"A FLAME SUDDENLY ILLUMINATED THE 'TWEEN DECKS
'On to him,' shouted David. 'I'll see to the other.'
His hand dipped into his pocket swiftly, and reappeared with his magazine pistol. Before the flame had quite died out, or the Chinaman could reach him, he pressed the trigger, and caught a glimpse of the fellow as he doubled up like a rabbit, and crashed to the boards. A second later he was swept from his feet by Ho Hung and the Chinaman, who had by now reached the foot of the ladder.
If ever there were a time when David felt inclined to lose his head and act in an aimless manner, it was at this very moment, when he was swept from his feet by the fall of Hung and the villain who had grappled with him. Tumbled on the deck with a crash, he stretched out his hands to help himself to rise, and, instead of feeling his fingers fall upon the boards, realised at once that they had come in contact with a man. He pounced on the fellow, and after gripping his arms, he shifted his fingers to the neck. A growl of vexation escaped him.
'He's the other fellow. The chap I shot a moment ago. Call this acting steadily?' he asked himself fiercely. 'Where's Hung? What's he doing?'
It was useless to ask the question, for the sound of a violent scuffle at his feet, and the fact that he was again nearly felled to the deck provided sufficient answer to any but the most unintelligent. Obviously Hung was locked in the arms of one of the enemy, and in the darkness who could say who was the victor? Then that coolness which David had momentarily lost, and which was so essential under such circumstances, returned to him like a flash. He dropped his pistol into his pocket, extracted a box of matches and struck one.
'Now,' he thought, 'we shall see how matters are going. Ah! another of the fellows.'
The many faces of which he had caught a glimpse a little while before filling the dark square of the hatchway were blotted out by the figure of a Chinaman sliding down the ladder, while the light was reflected brightly from almost a yard of steel that was gripped between the newcomer's teeth. In a second or two he would be at the bottom of the ladder, and then, even if David wished to help Hung, he would be unable to. It was just one of those acute moments when instant decision is necessary, and immediate action, consequent on that decision, of vital importance. We have said that David Harbor was assailed but a minute earlier by one of those strange panics which come to the best of men, to the very bravest. Who knows? perhaps his meeting with the burglars in the store so close to Bond Street had in a measure unnerved him; or even, though his healthy colour and obvious robustness gave the lie direct to the suggestion, he was not yet entirely recovered from his injury sustained in that memorable conflict with Henricksen and his accomplices. Whatever the cause, David had without a shadow of doubt been on the verge of losing his head and his coolness entirely within a few seconds of Hung's arrival to help him. Perhaps the shame he felt immediately afterwards helped him now to behave in the coolest possible manner, and with a promptness that was commendable. Seeing the Chinaman just at the foot of the ladder, he tossed the match to the floor, and stepping forward seized the man round the waist. Then he lifted him from his feet as if he weighed a mere nothing, and using all his strength threw him across the alley-way. The crash had hardly died away when he had another match burning.
'Now we will run to the cabin, Excellency,' he heard Hung say, and turning towards him he saw the gallant fellow standing within a foot of him, a long knife in one hand, and the staff which he had carried at the foot of the ladder. Also the light showed the hatchway above, with its gallery of staring faces, and a huddled figure at Hung's feet. As for the man David had tackled, he lay in a heap against the bulkhead, stunned and helpless after such a rough experience.
'Lead the way,' commanded David, promptly. 'I'll bring the ladder with me. Stand aside, and let us have another match.'
He gripped the sides of the steep ladder leading from the hatchway, and, as Hung fumbled for a match, tore it from its flimsy fastenings. Then he pointed down the alley-way, and seeing Hung advance, slid along after him. Nor was their retreat undertaken a moment too soon. For as David stepped away from the hatchway a dozen more heads were suddenly shown there, standing out dimly against the starlight. Men shouted and bellowed, while one yellow ruffian slid a long, skinny arm downwards, took hasty aim, and pulled the trigger of a huge horse pistol. The concussion in the narrow alley-way deafened our hero, though the bullet did not touch him—for it was as big almost as a pigeon's egg—and crashing against the deck planks, it bored a hole clean through them. The smoke which belched from this antique weapon formed an excellent screen, behind which Hung and his companion were able to cloak their movements.
'You follow closely, Excellency,' David heard the Chinaman say. 'Not safe to strike more matches, for some of the men may have dropped through the hatchway and will fire at us. Follow closely, and bring the ladder. Our friends are within short distance of us.'
