"There's a pretty go!" he cried, as he lifted the now light basket and
put it down again, and peered once more into the earthen jar. "Suppose
they meant the rations and water to last for two or three days! There
was a good supply, and that great beast has wolfed and drunk all. Well,
it has made him friends, anyhow. He will be coming again. Yes; but who
wants a friend like that to keep coming again?"
The lad glanced in the direction of his fellow-prisoner, to find that he
was still sleeping; and his next proceeding was to go gingerly about,
disturbing the dry leaves as little as possible, and making a more
thorough examination of the place.
"Must have been a helephant stable once upon a time," he concluded at
last, "for here's the great post that one of the big pigs was chained to
by the leg so that he could not get at the walls. Walls! They are
nothing better than so many fences. Talk about shutting up a helephant!
Why, I could pull them down myself if I wanted to get away--leastways I
could climb up the side and make a hole through the roof. Can't call
one's self a prisoner. Yes, I can, because I am regularly chained by
the leg; for who's going to leave his comrade? Poor old chap!"
At that moment there was a deep sigh, followed by a loud rustling
amongst the leaves, as Archie made an effort to change his position,
slightly raising his head, but letting it fall back with a low groan,
while the young private stepped softly to his side, knelt down, and bent
over him.
"Hurt you much, Mister Archie, sir?" the lad whispered quietly, and one
hand played over the injured head, hesitated, and was then withdrawn.
"Hurt you, Mister Archie, sir?" he said again, a little louder, for
there was only a weary sigh. "Wish he'd speak," said the lad to
himself, "for he ought to have something, if it's only a drop more
water. What a fool I was to let that great indiarubber thing suck it
all up! Why, I couldn't even use some of it now to bathe his poor
head."
The poor fellow seemed to Pegg to be sleeping as heavily as ever, and
after he had looked at him carefully for a few minutes, there was a
deep, buzzing hum as of some insect, and a great fly flashed across the
golden rays which streamed in through the thatch, and hovered around for
a few moments as if about to settle upon the sleeping lad's head.
"Would you?" ejaculated Peter Pegg, striking out so fiercely and exactly
that he struck the insect with a sharp pat and drove it against the
woven wall, with which it was heard to come in contact, to fall
directly, buzzing and rustling among the dried leaves. "That's settled
you," said Peter. "I know your little game--lay eggs and make a poor
fellow's wound go bad. Not this time!"
"Cowards!" came excitedly from Archie, and he once more tried to raise
his head, but only for it to sink back wearily. "Burning--always
burning! Oh, how hot--how hot!"
"Like some water, Mister Archie, sir?"
"Water! Who said water?"
"Me, sir. There is a little. Let me give you a taste."
There was no reply, so Peter quickly tilled the cocoa-nut shell, bore it
to his companion's side, and knelt down.
"Now then, sir, you let me hyste you up a little. Don't you try--I can
do it, and hold the nut to your lips. You will have nothing to do but
drink."
At the first touch Archie started violently.
"Who's that?" he cried.
"Only me, sir. Steady, or you will upset the whole blessed apple-cart,
and make yourself wet."
"Only me--only me," said Archie, and directly after the poor fellow sank
back again with a weary sigh.
"Look at that, now!" said Peter. "Oh! his head must be awfully bad
inside as well as out. Why, if he isn't asleep again!"
It was growing dusk, when, feeling faint, hot, and exhausted, Peter Pegg
stood over the basket, looked into it longingly, and then glanced at his
wounded companion.
"He's sure not to want anything to eat," he said to himself. "A drop of
water's about all he will touch when he comes to; and it's lucky I held
that cocoa-nut shell tight, or it would all have gone." He turned to
the jar, into which he had poured back the contents of the nearly full
shell. "Oh dear! To think I let that great, gorging fire-hose of a
hanimal suck up nearly all that beautiful water, when this place has
been like an oven and made me as thirsty as if I had been living on
commissariat bacon. Can't help it. He's sure to want a drink when he
wakes up. I must leave that."
As he spoke he turned the jar sideways, and the ruddy light which
filtered in through the cracks showed him the cool, clear fluid in the
dark bottom of the vessel. He dipped in the shell, and found he could
fill it easily.
"More than I thought," he said joyfully. "Why, I might have
half-a-shellful, and then there would be quite a shell and a half left
for the young governor. Can't help it; I must," he cried impatiently.
"My throat's as dry as a sawpit."
Dipping the shell as he still held the jar sideways he brought it up
again more than half-full.
"Too much," he said softly. "Fair-play's a jewel;" and carefully and
slowly he let a portion of the precious water trickle back into the
bottom of the jar.
"That's about half," he said, with a judicial look. "Now then, sip it,
mate, and make it go as far as you can."
Raising the cup to his lips, he slowly imbibed the tepid liquid till the
very last drop had been drained out of the shell. Then replacing it
where it had been before, he uttered a deep sigh.
"I never used to think water was so beautiful," he said softly. "I
forget what them people asked for when they had three wishes, but I know
what I should wish for now. It would be for that there jar brim-full of
cold water, and me to have a throat as long as a boa-constructor, so
that I could feel it all go gently down."
