Half an hour later, the little party were on their way. They were
stiff, at first, from passing the night in a sitting attitude; but
it was not long before they were able to break into a trot. This
they kept up for an hour then, to their great satisfaction, the
forest abruptly ceased, and they saw, at a distance of about a mile
and a half, the little town of Johore, lying in cultivated fields
that extended to the edge of the forest.
They broke into a walk, for a short distance; and then continued at
their former pace, for they could not tell how close their pursuers
might be behind them. It was not long before they saw men at work
in the fields. The interpreter shouted to them that a party of the
enemy were not far behind and, throwing down their tools, they also
made for the town, spreading the alarm as they went. Fresh and
fleet footed, they arrived some minutes before Harry's party and,
as these entered the place, they found the whole population in the
street, the men armed with spears and krises.
Asking the way, they soon reached the rajah's palace, which
consisted of a central house, round which a number of huts were
built; the whole surrounded by a stone wall, some eight feet high.
The rajah, when they arrived, was questioning some of his people as
to the cause of this sudden alarm. He was greatly surprised at the
sight of Harry, in his full uniform, attended only by one soldier
and a native.
"How comes it that you arrive like this?" he asked, angrily.
"Explain what has happened," Harry said, to the interpreter.
The rajah's brow darkened, as he heard how the escort he had sent
down had been slain, to a man, on the previous day. But his
excitement increased, when told that a strong force of his enemy
was gathered within a few miles of the town; and that an assault
might be immediately expected.
"Will you tell the rajah that I am used to warfare, and shall be
glad to assist him, to the best of my power, in the defence of his
town?"
"How many men were there?" the rajah asked.
"I should think there were a couple of thousand," Harry replied.
"Some of them had matchlocks, but the greater part of them only
spear and kris."
"And we have not more than five hundred," the rajah said. "We
cannot hope to resist them. What think you?"
"I will at once go round the town, and see," Harry said. "It may be
that, being accustomed to war, I can suggest some means of so
strengthening the defences that we may hold them against the
enemy."
The rajah, having heard many tales of the fighting powers of the
whites, said:
"I will go with you. I would defend the place if I could for, if
Johore were lost, I should be but a fugitive. All within it would
be killed, and I should have to beg an asylum from those over whom
I was once master."
Calling a party of his men to follow him, the rajah accompanied
Harry to the edge of the town. It was already surrounded by a
palisade; but this was of no great strength, and its circumference
was fully a mile and a half.
"Tell the rajah that we could make a first defence, here, but his
fighting men are not numerous enough to hold so large a circuit
against four times their number. I should suggest that the whole
population should be set to work to build another palisade, much
nearer to the palace. All the women and children should be sent
inside this, all the provisions in the town be taken into the
palace enclosure, and a large supply of water stored there.
"As soon as the new palisade is finished, all who can be spared
from its defence should set to work to throw up a bank of earth
against the wall; and upon this the fighting men can take their
places, and should be able to defend the palace against any
assault."
The rajah listened attentively to the interpreter.
"The English officer's words are good," he said, "but we have no
timber for the palisades that he speaks of."
"Tell the rajah," Harry said, when this was interpreted to him,
"that there is plenty of wood and bamboos in the huts that stand
outside the line of the new palisade; and that if we pull these
down, we can use the materials. Moreover, in any case it would be
well to level these houses for, if the enemy fired them, it would
be almost certain to fire the houses inside the palisade."
The rajah's face brightened. The tone of assurance in which Harry
spoke reassured him, and he said to the interpreter:
"Tell the officer that my people shall do just as he tells them, if
he will point out where the defence must be erected."
Harry was not long in fixing upon the line for the entrenchments.
It was some two hundred yards in diameter and, at the rajah's
orders, the whole of the men and women of the town set to work, to
pull down the huts standing within fifty or sixty yards of this.
This was the work of a couple of hours, and the materials were
carried up to the line. The stronger timbers were first planted, in
holes dug for them; and the intervals between these were filled
with bamboo poles. On the inside face other bamboos were lashed,
with rattans across them. As fast as these were used, more houses
were pulled down, until the defence was completed, the crossbars
being some nine inches apart.