'And they have warned the others?' asked David. 'They have made some preparation to hold the enemy?'
'That I cannot say,' came the swift answer. 'But Jong is cunning, while the others will have obeyed his Excellency's orders. Ah! we have arrived. Hist! we are coming towards you.'
In the black darkness at the end of the alley-way a faint sound was heard, as if some one had sharply closed the lid of a metal match-box, though as a matter of fact it was the cocking of a pistol held in Dick's hands. Then the light from a lantern was thrown for one brief instant in David's direction, showing the walls of the alley-way, Hung's hurrying figure, and ahead of him a huge square mass, covered in sacking. Dick's cheery voice broke the silence immediately.
'Cheer oh! David!' he cried. 'What news? We were beginning to get the fidgets about you. Thought those fellows might have bagged you altogether. What's happened?'
'Heaps,' came the laconic answer. 'Just let me get past this bale and take a breather. I've never been so scared in all my life.'
There was a savage note in his voice, a note altogether foreign to David, and hearing it Dick realised that something altogether out of the common had happened.
'Come and sit down on the deck beside me,' he said. 'You can go up into the cabin later. I've sent word to say you were arriving. What's upset you?'
'Look here,' David blurted, turning upon him, 'would you feel yourself if you had been within an inch of proving a funk, of running away with your tail between your legs? Would you? Eh? That's the question.'
'Depends,' came the cautious answer. 'Perhaps there was reason for getting funked. I tell you I was at first when you woke me. Well? What's all the bother?'
'I'll tell you,' said our hero, feeling somewhat relieved and in better favour with himself, now that he heard Dick admit to the fact that he himself had been scared. 'I met our men at the bottom of the hatchway, and sent them on various errands. Then, as I watched from the top of the ladder a beggar threw himself on me, and we both went crash to the bottom. A second fellow followed, and then a third, whom Hung tackled. Well, I stunned my first man, and knocked the breath out of the second. I could feel Hung scuffling with his man in the darkness, and I tell you I nearly bolted. I got into a panic, and might very well have fired in all directions. Gurr! It makes a fellow ashamed of himself.'
Dick roared with laughter, till a sharp command from the cabin above stopped him. 'You do amuse me, David,' he said, dropping his voice to a whisper. 'Stun one man, knock the wind out of another, and then get scared. As if a fellow hadn't a right to be, after such an experience; but what happened then?'
'Pulled myself together, I suppose; did the only sensible thing under the circumstances. I struck a match, and only just in time. There was another beggar at the foot of the ladder, with a whole heap staring through the hatchway. I bet I shook that last rascal. I heaved him across the alley-way as if he were a box, and I should say that he's hardly fit to move yet awhile. Talk about collaring a chap out of the scrum, or getting a quick man extra well when coming all out down the field—that Chinaman don't need to fear a game of footer in the future. He'll never be collared or slung harder. Well, there you are: Hung had finished his man with the most murderous knife you ever saw, while I ended the matter for the moment by tearing the ladder away; but they won't be long in coming after us. What have you done?'
'Half-blocked the alley-way near the bottom of our hatchway with bales of cotton, leaving room for you to come through. Jong's been shoving others into position since. Beyond that I've done nothing; the Professor and Alphonse have been watching the door of the cabin.'
'Then supposing we show that lamp again,' said David. 'If all's clear I'll hop up and report progress, then I'll get leave to come down to you. There'll be a ruction in this neighbourhood before many minutes.'
Dick reached for the dark lantern from the corner in which he had placed it, and turned the slide swiftly, showing first the figures of Jong, of Hu Ty, and Lo Fing crouching behind the barrier erected in the alley-way. Then he flashed the light over the top of the bales of cotton, and illuminated the alley-way beyond. The rays fell upon a dozen eager faces, upon a mass of half-clad men hemmed in the narrow place, and was reflected from a number of brandished weapons. A deafening shout greeted the appearance of the lantern, and the bales it showed barring the progress of the attacking party. Then the same lean, skinny arm which had dropped from the other hatchway, and had fired a horse pistol, jerked itself into a horizontal position, a crashing report filled the alley-way, while a bullet roared between the heads of Dick and David, and thundered against the woodwork behind. Hidden by the eddying smoke the Chinese pirates struggled forward and threw themselves with fury upon the barrier behind which lay the Professor's slender party.