/,,,^CORNELL'^^'^''''UNIVERSITYy^ssqLIBRARY]The black pearl of Pelhoo :a tale of tlie3 1924 023 398 823THE BLACK PEARL OF PEIHOOEVERY BOY'S BOOKSHELFSchooldays at Highfield House.By A. N. Malan.The Black Pearl of Peihoo. By S. P. Hyatt.Adventures in the South Pacific.Old Schoolfellows, andWhatBecame ofThem.TheBlackLizard. ByC. F. ArgyllSaxby, M.A.Skylark. By M. Geneste.His by Right. By Kate Mellersh.Duck Lake. By E. Ryerson Young.TheLost Earldom. By Cyril Grey.Will Aylraer. By L. B. Luffman.Cave Perilous. By Mrs. L. T. Meade.The Settlers of KarossaCreek. ByLouis Beck.Olaf, the Sea-Bird. By Major C. Young.FrankLester'sFortune. ByFrederickArnold.The Brigand's Prey. By A. M. Jackson.OFALLBOOKSHOPSTheoriginal oftliis bookis intine Cornell University Library.Therearenoknowncopyrightrestrictions intheUnitedStatesontheuseofthetext.http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023398823Mil' I I I I i|, \\\s KM-i:-l>lil':i' Wlll'N' JACK STACC.llJliLi(.iL'L'\\\\[l Mil': I \SI IliiX III', (UI'I.U l-INI).[Secl>i-i,irJ,5_THEBLACKPEARLOFPEIHOOA TALE OF THE MALAY SEASBTSTANLEY PORTAL HYATTLONDONTHE RELIGIOUSTRACT SOCIETY4BouvERiE Street, & 65St. Paul's Churchyard, E.G.TO MY NEPHEWHUMPHREYBECAUSE I BELIEVETHATTHROUGH-OUTTHE YEARS TO COMEHEWILL LIVE UP TO THE STANDARDOF THAT GREATENGLISHGENTLEMANSIR HUMPHREY GILBERTAFTER WHOM HE WASNAMED/OlPri ted in Gi.-n! BritainCONTENTSI. THEHEAD-HUNTERS .II. THEOTHERRIVERIII. THEYELLOWDWARF .IV. INTHERAJA'STOWN .V. THEKANDERONGCA\^ESVI. THEBLACKPEARLVII. THESMOKEHOLEVIII. MAHOMED'SINDISCRETION .IX. BYTHESKINOFTHEIRTEETHX. INPORTHKELLO .XI. DURINGTHESTORM .XII. ASUDDENRESOLUTIONXIII. THE"MOLLYHAWK".XIV. ACHANGEOFPLANS .XV. SEBAGIS FRIGHTENEDXVI. BARNEYMAKESAMISTAKEXVII. MANYPREPARATIONS .XVIII. OFFATLASTXIX. ANUNPLEASANTSURPRISEXX. WHATHAPPENEDATMADEIRAvii92331364451596569737987929810310811412212835THE BLACK PEARLOF PEIHOOCHAPTER ITHE HEAD-HUNTERSARIVERaboutfifty yards in width, aheavy,slug-gish stream, with steep banks, and along thosebanks dense tropical vegetation, palms, hugeforesttrees, and a mass of tangled undergrowth, every-thingsuggesting the Tropicssuch was the river downwhich the two large dug-out canoes weretravelling.Many-coloured parrots screamed and wrangled in thetree-tops ;monkeys chattered and jabbered, and swungthemselves from bough to bough;loathsome crocodilessUd off the mud and plunged into the water at thesound of the paddles ; huge snakes, coiled round over-hangingbranches, raised theirdetestable headsandhissedas the boats swept by.In the heart of Borneo, one of the least-known partsof the world, you can see many strange sights. Theflowersaregloriousnowhereelsedoyoufindsuchorchids;the butterflies hovering over those flowers are unequalledanjrwhere else ;the birds seem to match the butterfliesinthesplendouroftheircolouring;thetimberiswonderfuland yet there is something depressing about it aU, a9THE HEAD-HUNTERSgloominess, ahint of hiddendangers in that jungle. Youadmireit all, youpayatributetotheperfectionofNature'shandiwork; but still, somehow, you shudder. Deathseems to be lurking in the undergrowth, waiting for you,tryingto catchyou off yourguard.JackWayne felt all this as he lay in the stern of thesecond canoe, trying to get some ease for his tired limbs.Hewaswonderinghowit would all end.It was three months since he had landed in Borneo,to act as assistant to GeorgeNorth,thefamousnaturalist-photographer, who had been commissioned by a greatscientific societytoobtainmoving-picturesof thewild lifeoftheBorneanJungle,especiallyof thelong-nosedmonkey.Somehowmuch of it seemed a kind of dream. Therewas such a gulf separating him from his schooldays.ColonelWayne,V.C,his father, haddied so longago thathis figure was now blurred and