"Not take advantage of the pirates, the men who had harmed the Dyaks so often and so severely, and slay them in their beds!" To this man of the East it was the maddest and strangest of decisions, and his cunning mind, trained to take advantage of an enemy in any manner, failed to grasp its meaning. "Could his young master have suddenly lost his wisdom?" he asked himself. "Was it possible that the sight of all these pirates had brought fear into his heart, so that he refused the only course open to brave men?" For long did Li Sung ponder over the matter till he was bound to confess that he was bewildered. Indeed, a very little consideration had shown him that the Englishman, who alone had attacked the mias, was not the one to be so easily scared, and then, all through the march, it was Tyler who had shown coolness and courage, and whose fine example of cheerfulness and whose bright view of the future had encouraged the tribe of Dyaks, and had converted them from a downtrodden dispirited race to one which was filled with energy and with confidence in themselves.
"Li Sung him not see velly fine how you not do as him say," he whispered in tones of perplexity, taking his pigtail in his hand and twisting it into a knot. "If not fall on de pirate when him sleep, and when him heavy wid wine, den dey allee escape and de Dutchman come to worry us again."
"When we shall be fully prepared for him," answered Tyler with a smile. "It is useless to suggest such a course as a wholesale massacre, for it is one which I will never consent to. We will beat them fairly and handsomely, and once we join our friends we will throw our lot in with theirs and will help them to exterminate these rascals. But I think that it is almost time that we were moving in the direction of our friends, for if we are to make the attempt to capture their boats to-night we shall have little time to lose. Signal to the other men, Li Sung, and tell them to make ready."
"One little minute, massa. De big ship not empty, and Li him tink dat dere someting dere to keep us. De Malays still on board, and dey have shouted for anoder sampan. Perhaps dey bring de bags of gold which dey have captured from de English, and look, massa, me see de name of de ship."
He pointed to the stern of the captured vessel, which had swung round with the stream sufficiently to allow the name painted there to be legible, and instantly Tyler read The Queen, Liverpool.
"English!" he gasped. "Then there is all the more reason why I should take her from these men. But wait. What is happening?"
As he spoke, the remaining Malays came running upon deck and went towards the side where the sampan lay, with something in their midst. Arrived at the rail they lifted their burden over and returned to the companion ladder which led to the cabin, only to repeat the same movement. Then two of their number swung themselves into the boat and began to paddle her to the shore. A minute later the little sampan had swung clear of the vessel's side, and was visible to the watchers, who at once gave vent to cries of surprise.
"Prisoners!" exclaimed Tyler, starting to his knees and thrusting his head so far between the leaves that Li Sung placed a warning hand upon his arm. "White prisoners, too, and, as I live, they are not men."
"The one is little more than a babe, massa," broke in the Chinaman, "while the other is a woman of twenty years."