Jones of the 64th: A Tale of the Battles of Assaye and Laswaree

"We shall be in a mess," laughed Owen, showing of a sudden unwonted good spirits. "But I'm hungry. A man fights and struggles better when well fed than he does when suffering the pangs of hunger. We've plenty of meat, and fruit is close at hand. What is to prevent our having a meal? And while it is cooking we can still keep watch. As to the native craft – I have my eye on it, Mulha, and I fancy that very soon we shall want to make the acquaintance of those aboard her. No. I have no plan fixed yet, but this I will say, that I mean to reach the ship to-night if that is possible. Now, what about the grub?"

"There is the deer, sahib, while for me fruit will be sufficient. If you will remain where you are I will light a fire behind the bushes, and in such a way that not even the sharpest eyes shall detect it. Then I will bring you a steak and some fruit, which should appease your appetite."

He crawled away through the bush, and Owen watched him as he descended the landward side of the rise and walked towards the forest. But he took little note of his movements, for his thoughts were on other matters and other men; and presently his face turned towards the sea once more, and he stared out at the Indiaman and at the native craft with deeply furrowed brows, and with every appearance of perplexity. And as he watched, the firing of guns ceased altogether, while the native craft, one by one, hauled in their sails and steered back towards the coast.

"Disappointed," he thought. "They must have had information that a big ship had put in here after the storm, and hoped to come upon her unawares. Lucky for all of us that they did not arrive when we were careened. As it is they have failed, and I should fancy that they will give up all thoughts of further attack. The question is, do they know that there are still some of the ship's company ashore?"

It was a knotty question to solve, and for a long while he pondered over it.

"It looks as though they did not suspect our presence," he thought, "for would they have left the boat otherwise? On the other hand, they must have asked themselves why there was a boat ashore at all, and with only three men in her. On second thoughts I believe they know that some one is ashore, and have left the boat, hoping we shall come down and put out towards the ship, when they will make an easy capture."

"What on earth are you chattering about, old chap?" suddenly exclaimed Jack, lifting his head from his arms and staring at his friend. "You've been talking aloud for the last ten minutes, asking all sorts of questions, and going on without waiting for a reply. What's it all about? Look here, I'm lots better. Half an hour ago my head felt as if it would burst, and I was giddy and almost sick. But the rest has done me good. What's happening?"

As a matter of fact he had fallen asleep very soon after reaching the top of the rise, and Mulha and Owen had taken good care to leave him undisturbed. His face was still pale, but there was a brighter look about his eyes, the sleep, short though it was, evidently having done him a world of good.

"I was arguing with myself about those beggars down below. It's a way I have," responded Owen apologetically. "I've come to the conclusion that they know that some one is still ashore, and that they left the boat below to act as a trap. The question arises, then, whether the flies should walk into the trap and be taken, or whether they should lay a little trap of their own? But look at the ship!"

"She's hove-to, and that's a signal, I am sure."

Jack was evidently far brighter and more wide awake, for his arm shot out and he pointed to the Indiaman, lying rocking to and fro some two miles from the entrance to the bay, and flying a long stream of brilliant flags, with a Jack at the top, all seen distinctly, even at that distance, owing to the wonderfully clear atmosphere.

"If we belonged to the navy we might be able to read the message," said Owen as he stared at the flags, "but as it is, we can't. I fancy we should do well to sit quietly where we are and take no notice. You see, they know that we are ashore, for they will have seen the boat attacked and the men in her killed. They will guess that we have kept out of the way, and common sense will tell them that we shall make an effort to get away from Sumatra. That being so, we can safely leave the signal unanswered. Take note of that little native vessel over there, Jack."

It was his turn to point, and he did so at the very craft which had left the shore below, her hands having dragged the ship's boat on to the sand after killing her crew. "She is the one to suit us. She has one sail, as you can see for yourself, and there are barely a dozen men aboard her."

Jack sat up on his elbow and stared at his friend as if he could barely believe his ears. Then he scrambled on to hands and knees and crawled close up to him.

"What game are you after?" he asked in a whisper, as if he feared that the enemy below would hear. "You don't intend to make a dash, – by George! if you do, I'm with you. I don't care if you don't explain. If you think that that will help us, why, I'm in with you and will help all I know."

"Dinner," said Owen with a laugh. "Can you eat anything now? I'm as hungry as a hunter. We'll sit here, and watch the boats as we eat. That's grand, Mulha."

