The boys were about to raise a cry of victory, but checked the shout upon their very lips; for darting behind a rock they espied a canoe paddled by a tall and muscular savage, who now stood up in his skiff and appeared to be examining us attentively. Seeing that we were standing towards him, the swarthy native seized his paddle and again darted behind a rock. An awful thought now took possession of me. There must be a tribe of blacks lurking on these shores, and Fritz must have fallen into their hands.
We, however, I determined, should not be easily taken; and our guns were loaded and run out.
Presently a dusky face appeared, peeping at us from a lofty rock: it vanished, and we saw another peeping at us from lower down.
Then again the skiff put out as though to make a further reconnoitre.
All, even Jack, looked anxious, and glanced at me for orders.
`Hoist a white flag,' said I, `and hand me the speaking-trumpet.' I seized the instrument and uttered such peaceable words in the Malay language as I could recall: neither the flag nor my words seemed to produce any effect, and the savage was about to return to the shore.
Jack hereupon lost patience, and in his turn took up the trumpet.
`Come here, you black son of a gun,' he exclaimed. `Come on board and make friends, or we'll blow you and your—'
`Stop! Stop! You foolish boy,' I said. `You will but alarm the man, with your wild words and gestures.'
`No! But see,' he cried, `he is paddling towards us!'
And sure enough the canoe was rapidly approaching.