His eyes fell upon the basket again, and the slight draught of water
having turned his faintness into a strong desire for food, he could
hardly restrain himself from taking one of the remaining bananas. In
fact, after resisting the temptation for some minutes, he darted his
hand down, caught up one of the soft, gold-tinted fruits, raised it
towards his mouth, and dashed it down again.
"Hanged if I do!" he cried angrily; and thrusting his hands deep into
his pockets, he had another look at Archie, and then raised himself up
so as to peer through the opening the elephant had made, and try to get
some better idea of his position.
"Trees, trees, trees," he said; "trees everywhere; but there's a path
off to the left, and one goes off to the right, and there's another goes
straight away. Let's see: off to the right must be down to the river,
because that's where the helephants went; and those other paths must go
to where somebody lives; but there's no sign of a house--nothing but
trees. Not a sound! Oh, what a lonely place it is! And here's all the
long, dark night coming. The sun's going down fast. I sha'n't sleep a
wink to-night after snoozing as I did. And here I'm going to lie
thinking about that upset with poor Mister Archie's boat, and--yes, I
shall be thinking more about what's become of Miss Minnie. Here, I say,
what a row there's going to be when the Major and Sir Charles know of it
all! And me shut up here instead of being with the lads when the
governor lets them slip at these Malay jockeys, for I am a bigger fool
than I thought for if one of these Rajahs isn't at the bottom of this
job. I don't know but what it might be that there smooth young 'un who
dosses hisself up to look like an English gent. If it ain't him, it's
that queer-eyed, big, fat fellow; only I suppose it can't be him,
because old Tipsy Job says he's friends. How comes it, then," he
continued, speaking with energy, "that the Frenchman has had to do with
our being prisoners? Here, I can't think. It's making my head ache and
things get mixed again. What's that?" he half-whispered excitedly.
"It's somebody coming;" and pressing his face closer to the opening, he
strained his eyes round so as to gaze to the left, and then dropped
lightly down before throwing himself upon the dried palm-leaves close to
where Archie lay, and listening to the coming steps. "That chap can
speak English 'most as well as I can," he thought to himself, "and I am
going to ask him plump and plain what's become of Miss Minnie."
A gruff voice uttered what was evidently a command to halt, the wooden
bars were lowered and the door thrown open to admit the deep sunset
glow, and the stern-looking Malay with his following marched in, their
steps rustling amidst the leaves that covered the floor; and the leader
bent down curiously over Archie, scowling at him fiercely, before
turning his lurid eyes searchingly upon the young private, who now lay
back with his lids half-lowered, apparently gazing down into his chest.
The Malay rose again, then turned and gave an order to his followers,
two of whom stepped outside, one of them first standing up the spear he
carried in the dark corner behind the door, while their chief growled
out something as he pointed at the freshly torn opening in the side.
One of the men grunted--it sounded like a grunt to Peter Pegg--and
raising his spear, he passed it through the opening, rattled it to and
fro, and then stepped outside to pick up two or three torn-out pieces of
palm-fibre, brought them in, showed them to his chief, and uttered a
half-laugh.
Just then the two men who had passed outside returned, one bearing a
fresh jar brim-full of water, the other a basket of fruit and another of
the big, roughly made cakes, which were set down.
Then the leader stepped forward, stooped down suddenly over Pegg, his
right hand resting upon the fold of the sarong which covered the hilt of
his kris, and with his left thumb he roughly raised the young private's
eyelids one after the other.
Peter Pegg did not so much as wince.
"Let him think I'm asleep if he likes--an ugly Eastern beast!"
The Malay turned now to Archie to look fixedly at the poor fellow's
head, before touching the injured scalp with one brown finger, with the
effect of eliciting a deep-drawn sigh of pain.
Then the man rose, and apparently satisfied with the helplessness of the
prisoners, he uttered a low, abrupt order, and his little train
shouldered their spears and marched out, one of them carrying the empty
basket, his companion shouldering the heavy earthen jar.
Peter Pegg lay back motionless, to listen to the barring of the door,
half-wondering the while at the great change that the closing door made
upon the interior: one moment the last rays of the setting sun were
flooding the great stable with a deep, blood-red glow; the next the
place seemed by comparison quite dark.
The lad listened till the last retiring steps had died away, and then he
sat up suddenly, with the recollection of a little knife and fork given
to him years before by his grandmother, and chuckling softly to himself,
he half-whispered:
"A present for a good boy!--Of course," he said, after a pause to make
sure that no one was going to return; "I am not going to bounce, but I
was a very good boy for not pitching into that 'nana. Oh my! Ain't it
splendid!" he continued, turning over on hands and knees and scrambling
like a quadruped to where the jar and basket had been placed. "There's
going to be such a supper! But don't I wish I was going to have
company! Oh, you beauty!" he cried hoarsely, as he hugged the great jar
to his chest, bent down till he could press his lips to the thick edge,
and then tilting it slightly, drank and drank and drank.
At last he lowered the jar till it stood firmly in its place, raised
himself upon his knees, and uttered a long, deep sigh.
