JACK FINDS HIMSELF IN BAD HANDS.
When Jack came to himself again, he felt faint and sick, and his head
ached dully. This was the effect of the powerful drug which had been
used to overcome him, but for the rest he was unhurt and quite
himself. He found at once that he was securely bound hand and foot.
His ankles were fastened together by a short cord, his hands were tied
behind him, and a rope ran round the middle of his body and tethered
him securely to a strong post. But he was not gagged, and his eyes
were free.
He looked eagerly around the place in which he found himself. It was a
native hut, built of canes and reeds, woven upon a framework formed of
saplings and stronger trees. The floor was of earth, and he could see
the whole of the bare, empty room, for in one corner a lamp stood on
the floor, and gave sufficient light to show him every nook in the
place. Somewhere, not far away, there was a hoarse roar of water, as
if a river leapt over falls near at hand.
Jack raised his voice and shouted. He could not move, but his throat
was free. Twice or thrice he shouted the names of his companions. The
only answer to his call was a light mocking laugh outside the door,
which swung half open straight before him. Then a figure appeared in
the doorway, a figure in a tight yellow robe and short embroidered
jacket, the dancing girl who had ensnared him. But even as he opened
his mouth eagerly to speak to her, he was silenced. The figure was
drawing aside the muslin veil from its head. As the soft shimmering
folds of the delicate wrapper slipped away, Jack's heart leaped within
him. He knew that face. This was no dancing girl. It was the
half-caste in disguise. It was Saya Chone, the man who had stopped him
on Rushmere Heath, the man who had slipped out of his clutch at
Brindisi.
"Ah," said the half-caste, squatting down in front of Jack, "I have no
need to ask if you know me. I see recognition in your astonished face.
Well, does it now surprise you that a dancing girl should know so much
of your business up in these hills?"
"So it was you, you rascal, was it?" said Jack, drawing a deep breath.
"You, all the time."
"I, all the time," chuckled the half-caste, clicking consonants
between his teeth.
"If you'd have spoken out, I should have known you," said Jack.
"Ah, possibly," said Saya Chone; "but then for my purpose the soft
voice, the gentle whisper, was the only thing."
"What do you mean by this, and what do you want with me?" demanded
Jack.
"Orders, orders, I am acting under orders," murmured the half-caste,
waving his brown hand in the air. "And I do not want you at all. It
is merely my business to hand you over to my patron U Saw. It is he
who wants you, not I."
"And what does he want me for?" said Jack.
"Ah," murmured Saya Chone, "that I shall not tell you now. It is not
good for the servants of U Saw to interfere too much in their master's
business. Well, I must prepare for the march."
He clapped his hands, and a tall, thin man in white robes came in.
Saya Chone said a few words to the newcomer, and the latter sat down
and fixed his dark, menacing eyes on Jack.
"This is a Malay, who is entirely devoted to U Saw's service," said
the half-caste, with an evil grin. "He is a very useful man, for he is
absolutely the cleverest hand with the strangling noose that I have
ever known. I believe he could strangle a child in its mother's arms
and she would know nothing about it. You have already had a slight
taste of his skill on two occasions. Once on that heath in your queer,
cold England, and again to-night. But as he was under strict orders on
both occasions not to take your life, he spared you the last touch of
his art, that sharp, neat twist which breaks his victim's spinal
column as if he was snapping a bit of dry stick."
Saya Chone turned to go, but paused at the door and looked over his
shoulder.
"I heard you shouting as I came in," he said. "If you have a fancy for
that amusement, pray shout as much as you like. But I ought to warn
you that it is a pure waste of breath. We have carried you nearly a
couple of miles into the jungle, and fifty times the uproar you could
make would be quite useless to attract attention."
He left the hut, and Jack sat back against the post to think over his
desperate situation. He had fallen into the hands of the very people
that he and his comrades were trying to circumvent. How they had
discovered their line of march, and been enabled to lay this clever
trap for him, he could not imagine. But one thing he saw clearly, that
U Saw's arm was very long in this country, and that his net for
information was spread abroad very widely and very successfully.
He looked across at the Strangler, and found the dark bright eyes of
the Malay fixed intently upon him. Jack had been thinking to test the
strength of the knots and the cords which bound him, but in the
presence of this keen watchman it was useless, and he bent down his
eyes in thought once more.