indistinct;his motherhe could not remember at aU. There had only been hisuncle, a grim, sour old man, who had never said a kindword to him, and, after taking him awayfrom school assoon as possible, had puthimto workwiththe ZoologicalKinematograph Company."Now you can shift for yourself. MasterJack," oldJonas Wayne had growled."I've given you a start inlife, andthat's all I'mgoingtodo. MyyoungerbrotheryourfathergottheVictoriaCross. Bah! Alotofgooditdidhim, or you, or the child hemarried,thegirlwhowasyourmother. Givemesomething I canbuy cheap andsellatabigprofit. That's betterbyfarthanall yourV.C.'s."Jack had shrugged his shoulders, packed his bag,exchangedahandshake with hia uncle, andgone downtothe lodgings which had been found for him close to thekinematograph company's works. His salary was tobeginatfive shillings aweek,andhehadsometenshillings10THE HEAD-HUNTERSaweek fromhisfather'sinsurance. Really,he owednothingat all to Jonas Wayne, who was only Colonel Wayne'shalf-brother, and so, whenMr.North hadofferedtotakehimoutto Borneo,hehadnottroubled to consulttheoldCitymerchant."Goodriddance,"Jonashadgrowledtohishousekeeper,who was as grim and mean as himself."I shan't beworriedwithhimanymore. . . . Givemeaboywhocanbuyand sell at a profit, if it's only postage stamps. . . .What'syoung Jack ever done, except givethingsaway?give them I . . . Andhe fought young SebagTolhurst,sonofAldermanTolhurst,who'sworthamillionofmoney IHe's got tolearn thatmoneytalks in this world."SoJack,whowasfartallerandstrongerthantheaverageboy of his age, had gone to Borneo cheerfully, takingthe risks asamatterof course, and remembering all thetime that his father had won the Victoria Cross, andthat, for that reason alone, he must do his best ; whUstJonasWaynehadthankedhis stars thathewas rid oftheworry of his half-brother's son; and SebagTolhurst, nowpromoted to a silk hatand a taU-coat,had made variousbetsamongsttheStockExchange youths of hisacquaint-ancethatJackwould never come back from thejungle.Brownas agipsy, withagreatly discoloured sun-helmeton his head, a flannel shirt open at the throat, and verywell-worn khaki trousers,Jack Wayne tried to forgetthat he was horribly stiff, that his limbs were coveredwith sorQS due to leech-bites, and that his chief, GeorgeNorth,wasterriblyrundownfromfever. AllthepreviousnighthehadsatupwithNorth,who wmnow in theothercanoe, and it was quite probable that he would have tosit up through the coming night. He did not complain,even to himself, about it."All the luck of the game,"he murmured; but he did wish that North would getIITHE HEAD-HUNTERSwell ; and thenhe fell to wonderinghowSebagTolhurst,oranyof the otherfellows he hadknownat home, wouldcomeoutofasimilarexperience."Barney O'Brien is the only one who would score,"hetold himself."Everythingis anadventureto Barney,just as it usedtobetomebefore I had real adventures."Thenhesighed,pushedbackhis helmet,andranhis fingersthroughhis curly hair, a favourite trick of his while deepin thought.Somehow, those three months in the jungle seemedtohavealtered mostthings for him. It wasvery difficultto identify himself with the boy who had jumped withdelightonreceivingGeorgeNorth'soffertogoabroad."Him very sick, plenty muchee sick." A tail, leanChinaman, who was sitting on the bottom of the canoe,just in front ofJack, jerked his thumb in the directionof the other boat.Jacknodded. HeandAhLung,whowascook,steward,interpreter, and general manager of the expedition, hadgrown to understand one another excellently. For theEnglishboy, the Celestial seemed to put off the impassiveyellow mask he usually wore, and, instead of regardinghimas the Chinaman generallyregards a European, fromthe heightof hisownseventhousand years of civilisation,treated him as a