This work performed, the men, women and children brought up what
provisions they had, and their most precious belongings. These were
carried inside the wall of the palace. It was two o'clock before
the work was finished, and there was then a rest for half an hour.
Then all were set to work to dig a trench, three feet deep with
perpendicular sides, at a distance of two feet from the palisade. A
large store of bamboos that had been too slender for use in the
palisade were sharpened, and cut into lengths of two feet; and
these were planted, thickly, in the bottom of the trench. Others,
five feet long, were sharpened and then thrust through the
interstices between the upright bamboos; the ends being fixed
firmly in the ground inside, while the sharpened points projected
like a row of bayonets, at a height of some two feet above the edge
of the ditch.
It was nightfall before the work was finished. The rajah had,
himself, been all the time upon the spot; and was delighted when he
saw how formidable was the obstacle that had been raised. One small
entrance, alone, had been left; and through this all the women and
children now passed, and lay down in the space between the new
palisade and the wall of the palace.
The men were ordered to take post behind the stockade, and a number
of boys were sent out, to act as scouts and give notice if an enemy
approached. The rajah, however, was of opinion that, as the enemy
would know that the alarm would have been given by the fugitives,
on their arrival, and that the inhabitants would be on their guard,
they would not attack till daylight.
Harry had, at his invitation, gone up at midnight to his house, and
partaken of food; which was also sent out to Abdool and the
interpreter. The rajah would have continued the work all through
the night, had not Harry dissuaded him; saying that, after six
hours' sleep, everyone would work better.
At one o'clock a horn was sounded and, with the exception of a few
men left at the outer palisade, all set to work again. The men were
employed in digging a trench, a foot in depth, inside the inner
palisade; throwing up the earth in front of them, so as to lie
protected from arrows and spears, until it was time for them to
rise to their feet to repel an actual assault. The women and
children filled baskets with the earth thrown from the outer
trench, on the previous day, and carried it inside the wall where,
by five o'clock, a bank two feet high had been raised; and on this
a platform of bamboos, three feet high and eighteen inches wide was
erected.
The work had scarcely been finished when a horn was sounded,
outside the town; and the boys came running in, while the men ran
down to the outer palisade. As day broke, great numbers of dark
figures were seen, making their way through the fields on three
sides of the town.
"The band we saw must have been joined by another. There are
certainly more than two thousand men there. They will undoubtedly
carry the outer palisade. Many of our men will be killed, and many
others will be unable to join us here. I think that it will be much
better to rely on this defence, alone."
Having now great confidence in Harry's judgment, the rajah at once
ordered a horn to be sounded and, in a short time, the whole of the
men were assembled in their stronghold; and the entrance closed by
bamboos, for which holes had been already dug, close together. Then
short lengths were lashed across them, and they were further
strengthened by a bank of earth piled against them.
Before this was quite finished, yells of triumph were heard as the
enemy, finding the palisade unguarded, poured in; expecting to find
that the inhabitants had fled at the news of their approach. They
paused, however, in surprise, at seeing another line of defence
outside the palace. Quickly the numbers increased, until a thick
line of dark figures was gathered at the edge of the cleared space.
Inside the defence, all was quiet. Not a man showed himself.
Doubtful whether the town had not been entirely evacuated, the
Malays paused for some little time, while some of the chiefs
gathered together in consultation. Then a few of the men advanced,
with the evident intention of examining the defences.
They were allowed to approach within ten yards of the ditch, when a
shower of arrows flew from the openings in the palisade; and two,
only, of the Malays fled back to their companions. The fall of the
others provoked wild yells of anger. A horn sounded, and the
assailants rushed upon them from all sides. When within a few yards
of the ditch they hurled their spears, and shot a cloud of arrows.
A large proportion were stopped by the bamboos, but such as passed
through flew harmlessly over the heads of the defenders; who
replied with a far more deadly shower of arrows.
Leaping over those who had fallen, the enemy dashed forward. Those
in front endeavoured to check their course, on arriving at the edge
of the ditch; but they were forced in by the pressure of those
behind, and the long spears of the defenders gleamed out through
the openings of the bamboos, inflicting terrible damage.
