Middy and Ensign Part 75

"Ali!" cried Captain Smithers; "you here?"

"Yes, I am back," said the young man sadly.

"Gray, my good fellow," cried Captain Smithers, "fate seems to have ordained that I should doubt you."

"Fate is sometimes very cruel to us all, sir," said Gray, coldly, as the captain set him free, and turned to Ali.

"You found them, then?"

"No," said Ali, sadly.

"But the stockade?"

"What stockade?"

"Where you found them. The steamer went off early in the night."

"The steamer went off? Where?"

"Don't waste time, man, in puzzles," cried the captain, excitedly, as he felt that something was wrong. "You sent a messenger?"

"I sent no messenger," said Ali, excitedly.

"Yes, yes; the man with the writing in a bamboo?"

"I sent no man," said Ali, sadly. "You have been cheated--over-reached by your enemies."

"But did you not find them?"

"No, I was hemmed-in at every turn; and at last, in despair I have crawled back here, hardly saving my life, your sentries are so keen."

"This is dreadful," said Captain Smithers. "How we have been deluded!"

He took a few steps to and fro, and then paused before Ali, gazing at him searchingly.

"Sir," he said, "we are each of different nations, and your people are at war with mine. Why should I trust you? why should I believe in your words? How do I know that I am not talking to one who believes it to be a virtue to slay people of my creed?"

Ali looked at him wonderingly for a few moments before he spoke, slowly,--

"Because you know that I am honest," he said; "and if I am not, you have your resource there. Kill me."

Captain Smithers resumed his agitated walk to and fro.

"This is dreadful!" he said, excitedly. "Those poor fellows have been inveigled away like the hunting-party, and perhaps by this time there is a second ma.s.sacre."

"I think you exaggerate," said Ali, quietly. "The hunting-party have been led away by a ruse, and the steamer sent upon an errand by a clever trick. But Captain Horton and Major Sandars are not men to give up the lives of their following without a bitter struggle. And as for Lieutenant Johnson--"

"And Mr Roberts," interposed Tom Long.

"Yes, with Mr Roberts," said Ali, "he is too strong in guns and men to be easily overcome, unless by--"

"Treachery? Yes," said the captain. "And that is what I dread."

"To such an extent," said Ali, with a quiet smile, "that you doubt your friends."

"For the moment only," said Captain Smithers, holding out his hand, which the other frankly grasped. "You must remember--my position, sir."

"I do," said Ali. "Now give me a rifle and revolver; we may be attacked at any moment."

"We?" said Tom Long holding out his hand.

"Yes," said Ali, smiling; "and if we get safely through this trouble you will have to try and make me more of an Englishman than I am."

Even while he was speaking the Malays renewed their attack with the greatest pertinacity, it being evident that their object was to capture the fort before the steamer could render help. They seemed to be roused to a pitch of mad fury by the resistance they encountered and their losses, attacking with such determination that it needed no words on Captain Smithers' part to warn his little garrison that they must fight to the death.

With a civilised enemy it would have been quite reasonable to have surrendered long ago, but with such a foe as Rajah Gantang, a pirate of the worst Malay type, such an act as surrender would have meant giving all up to a horrible death.

Never was daylight more welcome than when it appeared to the defenders of that little stronghold, who, gaunt, haggard, and faint with exertion, saw the sky suddenly turn to orange and gold; and then the sun rose over the widespread jungle, sending the wreathing night-mists floating amidst the feathery palms, and seeming to dissolve into thin air.

The first order given by Captain Smithers was to have a signal of distress run up to the top of the flagstaff; the next to try and strengthen the defences, which were sorely dilapidated. Some of the barricading planks and forms were torn down, others riddled with bullets.

Through the rough straw mattresses spears were sticking in a dozen directions, and what had looked hopeless again and again during the night seemed doubly so by day.

But Captain Smithers was not made of the stuff to give up. He had those under his charge whom he was ready to render his life to save; and the spirit that animated his breast seemed to infuse itself in the spirits of the others. He was half mad with jealousy; and angered almost beyond bearing at the thought that Rachel Linton should favour, as he was sure now that she did, a private soldier in preference to him. But he cast away all narrow selfishness, for he was obliged to confess that Gray was no common man, but evidently a gentleman by education if not by birth.

Casting aside, then, all unworthy thoughts, he roused Tom Long from a short sleep that he had made him take. He said a few encouraging words to the men, and then went to join the ladies, who had antic.i.p.ated his wishes, and were ready with plenty of refreshments for the jaded defenders of the fort.

It is wonderful what efficacy there is in a cup of hot coffee and a big biscuit. Men who, ten minutes before, had stood rifle in hand, dejected and utterly worn-out, lost their haggard looks and seemed to pull themselves together after partaking of the cup of comfort that the ladies brought round.

Rifles were wiped out, belts tightened; and with brightening eyes the men seemed ready to give a good account of the enemy when they closed in for their next attack.

"I have bad news for you, Captain Smithers," said Rachel Linton to him, quietly, as she took the cup she had given him from his hands.

"I don't think you can give me worse news than I already know," he said, sadly.

"Yes, but I can," she said, with her brows knitting with pain for his suffering. "The heat of the day will soon be upon us, and we have no more water."

These words roused the captain to a less selfish view of things, and he stood for a moment or two thinking. It was indeed a tantalising position, for, glittering and sparkling in the sun, there before them flowed the bright river, no drop of whose waters could be reached on account of the thronging enemy.

"I will see to it at once," he said, quietly; and as Miss Linton left him, Tom Long came up.

"We must have a well dug at once," he said. "Take charge here, Long, while I pick out a place."

Ensign Long a.s.sumed the command, but now without any of his old consequential airs. Adversity was taming him down, and to his surprise he found himself talking in a very different tone to his men, who yielded a readier obedience than of old.

Captain Smithers was not long in selecting a place for the well, and in a very few minutes a squad of men were at work, some digging, others bearing off the earth in baskets to pile up in front of weak places and add to their strength.

It was a hard call upon the men, that digging; but even while they worked the demand for water arose, and they slaved at their task, knowing the tortures that waited them should they not succeed.