A day or two later a Malay ran at full speed into the village, and
said a few words which caused a perfect hubbub of excitement. The
men shouted. The women screamed and, running up the ladders to
their tree abodes, began gathering together the various articles of
value, in their eyes. The chief came up to the boys and, by signs,
intimated that a large number of hostile natives, belonging to
several villages, were advancing to attack them; and that they must
fly into the interior.
This was very unwelcome news for the lads. Once removed farther
from the sea the tribe might, not improbably, take up their abode
there, as they would fear to return to the neighborhood of their
enemies. This would be fatal to any chance of the lads being taken
off by a passing ship. After a few words together, they determined
to oppose the movement. Will, in a loud voice and with threatening
gestures, intimated that he disapproved of the plan, and that he
and his companion would assist them in defending their village.
The Malays paused in their preparations. Their faith in their white
visitors was very great and, after a few minutes' talk among
themselves, they intimated to the boys that they would obey their
orders. Will at once signed to a few men to stand as guards round
the village, to warn them of the approaching enemy; and then set
the whole of the rest of the population to work cutting
sharp-pointed poles, boughs, and thorny bushes. With these a circle
was made around the trees upon which the village was built.
Fortunately the hostile Malays had halted in the forest, two or
three miles away, intending to make their attack by night and, as
the news of their coming had arrived at noon, the villagers had,
before they ceased work late in the evening, erected a formidable
hedge round the village.
Some of the women had been set to work manufacturing a number of
torches, similar to those used by them for lighting their
dwellings, but much larger. They were formed of the stringy bark of
a tree, dipped in the resinous juice obtained from another. Will
had one of these fastened to each of the trees nearest to the
hedge. They were fixed to the trunks on the outside, so that their
flame would throw a light on the whole circle beyond the hedge
while, within, all would be shadow and darkness.
It was very late before all preparations were completed. Will then
placed a few men as outposts, some hundred yards in the forest, in
the direction from which the enemy were likely to approach. They
were ordered to give the alarm, the moment they heard a noise; and
were then to run in and enter the circle by a small gap, which had
been left in the abbatis for the purpose. Many of the men then took
their posts, with their bows and arrows, in the trees near the
hedge. The others remained on the ground, ready to rush to any
point assailed.
For several hours no sound save the calls of the night birds, and
the occasional distant howls of beasts of prey, were heard in the
forest; and it was not until within an hour of morning--the hour
generally selected by Malays for an attack, as men sleep at that
time the heaviest--that a loud yell, at one of the outposts, told
that the enemy were close at hand.
Two or three minutes later the scouts ran in, and the gap through
which they had entered was at once filled up with bushes, which had
been piled close at hand for the purpose. Aware that their approach
was discovered, the enemy abandoned all further concealment; and
advanced with wild yells, intending to strike terror into the
defenders of the village. As they advanced the torches were all
lighted and, as the assailants came within their circle of light, a
shower of arrows from the Malays on the ground, and in the trees
above, was poured into them.
Yells and screams told that the volley had been a successful one
but, discharging their arrows in turn, the Malays, with demoniac
yells, rushed against the village. The advance, however, was
arrested suddenly when they arrived at the abbatis. From behind its
shelter, so deadly a rain of arrows was poured in that they soon
shrank back, and bounded away beyond the circle of light, while
taunting shouts rose from its defenders.
For a time they contented themselves by distant shouting; and then,
with a wild yell, charged forward again. Several dropped from the
fire of arrows, from those in the trees and behind the abbatis but,
discharging their arrows in return, the assailants kept on until
they again reached the impediment. Here they strove furiously to
break through--hacking with their krisses, and endeavoring to pull
up the stakes with their hands--but the defenders, in the shade
behind, sent their arrows so fast and thick that the assailants
again shrank back, and darted away to shelter.
Throughout the night there was no renewal of the attack and, in the
morning, not a foe was visible. Two or three scouts went out to
reconnoiter; but no sooner did they enter the forest than one of
them was shot down, and the rest sent flying back.
"I believe the scoundrels are going to try to starve us out," Will
said. "Let us speak to the chief, and ask how much provisions they
have got."
After much pantomime, Will succeeded in conveying his meaning to
the chief; and the latter at once ordered all the inhabitants to
produce their stock of food. This was unexpectedly large, and Will
thought that there was sufficient for a fortnight's consumption. He
now made signs of drinking, but the reply to this was disheartening
in the extreme. A few gourds full of water were brought forward,
and two or three of the close-woven baskets in which water is often
carried, in this country. There was, in fact, scarce enough to last
the defenders for a day. The stream from which the village drew its
supply of water was about a couple of hundred yards away;
consequently the villagers fetched up their water as they needed
it, and no one thought of keeping a store.
Will looked in dismay at the smallness of the supply.
"If they really intend to starve us out, Hans, we are done for. No
doubt they reckon on our water falling short. They would know that
it was not likely that there would be a supply here."
The natives were not slow to recognize the weak point of their
defense One or two of the men, taking water baskets, were about to
go to the stream; but Will made signs to the chief that they must
not do this. The only hope was that the enemies would draw off; but
if they saw that water was already short, they would be encouraged
to continue to beleaguer the place. Will was unable to explain his
reasons to the chief; but the latter, seeing how great was the
advantage that they had already gained, by following the counsel of
their white visitors in the matter of the hedge, acquiesced at once
in their wishes.
Will then ascended to one of the huts, and carefully reconnoitered
the whole ground. There was, he saw, at the end farthest from the
stream, a slight dip in the land extending into the forest.
Beckoning the chief to join him, he made signs that, at night, the
warriors should issue silently from the village at this point, and
make noiselessly through the wood. They would then take a wide
circuit, till they came upon the stream; and would then, working up
it, fall upon the enemy in the rear.
