Meanwhile Ned and Frank had gone off eagerly to the attack upon the
lurking water-dragon, terrible, in its way, as that which Saint George
slew, and about half-way to the stockade they caught sight of Tim
Driscol, seated under a tree, puffing away at a homemade pipe, composed
of a short piece of bamboo with a reed stuck in the side. He had a
neatly-made little basket by his knee, and as he saw the lads coming, he
tapped the ashes out of his pipe, thrust it in his pocket, and rose to
pick up his basket, in which there was evidently something alive.
"Bedad and I began to think ye didn't mane to come," he said, with his
eyes twinkling.
"Oh, I should have come, Tim, if he hadn't," replied Frank.
"Av coorse ye would.--No offinse, Mr Murray, but why don't ye have a
dress like the young master here? Don't he look fine? I hear you took
him for a young rajah."
"You come along, and don't talk stuff!" cried Frank. "Is that the
chicken?" and he nodded toward the basket. "Well sor, I'd like to tell
the truth when I can."
"What do you mean? Haven't you got a chicken?" cried Frank, wrathfully.
"No, sor."
"I gave you orders to get one for a bait, and if you haven't got one,
it's no use for us to go on."
"I did go to get one, sor."
"Well?"
"And the baste at the farthest off house said he'd find one for me."
"Well? Why, you have got it," cried Frank; "I can hear it rustling in
the basket."
"That isn't a chicken, sor."
"What is it, then?" cried Frank, impatiently.
"It's what he said was a chicken, sor."
"What is it, then?"
"I belave it's the ouldest hin about these parts, sor. He jabbered away
in his haythen dialect, and swore it was a tinder young chicken; but
it's an ould hin, that's laid eggs till she's tired, and won't lay any
more, and he wants to sell her."
"But is it white?"
"Oh yes! it's white enough, sir."
"That will do, then. I don't suppose the croc can tell whether a bird's
tender or tough. Come along."
Frank led on, leaving the palm houses behind, plunging among the trees,
and winding in and out, till Ned recognised the spot where he had
stopped to watch the river, and there he could see, lying about in the
shade, eight or nine of the Malays, most of whom had spears, which stood
leaning against the trunks of the trees.
"Now then, you two must talk English. I have got to speak in Malay, for
I am going to do all the ordering this time. I say, Ned, you like
fishing," he added, laughing. "You shall hold the line."
"But what are you going to do?"
"Wait a bit and you'll see," cried the lad; and he began to order the
Malays about, the men hurrying here and there, and, evidently at his
command, keeping right away from the banks of the river.
"Don't want to scare our fish," he said, hurriedly, to Ned. Then, as a
man came up with a coil of rope, Frank undid a part of it, and showed
that some feet of the end were not twisted, but all loose.
"Want to cutoff that bad bit?" said Ned, producing his knife.
"Bad, eh? Why, that's the beauty of it. I'm going to tie the hook on
to it just there."
"But if you fish for a crocodile like that, he'll break away."
"Not he. They never do. If I fished with a hard piece of rope, he'd
bite right through it."
"Then he must bite through that loose stuff. What is it--some kind of
hemp?"
"No; fibre of the gamooti palm, and his teeth will only go through the
loose stuff and bother him."
He asked for something in Malay, and one of the men handed him a
curiously-shaped hook, which he attached to the loose fibrous rope, and
then took a piece of stout twine from his pocket.
"Now, Tim," he cried, laughing, "give me the worm."
Tim opened the basket a little way, thrust in his hand, drew out the
unfortunate hen, which was quite white, and began shrieking and flapping
wildly till her wings were held down to her sides.
"Are you going to bait with that?" said Ned.
"Yes. Can't afford to bait with little boys and girls," replied Frank,
merrily; "they come expensive, and the mothers don't like it."
"But you are going to kill it first?"
"Kill it? What for? We shouldn't get a bite if we did."
"But it's so horribly cruel."
