At length, breathless and exhausted after their exertions, for it was no light task to push through the forest at that rate, the two arrived at a part where the jungle was broken by a clearing, and, throwing themselves down upon the ground, waited there to rest. Scarcely had they recovered their breath and turned to one another to discuss the situation than a loud shout close at hand startled them, and in an instant they had sprung to their feet and faced about to meet the enemy.
CHAPTER VIII
Meeting the Dyaks
"Mias! Mias!"
Suddenly the words, shouted at the top of a deep bass voice, broke the silence of the forest, and bursting from the trees near at hand came reverberating across the clearing, bringing Tyler and his comrade panting to their feet.
"Who is that? Can the Malays have already come up with us and be about to attack us?" demanded the former breathlessly. "Surely they cannot have discovered our whereabouts so soon, and those shouts must be produced by natives of these parts."
"It ain't the pirates, that I'll swear," responded John Marshall in startled tones. "Mias! That's how it sounded, and it seems to me, from what I know of the lingo of folks hereabout, that it was different to the Malay tongue. There, listen to that, sir; they're getting nearer."
"And will burst into this clearing before us," exclaimed Tyler in alarm. "Back into the trees and let us hide! Quick! for by the sound they are already almost upon us."
Unslinging their rifles as they ran, the two hastened across the clearing and dived with frantic eagerness in amongst the trees. Then once more they threw themselves full length upon the ground, and, peering from amongst the bushes and trailers which grew in luxuriance about them, stared out into the open. And all the while each wondered who it was who could have given vent to those shouts, and what was the meaning of them. To runaways attempting to escape as they were, the shouts came with startling suddenness, and even now their hearts beat rapidly against their ribs, so great was the consternation that they had caused. However, a moment's reflection had been sufficient to assure Tyler that the Malays, with Hans Schlott at their head, could not have arrived upon the scene so quickly, and instantly he set to work imagining who it could be who had given vent to the words. Nor was he long kept waiting, for as he thrust his head still farther from behind the bushes in his eagerness to catch sight of any who might come, the shout again echoed amongst the trees, to be followed instantly by a sight which filled his mind with amazement.