"Ah, there you are, Knowle!" cried the Resident, bustling up to the
Major, who was marching slowly towards the parade-ground in full
uniform, carrying his sword under the left arm.
"Yes, here I am. Look all right?"
"Oh yes, yes," said the Resident impatiently.
"Don't show any spots, do I?"
"Spots?"
"Yes; this confounded, hot, damp climate--specks of mildew on my best
uniform. I say: you look capital, Dallas," continued the Major, running
his eye over the Resident's official dress. "That's the best of you
young fellows; you only want a wash and a brush up, and you are all
right. Get to my age, sir, and--"
"Oh, don't talk like that, Major. I was not thinking about uniforms."
"Eh, weren't you? I was. I don't mean about myself, but look at my
lads. Aren't they splendid, in spite of all the knocking about and
wear? But what's the matter? Not well?"
"No, sir; I am not well."
"Poor old chap! There's plenty of time; toddle up to the bungalow. Old
Morley will give you a pick-me-up, and set you right in no time."
"I have been there, sir."
"Oh, that's right," said the Major, with a chuckle.
"For I am very anxious about the ladies there, and the other women we
have in our charge, and I feel more than ever that we have been guilty
of a great error of judgment."
"Eh? What about?"
"What about, sir? Look around you."
"Eh? Well, we have plenty of company, but I don't see any error of
judgment."
"Why, my dear Knowle! Company! Look at the crowd."
"Well, we shall keep them back so as to allow plenty of room for the
evolutions."
"Yes; but, let alone the country-people, every man with his kris, there
are the military followers of those two Rajahs in full array."
"Military! Phit! My dear Dallas!"
"Ah, you laugh, sir. Why, roughly speaking, each of those two chiefs
has got a following of about five hundred men--say a thousand."
"Yes, I dare say," said the Major; "but they are not all together."
"No, they are divided so that we have a strong force on either side.
You despise them; but have you thought of the consequences that might
follow our being enclosed by two such bodies of men?"
"Oh yes," said the Major coolly. "Might. But, my dear boy, have you
thought of the consequences that might follow if I told my lads to close
up and face outwards, and began to deal with our visitors? Look at
them," he continued, as he pointed towards the perfectly drilled
detachment drawn up in the centre of the parade-ground waiting for the
order to commence the evolutions connected with the military display.
"Oh yes, they are everything that could be expected from a handful of
British infantry."
"Handful, sir! Why, I've got three hundred men on the ground. Every
fellow's under arms, and we are going to show these niggers what we
could do if ever we were called upon. Error of judgment, sir! The
whole thing's a grand idea; and after it's over, these Malays will go
away with a ten times higher idea of England's strength than they had
before."
"I don't know," said the Resident. "Look at those fierce-looking
fellows there gathered round the elephants and their gaudily dressed
chiefs. Look at that haughty fellow Suleiman, with his chiefs and
spearmen clustering round him looking as if they were awaiting their
prince's order to charge down upon us and sweep us all out of the
district."
"Oh yes, I see," said the Major, chuckling.
"And here on the other side, right away to the river, there is this
doubtful fellow Hamet with his lot of elephants and men, a stronger
party than Suleiman's."
"I see. I hope there won't be any row."
"Oh, don't suggest such a thing!"
"Why not? They are in touch with the others."
"Yes; and at a word could combine."
"Ah, I am not afraid of that," said the Major. "I was thinking about
their jealousy, and the possibility of a row between them."
"I don't believe in the jealousy. I believe it is all assumed," said
the Resident, "and that they are ready on the slightest excuse to join
forces against us."
"I don't," said the Major gruffly. "I am afraid they may draw knives
against each other; but if they do I will give them such a lesson as
will prove a startler. But, I say, have you noticed that chap Hamet?"
"Oh yes, I saw him. He did not march with his men, mounted on one of
his elephants, but came up in his dragon-boat."
"Yes. Quite a fine show, with the amber-satin rowers, and the gongs
beating. But you can't grumble about his appearance and theatrical
robes. It's quite a compliment to Old England to see a native prince
come simply in ordinary morning-dress. Hanged if he hadn't got lavender
kid gloves!"
"Oh, don't talk about trifles, Major; but for Heaven's sake be on your
guard!"
"Oh yes--guard mounted," said the Major. "Why, Dallas, my dear boy, I
don't believe you told Morley to give you a pick-me-up. You have been
fussing about down there at the bungalow, and fidgeting about what might
happen to a certain young lady if the Malays turned nasty and rose
against us."
"Major! No."
