“And they are attacking the residency,” cried Bob.
Even as he spoke there was a shot fired from the steamer to recall the boats, and the men bent to their stout ashen oars with all their might, the lieutenant as he leaped on board being met by Captain Horton with—
“These Malay tigers are a little too cunning for us, Johnson. Those were the prahus we passed on the way down.”
“Yes, sir, another slip; but we may have them yet.”
Chapter Sixteen.
How Private Sim took a Nap, and found it Unpleasant.
A general feeling of uneasiness had been excited as soon as it was known that the “Startler” had left her moorings to go in search of the two escaped prahus. Mr Linton did not feel happy in his own mind, though he did not communicate his fears to a soul.
Still he might have spoken openly, for it would not have caused greater terrors in the breasts of his daughter and niece, who were for some reason or another too full of vague fears to retire to rest. It did not occur to them to associate their sensations with the departure of the steamer. In fact if they had so done, they would not have harboured the thought for a moment, knowing as they did how well-protected they were by the sturdy little garrison of troops, only about a third of which had gone upon the expedition.