In vain the assailants endeavoured to climb out of the ditch. The
bayonet-like line of bamboos checked them; and the arrows of the
concealed defenders told, with terrible effect, on the struggling
mass. At last, at many points, the ditch was literally filled with
dead; and the assailants were enabled to leap upon the line of
bamboos which had so long checked their passage.
The advantage was but slight. The slippery poles were some six
inches apart and, slanting as they did, afforded so poor a foothold
that the Malays were forced to stand between them, on the narrow
ledge between the palisading and the ditch. Here they thrust their
spears between the palisade; but these were wrenched from their
hands, and scores fell from the blows of kris, spear, and arrow;
until at last their leaders and chiefs, seeing how terrible was the
slaughter, and how impossible it was to climb the bamboo fence,
called their men off; and they fell back, pursued by exulting cries
from the women, who were standing on the platform behind the wall
of the palace, watching the conflict, and by the yells of the
defenders of the stockade.
Of these but few had fallen, while some five hundred of the
assailants had perished. The rajah was almost beside himself with
joy, at this crushing defeat of his enemy.
"I do not suppose it is over yet, Rajah," Harry said, through his
interpreter. "There are still some five times our number, and they
will surely not retire without endeavouring to avenge their defeat.
But I hardly think they will attack the stockade again. Possibly
they will try fire, next time; and it will be harder to fight that
than to keep men at bay."
The rajah looked serious.
"Yes," he said, "they cannot return to their homes, and say that
they have left five hundred dead behind them. What do you advise?"
"They will hardly attack again today, Rajah; therefore I shall have
time to think it over. But at present, it seems to me that our only
course is to shoot down as many of those who bring up firebrands as
possible. We have still a number of long bamboos left, and with
these we might thrust away any burning faggots that might be cast
against the palisade."
The rajah nodded.
"That might be done," he said, "and with success, no doubt."
"With success at many points, Rajah; but if they succeed, at only
one point, in establishing a big fire against the stockade; we must
retire within the wall. They cannot burn us out there, except at
the gate; and against that we must pile up earth and stones. But I
should certainly recommend that the roofs of all the buildings
inside should be taken off unless, indeed, you have sufficient
hides to cover them. Still, we need not do that until we are driven
inside the wall. It takes but a short time to take off the broad
leaves with which the roofs are covered."
During the fight, Harry had taken no active part in the conflict.
He had divided the circle into three, and had taken charge of one
division, Abdool taking another, and the rajah a third. They had
each encouraged the men under them, and had gone where the pressure
of the attack was most severe.
On leaving the rajah, Harry joined Abdool.
"They will try again, Abdool; but I don't think they will try to
carry the stockade by assault again."
"They will try fire, sahib."
"That is just what I am afraid of. The archers will shoot down a
good many of them, but in such numbers as they are, this will make
little difference; and we must calculate that, at at least a dozen
spots, they will place blazing faggots against the palisade."
Abdool nodded.
"I have been telling the rajah," Harry went on, "that the men must
provide themselves with long bamboos, which they can thrust through
the openings in the stockade, and push the faggots away. But even
if we do so, we must calculate upon the enemy succeeding, in some
places, in setting the palisades on fire."
"That would be very serious; but of course we should go in behind
the wall."
"I do not want to do that, as long as we can possibly stay here. I
think that, when night comes, we ought to make a sortie."
"But are we not too few, sahib?"
"Too few to defeat them, Abdool, but not too few to beat them up.
You see, the wind always blows, in the evening, up from the sea. I
noticed it last night. It was quite strong. What I should propose
would be to pull up enough bamboos for four men to go out,
together, on the side facing the wind. Two hundred men should first
sally out; remaining, as they do so, close to the ditch. When all
are ready, they should crawl across the cleared ground and then, at
a signal, attack the enemy who, taken by surprise, would be sure to
give way, at first.
"As they attack, fifty men with torches should rush out and follow
them, and set fire to as many huts as they can. As soon as they had
done their work, all should run back, when the signal is given.