"I am to be carried to U Saw," he thought. "Then my father must be
there already. At any rate I shall see him, I hope, and find out what
has happened to him, and how he has been treated."
Several hours now passed in complete silence. Jack's bonds chafed him
miserably, but he could do nothing to relieve himself, and the Malay
watched him with fierce alertness at every moment. Then the ricketty
door was jerked open again, and Saya Chone came in.
"It is the dark hour before the dawn," he laughed jeeringly. "A
capital time to slip away while all the revellers are sleeping, and
the forest paths are empty. Your conveyance awaits you, my lord."
He said two words to the Strangler, and drew a revolver from beneath
his jacket. He had thrown aside his disguise as a dancing girl, and
now appeared in the rich tartan silk kilt, the jacket, and turban-like
head-dress of a prosperous Burman.
"Get up," he said curtly to Jack, while the Strangler unfastened the
rope which bound the captive's feet and also that which bound his body
to the post.
Jack got up, and Saya Chone motioned to him to go outside, and Jack
went, with the Malay and the half-caste in close attendance.
Resistance was impossible. His hands were still bound behind his back,
and the half-caste held a big, blue "Smith and Wesson" within two
inches of his ear.
In front of the hut loomed up a huge beast looking monstrous in the
light of a couple of lanterns held by attendants. It was an elephant,
and a ladder was placed against the open howdah fixed on its back; the
great beast was swinging trunk and tail impatiently, and its driver
was already seated behind the huge head.
"Up with you," said Saya Chone. Jack glanced round, and saw nothing
but dark, fierce, inimical faces all about him.
"No chance in the world at present," he thought, and began slowly to
climb the ladder. It was very awkward work with no hand free, but the
Strangler stretched out a long arm, supported him to the top rung,
then thrust him violently forward, so that Jack rolled into the
howdah. It was the simplest form of this kind of carriage, and was
exactly like a huge open basket of strong wicker-work fastened on the
elephant's back. Before Jack could recover himself from his fall, the
Malay and two other men bounded into the howdah, and flung themselves
on the prisoner. In a trice they had strapped his ankles together
again. Then they swung him into a sitting posture, and lashed his arms
firmly to the back of the howdah.
Next they descended, another figure leapt up, and the ladder was taken
away. The newcomer gave an order, and the elephant driver spoke to his
huge beast in a low voice. The elephant at once swung forward, and in
a moment the hut and its lanterns were left behind, and they were
moving through the darkness of the jungle.
Jack had known by the voice that it was the half-caste who was his
companion in the howdah, but he said nothing, and Saya Chone, too, was
silent. Soon the half-caste lighted a huge Burmese cheroot, and in the
light, almost the flare, of this immense cigar, nine or ten inches
long and an inch thick, Jack saw now and again his beardless brown
face, his big, shining, evil eyes.
When the dawn came and Jack could look about him, they were traversing
a narrow path through jungle so thick that the sky could scarcely be
seen overhead.
"Ah," said Saya Chone, breaking the silence at last, "you may look
round, my lord, but you will never be able to keep in mind the details
of the route. I shall take you into the hills by paths so hidden in
the jungle or along ravines so deep that to track you will be
impossible."
Jack was silent for a moment. Then he spoke. "Shall I see my father?"
he asked.
Saya Chone laughed. "You will see what U Saw wills that you shall
see," he said mockingly. "I am U Saw's humble servant, and can say no
more."
Jack made no reply. He was sorry he had spoken, but the question had
slipped out on the impulse of the moment.
All that day they travelled on, and at night they camped in a hollow
among the rocks at the foot of a tall cliff. Jack was not ill-treated,
and plenty of food was given to him, but the keenest watch was kept
upon his every movement, and escape was a thing altogether beyond his
reach. His captors were six in number, including the man who drove the
elephant. The driver and Saya Chone were Jack's companions on the
great beast, and when they were on the move the captive was always
lashed tightly to the framework of the howdah. The other four, the
Malay and three companions, rode the strong, nimble ponies of the
country. The baggage of the party was conveyed on a pack-pony, and
they travelled at a good speed.
