The fugitives had not been lying in their shady place of concealment
many minutes before the loud buzz of voices and shouting ceased. Then
came the whishing and brushing noise of twigs and bushes, and in the
midst of the silence that followed they made out the beating of oars
once more, and soon after the prahu came into sight, gliding swiftly
down the stream.
As it came nearer, those in the sampan hardly dared to breathe, but
crouched there, waiting patiently till the great vessel had passed.
So plainly could everything be seen in the broad sunlight that, as the
crew were evidently keeping a sharp look-out on both sides, it seemed
impossible, in spite of the hanging boughs, for the fugitives to remain
unseen.
Nearer came the prahu, the steersman sending it well in towards them; a
dozen eyes were fixed upon the leafy screen, and feeling that the time
for desperate action had come, the doctor took up his gun and held it
ready for use, if, after a parley, the occupants of the prahu sought to
rob him of what he reasonably called his prize.
They were anxious moments, and more than once, when the prahu was close
abreast, the doctor made sure, from the expression of the men's faces,
that they could see through the screen.
But no; the water was ablaze, in its ripple, as it were, with silver
fire; the leaves glistened in the sun's rays, and beyond them all seemed
to be in impenetrable darkness, the result being that the prahu passed
on its way, going faster and faster, till, as the doctor parted the
leaves to gaze out, the stern of the long row-boat disappeared round a
bend some five hundred yards away, and the question now was, what was
the best thing to do?
Helen was nearly fainting with heat and excitement; and gently lifting
her, so that her head was by the side, the doctor spent the next few
minutes in bathing her face with the clear cold water that glided
swiftly in amongst the overhanging boughs.
"Well, Ismael, what next?" said the doctor. "Do you think we might
venture to follow them slowly down?"
"No, master!" was the emphatic reply. "The prahu will not go far
without finding that we are not in front; then she will leave a small
boat with men to see that we do not pass, while the prahu comes back to
search the river sides. Sampans and small prahus always hide under the
branches like this."
"Then why propose such a blind trick?" cried the doctor.
"If the master could have shown a better way his servants would have
been content," said the Malay, humbly.
"But I could not propose a better way!" cried the doctor, angrily. "We
could not escape from a swift boat like that. Well, what shall we do?"
"I should land, master, and try to escape through the jungle."
"Impossible!" cried the doctor, glancing at Helen's swollen feet. "She
could not walk a mile, and we could not carry her."
"It would not be wise to try and go up-stream, master," said the Malay.
"I don't know that," replied the doctor. "We must get away somewhere.
To stay here is to be hunted out and taken."
He paused to listen, and as he did so the beat of the great oars came
loudly; and directly after he sank back in the boat with a look of
misery upon his face, for the prahu could be seen once more returning
up-stream, and to have attempted to leave their concealment now meant
certain capture.
It soon became very evident that the officer in command of the prahu
felt sure that they were in hiding somewhere close at hand, for he had
his boat steered close in to the opposite shore; and as they glided
slowly by, men with poles thrust aside the branches, and keen eyes were
evidently peering scrutinisingly amongst the leaves.
The doctor turned angrily in his place, thinking of what he should do;
but all thought seemed in vain, and the conclusion was forced upon him
that their only chance was to lie quiet and trust to their not being
seen.
He was a man, however, of no little activity of mind; and as soon as
this was forced upon him he immediately set to work to try and improve
their position.
Giving his instructions, then, in a whisper, the sampan was dragged in
closer to the shore, and leaves and boughs being reached were dragged
over them, the doctor cutting several branches to lay over the boat
where it was fixed in its place; and this being done, he made the Malays
lie down, he remaining in a kneeling position as he enlaced the boughs
above his head till all was to his satisfaction, after which he crouched
down and waited.
Poor Doctor Bolter had worked at his task till the perspiration streamed
from his face, little thinking that he had closed up every aperture
through which danger might enter but one, and that one was plain to
anyone in search of the fugitives.
It was very unfortunate, but it never occurred to him. He had broken
the branches with the greatest care, turning huge leaves over the broken
ends to keep them from looking strange, and he had carefully picked up
and laid in the boat every leaf that had been broken off, but still
there was a sign visible by which the searchers might detect the hidden
party should they use any diligence as they came that way.
The fugitives were not long kept in suspense, for very soon the plash of
the prahu's oars was heard, and then the shadow of the great boat shut
out some of the light as she brushed against the branches. Oars and
poles beat aside the boughs, and the excitement grew intense as the
searchers came nearer and nearer. The two boatmen laid their heads upon
their knees, and Dr Bolter placed the gun in the bottom of the boat,
gave Helen's hand a reassuring pressure, and then took up his revolver
as being a better weapon for such close quarters.
"They're in here somewhere," cried a voice in Malayan; "beat the
branches aside; they must be found."
The crew of the prahu encouraged each other with shouts as they bent
aside the boughs; and the boat, after being rowed some little distance
past them, was allowed to drift slowly down, some of the men holding on
by the branches to keep her from going down-stream too fast.
The fugitives lay quite still, hardly daring to breathe as this went on,
the search at one time being so near that they felt that they must be
seen. But in spite of the keen searchings of a score or so of piercing
eyes, the prahu slowly passed them lower and lower down the stream, till
the voices began to grow faint.
"Saved, my dear," said the doctor, in a whisper. "They will not come
back now. Hold up a bit longer, and I will see you safe in your
father's arms."
In spite of her efforts, Helen could not keep back a passionate burst of
tears, her sobs, stifled though they were, becoming so hysterical that
the doctor grew alarmed, and tried hard to comfort her.
"Thank goodness!" he muttered at last, as she calmed down; and he was in
the act of raising his handkerchief to wipe his streaming face, when he
turned cold, for the prahu was being rowed up-stream once more.
There was nothing for it but to lie still and wait, for there was a
possibility of the search being ended; but to their agony and despair,
the vessel was allowed to come slowly floating back, the search being
continued till, as they came nearly opposite, one of the crew uttered a
loud shout, and pointed to where, like a silvery patch in the darkness,
the sun was shining in upon the doctor's glistening bald head.
The next minute the prahu's stem was forced in amongst the bushes and
overhanging boughs, and half a dozen Malays dropped from her side right
into the boat.
Doctor Bolter made a desperate attempt at defending his charge, but one
of the prahu's crew leaped right down upon his back, jerking his arm so
that the first shot from his revolver went into the jungle, the second
through the bottom of the sampan, and the third remained in the
pistol-chamber, for the trigger was not drawn, the pistol being wrenched
from his hand.
The next few minutes were occupied in binding roughly him and his men,
and then, in spite of his angry denunciations and threats of the British
vengeance, they were hauled into the prahu. Helen was slung up--she
being quite prostrate now--and amidst the laughter and chattering of the
swarthy Malays, the prahu's head was turned towards the little river,
with the sampan towing behind, and the boats soon after went rushing
through the water on their upward way.
"Horrible!" muttered the doctor, as he realised his position. "They
will take us up the little river to that scoundrel's place in the
jungle, and I never told a soul where we were going. Was ever anything
so unlucky? As for that Murad, once let me get the opportunity, and he
shall smart for this--a vile, treacherous scoundrel! Poor Helen, what
can I do!"
He drew his breath painfully through his teeth as he uttered these
words, for just then a showily-dressed Malay went to where Helen was
seated, and going down upon one knee, he raised her head.
"Poor girl, she is fainting!" muttered the doctor. Then his heart
seemed to stand still, for Helen uttered a piteous cry for help, and for
the first time the doctor saw that the showily-dressed Malay supporting
Helen's head was the Rajah himself!