"You don't say so, my lad! A Malay and his wife who have been patients
of the Doctor bringing in such news as that! Why, it's grand! Poor,
dear girl! Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut, tut, what she must have suffered!
Well, Mr Rajah Suleiman will have to pay for it. Morley says he
believes in these people. Not some trap, is it?"
"He feels sure not, sir. The people are grateful to him for all he has
done for them. Oh, I am certain it is genuine, sir."
"Don't be too sure, my lad. These people can't help looking upon us as
their enemies, and they are as treacherous as they are high. Look at
this Suleiman. I have been trusting him. I looked upon him as a
sensual brute, but it was so much to his advantage to be friendly. The
fool! He's given his country away. He will be either shot or made
prisoner, and then another Rajah who is friendly to us will reign in his
stead."
"Rajah Hamet, sir?"
"No," said the Major shortly. "And look here, young fellow, don't you
mention him to me again. He's your friend, and you have a strong bias
towards him."
"I can't help believing in him, sir."
"Then you must, sir, as a British officer, working for your country's
good. I presume you don't know that I have it on trustworthy authority
that Rajah Hamet has been for some little time past strengthening his
position and gathering his men, like the savage he is, to go out on the
war-path? And all the time he has been educated in England! A young
fool! Well, this news is splendid, but it comes at a horrible time.
Here is Suleiman hanging about, dodging our men; Hamet in all
probability waiting for us to be in a dilemma, and then he will come
down; and my little force here depleted till we are as weak as weak. I
ought to say I can't spare a man. I feel it's my duty to refuse to send
an expedition to save that poor girl. It means sending up a couple of
boats with not less than twenty men, for Suleiman is sure to have a
certain number of the brutes in charge of the place. But of course it
must be done, and they must start at once. Where's the Doctor?"
"Gone on to the Residency, sir."
"Yes. And I want Sir Charles. Send a man to ask him to step here.--No;
go yourself--save time."
Archie was making for the door, when steps and voices were heard, and
the Resident hurried in, closely followed by Dr Morley.
"You have heard this news, Knowle?"
"Yes; everything."
"And you will send a party of men at once?" said the Resident in a
half-suffocated voice.
"Directly we can man the boats."
"Ah!" exclaimed the Resident, sinking into a chair, with his hand to his
breast.
"But you are not fit to go with them."
The Resident smiled faintly and made a gesticulation.
"It's no use to waste words, Knowle," said the Doctor. "I know better
than you what he can stand, and I have told him it is madness to think
of it."
"Yes; and I am going to be mad," said the Resident bitterly. "If you
have not given your instructions already, sir, pray do so at once. At
all costs I must go."
The Major shrugged his shoulders.
"I want two boats," he said. "I am going to take yours, of course. But
one of my difficulties is, who is to take charge of the expedition?"
Archie started, and his lips parted to speak.
"I shall take charge of it," said the Resident.
"Very well.--You are not fit to go, Maine?" said the Major.
"Oh yes, sir," cried Archie eagerly.
"No, sir," cried the Major; and the subaltern's brow puckered up in his
disappointment. "And I can't spare you," continued the Major. "But
under the circumstances I must, for I can spare no one else. Of course
there will be a sergeant and a corporal--and a nice state we shall be
left in here!--You, Dallas, take my advice. If you really mean to go,
leave all the preparations to the Doctor. But really I think you had
better let him go in your place."
"Yes," said the Doctor; "and it is my duty to my child."
Sir Charles made an angry movement, and the Major was about to issue his
orders, when he sprang from his seat, for a rifle-shot rang out on the
still night.
"What does that mean?" exclaimed Sir Charles.
There was another shot, followed by another and another.
"Attack, and in force;" cried the Major, crossing to the side of the
room, to catch up hurriedly his sword and belt; and he was busy buckling
the latter as the bugle rang out the assembly.
