"And if we leave they will still have to meet the Dutchman," said the boatswain swiftly. "I say that this Hans Schlott will come this way once his trackers have got on our line, and, remembering that there are Dyaks in the neighbourhood, will make a raid upon them. The rascal makes his living by piracy, and when that fails he takes slaves and gets money by them. So he'll attack 'em, and it'll not make so much as a farthing's difference if we remain or not."
"De words am true," broke in the voice of Li Sung at this moment. "My massa, Li havee already said dat dis captain of de prahu am known to us. A year has passed since he sailed into de river, but we havee not forgotten. See dere. De trees are but sprouting from de ground, and if we had not had others to draw from elsewhere we should have starved."
He pointed to a portion of the plantation where numerous stumps protruded from amongst the vegetation.
"Yes, dere are de remains of de fruit-trees," continued Li Sung, "and deir loss was almost as bitter as de theft of de wives and children. Massa, de men here am in terror. Were dey to knowee all dat you havee told me dey would fly velly quick, for dis Dutchman am a monster in deir eyes. But here am de chiefs, and we will talkee wid dem."
He beckoned to a number of natives who had squatted near at hand, and at the signal they ascended the ladder and sat down before Tyler with an air of gravity which showed that if they were not fully aware of the close proximity of the pirates they were for all that fearful of some impending danger.
"Tell the white man that we are his children," said their spokesman, addressing his words to Li Sung, who at once interpreted them. "From the moment when he dashed into the clearing and faced the mias in the hope of rescuing our young chief we were his friends for life. And now that we are without a leader we ask him to fill the place, at least for a time. Say also that we have heard enough to show us that, the pirates are near, and that if he and his friend leave us we shall certainly fall victims. Would that we could change our home, for the soil is now past the work we demand of it, and more of the jungle must be cleared. Then, again, our lives are never safe while we remain near the river, while the mias, tribes of which inhabit the forests near at hand, rob our trees of their fruit, and make their cultivation hopeless. We are dispirited, and now a new misfortune is upon us."
"Change their home! The soil is worked out, and misfortunes constantly coming!" murmured Tyler as if to himself, while his eyes roamed round the circle of Dyaks, "Why not change their abode? Why not come to Sarawak with us and there have peace and safety under the Englishman?"
Unconsciously he said the words aloud, so that John Marshall overheard them, and instantly the latter's features brightened with a smile, while he turned with unusual eagerness to his young leader.
"I know somethin' about these here Dyaks and the China boys," he said, "for away in Singapore one met plenty of the last who had been to Borneo, and who told the tale that the tribes often wander in search of new fields for cultivation. Yer see, a couple of seasons work the nourishment out of the soil, so that it jest refuses to give good value for the labour expended on it. Then the Dyaks pack up their goods and jest march right away till they come to a likely neighbourhood. Having settled upon their new home they set to work to cut down the jungle, and then to lay out their crops. As for a house, it is nothing to build, and takes little more than a week, for you can see for yourself that the materials are close at hand, and everything jest done to last a short time only. Then, too, they've got to think of enemies, and I've heard it said that everyone is against these poor helpless people. They ain't got no firearms as a general rule, and I reckon they're at anyone's mercy. Now if we was to lead them, and, after beating back this Hanns Schlott and his fellows, to march with the whole lot to Sarawak, we should be doing them a good turn, while their company would make our journey all the more secure."