"Don't be cross, dear boy. I was in love too once upon a time, and
fidgeted as much as you do about what might happen if--if--There, I only
say _if_. Now, it's all right, my dear fellow, and it's time for the
show to begin. The crowd must be getting tired of waiting; and I only
see one error of judgment of which we have been guilty."
"Ah! And what's that?"
"Ought to have begun an hour sooner, for, my word, the sun is hot! Oh,
by the way, I have not seen you since, but we were talking over what to
do with our visitors and the crowd generally after the review. There
will be the feeding, of course; but we wanted something to fill up time
till dark and the fireworks begin."
"I have heard nothing about further plans."
"Well, the lads will keep an open course, and there will be some races
and wrestling, and Sergeant Ripsy is going to show some encounters with
the bayonet and a little sword-play."
"Well, as you like. I can think of nothing else but getting the affair
over and the people dismissed."
"There, don't you be uneasy. There's a guard mounted to watch over our
women folk, so come on."
The Major went on towards the centre of the parade-ground, while the
Resident hurried away, looking hot and anxious, to where seats had been
arranged beneath an open tent erected on one side of the parade-ground,
partly sheltered by a cluster of palms.
At last, with colours flying and the loud martial strains of the band,
doubled by a strange echo thrown back by the dense jungle, the solid
little force of infantry, in brilliant scarlet and with the sun flashing
from their bayonets, was put in motion; while a strange murmur of
satisfaction arose from the crowd of gaily attired campong dwellers,
which was caught up by the followers of the two Rajahs with prolonged
cries that bore some slight resemblance to the tiger-like _ragh, ragh_
of an American crowd.
And then, as the band marched by, Rajah Suleiman's group collected in
front of the great clump of trees left standing when a portion of the
jungle had been cleared, and the huge elephants, now gorgeous with
trappings, and each bearing its showy howdah, in which were seated the
Rajah himself and his principal chiefs, responded to a final blast of
the highly polished brass instruments and the thunderous roll of the
drums by a simultaneous uneasy trumpeting of their own, with which were
mingled the cries of the mahouts, who had to ply their sharp-pointed
goads to keep their charges in subjection.
Fortunately for the occupants of the howdahs, this was a final chord
from the band, for the huge beasts were thoroughly startled, and the
lookers-on noted that similar uneasiness was being displayed by the nine
great elephants that appertained to Rajah Hamet's force, these in
particular showing a disposition to turn tail and make for one of the
jungle paths.
The silence that followed the band's final chord seemed, as Oliver
Wendell Holmes says in one of his little poems, to have come like a
poultice to heal the wounds of sound, and the great beasts settled down.
Then there was a bugle-call, and the evolutions began in regular review
style, with plenty of fancy additions, such as had been planned to
impress the great gathering of the Malay people. The troops marched and
counter-marched, advanced in echelon, retired from the left, retired
from the right, formed column and line, advanced in column of companies,
turned half right and half left, formed three-quarter column; there was
extended order and distended order, for Major Knowle's force was very
small, but he made the most of it. Sergeant Ripsy, with a face quite as
scarlet as his uniform, buzzed about like a vicious hornet, and,
perspiring at every pore, yelled at the guides and markers, letting fly
snapping shots of words that were certainly not included in the code of
military instructions. But the men, as soon as they warmed up--which
was in a very short time--went into the spirit of the thing; and when at
last the officers had got through the regular evolutions, that seemed to
consist in weaving and twisting the men under their command into a
series of intricate knots, for the sole purpose of untying them again,
and Archie Maine had been saved from disgracefully clubbing his men by
issuing an order which the said men wilfully disobeyed so as to cover
the lad's mistake, there was a general forming up again for a rest and
cool down, while the band struck up, and, helped by the echo, filled the
parade with sweet sounds, to the great delight of the gathered crowd.
There was a burst of cheering here, of a rather barbaric nature, for
from Rajah Suleiman's gathering there came one solitary boom from a
particularly musical gong. This rang out like a signal, and was
followed by a score more from as many of the sonorous instruments,
supplemented by an excited yelling from the spear-armed men.
This ended as quickly as it had begun, and, treated as a challenge, was
repeated from the centre of Rajah Hamet's party, who followed with a
yell that might have been taken as a defiant answer to hereditary
enemies.
Matters seemed to be growing exciting, and Major Knowle, who was quiet
and watchful as well as hot, despatched messages to the commanders of
companies to be on their guard.
But now, as the last gong ceased to send its quivering jar through the
heated air, to be reflected back from the jungle, a burst of Malay
cheering arose from the excited crowd of spectators; the elephants
joined in, trumpeting loudly; and then, as the strange roar died away
into silence, the band-master took advantage of the opportunity, raised
his instrument, made a sign, the big drum boomed its best in answer to
six of the drummer's heaviest blows, and to the stirring strains of the
favourite old march, "The British Grenadiers," the band moved off to
take up a fresh position.
