"there's one good thing we can say for the sulu queen," observed jim barnes. "that is, she sailed under english board rules."
"what has that to do with our present situation?" demanded nora sayers.
"it means that we've got a sprit rig stowed aboard. in oars, men! hi john, we'll be sailing before the wind, so lash your oar to the for'ard thwart to make a boom for the fores'l. li fu, break out the canvas. get the mast stepped, then trim ship."
over the waves behind, the tumult had died, and the distant lights of the sulu queen showed only when the boat lifted on a crest. no pursuit had been made, nor had the searchlight been put into effect. seemingly, lim tock was making no effort to find the boat. probably the supercargo was for the present unable to get his men in hand and was also very likely to be busy getting the engines into working order.
when the centreboard was let down and the boat was being trimmed, jim barnes surveyed her with acute satisfaction. she was a nearly new whaleboat, fitted with a rudder in navy style, and well found in all respects. with a grunt of delight, barnes opened the oiled silk wrapping of the matches, found the compass to be a good one, and set it by his side in the stern. in another ten minutes the sprit was up, the foresail rigged to the makeshift boom, and the whaleboat was running before the wind toward borneo.
the eldest of the three children was barely six; none of them were cognizant of what had happened. after whimpering a little, they were soon asleep amidships, wrapped in the spare sail.
"if you girls will come aft, you can curl up in the bottom of the boat at my feet," said barnes. "you'll be out of the wind and she'll be better trimmed. i've kept the boat well wet down since we sailed, and she's dry as a bone."
the two women obeyed. nora sayers looked up at barnes.
"the other children? and their mother?"
barnes tried to speak, but his throat was suddenly dry.
"i—damn it, girl, don't make me think of it! i did what i could. go to sleep."
ellen maggs caught her breath sharply. then, after a moment, barnes felt her hand touch his, and he gripped her fingers. both women were crying, he thought; but after a little they fell quiet, lulled by the regular rise and fall of the boat, by the long forward sweep, the rush and hiss of water as she drove along on a crest, and the tilted drop into the trough only to gather impetus anew and hurl forward.
the curling sweep of wind and sea, like a cleansing breath, wiped out all that was behind them and lessened the sharp memory. once barnes, looking back, saw a searchlight fingering the water; that was all. the stars blazed cold and brilliant, and the thin crescent of the new moon hung like green silver against the depths above. so passed the hours, and the boat rushed ever onward and onward under the steady sweep of wind. barnes held her on the same course the sulu queen had been following, to make the bornean coast. they were far out of any steamer track, and there was no hope of being picked up unless by some chance trading schooner.
dawn found them steadily bowling along. li fu had crept aft and relieved barnes of the tiller; and barnes, resting against the stern-thwart, opened his eyes to find the head of ellen maggs pillowed upon his shirt, and his arms about her shoulders. how this had come about, he had not the least idea, but made no objection to the arrangement.
perhaps aroused by his awakening stir, the girl opened her eyes a moment later. nora sayers was sleeping peacefully. barnes felt ellen maggs catch her breath at sight of the ocean and sky that closed them in, then saw the color come into her cheeks. before she turned to glance at him, he closed his eyes again. she did not move, but, after realizing the situation, accepted it. above them the lean form of li fu crouched at the tiller, dark eyes sweeping the water ahead.
"awake?" asked barnes after a moment. "don't move. sailing a whaleboat before the wind, even with a centreboard, is about as ticklish as canoeing. comfortable?"
"very, thank you," she responded, although he could see that the color lingered in her cheeks.
"when the kids wake up, we'll stretch our legs a bit and break out some grub," said barnes. she was silent for a space, then spoke quietly.
"are we going anywhere? have you seen any ship, or will any see us?"
"going to borneo. we'll raise the coast as soon as the sun's up. we won't see any ship unless she sees us first, however."
"but i thought we might see one, and catch her attention——"
jim barnes chuckled at this.
"no chance! novels to the contrary, it just ain't done. a small boat has a horizon of two and a half miles. we could see another boat a mile farther. the bridge of a ship can see us fifteen miles away, and would be sure not to miss our sails. so by the time we saw a ship, she'd be bearing down to take us on board. but we'll not see any; we're way out of the steamer lane."
behind the boat, all the eastern sky reddened and streamed with the dawn-shafts, and the sun sprang suddenly from the sea-rim, piercing the haze and mist of dawn with his level rays of gold. li fu bent down and touched the shoulder of barnes. the latter looked. out ahead of them a purple mass was upheaved above the horizon, running north and south.