"Is it? Well, I suppose it is, but if it wasn't killed this way, it
would have been killed directly to make into a curry. This is a better
end for it, for we shall save people's lives."
"If ye catch him, Masther Frank," said Tim.
"Oh, we shall catch him, Tim. You'll see. There, hold still."
As he spoke, Fred was busy tying the twine round the hen with ingenious
knots, till the poor bird looked as if it had been put in harness;
while, firmly secured in amongst the string bandages, and hidden by one
of the wings, the hook lay ready for the reptile, if it did not prove to
be too cunning to touch the bait.
"There!" cried Frank, at last; and he then said something to the Malays,
from whom a murmur that was a chorus of approval, arose.
"Are you going to throw it into the river close by where I saw the
monster!" whispered Ned.
"Throw it in? Why, it would drown the bird."
"Of course."
"Oh, I see you don't understand croc fishing," continued Frank, securing
a piece of the fibre twine to one of the legs of the hen, and another to
a stout peg of wood, leaving about five feet clear for the bird to move
about.
These preparations made, Frank took the bird under his arm, twisted the
rope twice about the hand which held the peg, and then, sticking a short
stout staff in his belt, he stooped down, and, keeping the tree in which
Ned had seen the monkey, between him and the water, he crept silently
forward, dragging the rope after him, till he was close up. Then,
taking the peg to which the hen was tethered, he drove it quickly and
firmly down into the ground, as near to the edge of the bank as he could
reach.
Ned watched him excitedly, and as he recalled his own adventure, he was
in dread lest the reptile should make a rush at the gaily-clad figure,
so occupied in his task that he would have been quite at the monster's
mercy.
Similar thoughts evidently troubled the Malays, for five of the men took
their spears from where they leaned, and stood some thirty feet behind
the lad, ready to rush forward to his help. But there was no need.
Frank worked quickly and well, driving the peg down into the ground with
the club, sufficiently tightly to keep the hen from getting free, but
not hard enough to prevent its being drawn by the reptile, supposing
that the twine did not break.
It was only a minute's work before the club was thrust back into his
waistband, and a quantity of the rope hauled down to the bank. Then the
lad trotted rapidly back, leaving the hen walking disconsolately up and
down with the hook beneath its wing, and dragging the loose rope here
and there; while, so little was the poor thing troubled, that it began
to scratch and peck about beneath the tree by the time Frank was talking
eagerly to the Malays, who now lay down again with their spears ready.
"Shall I howld the rope, sor?" said Tim.
"No. Mr Murray likes fishing," replied the lad, with a grin; "and he
shall hold the line till there's a bite. Better tie that other end,
though, to that little tree."
Tim obeyed, and then seated himself in the shadiest place he could find,
and took out his pipe again.
"Now, Ned, lay hold; and when the fish bites, give him plenty of line.
Don't strike."
Ned took the rope offered to him eagerly, and yet with a feeling of
reluctance, for the game was formidable.
"Let him go back into the river, and swallow the bait; then we'll talk
to him. Now all lie down and be quiet."
The Malays were already as silent and motionless as a group in bronze,
and Tim and the lads followed their example, every one watching the
white hen, which, in happy ignorance of its perilous position, still
pecked about quite close to the edge of the bank.
"Think it will come?" said Ned, after they had crouched there in silence
for quite an hour.
"Can't say," whispered back the other. "More likely perhaps to bite of
a night or early in the morning. Most likely to bite if we were not
here. Fish always do if I leave my rod for a bit. Getting tired of
waiting?"
"No; it's too exciting."
"No need to hold the rope without you like."
"But I do like. Will he pull very hard?"
"When he's hooked, but you must not let him pull hard when he first
takes the hen. It's just like some kinds of fishing; you don't want to
strike till the fish has swallowed the bait."
