahus were in full retreat up stream,
evidently from a belief that the steamer would not follow; but in spite
of his mishap in running aground, Lieutenant Johnson could not resist
the temptation to administer the sternest punishment he could contrive;
and with full steam on, he gave chase, firing at the two prahus as he
went.
At the end of ten minutes one had been struck several times, and her
captain ran her close in shore, he and his crew deserting her; while
after avoiding only by a miracle at least a dozen shots, the last prahu
suddenly turned in by a branch of the river and seemed to go right
amongst the palm-trees, when, after a parting shot or two, the steamer
proving quite unsuited for chase in such narrow, shallow waters, the
lieutenant gave it up, his crew being too weak to continue the chase
with the boats.