dearly-loved chief, a fact which wasthe more remarkable because, as Jack had been quick toperceive,theotherwasnomerecoolie.Perhaps the explanation lay partly in the fact thatJack was uniformly courteous, even to the dusky nativecarriers, although, at the same time, he was always themasterof thelatter. Anyway,he knew that Ah Lung wouldgo through fire andwater for him, and often lately, whenGeorge North had been morethanusually unwell,hehadbeen only too thankful for the Ct-lcstial's help and advice.12THE HEAD-HUNTERSNorth himself, tall, thin, yellow from constant fever,wasamostdifficultmantoworkfor.Naturallycourteousand kind-hearted, the malaria had rendered him liable tofits of unreasoning obstinacy, during which the slightestopposition, the slightest mistake, madehim irritable andabusive. Hewas a great naturalist, as wellas one of themost expert photographersinthe world,anda man ofdaunt-less courage; but, on this particular day, anyoneseeinghim lying on a pile of blankets in the first canoe wouldhavetakenhimforacompletephysical and mentalwreck.The only other important member of the expedition,Mahomed, the native headman, was a typical Malay inappearance,though,unlikemostofhiskind,hewascapableof hard, sustained work. Asa youngster he had gone towork on a British steamer, had drifted to the Bay ofBengal,workedonIndian coasters,and now,ineverjrthingexcept appearance, was just like a British-Indian sailor,speaking English very fairly well.George North raised himself on his elbow, gave ananxious look at the masses of black cloud which wererolling upastern frombehind themountains, then turnedto hissteersman."We'U camp on that sandspit, Mahomed," he said."I'm tired of being wet through.Hurry up, Wayne,"he hailed Jack."The fever is on me again, and thisstorm is goingtobeabigone."Jack was ashore almost as soon as his chief. He, too,had no wish to be caught in another of those terribleBomean thunderstorms, but, none the less, he lookeddoubtfullyattheproposedcamping-ground."It's nonetoosafe, Mr.North,"hesaidbluntly."Weshall be only a few inches above the water level, and ifthestreamcomesdownin flood"Theothercuthimshort."It'sinfloodalready. Don't13THEHEAD-HUNTERSkeep on croaking. I'm very ill and I want to turn in."Then, despite the breathless tropical heat,hehuddled onan overcoat over his jacket.Jackshrugged his shoulders. There was no use inarguing, so he set his mento work, with the result thatbythetimethe first drops of rain fell thetentwasuponthe sandspit, with all the loose gear stowed in it."Plenty muchee rain there." Ah Lung pointed upstream.Jack, who was standing in the entrance of the tent,nodded. Never before had he seen such black clouds.Everymoment they seemed to be piling up, moreandmoreheavily.Thenatives hadmadetheir owncampupon the bank,and Jackfound himself envying them their security.Whyhad George North been so obstinate?"Iget upthere,plentyquick." AhLunggrinnedcheer-fully."Cookeedinnerbyandby." Thenhe, too,scram-bleduptothehigherlevel.Half a minute later the storm burst. There was avivid flash of lightning, an ear-splitting crash of thunder,and then the rain came down in sheets. Although thesunwasonlyjustsetting,darknessfell almostimmediately,pitchdarkness,somethingfarworsethananything Jack hadexperienced hitherto;and yet, as he noted with a kindofuneasywonder, thestorm itself was notabadone. Inless than half an hour it stopped as suddenly as it hadbegun, and the sky cleared. Therewas just enough lightleft fortheboyto seethatthelevel ofthewaterappearedstill to bethesameas before.Thecanoes,tiedtoanoverhangingbranch,seemedquitesafe;whilst,onthebank.AhLunghadstarteda firewiththehandfulofdrystickswhichhealwaysmanagedtohavebyhim,even in the worst weather.14THE HEAD-HUNTERS"Everything seems