recounts the wild, fierce, and in some respects peculiar incidents of a bush fight.
although the pirates were taken aback by this unexpected advance of the rajah’s gun-boat to within pistol-shot of their very doors, they were by no means cowed. malays are brave as a race, and peculiarly regardless of their lives. they manned their guns, and stood to them with unflinching courage, but they were opposed by men of the same mettle, who had the great advantage of being better armed, and led by a man of consummate coolness and skill, whose motto was—“conquer or die!”
we do not say that the captain of the gun-boat professed to hold that motto, for he was not a boaster, but it was clearly written in the fire of his eye, and stamped upon the bridge of his nose!
the pirate-guns were soon dismounted, their stockade was battered down, and when a party at last landed, with the captain at their head, and edgar with his diving friends close at his heels, they were driven out of their fortification into the woods.
previously to this, however, all the women and children had been sent further into the bush, so that the attacking party met none but fighting-men. turning round a bend in a little path among the bushes, edgar, who had become a little separated from his friends, came upon a half-naked malay, who glared at him from behind a long shield. the pirate’s style of fighting was that of the malay race in general, and had something ludicrous, as well as dangerous, about it. he did not stand up and come on like a man, but, with his long legs wide apart and bent at the knees, he bounded hither and thither like a monkey, always keeping his body well under cover of the shield, and peering round its edges or over, or even under it, according to fancy, while his right hand held a light spear, ready to be launched at the first favourable moment into the unprotected body of his adversary.
edgar at once rushed upon him, snapping his revolver as he ran; but, all the chambers having been already emptied, no shot followed. brandishing his cutlass, he uttered an involuntary shout.
the shout was unexpectedly replied to by another shout of “aileen, to the rescue!” which not only arrested him in his career, but seemed to perplex the pirate greatly.
at that moment the bushes behind the latter opened; a man in ragged shirt-sleeves and torn trousers sprang through, whirled a mighty club in the air, and smote the pirate’s uplifted shield with such violence as to crush it down on its owner’s head, and lay him flat and senseless on the ground.
“mr hazlit!” gasped edgar.
the merchant bounded at our hero with the fury of a wild cat, and would have quickly laid him beside the pirate if he had not leaped actively aside. a small tree received the blow meant for him, and the merchant passed on with another yell, “to the rescue!”
of course edgar followed, but the bush paths were intricate. he unfortunately turned into a wrong one, when the fugitive was for a moment hidden by a thicket, and immediately lost all trace of him.
meanwhile rooney machowl, hearing the merchant’s shout, turned aside to respond to it. he met mr hazlit right in the teeth, and, owing to his not expecting an assault, had, like edgar, well-nigh fallen by the hand of his friend. as it was, he evaded the huge club by a hair’s-breadth, and immediately gave chase to the maniac—for such the poor gentleman had obviously become. but although he kept the fugitive for some time in view, he failed to come up with him owing to a stumble over a root which precipitated him violently on his nose. on recovering his feet mr hazlit was out of sight.
rooney, caressing with much tenderness his injured nose, now sought to return to his friends, but the more he tried to do so, the farther he appeared to wander away from them.
“sure it’s a quare thing that i can’t git howld of the road i comed by,” he muttered, as with a look of perplexity he paused and listened.
faint shouts were heard on his left, and he was about to proceed in that direction, when distinct cries arose on his right. he went in that direction for a time, then vacillated, and, finally, came to a dead stand, as well as to the conclusion that he had missed his way; which belief he stated to himself in the following soliloquy:—
“rooney, me boy, you’ve gone an’ lost yoursilf. ah, bad scran to ’ee. isn’t it the fulfilment of your grandmother’s owld prophecy, that you’d come to a bad ind at last? it’s little i’d care for your misfortin myself, if it warn’t that you ought to be helpin’ poor mr hazlit, who’s gone as mad as blazes, an’ whose daughter can’t be far off. och! man alive,” he added, with sudden enthusiasm, “niver give in while there’s a purty girl in the case!”
under the impulse of this latter sentiment, rooney started off at a run in a new and totally unconsidered direction, which, strange to say, brought him into sudden and very violent contact with some of those individuals in whom he was interested.
here we must, in hunters’ language, “hark back” on our course for a few minutes—if, indeed, that be hunters’ language! we do not profess to know much thereof, but the amiable reader will understand our meaning.
just after the attack had begun, and mr hazlit had sallied from the hut with his war-club, as already related, aileen became deeply impressed with the fact that all the women and children who had been wont to visit and gaze at her in wonder had vanished. the rattling of shot over her head, too, and the frequent rush of pirates past her temporary abode, warned her that the place was too much exposed in every way to be safe. she therefore sought to rouse her companion to attempt flight.
