We waited anxiously listening for any sound, but a light breeze rustling among the trees prevented those we had before heard from reaching our ears.
“Ned, I hope, may have been mistaken, after all,” observed the first mate; “it would be a pity, having got this far, to have to give up our expedition; but, as he says, it would never do to run the risk of an encounter with those savage pirates. If he is right we must do our best to avoid them and be ready for a start.”
All hands in both boats had been aroused, and we were prepared to heave up our anchors and get out the oars at a moment’s notice. We had not only our own safety to think of, but that of our shipmates, if there really was a fleet of pirates in the river, should they discover the brig—ill able to defend herself as she was—they might attack and capture her before we could get on board. We had brought the two boats alongside each other, so that we could talk without raising our voices. The first mate, who had been standing up on the after thwart that he might the better be able to see any object ahead, at length observed, “The canoe ought to have been back by this time. Can she have been taken by the savages?”
“If so, Kalong and Ned may for the sake of saving their lives have told them about the brig,” observed the boatswain. “If there is another channel the pirates will go down it and attack her before they look after us.”
“I feel very sure that Ned will not prove treacherous, though I cannot say how the Malay will act,” I observed.
“At all events we will get up our anchors and be ready for a start,” said the first mate.
He gave the order accordingly. Just as they were up to the bows, I caught sight of a small object ahead, which I trusted was the canoe. I pointed it out to the first mate.
“No doubt about it. I hope that we shall find that we might have saved ourselves the trouble of weighing,” he observed.
It approached rapidly. In little more than a minute it dropped alongside us and Ned and Kalong leapt into our boat.
“Not a moment to lose!” exclaimed Ned; “there’s a whole fleet of prahus in the next reach. Some of the people were ashore, and that we might find out who they were, we landed some way below where they lay and crept up close to them until we could hear them speaking. They know of the brig, and, we found, were just about to get under weigh hoping to surprise her.”