all right," Jack remarked as here-entered the tent."I thought it was going to be a farbiggerstorm."Fromunder the blankets North muttered an inaudiblereply. He felt too Ul at that moment to worry aboutanjrthing.Jack said no more, butwentdownon his knees in thesand, and began to search for the candles. At first heopened the wrong package, then opened another wrongoneAh Lung had a perfect genius for getting thingsmixedand fully five minutes had elapsed before he feltthecandles,whichweresoft as puttyfromtheheat. Thenhescrambledtohis feet, and,ashedidso, hewassuddenlyawarethat his kneeswerewet.Instantly he understood. With one movement hepulled the blankets from off his chief."Theriveris risingsuddenly. There'sbeenacloudburstsomewhere," he cried, then put his head outof the tentand shouted for the natives.It was merely a question of a few minutes. The floodcamedownalmostUkeawall, boiling, raging.George North scrambled to the bank, dragging hisblankets withhim, and collapsed as he reached a place ofsafety. Jack and Ah Lung worked feverishly, grabbingat things in thedarkness of the tent, with the fear of thecanvas coming down on them and smothering them,passing the packages out to the natives. Thewater wasknee-deep when Jack staggered out with the last boxhe could find, and, as he did so, the tent ropes carriedaway. Amoment laterthewhole tentwasswirUngdownwith the flood.Jackgaveventtoagroan, but,immediatelyafterwards,eventhetentwasforgotten.A greater disaster had befallen them. Thetwocanoes,15THE HEAD-HUNTERScontaining all the spare stores, had broken adrift andwerefollowingthe tent downstream. Therewas no hopeof recovering them, no chance of them being swept intoa backwater. The river ran almost dead straight for acouple of miles, and at the endof that stretch were theformidable Kampong Rapids, in which no canoe couldpossibly live.The naturalist had made straight for the fire, wherehe had thrown himselfdown,and had drawnhissoakingblankets round him. He had thefeverbadly, and Jackknew that it would be useless to worry him with thenews of their misfortunes. Thestretcher beds had beenabandoned in the tent ; but, providentially. AhLung'sblankets were dry, and it was in thosethatGeorgeNorthwas now wrapped. Then he lay down on the ground,and went to sleep from sheer exhaustion.Jack himself was wet through, but, as he had not astitch of dry clothing, he hadto stay as he was.The natives had taken matters calmly. Their ownpossessionshadbeensafeonshore; therewasfoodenoughfor several meals, and,whenthat failed, the jungle wouldsupplythemwithfruit. Sotheysettoworktocook theirriceandboiledfish justasthoughnodisasterhadoccurred.AhLungwastheonly person to whomJack could turnfor sympathy and advice. The Chinaman knew Borneoquite well;and now he ran over the list of things thathadbeensavedfromthe flood,andsummedupthepositiongenerally."Two rifles and plenty cartridges.Picture-makemachines"Jack's first thoughthad beenfor thecamerasandfilms"chop-box,tin-meat,tea,and little piecee flour,food for three-four days. Blanket all wet. Plentysilly,very muchee silly, camp there on sand.Boat all gone.Whiteman'stownten days' walkaway."i6THE HEAD-HUNTERSJack nodded without looking up. He wasgazing intothe fire, trying to picture what they could do now. Ofcourse, theymightfindavillagewheretheycouldget somemore canoes, but, even then, aU they could do would beto hurry back to the coast. Their stock of unexposedfilm now consisted of some five hundred feet, which hadbeenkeptready for immediate use. Thequestion of foodwas even more serious, for though it is possible to existon fruits when you are strong and well, it is notpossible for a man in George North's state of health.He had been bad already, and the shock and wettingwould