He smiled in Jack's face, refusing to answer one of his questions, for as yet his plans were not matured. He had an idea, that was all, and he meant to ponder on it for a time. The sergeant had taught him to think where there was time to do so, before taking action, to look, in fact, before making a leap; and in such a serious position as this was he determined to do nothing that was rash or would lead to disaster. It was, therefore, with a light-hearted laugh that he turned to Mulha as the native came towards them, and eagerly looked at the food he brought with him. This native seemed to have a thousand virtues, and one of those was concerned with the art of cooking. He had retired to the forest, some hundred yards behind the spot where they were lying, and there, with the aid of flint and steel, he had soon set fire to a handful of brittle wood. Dried sticks piled on that had soon burst into flame, and within a few minutes the good fellow had had a couple of fine steaks, cut from the deer, skewered on his ramrod and frizzling over the embers. And now he brought the meal, on a fresh palm-leaf, smoking and hot, and wonderfully appetising. Then he had filled Owen's flask with water, and had not forgotten to bring a bunch of bananas. Our hero's mouth watered, for the unwonted exercise, the excitement of their hunting adventures, and of the scene which they had been watching, had given him a healthy appetite. Even Jack was so far recovered by the rest as to declare himself ready. They sat down close together, with a boulder only intervening, and on this the palm-leaf dish was placed. Each had a good-sized pocket-knife, and with these they cut up the slices, transferring the pieces to their mouths with their fingers.

"Made before forks, you know," laughed Jack, looking a comical object as he sat there in front of his friend, a faint tinge of pink in his cheeks now, but with his head still swathed in Owen's coloured handkerchief.

"This is a picnic. Who would have thought that we should have had such a time! But I was forgetting those poor fellows down there. They have had little cause to bless the pirates."

"And we may have still less," Owen reminded him. "But we're alive, and we're going to win through. You asked me what I meant when I pointed to the boat down yonder."

Jack leaned towards him eagerly, while Mulha went down on his heels and stared into the white youth's face.

"Yes. Go on. What were you thinking of? How could her capture help us?" Jack asked eagerly.

"There will be a moon late to-night," said Owen thoughtfully. "If we could get aboard that craft in time, and without much noise, we could easily make out to sea and so fall in with the ship. I've been calculating. I had forgotten the moon till a little while ago, and then I reflected that if we started directly it was dark the chances were that we should get out of the bay before the light came. I reckon it to be an eight miles' pull. Well, supposing we reached the edge of the bay when the moon got up – "

"We might still fall into the hands of the enemy, sahib," interrupted Mulha. "These robbers below, if they have left the boat to tempt us, will think, perhaps, that it will take us a little while to gather courage for the attempt. They will rely upon the moon rising before we are near our friends. They would pounce down upon us, and then – "

"You need not go on," said Jack with a shudder and a comical grimace; "we can guess. Cut-throats have many ways of dealing with their enemies, but they all lead to the same end. I see the drift of Owen Sahib's argument. The chances are that we should be taken, for the boat is very heavy and the ship far out now."

"While the attempt to reach her would be a natural one on our part, and it is more than likely that these rogues will expect us to make it," went on Owen. "That being so, a little surprise might help us. There are three of us, and we are armed. I propose that we cut three stout cudgels or bludgeons before the light goes, and that we slip down to the boat the instant it is dark. We will push her into the water as quietly as we can, and paddle gently towards that craft I have selected. Her consorts are at least four miles away, and if there is a rumpus the noise may not be heard. Of course we must beat these fellows and get possession. After that we'll up anchor and away."

The scheme had much to recommend it, but not a single one of the three, however sanguine he might be, could hide the fact from himself or his friends that the enterprise was a desperate one. There were perhaps a dozen cut-throats aboard the native craft, and they themselves numbered three.

"But we shall have the advantage of surprise," said Jack, as they discussed the matter; "and after all, we have no other choice. I follow your arguments entirely now. The boat is out of the question. We should nearly certainly be discovered and killed."

They sat down beneath the bush again and watched, while the light waned, slowly at first and then more rapidly. And meanwhile Mulha slipped away into the forest, and returned before it was dark with three fine cudgels. He made a second trip, and came staggering back with their trophies, which he placed at their feet.