By the time he was out in the front the sentries were being driven in,
and announced that the Malays were advancing in force; and almost
immediately two of the men hurried out of the darkness supporting one of
their comrades, who was bleeding profusely from a spear-wound, the
weapon thrown by one of the attacking Malays being carried by a
fellow-soldier.
The men turned out without the slightest confusion, and fell into their
places under the direction of the officers remaining for the defence of
the cantonments, and so well had the arrangements been previously
planned out that the rush of the advancing enemy from three sides of the
cantonments was temporarily checked by the steady fire of the defenders;
but not before two more of the sentries had been carried into the
mess-room, where the Major, hurrying in to see what was being done,
found the Doctor in his shirt-sleeves busily attending to the men's
wounds.
"Oh, there you are, Major!" he said, speaking with a strip of bandage in
his mouth. "This looks like my taking command of the expedition,
doesn't it?"
"Yes. Impossible," said the Major. "The brutes are coming on in
numbers, and much as I regret what you must feel, I am only too thankful
that your party has not started. But there, you see I can do nothing
until we have driven these scoundrels back, and then--we shall see."
"Yes, I know," grumbled the Doctor.--"You can take hold of one end of
that bandage yourself, my lad. That's right. Nasty cut; but you are
not going to lose the number of your mess this time."
"Oh no, sir!" said the wounded man excitedly. "Tight as you can,
please, sir. I think I can go back to the firing-line, and--ah!"
"I don't," said the Doctor grimly. "Poor lad--talk about British
pluck!"
"Not a bad wound, is it?"
"Quite bad enough," said the Doctor. "An inch lower, sir--"
"Yes, I know," said the Major, as the firing increased. "Why, they've
got muskets! There, Doctor, I felt that I must speak to you, and I am
afraid you are going to have your hands pretty full."
"But you should keep your men more under cover, sir," said the Doctor
pettishly. "Look! They are bringing in two more."
"Under cover!" said the Major angrily. "Every fence, wall, and
breast-work is occupied, and the men are holding the Residency according
to orders. These poor fellows were speared at their posts."
The Major hurried out, to busy himself with seeing that the various
occupants of the place were provided with shelter in the officers'
quarters and the other buildings of the cantonments, the upper windows
of which were occupied by the little force, with instructions to retire
to the Residency, which was so situated that it would lend itself well
to being treated as a sort of citadel in case they should prove to be
hard pressed.
Fortunately for the defenders, as the night advanced the smoke from the
firing hung low, prevented as it was from rising by a gathering river
mist; and as not a light was shown in either of the buildings, the
firing of the Malays from the sheltering trees and cultivated gardens of
the station had little effect, while of the many spears that were thrown
after the first attack was made, hardly one found a victim.
The men, in obedience to orders, were now firing only from time to time
at the sheltering Malays, who kept on creeping up to hurl a spear in at
a dimly seen open window, more than one not being sharp enough in
jumping back, for his activity was checked by a bullet which sent him
tottering for a few yards before falling heavily with a groan.
This had the effect of bringing the flash and heavy, dull report of the
old, cast-off military muskets which the Malays were using; and as these
weapons flashed, the defenders of the various buildings seized the
opportunity to return the fire, guessing at the enemy's position by the
light.
Just about this time, when a loud yelling from the direction of the
river suggested that a fresh party of the enemy were landing from boats,
a dimly seen officer hurried through the darkness to one of the upper
rooms.
"Who's in here?" he cried angrily.
"Me, sir--Smithers, sir."
"You are wasting your cartridges."
"Am I, sir?"
"Yes. Wait till we get some daylight, unless you can make sure of your
man."
"All right, Mr Maine, sir. It is you, isn't it? I was getting a bit
excited-like. One moment, sir: have you seen my missus?"
"Your wife? No. Why?"
"She telled me she was coming up to help the Doctor."
"Oh, nonsense! She ought to be with the women. I will tell her if I
see her.--There, look," whispered Archie--"to your left! There are
half-a-dozen fellows at least creeping through that patch of fog."