“laura,” she said, anxiously, as a round shot cut in half the left corner-post of the building, “come, we must fly. we shall be killed if we remain here.”
“i care not,” exclaimed miss pritty, clasping her friend closer than ever, and shuddering; “my worst fears have been realised. let me die!”
“but i don’t want to die yet,” remonstrated aileen; “think of me, dear, if you can, and of my father.”
“ah, true!” exclaimed miss pritty, with sudden calmness, as she unclasped her arms and arose. “forgive my selfishness. come; let us fly!”
if the poor lady had owned a private pair of cherubic wings, she could not have prepared for flight with greater assurance or activity. she tightened her waist-belt, wrapped her shawl firmly round her, fastened her bonnet strings in a gordian knot, and finally, holding out her hand to her friend, as if they had suddenly changed characters, said, “come, are you ready?” with a tremendous show of decision. she even led the wondering aileen along a winding path into the jungle for a considerable distance; then, as the path became more intricate, she stopped, burst into tears, laid her head again on its old resting-place, and said in a hollow voice:— “yes; all is lost!”
“come, laura, don’t give way; there’s a dear. just exert yourself a little and we shall soon be safe at—at—somewhere.”
miss pritty made a vigorous struggle. she even smiled through her tears as she replied:— “well, lead on, love; i will follow you—to death!”
with her eyes tightly shut, lest she should see something hideous in the woods, she stumbled on, holding to her friend’s arm.
“where are we going to?” she asked, feebly, after a few minutes, during which aileen had pulled her swiftly along.
“i don’t know, dear, but a footpath must lead to something or somewhere.”
aileen was wrong. the footpath led apparently to nothing and nowhere. at all events it soon became so indistinct that they lost it, and, finally, after an hour’s wandering, found themselves hopelessly involved in the intricacies of a dense jungle, without the slightest clew as to how they should get out of it.
aileen stopped at last.
“laura,” she said, anxiously, “we are lost!”
“i told you so,” returned miss pritty, in a tone that was not quite devoid of triumph.
“true, dear; but when you told me so we were not lost. now we are. i fear we shall have to spend the night here,” she added, looking round.
miss pritty opened her eyes and also looked round. the sight that met her gaze was not encouraging. afternoon was drawing on. thick bushes and trees formed a sort of twilight there even at noon-day. nothing with life was visible. not a sound was to be heard, save such little rustlings of dry leaves and chirpings as were suggestive of snakes and centipedes. the unhappy laura was now too frightened to shudder.
“what shall we do?” she asked; “shriek for help?”
“that might bring pirates to us instead of friends,” said aileen. “listen; do you hear no sound?”
“nothing,” replied miss pritty, after a few moments of intense silence, “save the beating of my own heart. aileen,” she continued, with sudden anxiety, “are there not serpents in these woods?”
“yes, i believe there are.”
“and tarantulas?”
“probably.”
“and tortoises?”
“i—i’m not sure.”
“darling, how can we sleep among tortoises, tarantulas, and serpents?”
even aileen was at a loss for a reply, though she smiled in spite of herself.
“i’ll tell you what,” she said, cheerfully, “if we must spend the night in the bush we shall get into a tree. that will at least save us from all the venomous creatures as well as dangerous beasts that crawl upon the ground. can you climb?”
“climb!” repeated miss pritty, with a hysterical laugh, “you might as well ask me if i can dive.”