The chief was dubious; but Will made an imperative gesture and the
chief, in a humble manner, agreed to do as he was ordered. The day
passed slowly and, before nightfall, the supply of water was
entirely finished. Once or twice scouts had gone out, to see if the
enemy were still round the village; but returned, each time, with
the news that they were there.
The last time, just before nightfall, Will directed two or three of
them to take water buckets, and to go in the direction of the
stream; signing to them, however, to return the moment they saw
signs of the enemy. They were soon back and, as Will had expected,
the sight of the water buckets showed the enemy that the garrison
of the village were badly supplied, in that respect; and taunting
shouts arose from the woods, asking them why they did not go down
to drink.
Will felt certain that the Malays would now draw the greater part
of their number down to the side of the stream; and that there
would therefore be the more chance of the garrison making their way
out, at the other end of the village. Three hours after it was
dark, the chief mustered all his men. They were about five-and-forty,
in all. Will signed that each should take with him a water basket or
large gourd so that, in case they failed in defeating the enemy, and
breaking up the blockade, they might at least be able to bring a
supply of water into the village. Will then, with much difficulty,
explained to the chief that the old men, boys, and women remaining in
the village were, the moment they heard the sound of the attack upon
the enemy's rear, to shout and yell their loudest, and to shoot
arrows in the direction of the enemy.
A few sticks had already been pulled up at the point of the hedge
through which Will intended to make a sally, and the band now
passed noiselessly out. The chief himself led the way, the white
boys following behind him. Lying upon their stomachs, they crawled
noiselessly along down the little depression and, in ten minutes,
were well in the wood; without having met with an enemy, although
they had several times heard voices among the trees, near them.
They now rose to their feet and, making a wide detour, came down,
after a quarter of an hour's walk, upon the stream. Here the gourds
and baskets were filled; and then, keeping along by the waterside,
they continued their march. Presently they saw a number of fires,
round which many Malays were sitting. They crept noiselessly up
until within a few yards and then, with a yell, burst upon the
enemy. Numbers were cut down at once; and the rest, appalled by
this attack on their rear, and supposing that the inhabitants of
some other village must have arrived to the assistance of those
they were besieging, at once fled in all directions. Those
remaining in the village had seconded the attack by wild shouts, so
loud and continuous that their besiegers had no reason to suppose
that their number had been weakened.
For a few minutes the pursuit was kept up; then the chief recalled
his followers, with a shout. The water baskets--many of which had
been thrown down in the attack--were refilled, and the party made
their way up to the village, where they were received with shouts
of triumph.
The panic of the Malays had been, in no slight degree, caused by
the appearance of the two boys; who had purposely stripped to the
waist, and had shouted at the top of their voices as, waving the
krisses which they had borrowed, they fell upon the foe. The idea
that white devils were leagued with the enemies against them had
excited the superstitious fear of the Malays to the utmost; and
when, in the morning, scouts again sallied from the village, they
found that the enemy had entirely gone--the fact that they had not
even returned to carry off the effects which had been abandoned, in
the first panic, showing that they had continued their flight,
without stopping, to their distant villages.
The chief, like an able politician, took advantage of the
impression which his white visitors had created and, the same day,
sent off messengers to the villages which had combined in the
attack against them, saying that the white men--his guests--were
very angry; and that, unless peace was made, and a solemn promise
given that there should be no renewal of the late attempts, they
were going to lay a dreadful spell upon the villages. Women and
children would be seized by disease, and the right arms of the
warriors wither up.
This terrible threat carried consternation into the Malay villages.
The women burst into prolonged wailings, and the bravest of the men
trembled. The messenger said that the white men had consented to
abstain from using their magical powers until the following day;
and that the only chance to propitiate them was for deputations
from the villages to come in, early the next morning, with promises
of peace and offerings for the offended white men.
It was not for some time afterwards that the lads learned enough of
the language to understand what had been done; but they guessed,
from the exultation of the chief, and the signs which he made that
their late enemies would shortly come in, in an attitude of
humiliation, that he had in some way succeeded in establishing a
scare among them.
On the following morning deputations--consisting of six warriors, and
women bearing trays with fruit, birds, and other offerings--arrived at
the village. The men were unarmed. At their approach, the chief made
signs to the boys to take a seat at the foot of the principal tree; and
then, accompanied by his leading warriors, led the deputation--with much
ceremony--before them. The women placed their trays at their feet, and the
men addressed them in long speeches, and with many signs of submission.
The boys played their part well. As soon as they saw what was
required of them they signified, with an air of much dignity, that
they accepted the offerings; and then went through the ceremony of
shaking hands, solemnly, with each of the warriors. Then they made
a speech in which, with much gesticulation, they signified to the
visitors that a terrible fate would befall them, should they again
venture to meddle with the village.
Much awed and impressed, the Malays withdrew. The boys made a
selection, from the baskets of fruit, for their own eating; and
then signified, to the chief, that he should divide the rest among
the inhabitants of the village. When this was done, the boys
ascended to their tree and passed the day there quietly; the
villagers indulging in feasting, singing, and rejoicing over their
victory.
"The worst of all this is," Will said to Hans, "that the more they
reverence us, and the more useful they find us, the more anxious
they will be to keep us always with them. However, there is one
comfort: we are safe, as long as we choose to remain here; and that
is more than we could have hoped for, when we first landed from the
wreck. It is curious that the Malays, who have no hesitation in
attacking English ships, and murdering their crews, have yet a sort
of superstitious dread of us. But I suppose it is something the
same way as it was in England, in the days of the persecution of
old women as witches: they believed that, if left to themselves,
they could cast deadly spells, and yet they had no hesitation in
putting them to death. I suppose that it is something of the same
feeling, here."