Another hour in that hot silence, and no signs of a crocodile. The
Malays were all watchful, their dark eyes fixed on the white bird, and
their spears ready; but Tim Driscol had fallen asleep with his pipe in
his mouth, and the sight of the Irishman with his eyes closed, and his
breath coming regularly, had a drowsy effect upon Ned, who half lay
there on his side watching the glaring river, with the water looking
every here and there like damascened metal. Then all at once, as Tim
Driscol's breath came thickly, the hen was not there, the rope was
running out fast, there was a sudden jerk, and Ned's eyes opened with a
start.
"Don't go to sleep," whispered Frank. "He may come at any time."
"Don't go to sleep!" Then he had been asleep and dreaming, for there
was the hen scratching about on the bank, and the rope lying just as it
was before.
"I had only just closed my eyes, had I?"
"About five minutes, and your head was wagging about like a big fruit on
a stalk. You don't want the croc to drag you into the river too."
These last words effectually drove away the drowsy sensation brought on
by the silence and heat there beneath the trees; and, after a glance
round to see that the Malays were all as watchful as ever, Ned settled
down again to think about the white hen; about his own narrow escape,
and then about the horrible mishap that morning, and of the poor girl's
feelings as she felt herself seized by the great reptile.
"They ought to kill them all, Frank," he whispered.
"Kill whom?"
"The crocodiles. It is horrible to let these creatures be about the
place."
"Very well; let's kill 'em all, then. There'll be plenty of sport.
We're beginning with this one."
"But he does not come."
"Well then, let's give it up now and go. He is too artful. I daresay
he sees us, and will not come till we are gone. We'll go away and come
back this evening. That's the way the Malays catch the wretches. They
don't stop to watch, only let the rope be tied to a tree, and then come
back, and they often find one on."
"How do they kill it, then?"
"Same as we're going to kill this one when he is hooked; but, oh murder,
I'm getting so precious hungry; let's give up now. I'll tell them we're
not going to stay."
He crawled to the men, whispered softly to them for a few minutes, and
then came back, pausing to rouse up Tim, who looked very stupid.
"Ready?" said Ned, who was still holding the rope attached to the hen.
"No. I don't think I should like to give up. He may come yet."
"I don't know," said Frank. "The brute isn't hungry perhaps. I am, and
I daresay there's a white chicken waiting at home nicely curried, and
with plenty of cocoa-nut cream in it, and the whitest of rice round,
ready for me. I'm hungry, and can bite; so can you. Let's be off and--
eh? What?"
"Hist!" whispered Ned; "the water is moving. Look! look!"
They could only see a little of the water near the bank, where the
lotus-leaves were, but they were evidently being moved by something
passing through them, and the pale blue blossoms were nodding.
Then almost directly there was a splash, a hideous head appeared on the
bank, the wretched hen uttered a cackling shriek and leaped up to the
full extent of the tether, a loud snapping noise was heard. They had
just a rapid view of a huge scaly, dripping body in the act of turning,
a great undulating tail waved in the air--there was a loud splash; and,
thrilling with excitement, Ned saw the slack coils of rope running out,
and that the bait was gone.
"That's right," whispered Frank excitedly, as a suppressed murmur rose
from the Malays; "give him plenty of line. He won't go very far.
There's lots of length;" and he stood looking on as, excited as he, Ned
dragged at the rope, and passed it rapidly through his hands as it kept
on running toward the bank, and into the river more and more and more,
till only about ten yards were left before the end was reached--the end
tied to a young cocoa-nut tree.
One of the Malays sprang up, whipped out his kris, and was going to cut
the rope, for a check might have made the crocodile leave the bait
before he had swallowed it, and the intention was to run with the end
over to the river's brim, thus giving another fifty feet of line to run;
but, just as he raised his kris, the great reptile ceased drawing out
the rope, and Frank gave his young companion a congratulatory slap on
the shoulder.
"Hurrah!" he cried; "he will not go any farther. He has got a
lurking-place down there, under those lilies, and he is busy swallowing
it."
