Gathering up his pigtail, the Chinaman slunk off into the darkness, and ere long some fifty dusky and silent figures were creeping to the bank of the Sarebus. A low hoot sounded in the night, and at the signal the Dyak warriors, with Tyler and John Marshall at their head, lay flat upon their faces and crept forward into the water. There was no wading, for that would undoubtedly have given rise to much splashing. Instead, each one immersed his body at once, and creeping along through the mud was quickly in deep water. Then, breasting the stream, they turned to the shelving bank above which was erected the bamboo stockade enclosing the huts of the pirate gang.
CHAPTER XII
Captain of a Fleet
"Halt!" The whispered word of command to which Tyler gave vent once he and his followers had set foot upon the opposite bank was scarcely necessary, so well did each man understand his duties, and so sensibly did they act. But Li Sung interpreted the order, and instantly some fifty dripping figures came to a stand-still and dropped full length upon the mud.
"Advance those who have to keep watch and beat back the enemy," said Tyler, with difficulty keeping calm. "John, that is your command. Post the men so as to hold the entrance, and look out for me when I come. Now for the boat party."
Leading half the company to the left, he took them to the spot where the sampans were drawn up on the beach, and stood by while the men carried the tiny boats down into the water. Then, as silently as ghosts, they pushed off from the bank, half the number making direct for the opposite shore, while the remainder drifted down-stream to the prahus.
"Commence to embark the women and children and the remaining men," said Tyler, as soon as the party which he had accompanied had reached the opposite bank. "Let there be no crushing or pushing. Each will come down in turn and be rowed to the prahus. Men last of all, as a general rule; only, as soon as one of the vessels is filled, the crew will be put on board, so as to be prepared to manœuvre it should the alarm be given. Quickly, please, for the morning is dangerously near at hand."
Standing beside the spot where the sampans had been drawn up, he watched as the Dyak women and children embarked, enjoining strict silence upon all of them. But they had been well drilled to the movement, and, thanks to that, they all passed swiftly and without confusion from their hiding-place in the jungle above to the sampans, and in the latter to the prahu selected for them. Once a certain number were on board, the sampans returned for a crew of men, and thus in an incredibly short space of time all but the half-company watching beside the stockade, and those who had gone amongst the fleet of prahus, were safely on board awaiting the order to let go. But there was still something else to do, and all watched anxiously as they realized that the stockade was to be entered, and that the figure of a man crawling across the firelit clearing would be that of their leader.