certainly make him worse. Taken all round, itwasapoorprospect for the expedition.It was well past midnight when the boy turned in.He had scarcely touched the food which Ah Lung hadbrought him, and he hardly noticed that his blanketshadbeen dried by theChinaman. There were toomanyother things to be considered.For a time Northhad been dehrious, talking wildly ofthe long-nosed monkeys, which, so far, had eluded alltheir attempts to photograph them."I tell youno one has ever keptone in captivity, noone has ever had a chance of studying them, Wayne,"he muttered time after time."And we must do it;we'rebound to doit. Givemethe camera. There theyare, upthereI"Atlast, however,the perspirationhadbrokenoutonhisface, andthesickmanhadgoneintoaheavysleep.The morning came fair and cloudless. Whenhe firstawoke and found himself lying on the ground withoutthetentoverhim.Jack waspuzzled;thenherememberedand sat up. AhLung was making the coSee, solemnly,just as though nothing unusual had occurred; whilstthe natives were cooking their rice. A moment later17THE HEAD-HUNTERSGeorge North raised himself on his elbow and lookedround. Thefeverhad left him, and, thoughhe was veryweak, his brainseemedquite clear."Whata lunatic I was last night," he said.''It wasallmyfault, eventhe loss ofthe canoes, becausetherewasnothing really to make them fast to. What luck wesentall thoseexposedfilmsdownbytherunnerlastweek 1Howdowestandnow?"WhenJacktoldhimhelooked very grave,"Four days' food only !"he repeated."And it'sten days' march to the nearest white settlement. That'sbad. Still, it's got to be done, and the sooner we're oilthe better."Thestores, cameras,andblankets madevery light loadsfor the twelve natives, yet, when North gave the ordertostart,noonemoved. Insteadthemenbegantochattervehementlyamongstthemselves."What is it, Ah Lung?"the naturalist demanded,impatiently."Say plenty bad road, sir," the Chinaman answered."Too many bad men huntee heads on that road. Saywegobackwaywecame."TheEnglishman'sfacegrewblack."Rubbish 1 Thatwould take us twenty days. Head-hunters 1 NonsenseI Theyare all the other side of theisland. Comeon. MarchI"And,asiftogivepointtohisorders, he slipped acartridgeintothebreechofhis rifle.Very reluctantly the natives took up their loads, andthelongtramptotheseabegan. NorthandJackmarchedahead, then cameAhLungandMahomed,therest taiUngbehind in single file.It was terribly hard going, especially for a^anwhohad the fever about him. There was mud, nothing butmud underfoot, all the time. Now it was just enonsjhi8THE HEAD-HUNTERSto mak your feet slip at every step ; next minute youwereankle-deepin it, almost wrenching your bootsoffasyouraisedthem; thenyouwereuptotheknees in slime.Dense green jungle all around you; a screen ofdensefoliage above you, shutting out the light ; air which wasso hotand so still thatit seemed to chokeyou;salt per-spirationrunningdownintoyoureyes, half-bUndingyouthesewerethe conditions.Myriads of monkeys, not one of whom ever showedhimself, chatteredatthetravellers; invisiblebirds rustledthe leaves, parrots screeched, snake after snake squirmedawayat their approach.North held on bravely. Hehad made a great mistakethe night before, but he was going to do his best to putmatters right ; still, when they stopped at midday, hewas thoroughly exhausted, and for a time lay very still,withhis eyes closed.Jack bent over him anxiously."Is there anything I can do ?"he asked.Theothershook his head."I'm all right. Count thecarriers."Theboyunderstood. Asthe natives filed inhecheckedthem off. Eightninetena long wait and no signof anymore. He wentover them again. Yes, ten only.Twowere missing.Thenhe went through the loads. Abag of rice anda set ofcameralegs wereshort.The other carriers sat silent and