“well, you must learn. come, i will teach you. here is a capital tree that seems easy to get into.”
saying this, aileen ran to a gnarled old tree whose trunk was divided into two parts, and from which spread out a series of stout branches that formed a sort of net-work of foliage about eight or ten feet from the ground. climbing actively up to these branches, she crept out upon them, and from that position, parting the twigs, she looked down laughingly at her friend.
her bright spirit was contagious. miss pritty almost forgot her anxieties, smiled in return, and walked towards the tree, in doing which she trod on something that moved in the grass. a piercing shriek was the result. it was immediately replied to by a wild yell at no great distance.
“it was only a frog; look, i see it now, hopping away. do be quick, laura; i am sure that was the yell of a savage.”
no further spur was needed. miss pritty scrambled up into the tree and crept towards her friend with such reckless haste that one of her feet slipped off the branch, and her leg passing through the foliage, appeared in the regions below. recovering herself, she reached what she deemed a place of security.
“now, dear, we are safe—at least for a time,” said aileen, arranging her friend’s disordered dress. “take care, however; you must be careful to trust only to limbs of the tree; the foliage cannot bear you. look, you can see through it to the ground. lean your back against this fork here; sit on this place—so; put your foot on this branch, there—why, it is almost like a chair—hush!”
it was quite unnecessary to impose silence. they both sat among the branches as motionless as though they had been parts of the tree. they scarce dared to breathe, while they peered through the foliage and beheld the dim form of a man advancing.
whoever he was, the man seemed to growl as though he had been allied to the beasts of the jungle. he came forward slowly, looking from side to side with caution, and, stopping directly under the tree of refuge, said—
“musha!” with great emphasis, then placing both hands to his mouth he gave vent to a roar that would have done credit to a south african lion.
as neither of the ladies understood the meaning of “musha,” they listened to the roar with a thrill of unutterable horror. miss pritty, as if fascinated, leant forward, the better to observe her foe. suddenly, like the lightning-flash, and without even a shriek of warning, she lost her balance and dived head-foremost into the bosom of rooney machowl!
well was it for the bold irishman that miss pritty was a light weight, else had he that day ended his career in the jungles of borneo. as it was he went down like a shock of corn before the scythe, grasped miss pritty in an embrace such as she had never before even imagined, and proceeded to punch her poor head.
then, indeed, she made herself known by a powerful scream that caused the horrified man to loose his hold and spring up with a torrent of apologies and self-abuse.
“och! it’s not possible. baste that i am! oh ma cushla astore, forgive me! it’s a gorilla i thought ye was, sure, for i hadn’t time to look, d’ee see. it’s wishin’ you had staved in my timbers intirely i am.”
rooney’s exclamations were here cut short, and turned on another theme by the sudden appearance of aileen hazlit, who soon found that her friend was more alarmed than hurt.
“i am so glad you have found us, and so surprised,” said aileen, who had met rooney in england during one of her visits to joe baldwin’s abode, “for we have quite lost ourselves.”
rooney looked a little awkwardly at the fair girl.
“sure, it’s glad i am myself that i’ve found you,” he said, “but faix, i’m lost too! i do belave, howiver, that somebody’s goin’ to find us.”
he turned his head aside and listened intently. presently a cry was heard at no great distance. it was replied to by another.
“pirates,” said rooney, in a hoarse whisper, drawing a cutlass from his belt.
as he spoke another cry was heard in an opposite direction.
“friends!” exclaimed rooney. “sure we’re surrounded by friends and foes! come, git into the tree, ladies. i’ll give a hail, an’ if the varmin should come up first, i’ll kape them in play. don’t show yer purty faces dears, an’ be as aisy as ye can.”
so saying, rooney gave vent to a true british cheer, while the ladies ascended once more into the tree.
the cheer was instantly replied to by counter-cheers and howls. a minute more and two half-naked malays, armed with spears and long shields, bounded into the clear space and attacked the irishman, but rooney had placed his back to the tree and was ready for them. although he was scarcely a match for two such men, whose peculiar and bounding mode of fighting he did not understand, rooney nevertheless quickly disabled one by the sheer strength of a blow, which cut through the shield and wounded his enemy’s head. the other he sprang upon like a wild cat and grappled with him. at that moment a third malay glided on the scene, brandished his spear, and stood by the swaying combatants awaiting a favourable opportunity to thrust his weapon into the white man’s back. he stood right under the branch in which the ladies were concealed. miss pritty saw his intention and felt convinced he would succeed. in desperate alarm at the danger of her protector, and horrified at what she was about to do, she grasped the pirate by the hair and tore out a large handful, at the same time uttering shriek upon shriek mingled with appalling bursts of hysterical laughter.