"There will be two advantages: in the first place, the sudden
attack will disconcert the enemy, and render them less willing to
expose their lives, by storming a place so desperately held; in the
second place, the wind will carry the flame over the whole town,
and I hope the burning fragrants will carry the flames over all the
fields where the crops are dry; thus causing them much more
difficulty in obtaining dry wood for faggots, and they will be
exposed to our arrows, much longer, before they throw them against
the stockade."
"It would be excellent, sahib; but do you think the men would go?"
"Just at the present moment, they would do anything; they are half
wild with excitement and triumph."
Harry presently went with the interpreter to the rajah's house.
"I have a plan to propose to you," he said, "that will render it
much more difficult for the enemy to set fire to the stockade;" and
he then explained his scheme.
The rajah's eyes glistened with excitement.
"Nothing could be better," he said; "and there is but one fear, and
that is, that the enemy will follow us so hotly, that they will
enter through the breach before we can close it."
"I have thought of that," Harry said, "and the order must be that,
when the signal is given, the men must throw down their torches;
and then each man must run, not for the hole in the stockade, but
to the nearest point, and keep along outside the ditch, and enter
by it. In that way the point at which they entered would not be
known and, moreover, they would be able to enter more rapidly, and
with much less confusion, than if they all arrived together in a
crowd. A party would, of course, be left at the breach when they
sally out and, the moment the last man entered, would replace and
lash the bamboos in their position.
"If, however, we are hotly pursued, you and I, with your own
guards, should remain outside, and keep them at bay until all the
bamboos but one are replaced. This will leave an opening sufficient
for one man, and we must fall back fighting. They certainly would
not venture to follow us through so narrow a passage."
Two hundred and fifty of the men were brought inside the wall, and
the rajah explained to them the duty upon which they would be
employed. He told off fifty of them as torch bearers; explained to
all, carefully, the plan Harry had devised; gave strict orders that
no sound, whatever, must be made until they reached the houses and,
at Harry's request, impressed upon them the absolute necessity for
not allowing their ardour to carry them too far; but that torches
must be thrown down, and everyone run back, as soon as the horn
sounded.
There was no doubt that the order was a satisfactory one. The men
raised their krises and spears, and shouted with joy. In their
present mood, nothing could please them more than the thought of an
attack upon their assailants.
All remained quiet, on both sides, until darkness fell; then the
crash of falling huts showed that the enemy intended to use fire,
and were about to begin the work of making faggots.
"They will attack an hour before daybreak," the rajah said; "or
may, perhaps, wait till the sun is up for, in the daylight, those
who carried the torches would not be so conspicuous, but would
advance in the midst of their whole force."
"At what time are they likely to sleep?"
"Many will sleep early," he said, "in readiness for the fight.
Others will sit up and talk, all night; but those who intend to
sleep will probably do so, in a couple of hours."
"Do you think that they are likely to place guards?"
"No; they will not dream that we should have the boldness to attack
them."
"Let us give them three hours," Harry said, "the sea wind will be
blowing strongly, then."
The greater portion of the men who were to remain behind were to be
stationed on the side on which the sortie was to be made, so as to
cover the retreat of the others, by showers of arrows. The rajah's
principal officer was placed in command here. His orders were that,
if the enemy came on too strongly, he was to issue out with a
hundred men, and aid the party to beat back their assailants.
However, Harry did not think it likely that this would be the case.
The Malays would be scattered all over the town--some, perhaps,
even beyond the outer palisades--and before they could assemble in
force, the party ought to be safe within the palisade again.
Just before ten, the two hundred men who were to make the attack
sallied out. They were led by the rajah, while Harry was to lead
the firing party. He chose this part, because he would not be able
to crawl across the open space as noiselessly as the Malays could
do.
During the day, a number of hides had been hung on the palisades,
so that the enemy should not notice that a gathering of men, with
torches, was assembled there; and in order that the light might not
be conspicuous at this spot, fires had been lighted at other
points, in order to give the impression that the defenders were
holding themselves in readiness to repel another attack. The
bamboos had been removed, ten minutes before the party issued out.
So noiseless was their tread that Harry, though close to the
entrance, could not hear it; and when he looked out, as soon as the
last man had passed, he could neither see nor hear anything. The
men had all thrown themselves on the ground, as soon as they had
passed out, and were crawling forward without a sound being
audible.
