"A new arrival," he said with a smile. "Come to join the Dido, but by the strangest route possible. Permit me to present Mr. Tyler Richardson, who was granted a commission for bravery in England, where he rescued two naval officers from a grain ship, in the hold of which they had been overcome by foul gas which had accumulated; and who, on his way to join the Dido, has crossed many miles of Borneo, arriving here with a tribe of friendly Dyaks, and with an imposing fleet of prahus, captured from the redoubtable Dutchman who commands the pirates of Sarebus."
"Journey across Borneo! Sarebus pirates!" cried the new-comer, a tall energetic-looking man, with clean-shaven and handsome features. "Impossible! But, your pardon! I did not mean that I caught sight of the strange vessels lying beside the Royalist and the Dido, and knowing by that fact that they could not be enemies, I hastened here with the intention of sending off at once to ascertain where they came from. You see," he added with a little smile, "we have to be careful of all strangers, for a fleet of prahus is apt to be manned by pirates, and should they manage to escape the notice of our ships, and pass our guns, the poor Dyaks up the river would suffer. But I am interrupting. You spoke of the Dutchman, Horton. What is the meaning of this riddle? Surely you cannot mean that Mr. Richardson has been to Paddi, that he has been a captive there? A Malay might have that fortune, but an Englishman is never taken prisoner. He is killed without any mercy."
"And so would our young friend have been," was the prompt reply. "The facts are as I briefly stated them, Rajah. This young officer was compelled to take to the land, and there he fell in with some Dyaks, who feared the pirates. Together they have made for Sarawak, and on their way here have contrived to capture or sink every prahu lying at Paddi, while they have brought with them a ship lately taken from the traders of Singapore, together with a child and her nurse. But there; he has just given me the yarn, and it will not hurt him to repeat it, particularly when he is aware that the facts will be of the utmost importance."
Thus bidden, Tyler repeated his story, the Rajah of Sarawak listening carefully to every word, and interrupting him at times to ask questions as to the exact position of the stronghold at Paddi, the strength of the enemy, and the precautions taken against attack.
"You have done us a great service," said the latter at length, when he had obtained all the details, "for you are, with the exception of these rascally Dutchmen, the only white men who have ascended the Sarebus river. Thanks to you and your comrade, we shall be able to increase our knowledge of the various bends and reaches, and, with the information we already have derived from the natives, shall be able to find our way to Paddi. But Rembas must be seen to first before we come to this Hanns Schlott. However, the odds shall not deter us, for these pirates must and shall be exterminated. They are the one great drawback to my scheme, and were it not for them the natives of this part of Borneo would already be settling down to a life of peace and prosperity. As it is, their goods and their lives are never safe, while in the country commanded and reached by the tributaries of the Sarebus the condition of the unfortunate people is similar to that which existed here on my arrival, when the rebellion was in progress. Yes, an expedition shall be arranged without delay, and with you to guide us, Mr. Richardson, and the men of the Dido and of the Royalist to follow us, we will sweep these pests away and bring happiness and prosperity to the people. But it is already dark and I am detaining you. Please come here again to-morrow, so that I may talk the matter over more fully."
With a hearty shake of the hand he dismissed them, the lieutenant and Tyler returning at once to the Dido, where the latter found that all was in readiness for him. Indeed, thanks to the fact that the tale of his adventures had buzzed through the ship, his comrades, who were all of about his own age, having already had more than a year's service, greeted him as if he were an old messmate, and carried him away to their own special sanctum without delay, there to pour questions innumerable upon him, and to beg of him to tell them everything. But they were destined to be disappointed, for scarcely had Tyler seated himself than a marine arrived at the door with a request that he would dine in the captain's cabin, and thither he betook himself without delay. When he retired to his hammock that night, and rolled himself in a blanket, it was with the knowledge that stirring times were ahead, and that ere many days had elapsed he and his new friends would be on their way to Sarebus, there to come hand to hand with the pirates.