this saved rooney, who turned just in time to protect himself, but as he did so six more pirates leaped upon the scene and overpowered him. they also sprung up the tree, and quickly brought down the ladies.
poor miss pritty had gone fairly off into violent hysterics by that time. she was carried down in the arms of a pirate, into whose hair she had permanently fastened her ten fingers, while she filled the woods with unearthly cries.
before any advantage, however, could be taken of this success, a cheer was heard close at hand. next moment, edgar berrington burst on the scene, followed by the captain of the gun-boat and a body of men. the pirates did not await them, but fled instantly.
“fire a volley, lads,” shouted the captain.
the men obeyed, and one or two yells told that it had not been without effect, nevertheless, all the miscreants escaped with the exception of miss pritty’s captive, who, unable to clear himself from her close embrace with sufficient speed, was collared and throttled into submission by edgar.
“we’ll divide our force here,” said the captain. “i’ll follow them up a while with some of the boys, and you, mr berrington, will return with the rest to the gun-boat, in charge of the ladies.”
edgar was about to object, but the captain silenced him at once with:—
“come, sir, you’re under my orders. do what i bid you.”
there was no resisting this, so edgar turned, not unwillingly, and gave his arm to aileen, who seized it with a grateful eagerness that sent a thrill of delight through all his frame.
“come along, my lads,” he cried. “take care of miss pritty, poor thing!” he added, turning to rooney.
the irishman obeyed. he stooped and lifted her in his arms. she had been lying in a state of semi-insensibility with her eyes tightly shut. the moment she felt herself being lifted, she clutched her protector by the hair, and held on, shrieking.
“ay, tug away, cushla!” said rooney, as he moved after his friends, “it’s not much of that ye’ll manage to root up.”
“have you seen my father?” asked aileen, anxiously, as they moved on together.
“he is safe,” answered edgar; “i found him exhausted in the hut which he told me you had occupied, and had him conveyed on board the gun-boat.”
“thank god!” exclaimed aileen, fervently, “but,” she added, with a slight shudder, “it seemed to me as if his mind had been unhinged—and—and he was wounded.”
“a mere scratch on the temple,” said edgar, “yet sufficient, with surrounding circumstances, to account for the temporary madness that assailed him. fear not, aileen, he is safe now, through god’s mercy, and you shall soon be safe beside him.”
a feeling of deep gratitude and restfulness stole over the poor girl’s spirit, and she almost wept for joy as they stepped into a small boat, and were rowed over the calm water to the gun-boat, which lay, black and still, under the deep shadow of a bank of luxuriant foliage.
“my child,” said mr hazlit, sadly, as they reclined together on the couches of the little cabin, while edgar sat on a camp-stool near them, miss pritty having been consigned to the captain’s berth, “they tell me that this fearful work is not yet over. there is to be more fighting and bloodshed.”
“how? what do you mean, papa?”
“tell her, mr berrington.”
“we have just had news sent us by a fast row-boat from a town about sixty miles along the coast that a large fleet of pirate-prows have been seen off the coast. they have taken several trading prows, and captured many men belonging to the sarawak territory, besides several chinamen. when our captain completes his work on shore here, he intends to start at once in chase of these pirates, in the hope of destroying them and freeing their slaves.”
“god help us,” said aileen, “it seems as if men in this part of the world, gloried in pouring out blood like water.”
“some of them undoubtedly do. perhaps it may reconcile your mind to the destruction of these miscreants to know that for every one killed there will probably be saved the lives of dozens—if not hundreds—of innocent men and women, whom he would have murdered, or doomed to hopeless slavery, in the course of his wicked career.”
as edgar spoke, the sound of oars was heard. presently the captain and his men leaped on deck. the moorings were cast loose, our hero took his station at the engine, and the gun-boat glided swiftly down the river, leaving the pirate stronghold in flames.