"look!" barnes pointed it out to the girl. "there's borneo. if the wind holds, we'll make the coast in a couple of hours. the wind's shifting around to the north, too. wake up, hi john! take in your boom, bring the sheet aft, and let the foresail gybe. mind your helm, li fu, as she wears——"
the whaleboat came over nicely, but as she heeled the three children wakened and began to cry out. nora sayers sat up, bewildered, then quickly began to mother the little ones. hi john came aft and relieved li fu, who, with barnes, set to work breaking out the cabin stores put aboard the boat.
when breakfast was somewhat precariously made an end of, barnes turned over the forward portion of the boat to the two women and their charges, bringing the quartermasters back in the stern with him. with the spare sail he contrived a low screen which afforded the women some privacy without lessening the windage of the sails.
li fu curled up to sleep, but hi john, with a serious effort to improve his english, questioned barnes about their course and then delivered himself of a matter which drew barnes' immediate and earnest attention.
the quartermaster had discovered that the captain had changed the course of the sulu queen toward borneo by reason of something the serang gajah had said to him. further, he knew that there was much opium on the steamer, which lim tock meant to transfer to a junk which was to meet her somewhere. putting these facts together, the inference was that the sulu queen was to meet the junk somewhere near the mouth of the sesajap, for which the skipper had headed her.
"i don't know but what you're right, john," said barnes thoughtfully. "we might run into that junk, eh? but no great matter if we did. they'd be chinese and would leave us alone."
hi john shook his head at this. the boat was stenciled with the name of the sulu queen, and the men aboard the junk would not be exactly fools. barnes nodded assent.
"you're right. still, the chances are ten to one that we'll not see her. how badly did you smash those engines? what did you do to them?"
"me no savvy," said the quartermaster with a shrug. he had smashed them, and that was all he knew, except that he had done it in a hurry and at considerable risk.
jim barnes had fetched along no charts, but needed none for this coast. to the north was point elphinstone and british territory, and no settlements along the coast. to the south were several dutch stations within a hundred miles or so. as hi john claimed to know the coast fairly well, barnes decided to run straight in for the land, if possible identify their position, and then strike south for the nearest dutch settlement. the boat was staunch; the storm season was gone, and there was nothing to fear.
"and the quicker i can get a gunboat after that devil, lim tock, the better!" reflected barnes. he still saw red at thought of what he had witnessed the previous night.
an hour passed, and another, and the coast opened up before them as the breeze held. the mountains of the interior rose in a dull purple mass, against which stood the brighter green of the low shores. an island presently detached itself to the north, and after studying the coast-line carefully, hi john declared this to be bunju, with the island of tarakan a little off the port bow. south of tarakan were dutch posts on the bulangan river mouths, so barnes let her fill off a little, heading southeast by east.
the children, meantime, had begun to explore, and two of them appeared aft, staring at the three men with wondering brown eyes, but too shy to talk. barnes was paying little heed to them; both he and hi john were examining the coast ahead. then, suddenly, li fu uncurled, and came out of his sleep with a blood-curdling yell.
for an instant barnes thought the quartermaster had gone mad, until he saw the man staring at the wet leg of his dungaree trousers. wet! a chattering cry from li fu drove the warning home. he plunged forward.
"drop it, you little rascal! drop it!"
it was one of those slight accidents upon which destiny hangs and veers. the arab boy had found the lanyard of the plug in the boat's bottom, and now stood holding up the plug curiously while the water spouted into her.
at the cry and plunge of barnes, the boy scrambled away forward. nora sayers came aft, and ran into him. they fell together, just as barnes flung himself on the plug and attempted to replace it. hi john, too startled to mind his helm properly, let her yaw on the crest of a wave—and the big mainsail gybed.
barnes, who had jammed the plug back into place, thought she was gone; but the water that she had shipped saved her in that instant. the mast, bone-dry and rotten, went with a rending crash, smashing the sprit with it. she swept up on the next sea with a pile of canvas dragging over her bow and the frightened children screaming.
seizing li fu's knife, barnes went into the tangle furiously, for somewhere beneath it was ellen maggs. he found her unhurt, however, her arms about the youngest child.
"lord, girl! i thought the mast had hit you. get aft, now. both of you girls take pannikins and bail. li, put out an oar and keep her from broaching. john, come along and help clear away. move sharp, everybody!"
in five minutes the dripping canvas was hauled in amidships and the damage ascertained. the sprit was gone beyond repair, and the upper half of the mast. against the stump, barnes held an oar while hi john deftly lashed it in place.
"what happened?" demanded nora sayers.
"we all picked the lee side to fall on," and barnes laughed as he spoke. "cheer up! no harm done! we'll run into shore and replace the spars, then be on our way. eh, john?"
"can do," grunted hi john, examining the coast line. "plenty bamboo. hey! catchum sail off sta'board counter!"
barnes leaped to a thwart and took one look to the north. a brown, square sail was in sight, creeping from behind one of the islands.
he turned.
"now, john, move! get that canvas up, anyway at all so it'll draw—come on! use that long piece of the sprit for a gaff; lash the canvas to it and then lash it as high on the oar as you can. look alive! that's your junk, yonder."
the two men fell furiously to work, while the women bailed and li fu tugged at the long oar to keep the whaleboat from broaching. and the brownish yellow matting sail crept down on them like an ungainly water-spider.