He turned and asked one of the men a question, and the answer confirmed
his opinion.
"Yes; it's all right," said Frank.
"Shall I strike now?"
"Oh no; give him plenty of time to swallow his chicken curry. I say,
wait a bit; won't he find it warm in a few minutes."
"But I must strike soon. Let me do it."
"Oh yes; you shall strike, and then we'll have a lot of the fellows
ready to catch hold, for that fellow's seventeen or eighteen feet long.
I know, and you don't know, how strong these things are."
Ned made no reply, for he was suffering from a strange feeling of
emotion: his heart beat violently, there was a sensation of suffocation
in his breast, and the hands which held the rope trembled and twitched.
"Feel frightened, sor?" whispered Tim, smiling in his face.
"No, I don't think I'm frightened, because I wouldn't let go on any
account."
"I know. I felt just like that the first time I saw one caught, and the
men let me howld the line."
"But it must be time to strike now."
"Why, you talk as if you had a rod in your hand, and a fish had taken
your bait," cried Frank.
"Yes; it seems just the same."
"Only it isn't fishing: its reptiling. Give him plenty of time."
"But why?"
"Because perhaps he hasn't swallowed it, and is lying down there chewing
it over in his jaws. If you pulled now, you might jerk it out of his
mouth."
Ned uttered a sigh, as if he were getting rid of a great amount of
pent-up emotion while he stood there grasping the rough rope with both
hands, waiting and feeling more impatient than he ever had before.
"You'll see, when we pull him out, how useful the loose strands of rope
are. They'll be stuck between his ugly teeth. My word, it will make a
mess all about here. It will be wet and beaten down, and made into a
regular puddle."
"Will he struggle much?"
"I should think he will. Mind his tail."
"You mean his head."
"No, I don't; I mean his tail. Of course he'll snap and bark, but he
tries to sweep people over with his tail, just as if he were mowing you
off the ground. Hullo! he's moving now. Ready? Give the rope a jerk,
and hold tight."
Ned obeyed his instructions, for the rope was beginning to glide over
the bank again, and, as it tightened, Ned gave it a sharp jerk, went
down headlong directly, and as he still clung to the rope, began to
glide rapidly toward the river.
"Oh murther!" roared Tim.
"Let go!" shouted Frank. But in his excitement Ned held on, and he was
dragged within a yard of the river before there was a tremendous check
put on the rope by the Malays, who stopped its progress, and enabled Ned
to struggle up, Frank joining him, and the fight now began.
At first there was nothing but a steady strain on the line, as if the
end were tied to a dead tree at the bottom of the river, and this kept
on for some minutes, neither side stirring.
"Oh, he's a beauty!" said Tim, who was hauling hard.
"I told you he was a big one," said Frank; but Ned made no answer. The
interest was too deep, and he held on to the rope with all his strength.
Then, all at once, a peculiar vibration ran through it, as if the
crocodile had rapidly shaken its head, and the next moment there was a
tremendous jerk, and right out in the river, a violent movement in the
stilly flowing water, as if the monstrous brute had suddenly wallowed
and twisted itself round, the water rising in eddies and then becoming
discoloured with clouds of mud which flowed slowly by them, the
direction the reptile had taken being somewhat up the river.
The plunge was tremendous, and the rope was nearly jerked out of the
men's hands, but they held on, threw themselves back, and once more the
dull steady strain was there, the reptile lying like a log at the
bottom.
"Look at that now!" cried Tim. "I belave he's tired, and gone to
slape."
"He's a coward, and won't fight," cried Frank. "Let's have him out at
once," he shouted in Malay to the men, but their leader gave a decided
negative.