Harry and Abdool had both armed themselves with a kris and spear.
Behind them were the torch bearers, arranged four abreast.
It seemed an age before the sound of a horn rose in the air.
Instantly they dashed through the opening, followed by the men and,
at full speed, crossed the cleared ground. Already the sound of
shouts, violent yells, and the clashing of blades showed that the
rajah's men were at work.
Scattering as they reached the houses, the torch bearers ran from
hut to hut; pausing for a few seconds, at each, till the flame had
gained a fair hold. In less than a minute, sixty or seventy houses
were in flames. Harry had the man with the horn with him and, as
soon as he saw that the work was fairly done, he ordered the signal
to be blown. The torches were thrown down, and their bearers ran
back at full speed and, half a minute later, the rajah's men poured
out from the town. There was no pursuit, and the whole band
re-entered the stockade before, with yells of fury, numbers of the
enemy ran forward.
As soon as they did so, arrows began to fly fast from the stockade
and, knowing that they could effect nothing, without means of
breaking through, the Malays retired as rapidly as they had
advanced.
Short as was the interval that had elapsed since the first signal
was given, the town was, at the point where the attack was made, a
sheet of flame, which was spreading rapidly on either hand. The
hubbub among the enemy was tremendous. Upwards of a hundred had
been killed, by the rajah's party--for the most part before they
could offer any resistance--and not more than five or six of their
assailants had received severe wounds.
Loud rose the shouts of exultation from the defenders, as the fire
spread with ever-increasing rapidity; flakes of fire, driven by a
strong wind, started the flames in a score of places, far ahead of
the main conflagration and, in half an hour, only red embers and
flickering timbers showed where Johore had stood. Beyond, however,
there were sheets of flame, where the crops had been dry and ready
for cutting; and the garrison felt that their assailants would have
to go a long distance, to gather materials for endeavouring to burn
them out.
While the position had been surrounded by a zone of fire, the rajah
had, at Harry's suggestion, sent the whole of the men and women to
cast earth over the dead; piled, at four or five points, so thickly
in the ditch.
"If the matter is delayed another day," he said, "the air will be
so poisoned that it will be well-nigh impossible to exist here."
The rajah admitted this; but urged that his men would want to cut
off the heads of their fallen enemies, this being the general
custom among the Malays.
"It may be so, Rajah, but it could not be carried out, here,
without great danger. Our own lives depend upon getting them
quickly buried. We have no such custom of cutting off heads, in our
country, but that is no affair of mine. But the bodies now lie in
what is, in fact, a grave; and a few hours' labour would be the
means of saving the town from a pestilence, later on.
"When the enemy depart, I should advise you to build a great mound
of earth over the trench. It will be a record of your grand defence
and, by placing a strong stockade along the top, you would
strengthen your position greatly. I should recommend you, in that
case, to clear the space within it, as far as the wall, of all
houses; and to build the town entirely outside it."
There was great dissatisfaction, among the natives, at being
prevented from taking what seemed to them their natural trophies.
But when the rajah informed them that the order was given in
consequence of the white officer's advice, they set about the work
readily and, before morning, the dead were all hidden from sight by
a deep layer of earth.
The next day passed without incident. At nightfall a sharp lookout
was kept, not only on the palisade but from the top of the rajah's
house. It was thought that the enemy, of whom considerable numbers
had been seen going into the forest, would bring up the faggots as
closely as possible, before lighting them. Still, it would be
necessary to carry brands for that purpose and, now that the ground
was cleared of huts, some at least of these brands could be seen,
even if carefully hidden.
With the exception of the guards, all slept during the day; as it
was necessary that they should be vigilant at night, for the enemy
might, on this occasion, approach at an earlier hour, hoping to
find the garrison unprepared. Harry and Abdool paced round and
round on the platform of the wall but, although a few fires burned
among the fields, no glimmer of light could be seen where the town
had stood.
"I wish I knew what they were up to, Abdool," Harry said, about
midnight. "I don't like this silence."
"Perhaps they have gone away, sahib."
