Blown to Bits or The Lonely Man of Rakata Part 18

"Right you are, Moses. Come, then, if you won't reweal secrets, give us a song."

"Couldn't t'ink ob such a t'ing," said the negro, with a solemn, remonstrant shake of the head.

"Why not?"

"'Cause I neber sing a song widout a moral, an' I don't like to hurt your feelin's by singin' a moral dat would be sure to waken up _some_ o'

your consciences."

"Never mind that, darkey. Our consciences are pretty tough. Heave ahead."

"But dere's a chorus," said Moses, looking round doubtfully.

"What o' that? We'll do our best with it--if it ain't too difficult."

"Oh, it's not diffikilt, but if de lazy fellers among you sings de chorus dey'll be singin' lies, an' I don't 'zackly like to help men to tell lies. Howseber, here goes. It begins wid de chorus so's you may know it afore you has to sing it."

So saying, Moses struck two fingers on the capstan after the manner of a tuning-fork, and, holding them gravely to his ear as if to get the right pitch, began in a really fine manly voice to chant the following ditty:--

"GO TO WORK."

Oh when de sun am s.h.i.+nin' bright, and eberyt'ing am fair, Clap on de steam an' go to work, an' take your proper share.

De wurld hab got to go ahead, an' dem what's young and strong Mus' do deir best, wid all de rest, to roll de wurld along.

De lazy man does all he can to stop its whirlin' round.

If he was king he'd loaf an' sing--and guzzle, I'll be bound, He always s.h.i.+rk de hardest work, an' t'ink he's awful clebbar, But boder his head to earn his bread, Oh! no, he'll nebber, nebber.

_Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etc.

De selfish man would rader dan put out his hand to work, Let women toil, an' sweat and moil--as wicked as de Turk.

De cream ob eberyt'ing he wants, let oders hab de skim; In fact de wurld and all it holds was only made for him.

_Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etc.

So keep de ball a-rollin', boys, an' each one do his best To make de wurld a happy one--for dat's how man is blest.

Do unto oders all around de t'ing what's good and true, An' oders, 'turning t.i.t for tat, will do de same to you.

_Chorus_--Oh when de sun, etc.

The sailors, who were evidently much pleased, took up the chorus moderately at the second verse, came out strong at the third, and sang with such genuine fervour at the last that it was quite evident, as Moses remarked, there was not a lazy man amongst them--at least, if they all sang conscientiously!

The weather improved every hour, and after a fine run of about twenty-four hours over that part of the Malay Sea, our three voyagers were lowered over the steamer's side in their canoe when within sight of the great island of Borneo.

"I'm sorry," said the captain at parting, "that our courses diverge here, for I would gladly have had your company a little longer.

Good-bye. I hope we'll come across you some other time when I'm in these parts."

"Thanks--thanks, my friend,'" replied Van der Kemp, with a warm grip of the hand, and a touch of pathos in his tones. "I trust that we shall meet again. You have done me good service by shortening my voyage considerably.--Farewell."

"I say, Moses," shouted one of the seamen, as he looked down on the tiny canoe while they were pus.h.i.+ng off.

"Hallo?"

"Keep your heart up, for--we'll try to 'do to oders all around de t'ing what's good an' true!'"

"Das de way, boy--'an' oders, 'turning t.i.t for tat, will do de same to you!'"

He yelled rather than sang this at the top of his tuneful voice, and waved his hand as the sharp craft shot away over the sea.

Fortunately the sea was calm, for it was growing dark when they reached the sh.o.r.es of Borneo and entered the mouth of a small stream, up which they proceeded to paddle. The banks of the stream were clothed with mangrove trees. We have said the banks, but in truth the mouth of that river had no distinguishable banks at all, for it is the nature of the mangrove to grow in the water--using its roots as legs with which, as it were, to wade away from sh.o.r.e. When darkness fell suddenly on the landscape, as it is p.r.o.ne to do in tropical regions, the gnarled roots of those mangroves a.s.sumed the appearance of twining snakes in Nigel's eyes. Possessing a strongly imaginative mind he could with difficulty resist the belief that he saw them moving slimily about in the black water, and, in the dim mysterious light, tree stems and other objects a.s.sumed the appearance of hideous living forms, so that he was enabled to indulge the uncomfortable fancy that they were traversing some terrestrial Styx into one of Dante's regions of horror.

In some respects this was not altogether a fancy, for they were unwittingly drawing near to a band of human beings whose purposes, if fully carried out, would render the earth little better than a h.e.l.l to many of their countrymen.

It is pretty well known that there is a cla.s.s of men in Borneo called Head Hunters. These men hold the extraordinary and gruesome opinion that a youth has not attained to respectable manhood until he has taken the life of some human being.