"Oh, ain't it splendid!" he said. "They have got water here! Talk
about a horse drinking--well, I suppose any one would say I drank like a
hass or a pig. No, I didn't, because I've only been drinking the
helephant's share if he comes again--not yours, Mister Archie. I do
wish you were awake.--Here, I say, let's have some of that bread," he
said, half-aloud now; and breaking the cake in four, he placed himself
in a comfortable position and took a bite.
"That ain't quite comfortable, though," he muttered, and raking a lot of
the leaves into the corner of the place, he seated himself so that he
could rest his back in the angle.
"Not quite right," he muttered. "These 'ere big feathers have got a lot
of quill in them. Let's have some more."
He stretched out his left hand in the darkness to draw an armful more of
the dried palm-leaves beneath him, when his hand came in contact with
something which rasped against the matted wall and fell heavily in the
direction of where his fellow-prisoner lay.
"What's that?" said the lad sharply, as, sweeping his hand round over
the leaves, his fingers closed almost spasmodically upon what felt like
a bamboo cane.
The next moment Pete was upon his feet, staring in the direction of the
dimly seen door.
"My!" he whispered hoarsely; and using the cane like a walking-stick, he
stepped on tiptoe right to the door, and then whispered softly beneath
his breath:
"Hi! Hi! Hi! I say, old 'un, you've forgot your spear.--Think of
that, now," he continued, half-aloud. "Why, of course; he stood it up
there before he went out to fetch that precious jar. Forgot it! I
say--talk about discipline in the Rajah's army, and a chap forgetting
his piece! Fancy old Tipsy, and it was me and my rifle! Plenty of
water, plenty of bread and fruit, and a present of one of them spears,
as will be handier than a fixed bay'net. Why isn't Mister Archie awake
to enjoy all this? Now then, if that chap will only come to-morrow
night, and forget another of these sharp-pointed toothpicks for Mister
Archie, I shall be very much obliged. But here am I playing the fool
like this, and at any moment he may be coming back to fetch this one
away. Well, if he expects he's going to get it, poor chap, I'm sorry
for him;" and obeying his first impulse, he carried the keen-pointed
weapon across the floor, lowered the head, and felt gently to find where
it was bare; and the next moment his lingers were playing about over
what was evidently a short piece of bamboo of about the same
circumference as the shaft, and which fitted tightly over the keen blade
like a sheath.
Then going down upon one knee, he thrust the spear carefully in beneath
the bed of leaves at the foot of the wall, behind where Archie lay. Not
satisfied at once, he withdrew and thrust in the weapon again, feeling
if it was well covered; and then going to the far end, and scraping up
and bringing a double armful of the dried leaves, he carefully covered
his treasure more deeply.
"Ah!" he ejaculated, panting a little with his exertion, "I don't think
it's likely.--What say, sir?" he added, addressing an imaginary Malay
fighting-man. "Have I seen your spear? No, sir. Haven't set eyes upon
it, honour bright.--`Always tell the truth, Pete,' granny used to say.
Well, ain't that the truth? Why, I don't believe a cat could have seen
it; and if I hadn't knocked it down I shouldn't have known it was there.
Now, between ourselves, I do think I deserve something to eat after
that," muttered the poor fellow. "Here, where did I put that there
piece of cake? It must be lost amongst those leaves. Dropped it when I
was feeling for the spear. What! plenty more in the basket? No, I
won't. Wilful waste makes woeful want. Why, here it is in my trousers
pocket all the time! So, now then, let's have another try; and I will
treat myself to a banana afterwards. No, I won't; I'll have two." And
hurrying to the basket, he helped himself to the fruit, and then made
himself comfortable in the corner where he had knocked over the spear,
and began to eat with a splendid appetite.
"Oh, don't I wish you was here to help me, Mister Archie, sir!" he said,
half-aloud and rather piteously. "Poor, dear chap! I'd feed you if I
dared wake you up; but I'm sure it's right to let you sleep. But won't
you be glad when you know about that spear? If we could only get
another, and a couple of them krises, we should be regular set up if it
come to a scrimmage, as it shall, as sure as my name's Peter. We are
going to escape--somehow; and if anybody stops us it's a fight. We
sha'n't be able to throw the spears like these Malay beggars do, but me
and Mister Archie can do bay'net practice with them in a way that will
open some of their eyes. Oh, how good!" half-whispered the lad, as he
finished his frugal supper of bread and banana. "Don't it seem to put
life in a fellow! Now, what am I going to do? Sit and think of how to
escape? No hurry, lad. I want Mister Archie's orders, and I'll do the
work. Seems to me that the first thing will be for me to get out of
here somehow in the dark to go and reconnoitre, and then steal--no, it's
capture, being enemies--another spear and two krises. How? Knock down
an enemy somewhere and take what he's got. I'm game. And then--"
That was as far as Peter Pegg got, for he could not partake of so hearty
a meal, after refreshing himself in a way that thoroughly quenched his
thirst, without obeying Nature afterwards; and this he did, lying prone,
fully stretched out, and not in the painful, cramping position of the
previous night.