"No, I can hardly think that. I believe we shall have another
attack, before morning. They may bring ladders with them, for
climbing the palisade; they may try fire; but I am convinced that
they will do something.
"The position is not so strong as it was. If we had had more
bamboos, I should have set our men to dig another ditch, and defend
it like the first; but they are all used up, now. I wish we had
some rockets; so that we could send up one, from time to time, and
see what they are doing."
Another hour passed, and some of the Malays declared that they
could hear a sound as of many men moving. Harry listened in vain,
but he knew that the Malays' senses were much keener than his own.
He went at once to the rajah. The chief had been up till midnight,
and then retired; leaving orders that he was to be called, directly
an alarm of any sort was given. He was seated with two or three of
his councillors, talking, when Harry, with the interpreter,
entered.
"Your people say they hear sounds, Rajah. I can hear nothing,
myself, but I know their hearing is keener than mine. I am uneasy,
for even they cannot see the faintest glow that would tell that a
fire is being brought up. In my opinion, we had better leave only
two hundred men at the palisade, and bring the rest in here. We can
lead them out, at once, if any point is hotly attacked; and it
would prevent confusion, if the stockade were suddenly forced. The
enemy may be bringing up hundreds of ladders and, in the darkness,
may get up close before they are noticed."
"Do as you think best," the rajah said and, at once, went out and
sent officers to bring in three hundred of the men; and also, at
Harry's suggestion, to tell the others that, when the rajah's horn
sounded, all were to leave the stockade and make at once for the
entrance through the wall.
Another half hour passed. Even Harry was conscious, now, that there
was a low dull sound in the air.
"I cannot think what they are doing," the rajah, who was now
standing on the wall, close to the gate, said to Harry. "However
numerous they may be, they should have moved as noiselessly as we
did, when we went out to attack them."
"I don't think that it will be long before we know, now, Rajah."
He had scarcely spoken, when there was a loud shout from the
palisade in front of them. It was on this side that the men had
been posted so thickly, as it was of all things necessary to defend
this to the last, in order to enable those at other points to make
their way to the gate. The shout of alarm was followed, almost
instantly, by the sound of a horn and, immediately, a tremendous
yell resounded on all sides.
It was answered by the shouts of the garrison and, a moment later,
a score of balls composed of matting, dipped in oil or resinous
gum, were thrown flaming over the palisades. These had been
prepared the previous day, and the men charged with throwing them
had each an earthenware pot, containing glowing charcoal, beside
them. Their light showed groups of men, twenty or thirty strong,
advancing within twenty yards of the palisade.
"They are carrying trees, to batter down the stockade, Rajah!" said
Harry.
Behind the carrying parties was a dense crowd of Malays, who rushed
forward as soon as the fireballs fell, hurling their spears and
shooting their arrows, to which the defenders replied vigorously.
"The stockade will not stand a moment against those trees," he
continued. "'Tis best to call the men in, at once."
The rajah ordered the native beside him to sound his horn and, in
two or three minutes, the men poured in at the entrance. As soon as
the last had come in, the bamboos were put in the holes prepared
for them, with some rattans twined between them. Scores of men then
set to work, bringing up the earth and stones that had been piled
close at hand.
In the meantime, the three hundred men on the walls kept up a
shower of arrows on the enemy. The battering rams, which consisted
of trees stripped of their branches, and some forty feet long and
ten inches thick, did their work and, by the time the entrance was
secure, the Malays poured in with exultant shouts.
A large supply of the fireballs had been placed on the platforms
and, as these were lighted and thrown down, the assailants were
exposed to a deadly shower of arrows as they rushed forward. At
this moment the rajah's servant brought up four double-barrelled
guns.
"They are loaded," the chief said, as he handed one of these to
Harry.
"How long is it since they were fired?" the latter asked.
"It is three months since I last went out shooting," the rajah
replied.
Harry at once proceeded to draw the charges.
"I should advise you to do the same, Rajah. A gun that has not been
fired for three months is not likely to carry straight, and is more
dangerous to its owner than to an enemy."
The rajah called up two of his men, and one of these at once drew
the charges of the guns, and reloaded them from the powder horn and
bag of bullets the servants had brought.
