"WHAT ABOUT VICTUALS?"
For a few minutes it seemed as if the success that had attended them was
to be completely dashed, though it had become evident that, by a
wonderful stroke of good fortune, they had dropped the grapnel of the
boat so that they were swinging nearly opposite to the part of the
river-bank which had been their goal. For then Fate, which had been
filling their breasts with hope, seemed to have withdrawn from them
behind a darker cloud than ever.
The voices were so near that they dared not whisper or stir, only wait
in the full expectation of being seen and welcomed with a shower of
spears; but by degrees the talking ceased, and the silence was so
profound that it became evident that the enemy, whatever had been their
object in coming there, had silently crept away.
"Do you really think they have gone, sir?" whispered Peter.
"I feel sure of it," was the reply.
"Then don't you think we could get out the poles and work the boat
closer in?"
"I'm afraid to try, Pete. The stream seems running so strong that we
might be swept away."
"Oh, I don't know, sir, close inshore like this. I think we might
manage it. Hadn't we better try?"
"Well, yes," replied Archie, after a little hesitation. "We must use
the poles when we go away, unless we try going down-stream."
"Oh, that wouldn't do, sir. It would be running right into Rajah
Hamet's nest, even if we didn't meet Suleiman's men; and if we didn't do
neither we should have to carry the boxes through them who are
surrounding the Residency."
"We must get them somehow," cried Archie impatiently.
"Yes, sir. But we ain't getting them like this."
For answer Archie seized one of the poles that lay along under the
thwarts of the sampan, passed it over the side, and, to his great
delight, found that close in to the bank the eddy was so strong that
there would be no difficulty in working against the current. This
discovery made, the grapnel was pulled up and the sampan thrust in close
under the bank at the bottom of the Doctor's garden.
"Nothing like trying, sir," said Peter; and landing, he carried the
grapnel in to the full extent of the rope and pressed its flukes down
into the earth.
This was not done without noise, and the two lads stood listening for a
few minutes before proceeding farther. Once satisfied that there were
no fresh occupants in the bungalow, Archie led the way in, and the rest
of their task proved delightfully easy.
He knew enough of the interior of the Doctor's home to make for the
store-room at once. Everything was open, just as it had been left in
haste, and in spite of the darkness they easily found the little, square
boxes of cartridges lying exactly as Mrs Morley had described; and each
securing two, they were about to hurry down to the boat, when Archie
remembered the gun, which, he knew, was hanging over a cabinet in the
Doctor's study.
Placing his two boxes on the floor, he made for the Doctor's room, took
the gun from the hooks where it hung, and hurrying back to the room
where he had left the boxes, he found himself alone, for Peter had
hastened off with his portion of the load.
There was nothing for it but to wait; but at last his ears were
gladdened by the sound of his companion's hurried footsteps, and
together the remainder of the objects of their search were borne down to
the boat, which was cast loose, the poles were seized, and they began to
stem the current.
The work proved easier than they had anticipated so long as they kept
close inshore; but this, they felt, was incurring the greatest peril,
for an occasional voice warned them of the presence of enemies close at
hand; and after one narrow escape, consequent upon their being hailed by
some one in the Malay tongue, they pushed off in despair, to make for
the farther bank of the river.
This portion of their journey was not achieved without losing ground,
for out beyond the middle there were times when, in spite of the length
of the long bamboo poles, they could not touch bottom. But once more
close inshore, they began to make better progress, and as they paused
for a few minutes' rest in the thick darkness in a place closely
overhung by trees, the question arose as to how long it would be before
daybreak, for both felt that the night must be pretty well spent.
"What do you say, Pete?" said Archie.
"Don't want to say nothing, sir," was the reply.
"Why?"
"Don't want to put you out of heart."
Archie was silent for a few moments.
"You mean that it must be nearly morning now. Speak out."
"Something of the kind, sir; and I was thinking that it seems too bad to
have to make a mess of it at the end."
"Ah! You think that though we may get across and land with our load on
our side of the river, we should have daylight upon us before we could
get anything like back to the Residency?"
"Wish I was as clever as you are, Mister Archie," said Peter in a low,
grumbling tone, as he thrust with all his might at the end of his pole.
"What do you mean?"
"You saying just exactly what I was thinking about, sir. How you come
to see it all I don't know."
"Oh, never mind that, Pete. It's very horrible, and when we are missing
in the morning there will be no end of an upset, and they will think
that we have deserted."
"Haw, haw!" grunted Peter, with another thrust of his pole which
hindered the straight course of the sampan. "Them thinking you had
deserted, sir? Likely! You ain't me."
"Well, Pete, let's get as high as we can past the place where we got the
boat, and then the moment we think that daylight's coming let's get
across, tie the boat up somewhere under the trees, and lie in hiding
till night."
"Won't do," said Peter shortly. "Boat belongs to somebody as ain't our
friends, and when they find it gone they will come hunting along the
water-side till they find it, and like as not tell the enemy where we
are."
"You are right, Pete. Then we will find a snug place, and lie in
waiting till it's dark again; and we shall know by then pretty well
where we are, and take our measures for a fresh start."
"That's right, sir. Glad I was able to do some good--and, I say, it's
getting close to morning."
"How do you know?"
"By them things as we have heard howling out in the jungle over and over
again."
"I've heard nothing," said Archie.
"I have, sir; and they're getting quiet now. I heard a tiger once, and
crocs over and over again, but I wouldn't say anything."
"I had too much else to think of, Pete," said Archie, as he toiled hard
at his pole, causing an eddy more than once, as if some river-dweller
had been disturbed.
It was not long after when the notes of the birds began to proclaim the
coming day, and the surroundings began to appear so plainly that at the
first favourable opportunity the boat was run in beneath the shelter of
the overhanging trees and made fast; while, as the day broadened and
they peered out across the river, Archie found they were so high up that
no object on the farther bank was familiar; and he said so.
"Well, sir, I must leave that to you," said Peter. "I ain't done much
boating, and have never been so high as this before. Well, from what
you say, I suppose we shall be safe till night, and then we are going to
get across and land them cartridges somehow or another where they are
wanted. We've got a lot of hours to wait, though, first."
"Yes," said Archie, with a weary sigh.
"Well, then, sir, what about victuals?"