Astonished at the words, my brother and I advanced to look at the contents, when, lo! we beheld one filled with gunpowder, the other with small arms, such as bayonets, sabers, and pistols; and I must confess that I trembled as it occurred to me that my brother and I had been inveigled into some conspiracy, perhaps, without our knowledge.
At the sight of the weapons, the Dutch sailors placed their hands upon their pistols and cutlasses, as if they expected a sudden attack from the crew; but no—the latter remained quite passive. As for Prabu, he affected no little astonishment at the contents of the casks.
“God is great!” he exclaimed. “Truly the Singapore merchant must have sent on board the wrong cargo, for these are not named in the bills;” and so genuine seemed his surprise, that the captain, I believe, thought him the dupe or unwilling agent of others; but, unfortunately, my brother, thinking to put in a good word or two, came forward, and, in very good Dutch, said—
“Our captain is as much astonished as yourself, sir; he has been duped, either by the Chinese merchant of Singapore, or he of the Campong.”
“Who are you, my young cocksparrow, to be found chirping away in good Dutch among these piratical islanders?” asked the captain, in surprise—so much were we browned by the sun and sea-air, and so greatly did our attire, or rather want of attire, resemble our shipmates’, that without a very close examination, or hearing our voices, he could never have guessed us to be Americans.
“Cocksparrow, sir!” replied Martin, very indignantly—“not so much a cocksparrow as you are an hungry vulture, prowling the seas to rob honest men of their cargo.”
“Come, come, my little fellow,” (Martin stood nearly five feet ten in height, although he looked very young in the face), “chirp out your name, and the whereabouts of your nest, that I may send you to your mother.”
“Sir,” said I, now interfering, hoping in my wisdom to put matters straight; “he is my brother, and a gentleman, although you see us both here with honest Prabu; we are the nephews of the rich Madam Ebberfeld, of Batavia.” That, thought I, will convince him, at least, that we are respectable; but to my astonishment, he said—
“Nephews of Ebberfeld, are you? It is then as I thought.” Then turning to his men, he added, “Clap these fellows under hatches; they are rebels and traitors, carrying arms to the Pangeran.”
At this I certainly thought Prabu would have offered resistance, but not so: mildly and meekly, as a lamb going to the slaughter, he not only permitted himself to be put in irons, but commanded his men to submit likewise. Thus, with the exception of two (who were left to help in working the vessel), and Martin and I, they were led below. This being done, the captain returned to his boat, promising the sailors that he would, on his return to the ship, send an officer on board.