There are two distinct cla.s.ses of Dyaks--those who inhabit the hills and those who dwell on the sea-coast. It is the latter who recruit the ranks of the pirates of those eastern seas, and it was to the camp of a band of such villains that our adventurers were, as already said, unwittingly drawing near.

They came upon them at a bend of the dark river beyond which point the mangroves gave place to other trees--but what sort of trees they were it was scarcely light enough to make out very distinctly, except in the case of the particular tree in front of which the Dyaks were encamped, the roots of which were strongly illuminated by their camp fire. We say _roots_ advisedly, for this singular and gigantic tree started its branches from a complexity of aerial roots which themselves formed a pyramid some sixty feet high, before the branches proper of the tree began.

If our voyagers had used oars the sharp ears of the pirates would have instantly detected them. As it was, the softly moving paddles and the sharp cut.w.a.ter of the canoe made no noise whatever. The instant that Van der Kemp, from his position in the bow, observed the camp, he dipped his paddle deep, and noiselessly backed water. There was no need to give any signal to his servant. Such a thorough understanding existed between them that the mere action of the hermit was sufficient to induce the negro to support him by a similar movement on the opposite side, and the canoe glided as quickly backward as it had previously advanced. When under the deep shadow of the bank Moses thrust the canoe close in, and his master, laying hold of the bushes, held fast and made a sign to him to land and reconnoitre.

Creeping forward to an opening in the bushes close at hand, Moses peeped through. Then he turned and made facial signals of a kind so complicated that he could not be understood, as nothing was visible save the flas.h.i.+ng of his teeth and eyes. Van der Kemp therefore recalled him by a sign, and, stepping ash.o.r.e, whispered Nigel to land.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DISCOVER A PIRATES' BIVOUAC.--PAGE 164.]

Another minute and the three travellers stood on the bank with their heads close together.

"Wait here for me," said the hermit, in the lowest possible whisper. "I will go and see who they are."

"Strange," said Nigel, when he was gone; "strange that in so short a time your master should twice have to stalk strangers in this way.

History repeats itself, they say. It appears to do so rather fast in these regions! Does he not run a very great risk of being discovered?"

"Not de smallest," replied the negro, with as much emphasis as was possible in a whisper. "Ma.s.sa hab ride wid de Vaquieros ob Ameriky an'

hunt wid de Injuns on de Rockies. No more fear ob deir ketchin' him dan ob ketchin' a streak o' lightnin'. He come back bery soon wid all de news."

Moses was a true prophet. Within half-an-hour Van der Kemp returned as noiselessly as he had gone. He did not keep them long in uncertainty.

"I have heard enough," he whispered, "to a.s.sure me that a plot, of which I had already heard a rumour, has nearly been laid. We fell in with the chief plotters on the islet the other night; the band here is in connection with them and awaits their arrival before carrying out their dark designs. There is nothing very mysterious about it. One tribe plotting to attack another--that is all; but as a friend of mine dwells just now with the tribe to be secretly attacked, it behoves me to do what I can to save him. I am perplexed, however. It would seem sometimes as if we were left in perplexity for wise purposes which are beyond our knowledge."

"Perhaps to test our willingness to _do right_," suggested Nigel.

"I know not," returned the hermit, as if musing, but never raising his voice above the softest whisper. "My difficulty lies here; I _must_ go forward to save the life of my friend. I must _not_ leave you at the mouth of a mangrove river to die or be captured by pirates, and yet I have no right to ask you to risk your life on my account!"

"You may dismiss your perplexities then," said Nigel, promptly, "for I decline to be left to die here or to be caught by pirates, and I am particularly anxious to a.s.sist you in rescuing your friend. Besides, am I not your hired servant?"

"The risk we run is only at the beginning," said Van der Kemp. "If we succeed in pa.s.sing the Dyaks unseen all will be well. If they see us, they will give chase, and our lives, under G.o.d, will depend on the strength of our arms, for I am known to them and have thwarted their plans before now. If they catch us, death will be our certain doom. Are you prepared?"

"Ready!" whispered Nigel.

Without another word the hermit took his place in the bow of the canoe.

Moses stepped into the stern, and our hero sat down in the middle.

Before pus.h.i.+ng off, the hermit drew a revolver and a cutla.s.s from his store-room in the bow and handed them to Nigel, who thrust the first into his belt and fastened the other to the deck by means of a strap fixed there on purpose to prevent its being rolled or swept off. This contrivance, as well as all the other appliances in the canoe, had previously been pointed out and explained to him. The hermit and negro having armed themselves in similar way, let go the bushes which held them close to the bank and floated out into the stream. They let the canoe drift down a short way so as to be well concealed by the bend in the river and a ma.s.s of bushes. Then they slowly paddled over to the opposite side and commenced to creep up as close to the bank as possible, under the deep shadow of overhanging trees, and so noiselessly that they appeared in the darkness like a pa.s.sing phantom.