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

by F. S. Brereton

"Boarders prepare!" shouted the Dutchman in stentorian tones, "and remember the reward which I have offered. Take them alive or dead and it belongs to you. Lose them, and you shall know what it is to experience my anger."

With trained eye he steered the prahu for the schooner so that she glided alongside with a gentle grating sound, and then shouted again to his men.

"On board!" he cried, "and as they are not on deck search for them and drag them from below."

Instantly some thirty Malays sprang from the prahu on to the planks of the sinking schooner, and, unsuspicious as yet of her condition, at once rushed for the steep ladder which gave access to the interior. Roused to the utmost eagerness at the prospect of slaying the two white-faces who had punished them so severely, and stimulated by the offer of a special reward, the men struggled to be first, and almost fell into the cabin, their shouts startling the peaceful scenery around. Hark, something is wrong, for a head appears at the opening, and a shriek of terror sets the air ringing. Then, like hunted beings, as if they were face to face with some horror which they were endeavouring to escape, the Malays came pouring up in a confused heap, this time struggling even more fiercely for the leadership.

"What is it?" shouted Hanns Schlott wrathfully, his desire to capture the fugitives and his anger preventing his seeing the sinking condition of the schooner. "Do you wish to tell me again that two boys have frightened you, and that you are flying from them? Back, hounds! and do not let me see you until you have reported that they are dead, or until you can say that they are gone from the ship."

"They would be fools to stay," called out one of the men who had descended, leaping with one big bound to the deck of the prahu, upon which he alighted with every sign of satisfaction. "The cabin is filled almost to the top with water, and in less time than I care to mention she will go to the bottom of the river. Hasten, comrades, or you will be dragged down to the depths with her."

With shouts and screams of rage and terror the Malays who still remained on the schooner came pouring up from below, their limbs dripping with the water, and all at once ran at their fastest pace to the rail, where, careless of the space which now intervened between themselves and the prahu, they sprang outwards in their desire to escape from the sinking vessel. Some, more fortunate than their fellows, reached their comrades in safety, and, turning swiftly about, looked back at the schooner with eyes which bulged from their sockets, so great was their alarm and consternation at the trap into which they had fallen. A few, however, who had been unable to reach the deck before owing to the narrowness of the ladder and to the press of men, found that the jar with which the prahu had hit against her prize had caused her to sheer off into deeper water, leaving a gap which no one could hope to jump. For an instant they hesitated, and then with shrill cries of fright they plunged into the river, and went clambering into their own ship by means of the sweeps which hung overboard. As for Hanns Schlott, he was like a madman. Rushing along the deck, he had at first thrown himself upon the Malay crew in his anger, and had buffeted those who had returned till they cowered at his feet. Then, suddenly realizing that he had been fooled for the second time, and that Tyler and his companion had been too clever for him, he danced between the masts as if his feelings were too much for him, and as if violent movement were necessary.

"A second time!" he cried in shrill tones of rage. "They have made me look foolish again, and I should have guessed their plot, and, leaving the schooner to her fate, should have landed and searched for them in the forest or upon the river. But it is not too late even now. I must not allow my vexation to master my reason, and I will at once see to it that they are followed. Listen!" he went on, turning fiercely upon the pirate crew; "the dogs have played a prank with us again, and have fled from this spot. Did anyone see a sign of the boat which was towed behind the schooner?"

For a few seconds there was silence as the Malays watched their comrades climbing on board. Then one of them, anxious perhaps to appease the anger of his leader, or drawing upon his imagination in his excitement, ran towards Hanns Schlott and bellowed some information into his ear.

"You ask for the small boat," he cried. "I saw it disappearing round the angle farther up, which hides the upper reaches. There you will find the fugitives rowing for their lives. Hasten! Send after them, and when you have captured them let them be punished for the trick which they have played upon us."