"Says he'll begin to fight directly," continued Frank; and hardly were
the words out of his mouth when there was another fierce shaking of the
rope, a furious plunge, and the brute began to make the line rush
through the water here and there. The lotus-leaves were cut and torn
off and floated down the river, till, where the beautiful bed of flowers
lay, all was muddy water churned up by the savage efforts of the beast,
which tugged and dragged and sometimes drew the Malays a little nearer
the brim; but just as Ned was wondering whether they had not better let
go, the men recovered their lost ground again, and the water eddied and
bubbled as the mud rose to the surface.
"He's trying to burrow down," said Frank; "wait a bit, and he'll show
himself. It's precious deep just there."
The fight went on, and Ned was beginning to think that their captive
ought now to grow tired, when the strain suddenly ceased, and the whole
party went down backward with their heels in the air.
"The hook's broken out. Oh!" cried Ned, struggling to his knees, his
voice showing his disappointment. "Ah!" he yelled, "mind! run!" for he
suddenly caught sight of a fearful pair of open jaws thrust out of the
water not half a dozen yards away, the monster making a savage charge
right up to the bank, before its head sank down.
"Look at that now!" shouted Tim.
"Gone!" cried Ned; "and a good job too."
"Not he," said Frank, laughing. "Look!"
For the rope was running out again, showing that the hook was fast; and,
as the boys seized the line once more, the men let it go a little, and
then gradually tightened it, with the result that the crocodile turned
itself over and over, thrusting its loathsome head out, curving over and
diving down again, its tail appearing above the surface, waving, and
giving the water a tremendous slap, which sent the spray flying right
out over the bank.
It charged again right to the bank, but did not attempt to throw itself
out; always turning and plunging down again into deep water, the violent
efforts testing the strength of the rope and the hold of the hook, but
nothing gave way, for the strands were nearly new, and the toughest of
the tough.
And so the fight went on, minute after minute, the men perspiring and
the boys' hands beginning to grow sore. How long the violent plunging
and churning up of the water lasted they never attempted to guess, for
the interest in the fight was too engrossing as the monster now made a
rush to escape down the river, now up again, and at last made so
desperate a rush straight out as if to go across, that the party were
taken unawares, and were jerked right forward, losing their footing and
falling. Ned and Frank had to let go, to save themselves from being
dragged into the river, and as they lay close to the edge, the rope
passed over them, and Ned shouted, "Gone!" while Tim threw himself down
in despair.
And so it seemed, for half the men had also let go, and the others had
so bad a hold that they followed their companions' example, so that all
the labour seemed to have been thrown away.
It was all the work of a few moments, and the reptile was now well out,
and apparently escaping, when there was again a tightening, and the
young cocoa-nut palm shivered and bent as the knots were tested where
the end was secured.
The next moment, with a low cry of excitement, the men had seized the
line again, and eased the strain on the young tree; then steadily
dragging the reptile's head round, and drawing it back toward the bank
till half the rope was recovered.
The struggle recommenced, for the monster seemed to be as strong as
ever, but it was now allowed to have no rest, and at last it was drawn
to within some twenty feet of the bank, and four of the men let go and
went back.
"Here, hi! don't run away!" cried Tim.
"What are they going to do?" said Ned, panting with his efforts.
"Gone to get their spears. We're going to have him out now."
"And we're nearest!" cried Ned.
"Yes. Afraid? Shall we go back?"
"Do you want to?"
"No."
"More don't I," said Ned, desperately.
"It's all right," said Frank. "We can run out of his way if he makes a
jump at us. You'll easily know if he's going to. You'll see him hump
up his back if he's going to rush at us. But what you've got to mind is
his tail. He'll try, as I told you, to flip you into the water. He may
break your legs. Now then, be ready for a good haul. Here they are
with their spears."