As soon as this was occupied the second part of the evolutions
commenced. The little force was divided, and took up positions for
attack and defence; men were thrown out, skirmishing began, and the
Malay crowd cheered as the men in scarlet ran and took cover; and the
field was soon after covered with advancing and retiring men, who ran,
lay down, fired from one knee, fired from their chests, ran and took
cover again; and the musketry began to roll in sputtering repetitions,
till the retiring force seemed to take courage, gathered together,
repelled their adversaries with half-a-dozen vigorous volleys, and
advanced in turn, gradually driving their supposed enemies back, till,
when the smoke was rising in a faint, misty cloud to float softly away
over the river, the final stages of the sham-fight were nearly at an
end, and for a concluding curtain to the mimic warfare the two little
forces advanced as if to meet in contention in the middle of the field.
But at a certain stage a bugle rang out, and with wonderful precision
the men fell into column and marched away to the far end of the
drill-ground, where they halted, turned, and then, in obedience to the
Major's command, began to advance in line towards where, on their left,
were the two bodies of armed men comprising the followers of the two
Rajahs, above whom towered the two knots of elephants, while on their
right were the gathered crowds from the nearest campongs, excitedly
watching for what was to come next.
What was to come next and was now in progress was Britain's thin red
line, and that line was on that occasion very thin, very, very red, and
extremely long, purposely extended so as to make the most of the tiny
force.
The crowds cheered in their fashion as the train moved on, and, excited
by the yelling, the elephants began to trumpet as the troops were now
nearly half across the parade-ground. Then the bugle rang out "Halt!"
and the orders followed quickly: "Fire!" and with wonderful precision
there was the long line of puffs of smoke as the volley roared and half
obscured the advancing force in the thin veil of smoke.
There was a fresh burst of cheers from the crowds, who now saw that the
little line of scarlet-coated men was marching out of the filmy, grey
cloud and lessening the distance between them.
The next bugle-call was rather unsettling, and the next still more so,
for it meant "Double;" while the last of all was more disturbing than
anything that had taken place that day, for it was followed by a
peculiar flickering of light as the brilliant sun played upon the
glistening bayonets brought down sparkling in front of the line of men.
The bugles now rang out "Charge!" followed by the good old British cheer
given by wildly excited men with all the power left in them, and they
bore the bristling bayonets on, racing down upon the spectators in
front, as if the mimic advance were real.
The trumpeting that greeted the charge was not defiant, for the
elephants turned simultaneously as upon a pivot and set the example of
making for the nearest points of the jungle; and to the charging men it
seemed as if they formed part of some immensely extended human
hay-making machine, whose glittering spikes were about to sweep off a
living crowd which, excited and yelling wildly, had turned and fled for
safety.
The gaily coloured men of the two Rajahs, perhaps feeling in doubt as to
their duty to fetch back the elephants--perhaps not: they may have been
influenced otherwise--had dashed off after the huge quadrupeds at once,
but the crowd of ordinary spectators were in nowise behind. Shrieking,
yelling, and angry with each other as they dashed away, they made for
shelter at full speed, and when the charge was at an end and the bugles
rang out, the evolution had been so well driven home that a complete
transformation had been effected.
Where the great gathering had spread from side to side of the parade,
there was the long, halting line of panting and powder-blackened men,
who, in spite of their breathlessness, had followed up their British
cheer with a tremendous petillating roar of laughter, which ran along
the line from end to end and back again--a roar of laughter so loud that
hardly a man knew that the band was now playing in full force "God save
the Queen," with an additional obbligato from the drums--that one known
as the "big" threatening collapse from the vigorous action of the
stick-wielder's sturdy arms.
It was only a few of the men who were cognisant of the fact that the
Major was lying down exhausted, and wiping his eyes.
"Who's that?" he panted. "Who's that--you, Maine?"
"Yes, sir."
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I can't stop it! It's quite hysterical. Give me a
water-bottle;" and then, after an application to the unstoppered mouth,
"Oh dear! How they did run! I hope poor Dallas has seen it all. I
wish he had been here. Hah! I'm better now. Why, Maine, we've swept
them clean away. Are they collecting farther on?"
"No, sir; I can't see a single soul."
"Who's that?" said the Major again.
"Me, sir."
"I didn't know you, my man. What is it, Sergeant?"
"Well, sir, I was only going to say, as I was so near, what about them
there squibs and crackers as was to be let off to-night?"
"Oh, the rockets and fireworks," said the Major. "They haven't gone off
in the heat, have they? No accident?"
"No, sir; but there won't be nobody left to see them pop."