The enemy did not press their attack, but retired behind the
palisades and, from this shelter, began to shoot their arrows fast,
while a few matchlock men also replied.
"It would be as well, Rajah, to order all your men to sit down.
There is no use in their exposing themselves to the arrows, and
they are only wasting their own. We must wait, now, to see what
their next move will be. Fire will be of no use to them, now; and
the wall will take some battering before it gives way and, brave as
the men may be, they could not work the battering rams under the
shower of spears and arrows that would be poured upon them.
"I should send the greater part of your men down to get off the
roofs of the huts. Those up here must place a man or two on watch,
at each side, and throw a fireball occasionally."
In a few moments the enemy ceased shooting their arrows, for the
light of the fireballs showed them that the garrison was in
shelter.
"There is no occasion for you to stay here, any longer, Rajah. I
will look after matters until morning, and will send to you, as
soon as there is any stir outside."
In half an hour, the huts were stripped of their most combustible
material. This was heaped up under the platforms, where it would be
safe from falling arrows. The women drew pots of water from the
well, and a hundred men were then left in the courtyard, with
orders to pull up or stamp out any flaming arrows that might fall.
But as the time went on, it was evident that the assailants had not
thought of providing themselves with the materials requisite, and
the greater part of the garrison lay down quietly and slept.
Harry had waited until he saw the work in the courtyard completed;
and then, with the interpreter, entered the rajah's house. The room
he generally used was empty. Some lamps were burning there, and he
laid himself down on a divan, while the Malay curled himself up on
the floor.
Harry had slept but a short time when he was awakened by a light
touch on his shoulder and, springing up, saw a woman, with a boy
some six years old, standing beside him. The woman placed her
finger on her lips, imploringly. Harry at once roused the
interpreter. Through him, the woman explained that she was the
widow of the late rajah, and that her son was the lawful heir to
the throne.
"I have come to you, brave white lord," she said, "to ask you if
your people will grant us protection."
"That would be impossible," Harry replied; "my people are busy with
their own wars in India and, even were they not so occupied, they
could not interfere in a domestic quarrel between the Malay
chiefs."
"Why are you fighting here, then?"
"I am fighting in my own quarrel. I was attacked, and my followers
killed, by the rajah now assailing this place. I, myself, should
have been murdered, had I not made my escape; and should certainly
be killed by him, if he were victorious.
"I think it likely that, before very long, there may be an English
trading station at Singapore and, if you and your son were to go
there, you would certainly be well received. I shall, of course,
relate your story, which I have already heard, on my return to
Calcutta; and on my explaining that your son is entitled to the
throne of Johore, it may be that some sum would be granted for your
maintenance; for it may well be that, in time, the throne may again
become vacant, and that the people, tired of these constant wars,
will unite to accept your son as rajah. I may tell you that I am
sure the tumangong will grant us a trading station, and possibly
the whole island; but as he is not the Rajah of Johore, although at
present independent of him, we should like to have his assent to
the cession. It is for this purpose I have come here although, up
to the present time, I have not said anything about it to the
rajah, as we have both been much too busy to talk of such matters.
"It may be years before the English come to Singapore; but my
report will certainly be noted and, assuredly, an asylum would be
granted you, and you would be kindly received. I can say no more
than that."
"Thanks, my lord, I could have hoped for no more. Forgive me for
having thus disturbed you but, as all in the house save ourselves
are asleep, I thought that it was an opportunity that would not
occur again. I will teach my son that the English are his friends
and, should aught happen to me, and should he ever become rajah
here, he will act as their friend, also."
When this had been interpreted to Harry, she and the boy left the
room, as noiselessly as they had entered. Harry was well pleased
with the interview. Probably the present man would, when the result
of this struggle became known, regain much of the power he had
lost. Assuredly, as long as he remained rajah, he would now be
ready to grant anything asked for and, as Singapore was virtually
lost to him, his assent would be given without hesitation. If, on
the other hand, he were dethroned, or died, it was likely that this
boy would in time become rajah and, in view of this possibility,
doubtless the Governor would order that if, at any time, he and his
mother arrived at Singapore, they should be well received.