On the second morning, Saya Chone sat on the edge of the howdah,
purring at his huge cheroot, while the Strangler and a companion
lashed Jack into position. The half-caste had been superintending the
operation with his revolver at Jack's ear, until the knots were tight,
and our hero could not move.
"This is a very good idea, indeed," he murmured, "this carrying of a
prisoner in a howdah on a pad-elephant. I had an idea it would be a
success, but it is better than I thought. It is a neat, little,
portable prison. It is far better than tying the feet of an active
young man under a pony's barrel. The young man may dig his heels in
and gallop off after all. But tied up in a howdah he is quite safe."
Jack paid no attention whatever to the half-caste's sneers and jeers:
he had resolved to take his gruel without whining, and he bore
everything in stoical silence.
Two hours' march brought them to a clearing in the jungle, and the
road ran between small paddy-fields. This meant that a native village
was near at hand, and Jack looked out for the slight huts of reed and
cane in which the villagers lived. To his surprise he saw nothing. And
not to his surprise alone. He could not understand the words used by
his companions, but he saw plainly that they were puzzled about
something. Then the cries of wonder broke out loudly as they passed a
grove of bamboos and came upon a scene of extraordinary destruction.
The native village had been built in shelter of the bamboos, only a
little place, a cluster of fifteen or twenty huts. But every house lay
in ruins as if the place had been knocked about the villagers' ears
with a huge flail. Near at hand a man lay dead, his body horribly
crushed and battered. No sign of life was to be observed about the
place.
But while the travellers stared in wonder on the havoc which had been
made, they were suddenly attacked by the author of it, and knew that
their own lives were in deadly peril. There was a terrific crashing
among the bamboos, and then a huge, dark object was seen to be
bursting a way through the tall stems. All but Jack knew at once what
it meant; he was enlightened in an instant.
"A 'rogue' elephant! A 'rogue' elephant!" cried Saya Chone, and the
driver urged the pad-elephant forward with voice and spear.
Then Jack understood. His father had told him many times how that a
big, savage male will often leave a herd of wild elephants, take up a
solitary life in the jungle, and become a "rogue." There is no more
terrible beast to be met with. His enormous size and strength, his
terrible ferocity, make him the king of the jungle. He attacks all he
meets, and tramples every foe under his huge feet.
This "rogue" had evidently been attracted to the clearing by the
paddy-fields, where the elephant loves to feed. Then, irritated
probably by some attempt of the natives to drive him away, he had
attacked their village and swept it out of existence. Now he was
charging savagely upon the newcomers.
He came at them across the open with terrific speed. Jack had not the
faintest idea that so ponderous a beast could move at such a pace, and
he stared with fascinated eyes at the extraordinary sight. The "rogue"
was an immense tusker, a big, wild, savage-looking brute, who charged
with up-lifted trunk, and now trumpeted with so tremendous a note that
the jungle and the hill-sides rang with the hoarse thunder. His course
was laid straight for the men in front, two of the attendants on
ponies. The Malay, the remaining attendant, and the pack-pony were
behind the pad-elephant.
The ponies, obedient to their riders, had at first bounded forward,
but when that frightful trumpeting broke out, and they saw the huge
tusker thundering upon them, they were seized with such fear that they
stopped and stood still, trembling in every limb. Before their riders
could urge them on, the immense brute was upon them. One of the
riders, a bold fellow, stood up in the stirrups, and struck at the
"rogue" with his _dah_. But he might as well have struck with a straw.
The monster literally swept the two ponies down in his stride,
trampling them under foot in his frightful charge. The man who had
used his heavy sword to so little effect, went down with his pony. The
second man had leapt from his saddle, and he ran at full speed for a
teak tree, intending to swarm up its trunk.
His flying figure caught the eye of the "rogue" just as he was about
to turn and trample on those he had hurled to the ground. Now the
savage brute strode on, and it was seen how swift was his great
lumbering stride. He caught the man up, long before the fugitive was
anywhere near the tree, and hurled him to the ground with a stroke of
his tusk. Then he pulled up and deliberately knelt down on the unlucky
wretch, who screamed horribly as his life was crushed out of him by
the tremendous weight of the gigantic beast.