My heart throbbed at these words, as if it would burst; and, looking out, I did indeed see a vessel at about two miles' distance. I say a vessel because there was no smoke visible. Alas! what if it were but a ship bound for Hong-Kong, Canton, or Macao? No such vessel would ever come to our succour, and what chance had we of being discovered on board a junk so similar to every other junk that sailed these seas? Notwithstanding my reasoning, however, I could not control my agitation, or keep away from the port-hole.
"Yes, yes," repeated Than-Sing, "they are going. They are flying from the steamer!"
"But it is not a steamer," said I. "There is no smoke. It is but a passing vessel, after all."
"I tell you that I am not mistaken. Steamer or no steamer, the pirates are fled! Listen how their voices die away."
I listened. A profound silence reigned around us, and I only heard a sound of murmuring voices, which became, every moment, more and more distant. I strove to raise the trap, but Than-Sing pulled me back. At that instant, a heavy footstep echoed overhead, and the trap was lifted from without. It was the ship's cook, who, with startled face and hurried gestures, looked in upon us.
"Fear nothing," said he. "It is a steamer! You are saved! It is a steamer!"
And with these words he also fled, and we were left alone. Quick as thought, I jumped up and sprang upon deck. A feverish strength possessed me, and I uttered cries of frantic joy. It was indeed true. We were alone, utterly alone, on board the junk, which, having anchored somewhat too close in shore, was left half stranded by the ebbing tide, and could not be pushed off. They had ventured here in search of fresh water, and it was not till daybreak that they found themselves in such close neighbourhood with the steamer. This latter, it seemed, was also lying at anchor, and had been partly hidden by a jutting tongue of land. Terrified, then, by the imminence of the danger, and finding it impossible to put off to sea, the pirates had preferred flight to fighting, and were, at this moment, abandoning their vessel. Having waded through the shallow water that lay between the ship's side and the land, they were now in the very act of climbing the steep precipices which here start, as it were, from the very verge of the sea. We could see them distinctly, and even the plunder with which they had loaded themselves.
No language can describe the emotion with which I beheld the flight of our enemies, and the near neighbourhood of those who would doubtless prove to be our friends. Incoherent words broke from my lips, and I paced to and fro with clasped hands and burning cheeks, eager for deliverance. In the meantime, those on board the steamer had not yet observed us, or put off a boat to our rescue. Seeing how near it lay, I would fain have tried to wade through the sea, like the pirates, and walk along the coast; but Than-Sing, who was cooler and wiser than I, would hear of no such attempt. "It is useless," said he. "They will be sure to come. Have patience, they will be sure to come."
His calmness exasperated me. I could not think why we need lose the precious moments, and I longed to go in search of the help that Heaven had sent us.
"Listen," said I. "Let us take the little boat, and put off to meet them. In an hour we shall have paddled up to the ship's side. Think, Oh think! what should we do if the pirates came back, and once more took us prisoners? Oh come, pray come!"