Taking care to impart his orders in a whisper, Tyler quickly reached the stern and once more grasped the rope. Then, swinging himself over the rail, he lowered himself till his feet touched the water within a few inches of the dinghy. Groping in the darkness as he dangled there it was not long before his toe struck with a gentle tap against the gunwale, and at once he began to draw the boat towards him. A moment later he was safely on board, and had grasped the weapons for which he had returned. A glance above showed him John Marshall's figure stretching out towards him, and ere long the revolvers and the cartridges had been safely transferred.
"Load them," he said shortly, as soon as he had reached the deck once more. "That's right, and now we shall be ready for this Dutchman and his Malays. Come with me to the companion, John, and wait there while I descend. If you hear a suspicious sound, tap the deck gently with your foot so as to warn me, but whatever you do be careful not to raise a shout, for then they would know at once that we were on board."
Waiting only to make sure that the sailor understood his meaning, he stepped upon the ladder and descended rapidly. Arrived below, he lay down upon the floor of the cabin and listened breathlessly, till the sound of heavy breathing from the farther end told him that Christian van Sonerell was sleeping there.
"Let him wait," murmured Tyler beneath his breath. "Once the gun is loaded and we are in readiness, we will drive him and those of the Malays who remain aboard into the sea, where they must swim for their lives. It is the only way in which we can deal with them, for if we endeavoured to make them prisoners by securing them down below we should never know what it was to enjoy a moment's peace until we fell in with friends, while we should run the risk of having our plans suddenly upset, and the tables turned upon us with a vengeance. Now for the magazine!"
Creeping across the floor it was not long before he arrived at the door in the bulkhead which gave admission to the cupboard in which the powder and shot carried by the schooner was stored. Fortunately he had failed to lock it on the previous evening, so that a gentle twist of the handle released the catch and allowed him to enter. After that he had no difficulty in obtaining what he wanted, for he had helped to place the ammunition in the cabin before leaving Singapore, and knew the exact position of the bags of powder and shot. Very soon he was outside the magazine once more, and having crept cautiously across the cabin, went staggering up the ladder bearing a couple of bags over each shoulder.
"To the stern!" he whispered, as John Marshall's face came into view, "and get ready to help me with the gun. After that we'll cut away the anchor and make ready to hoist the sail."
"It'll be a big job for the two of us alone," was the sailor's whispered answer. "But we can get a foresail on her at any rate, and that will take us out to sea. Give me hold of one of them bags, sir. They're a tidy weight, and want a little carrying."
Taking a couple of the sacks which contained the ammunition, he went softly along the deck with Tyler until they had reached the stern, where their burdens were deposited beside the gun. Then silently, and with every precaution to avoid making a sound which would arouse the Malays, they crammed a charge of powder into the six-pounder, and rammed down upon it a couple of bags of grape. A piece of sacking over all helped to keep the bullets in position, and destroyed all chance of their rolling from the muzzle should it be found necessary to depress the weapon.
"And now for the anchor," said Tyler when the work had been completed to his satisfaction.
"Jest leave that to me," was the whispered answer. "I'll let it go for good and all by cutting the cable. It's lucky for us that we haven't a chain one aboard, for then we'd certainly have made a noise when freeing it. As for another anchor, there's a couple stowed away in the locker below."