morose, making noattempttoeat, apparently takingnointerest in anythingAt the end of two hoursGeorge North got up."Thosefellows have deserted," he said very quietly."Wehadbetter get on, Wayne.""Shall I act as rear guard, in case any more fallout ?"Jacksuggested.19THE HEAD-HUNTERSBut the other vetoed the idea promptly, with whatseemed unnecessary sternness."Certainlynot. You keep just behind me. AhLung,keepuptoo, and you, Mahomed, as well. Tell the mennot to lag, Mahomed. I'll flog anyone who comes inlate."Jackraised his eyebrows. Neverbefore hadhe knownhis chief to actUke this.Until sundown they toiled on steadily. North, atthehead of the Unethey had tomarch in single filestuckto his work with a grim determination. Once or twice,when they were breeisting a rise, withslippery red clayunderfoot. Jack noticed that hehad to stop, as thoughfrom sheer exhaustion, but he pulled himself togetherquickly. Moreover, his rifle was always ready for usein the crook of his arm, and he had toldJack, too,to keepa cartridge in his magazine, though he hadvolunteered noexplanation.They camped that night on some open ground besidethe river. A thunderstorm broke just as they stopped,and in a couple of minutes they were wet throughdrenched." We must get used to it," North remarkedgrimly."It's all my fault. Are the carriers in,Wayne?"Jackcounted them, counted them twice;then"Onemissing," he reported;"thatpock-markedfellow withthesmall camera."GeorgeNorthdrewhishandacross his foreheadwearily,butallhesaidwas,"Verywell. Itcan't behelped.We'reonedaynearer the coast."The camp was a very silent one. North sat smokingandstaring into the fire. The carriers clusteredtogetheras though for mutual protection, and barelyexchanged20THE HEAD-HUNTERSa word. The only person who did anjrthing was AhLung. He prepared the white men's dinnerit was notan elaborate mealand after that set to work mostindustriously to sharpena murderous-looking kris, whichJackhad boughtat a native village a month previously.When he had finished and had tried its edge on alog of wood, Ah Lung looked up and caaght North'seye. As Jackwasquick to note, the white mannoddedsignificantly.Noremarkwasmadeabout the matter, but before heturnedinJackoverhauledhis rifle carefully, andmadesurethattherewasnoverdigrisonanyofhis cartridgecases.The night passed quietly, and though the followingmorning's trek was a very trying one on account of theheat, at the midday halt all the remaining carriers putin anappearance.George North heaved a sigh of reUefhe had barelyopened his mouth since the previous morning."Perhaps we're clear of them now," Jack heard himmutter.The carriers, too, seemed more cheerful, eatingtheir food greedily, and clamouring at Ah Lung forhaving cut down their allowance. Only the Chinamanappeared to be iU at ease, his eyes being on the sur-rounding jungle all the time, his big kris always just athand.After the usual two hours' rest, George North rose."Time to get on, Wayne," he said."ReaUy, I beUevethetramping has donemegood. Weshall pull throughall right now."As Jackremembered afterwards, his chief's mannerwis quite cheerful, and he began to talk of the possi-biUty of getting some films of the wonderful long-nosedmonkeys after all.21THE HEAD-HUNTERS"It' so important," he went on."You iee,no onehas ever managed to keep one in captivity, even herein the island, so my photographs would be of greathelp to naturalistsathome."Theyhad covered perhaps a couple of hundredyards,and the carriers, who, as usual, were slowin gettingofl,were beginning to catchthemup,when ahorrible, blood-curdling yeU brought them to a standstill.Jack glanced towards his chief," Whatwasthat?"he cried.North, who had brought his rifle to the"ready,"jerked out his answer."Head-hunters ! That's why the other carriers werelost I HeretheycomeI"33CHAPTER IITHE OTHER RIVERITwas the first timeJackWaynehad ever come facetofacewithdeath. Heneverforgot the thrillwhichranthroughhimashesaw one of the carriers appa-rently stumble, andthen perceived that there wasalongspeardriveninbetweentheman'sshoulder-blades.Angeratthecrueltyof it allthat wastheideaupper-most in his mind. Why should poor Kilwa, the best-temperedofall theirfollowers, havebeendonetodeath inthatway?Itwassuchashame,suchabrutalshamethatwasthethoughtwhichflashed throughhis brjiin.Often he had wondered whether, when the test came,he himself would show any fear, whether he could facedanger as his father had done. Nowhe thought nothingofhisowncase ;allhewantedtodowastosavetheothercarriers from sharing Kilwa's fate.Hisfirstcartridgebrought downthe man whohadthrownthe spear. Hejerked in another fromthe magazine, andthenwasconsciousthat a secondsavagehadbittenthedust.Afterwards hebelieved that, all the time, he hadbeenshoutingakindofhoarsedefianceathis enemies.Hewasnotafraid, notinthe very least degreehehadtimetorealisethat,withafierce thrill ofdelight. Hewashis father'sson,andhewasplayingaman'spart.If only Barney O'Brien were there to help I23THEOTHERRIVERA spearwhizzedbyhisear,and,asheputabullet throughthearmofthemanwhohadthrown it, it struckhimthatthesavagewasverylike hisoldenemy,SebagTolhurst.Justfancy Sebag with only a piece of native clothround his loins I Itwasreally funny.Howquickly one thought, sometimesI Why, all theseideas had passed through his brain whilst he was usingthree cartridges IThen, suddenly, he became cool and practical again,completelymasterofhimself. Therushhadbeenstopped.Thecarriershadgoneon, headlong, intothejunglebeyond,andthereremainednowonlyGeorgeNorth,AhLung,andhimself,thoughamoment laterMahomedreappeared.Could it all be over so quickly ? Hadthey really wonthe day?"Whatnext?"theboyasked,breathlessly.Mahomedanswered, indicating the jungle with asweepofhishand."Throwspear nowfrom behindbush. KiUusaU soon.""Plenty heads to-night for black savages." Ah Lunggrinnedquitecheerfully.''ChinamanwanteekiUone, two,first though."North,whohadbeenrefilling his magazine, heldouthishand."I'm very sorry, old feUow. It was aU myfault,but I'm paying for it too. Good-bye."His hand had hardly leftJack's, when he threw upboth his arms and fell back dead, a spear clean throughhisheart. InstantlyJackfired inthedirectionofthebushfromwhichtheweaponhadcome, andwasrewardedbyayell, which ended in a gurgle.Ah Lung, who had snatched up the dead man's rifle,jumped aside, just escaping two other spears, then seizedtheboybythearm, dragginghimout of the pathinto thebush.24THEOTHER RIVER"All blacksavages that side," hegrunted;"nogoodtowait. Come 'long."Asthey hurried through the jungle Jack felt asudden,maddesire to goback, to die fightingoverthebodyof hischief. Itseemedhideousto leavehimthere, eventhoughhe were dead. Andwhatwas really the use of trying toescape? They had lost aU their equipment, all theirprovisions, andthehead-huntersweresureto followthemupandkillthem. Farbettergetit over.PerhapsAhLungreadsomethingofwhatwasin Jack'smind; atany rate, hegripped him by the armwhenhesawhimslowdown."All right by and by," he panted."Head-huntercatchee plenty heads there, catchee all our things, notwantcatcheeanymorebuUetyet."Hiswordsputfreshspiritintotheboy. Theremightstillbe a chanceofescaping. Thedesireto live camebackto himmorestrongly than hehad everhad it before. Hewouldget through; hewould makehiswaydownto the coast;no onehad a right to throw his life away uselessly;hewould Suddenlyhestopped,his rifleready. Someonewascomingthrough thejungle, only afew yardsaway.TheChinamanhadstopped too."Not shoottoomuchhurry," he whispered." Toomuchnoise