"In case we are detained aboard, sahibs," he said, with a grave smile. "There is the deer for you, while there are bananas here for me. We will fill the flask also."

Just before it got dark a movement was noticed aboard the smaller of the craft, the one which Owen had selected for their expedition. A tiny skiff dropped from her side, and three men lowered themselves into her, and taking up the paddles went away out to the three larger craft, which still stood backwards and forwards some miles from the shore. Then a second skiff left her side, with four men aboard, who at once rowed for the shore.

"They have to make farther along the coast," said Owen as he watched their movements. "They intend to land, and cannot do so here as the surf is too rough for them. They will come along later to the boat, and if we have put out they will signal. That is their object, I should say, and it raises another difficulty. As for the others, I suspect that they have gone to the captain of these ships to tell him of the plans they have made. We shall have to be very cunning and very quick if we are to get out of this mess."

The sight of the second skiff had indeed damped their hopes and ambitions considerably, for the arrival of men ashore would considerably upset the plans they had made.

"All depends on the time it takes them to get ashore and along to the boat," said Jack, with something approaching a groan, for he had had sufficient dangers and difficulties to contend with that day.

"And also upon the time we take to launch the boat below and get out to the pirate. If we are there before these beggars send their signal, all the better, and remember there can be only five or six aboard her now. If we're still on our way things will not be so prosperous nor nearly so rosy as we had hoped. Still, our chances will not be spoiled."

"Unless the men ashore hear the noise of the conflict, sahibs," ventured Mulha. "Then their signals would be sent to the ships, and our task would be even harder. We should have to run the gauntlet of three fast-sailing craft, armed with guns. The fourth does not count, for she lies at anchor, her masts having been shot away."

"Then we'll have to make a small alteration," exclaimed Owen quietly. "You will both back me up, I know."

"Through thick and thin. Give the order, old chap, and I will certainly follow."

"And I too, sahib. You can trust in Mulha."

"We'll make a move, then. Pick up the stick, Mulha, and come along down to the beach. Wait, though; are the guns loaded?"

"Both are fully charged," answered the native.

"Then draw the bullets and powder. This job must be managed silently. There must be no accidental letting off of guns or intentional shooting. We'll use our cudgels. If a fellow runs at you, Jack, catch him a crack across the shins and then give him one over the head. Don't shout. Our game is to make as little noise as possible."

They waited a few minutes longer while Mulha drew the charges from the guns. And even then Owen stood still, listening to the boom of the surf below, and trying vainly to discover the whereabouts of the men who had last set off from the native craft. But Sumatra was buried in darkness, which blotted out the forest behind, the ships, and the water. A thousand stars shone out from the heavens, and their reflections could be watched in the water. But they gave little light, and in any case insufficient to show the whereabouts of any of the enemy.

"As good for us as for them," said Owen at last. "But there's just one other matter that has occurred to me. It will be pitch dark aboard that boat. How are we to avoid striking one another?"

Mulha made no reply, but as they stood there in the darkness they heard the sharp sound of ripping linen, and guessed that he was tearing some part of his clothing. Then he came to each in turn and bound a strip of white material about the left arm.

"One moment, sahibs, while I step away from you," he said. "It will do well," he went on, as he returned. "I can see the strips at a few yards, and that should be amply sufficient. Now, Owen Sahib, I will help with the load."

They set off for the shore, our hero in advance, and Jack following closely on the steps of the native. And presently they were trudging across the sand, here loose and soft, into which they sank almost to their ankles. Owen had so far kept his face directed to the sea, to the spot where he imagined the ship's boat to lie. But now that the sand was reached he turned abruptly to the right and struck off along the bay. It was a strange manœuvre, and at once brought low-voiced exclamations from his companions.

"Are you not leading us far to one side?" whispered Jack, hastening forward and laying a warning hand on his friend's sleeve. "We should have marched straight on, to get to the boat."

"And now the sahib will need to turn about and search carefully. I had marked the exact spot in my mind's eye, but the turn has put me out of my reckoning."

"And I went this way on purpose," answered Owen, dropping his end of the stick for the moment "Look here, I've been thinking about this little business, and I don't like the idea of our leaving being signalled to the ships by the rascals who have come ashore; for I take it that they have just about landed by now. I wondered whether it wouldn't be wise to leave the ship's boat lying where they dragged her and make along up the coast. Then they'll find her, and will imagine that we have funked it and are still here."