With the Dyaks of Borneo: A Tale of the Head Hunters

by F. S. Brereton

With a sudden flush of pleasure he realized that his revolvers still occupied their place in his waist-cloth, and that he had a means of defence. Then, as there was nothing more to be done, he looked about him till he felt that he knew every corner of Rembas, and then fell into a doze. When he awoke again, the woman who had previously come to his help was standing beside him, and at once she lifted the gourd of water to his lips.

"You are better, but still weak," she said. "Drink, and afterwards I will give you food, for it is only in that way that you will become a man again. There, lie still while I place the food in your mouth."

In her way she was kind to this forlorn prisoner, and seeing that he still appeared to be so weak as to be unable to lift his hands, she fed him with rice, which she conveyed to his lips by means of her fingers. Then she gave him another drink of water, and having placed a roll of matting beneath his head, and the gourd beside him, she left him for the night.

"Sleep," she said, "and when to-morrow comes I will come to you again to feed you. A fine rest to you!"

A moment later she was out of sight, and Tyler found himself alone lying in the lengthening shadow of a hut which was situated in the very centre of the town of Rembas. Other huts clustered about him, but they seemed to be untenanted, and he soon made sure that they must contain provisions and arms and ammunition. As for the inhabitants, numbers were to be seen at work on the fortifications, busily making them more secure against the expected attack, while others went about their ordinary business. Every now and again someone would stroll past the spot where the prisoner lay, perhaps to satisfy his curiosity; but on each occasion Tyler was lying in precisely the same spot, his head propped upon the roll of matting, and his limbs spread out in a manner which showed that he was helpless. Apparently the pirates were satisfied that there was no deceit, for when the sun went down, and the long shadow cast by the hut suddenly became merged into the general darkness, they did not trouble to move him, but left him there, feeling that he was secure.

"He can come to no harm, and the night air will serve to revive him," said the leader of the Rembas pirates as he passed to his hut. "These pale-faces are not like us, and a very little takes their strength away. But you will see that he will revive by the morning, for he has already taken food. Leave him, and perhaps when the day comes he will be able to sit up, or even to stand upon his feet with help. As for escape, it is out of the question in his case."

Two hours later, when all sounds in the stockade had died down, Tyler prepared to make an attempt to escape, and, as a preliminary, thrust his hand into his waist-cloth and brought his revolvers out, one at a time. Carefully running his hands over them, he made sure that they were ready for use, though whether or not the powder had been spoilt by his short immersion in the river he could not say. Then, having stared about him, and listened eagerly for sounds of any pirate who might happen to be abroad, he rose to his feet and began to steal away in the dense shadow of the hut.

"I must keep out of the rays of the moon," he said to himself, glancing at the sky, where a crescent of the orb was calmly floating. "The light is quite sufficient to show me to an enemy, and, on the other hand, it will enable me to detect one who may be approaching. I'll stick close to the huts, and when I am bound to cross an open space will make a dash for it. Here goes!"

With a revolver in either hand he stole along beside the wall of beaten clay and bamboo, and soon came to the end of the hut. Then, having paused for some moments, he flitted across the space which intervened between it and a second, and once more was buried in deep darkness.