The four men came back, two going on each side of the rope toward the
bank, and standing ready with their weapons to try to plunge them into
the reptile's throat. Then the principal Malay said a few words,
uttered a shout, and the strain was increased a little, then a little
more, as the creature began to be drawn nearer the bank; then they moved
faster and faster, Ned wondering whether the rope and hook would stand;
and as he ran on with the men, he looked back and saw the reptile's head
with its jaws wide appear above the muddy bank, then its fore-paws were
over, and the next moment it was gliding over the grass, striking right
and left with head and tail; while, as it was dragged right away from
the river, and the men paused, it raised itself up high on its feet,
arching up its back like an angry toad of monstrous dimensions, and
snapped its jaws.
"Pretty darlin'!" cried Tim. "Oh, how proud his mother must be. Look
at his smile."
Frank uttered a triumphant shout, and Ned joined in, but only feebly,
for he was too much excited and on the watch for a charge from their
captive.
Two or three of these were made as the men attacked it with spears; but
the strain of the rope on the reptile's head prevented it from doing any
mischief, and though it laid about it, thrashing furiously with its
tail, no harm was done, while the men contrived to give it thrust after
thrust in the soft under-parts of the neck, weakening it so, that at
last they managed to turn it over on its back, and one of the Malays
leaped upon it, and with a great knife ripped it up nearly from end to
end.
Ned turned away sickened as the men now unfastened the rope from the
tree and retied it, so as to give the reptile a very short tether.
"There's no need for that now--is there?" said Ned, as he stood wiping
his brow.
"No need to what?"
"Tie it up."
"Only, that if they did not, the brute would crawl back into the river."
"What, wounded like that?"
"Oh yes. They don't seem to mind much. They'll go back into the water
even after the Malays have cut them open and taken out their inside.
They always do that to see whether they are man-eaters. They're doing
it now. Come and look."
"No," said Ned. "I'm satisfied. We've caught him. That's all too
horrible."
By this time the report was being spread that the monster had been
taken, and footsteps were heard approaching, quite a little crowd hiding
the reptile from the boys, and out of which crowd rose directly after a
low wailing sound.
"How horrid!" whispered Frank.
"What does it mean? Are they sorry we've killed it?"
"No, they have found something inside the beast which tells them that we
have caught the right croc. I daresay it's the one that took the poor
girl."
Frank was right, and after a time the lads returned, the crowd--a part
of which had gone back in procession toward one of the houses--making
way for them.
The men standing about the horrible reptile gave them a quiet but warm
greeting, and there was a look of triumph in their eyes as one of them
told Frank, what he afterwards interpreted to his companion, that this
was undoubtedly the monster that had taken the poor girl; and they
showed him too a silver ornament, blackened and strange looking, which
must have been in the creature for perhaps months.
Ned turned shuddering away from this recital to examine the hideous
mud-coloured brute, Frank eagerly showing him how the loose strands had
opened out as the reptile bit at them, its great teeth passing through
without damaging the strength of the rope; and it was interesting to see
how the hook had taken too fast a hold to be dislodged. Then he
examined the great bulky body with its crooked legs and claws, and the
formidable tail, everything tending to show that it was a reptile just
in the full vigour of its existence.
"They never get bigger than this, do they?" said Ned, after a careful
measurement had proved the crocodile to be within an inch or two of
eighteen feet, and bulky in proportion.
"Bigger? Yes, half as big again. My father saw one twenty-five feet
long, but he says those very large ones are so heavy that they are slow
and not so dangerous. It is those fellows from fifteen feet to eighteen
that the men are most afraid of. They can quite dart through the water
like a fish."
"What will they do with it?"
"They are going to leave it here till our people have seen it, and then
throw it in the river again. And I hope," added Ned merrily, "it will
be a lesson to all the others, and that they will behave better. Here,
come along, and let's get something to eat. I say, what a horrid mess!"
"It's dishgusting, sor," said Tim. "Here, I must light a pipe to take
the taste out of my mouth. But it's a puzzle--a reg'lar conundhrum,
that's what it is."
"What's a conundrum?"
"Why sor, whatever crocodiles could have been made for. But I say,
Masther Frank, he thought it was a chicken. He nivver knew it was a
tough ould hin."