"They look big 'uns, too, sir," whispered the man excitedly, as the
indistinct figures were magnified by the mist. "Would it be waste of
cartridges, sir, to get two in a line and let go?"
"No. Fire!"
_Crock_ went the rifle, and the figures that had loomed up seemed to
melt away. But as soon as the rifle had flashed there was the _fad,
fad, fad_ of hurried steps, something whizzed in at the window, and with
a dull thud a spear stuck in the floor of the room.
_Crack, crack_ came from Archie's revolver as he fired it twice in the
direction of the spear-thrower, an answering yell suggesting that one of
the shots had had effect.
"There, keep a sharp lookout, and only fire when you are sure," said
Archie as he made for the door, striking against the bamboo shaft of the
spear. "This didn't graze you, did it, Smithers?"
"No, sir. I was afraid you had got a touch by your whipping out your
pistol so quickly. But please, sir, don't tell my missus to go into
shelter. She likes a job like this, and she's very useful with a basin
and sponge."
"All right; all right," replied Archie; and hurrying away, he took the
mess-room on his way to the post he was about to visit, and stepped to
where a faint light rose from behind a Japanese screen which shut off
one corner of the big room.
There he came upon the Doctor busy over one poor wounded fellow whose
head was resting upon the arm of a kneeling woman, who held a sponge in
the hand at liberty, while a great brass lotah of water was at her side.
"Very useful with basin and sponge," said Archie to himself, as he
smiled grimly.--"Can I do anything for you, Doctor?" he said.
"Not unless you have come to help, my lad."
"No, sir; I can't do that."
"Well, you can stop some of these scoundrels throwing these abominable
spears."
"Not till daylight, I'm afraid, sir; and I fear that this light will be
seen outside."
"Can't help it," said the Doctor. "I can't play Blind-Man's Buff and
stitch up wounds without a lamp. I want more help."
"Shall I ask Mrs Morley to come, sir?"
"My wife? No. She is busy with the women and children, and running off
now and then to give the poor fellows a drink of water. Here, I know:
set some one to find that ragamuffin Pegg. He'd be worth anything to me
now, for he's handy over this sort of thing."
"Yes, Doctor; but he's one of our best shots with a rifle, and the
Captain has posted him where he covers the river path."
"Oh, well, then, you can't spare him, of course. But look here, Archie;
the wounded are being brought in too fast. Tell the Major that I say
that he must blaze away a little to hold the enemy back."
"Do you want him to cut me down, sir? He's in a furious temper."
"Enough to make him. So am I. I nearly stuck a lancet into Sir Charles
Dallas a few minutes ago for coming and worrying me about the
possibility of a party of men stealing off to one of the boats with him.
The madman! All men are mad when they're in love. Never you catch
that complaint."
"No, sir," said Archie.
"Well, I'm keeping you, my lad; but I'm glad of a minute's cessation
from this work. There! I think he will do now, duchess.--What do you
say?"
"Poor fellow! You have done it all beautiful, sir," said Mrs Smithers,
smiling, as she passed a cool, wet sponge across the wounded man's
brows.
"There, off with you, Archie, my lad. Keep out of danger."
"Of course, sir," was the reply.
"I mean it, for you have had more than your share of my attention
lately. But I say, my lad; feel very boyish now?"
"If you tease me again about that, Doctor," said Archie, "I'll never
consult you again."
"Till next time," said the Doctor, with a chuckle.--"Great heavens!
what's that?"
_That_ was a tremendous puff of wind that knocked the Japanese screen
over against the wall, and sent Archie staggering so that he nearly fell
over one of the wounded men. Then almost instantaneously came a
terrific roar as if a sudden burst of a tropical storm had followed the
flash of light which blazed through the lightly built place, the walls
of which had rocked, and seemed to be tottering to their fall.
"Anybody hurt?" panted the Doctor, his first thought being that he must
render aid.
"I--I don't know, sir," stammered Archie.
"Glad of it," said the Doctor. "The worst storm I ever saw."
"Storm, sir?" said Archie. "It's the magazine gone!"