“He’s gone, lads,” said Ned Rawlings. “He was a brave officer, but he wanted judgment in bringing us into this fix.”
The Malays seemed to have decided to let us live; binding our arms behind us, they dragged us all three off up the country. At length we heard some dogs barking, and lights were seen glimmering ahead; and in a few minutes we found ourselves in the midst of a village of huts, with bamboo-built walls and roofs thatched with leaves. Dawn was just breaking. A number of dark-skinned women and children came out, chattering and screeching, and eagerly pressing round the white prisoners.
“Keep up your spirits, Jack!” said Dicky to me. “If we put a bold face on the matter we are more likely to gain their respect than if we allow them to suppose that we are frightened.”
The inhabitants having satisfied their curiosity, we were carried into a hut, in which we all three were shut up; the furniture consisting only of a mat spread on the ground.
“Can’t say I like the look of those chaps,” said Ned Rawlings to me. “Shouldn’t be surprised but what after all they meant to kill and eat us. I have heard say that there are some chaps in these parts who do that sort of thing.”
“I hope not,” I observed. “I think they would have knocked us on the head at first, if they had intended to do so; and, considering that they must feel rather savage at having their vessels destroyed, we are fortunate in not being killed.”
“Well, the wisest thing we can do is to make the best of it,” observed Mr Plumb; “and as I feel pretty tired I will lie down on this mat and go to sleep.”
Saying this the midshipman coiled himself up on the ground, and in another minute was snoring away as if he were in his own hammock. I felt very much inclined to follow his example; Ned, however, seemed to think that it was his duty to keep watch, and when I lay down, I saw him still sitting up, and evidently intending to keep awake. In a very few minutes I was as sound asleep as Mr Plumb; how long I had slept I do not know, when I was awoke by the sound of firing, and loud shouts and cheers in the distance; the midshipman also awoke, and we all sat listening attentively, hoping that our friends were coming to the rescue. The sounds grew louder and louder. Ned tried to force open the door, but though made only of bamboo, the fastenings were so strong that he could not succeed. Now arose the cries and shouts of the Malays, and the sound of their matchlocks, as they fought desperately to defend the approach to their village.
“If they are beaten, they will come in and knock us on the head in revenge,” said Dicky Plumb. “It cannot be helped, though; I wish we were out of this, however, for we might then have, at all events, a run for life.”
The sounds grew louder and louder. It was evident that our captors were being driven back.