for head-hunterman."Amoment later he proved to be right, for Mahomedcameintoview,hatless, breathless,withoneofthesavages'spears in his hand. Jack, whohad believed himto havebeen killed, was overjoyed, for not only did he hke thenative personally, but he would also be invaluable as ag^ide. In a few words the new arrival confirmed AhLung's theory. The head-hunters were not pursuingthem. Somehad remained with the booty, the rest hadgoneinsearchoftheunarmedcarriers.25THEOTHER RIVER"Findthemall very quick," headdedgrimly.It had been hard enough work tramping along thenative footpath, but it was manytimes harder pushing away through the virgin jungle. More than once AhLung'skrisprovedinvaluableforhackingthroughatangleofcreeperswhichwasabsolutelybarringtheir progress.Nighthadfallen beforetheyreachedthebankofariverwhere they determined to sleep, or try to sleep. Jackwas so utterly weary and miserable that he simply threwhimself down under a bush, and rested his head on hisarm. Hewas still hke that when AhLungtouched himgently,andhandedhimsomewildfruit."Eateenow,"hesaid."Plenty much moreto-morrow.''Jack shook his head."I can't. It would makemesick.""You eatee," the Chinaman insisted."Very sickto-morrowif noteateeto-day."Theboy raised himself on his elbowand took the fruit.Hehadnot the energy left to protest ; butwhenhehadeaten, he was glad he had obeyed. Someof his strengthcame back to him. He remembered now to be gratefulfor his escape, and before he finally lay down he hadgiventhankstoGodonhis knees.AhLung, whohad been watching him, nodded gravelyto Mahomed."Very good little foreign devU. Eachmanthankee his own joss. Verygoodway."It was already light when Jack awoke. During thefirst part of the night he had barely closed his eyes, butafterwards, despite the lack of blankets, he had sleptvery heavily. The other two must have been up sometime, for they had collected enough fruit for a good meal.The night before it had been too dark really to seetheriver, butnowJackgazedatitinastonishment."Whatstream is this ?"he asked."It's not the one26THEOTHER RIVERwe were on. That was the other side of the path, andthis is muchbigger."Mahomed nodded."Not know his name, sahib. Ineveronhim, but all thesamego to the sea. Wefollowhim."The boy hesitated. Really he had a very vague ideaof where they were. George North had had some roughsketch-maps in his pocket-book, but Jack had neverexaminedthemclosely. Heremembered,though, hearingthatthe riveronwhichtheyhadlost their baggagejoineda larger one nearer the coast, and he assumed that thismust be that stream. An5rway, it was bound to go tothe sea.Forthree days they tramped along the bank of thatriver, pushing on as hard as possible all the time. Itwas a truly miserable experience, far worse really forJack than for his two companions. The latter were,more or less, vegetariansat least, meat hadalwaysbeena luxury with thembut Jack had never been withoutit before. The fruit diet seemed horribly unsatisfying.All the time he felt hungry, and yet the quantity hemanaged to eat was really very small. Somehow, it didnotseemworthwhiletotakeit.He was tired, toohow tired he could never haveexplained. From the very first thing in the morninguntil he flung himself down under a bush at night, itwas a toil to lift his feet, to drag them out of thathorrible clinging mud. There was hardly such a thingas a stretch of dry ground, hardly a place where youcould go ten yards without having to force your waythrough some dense undergrowth. Andtheheat duringthe daytime was appalling ; it was like being in avapourbath.Then, too, every twelve hours or so there was a27THE OTHER RIVERthunderstorm, which drenched you through, and madethe going even worse than it hadbeenbefore.Buttheworstthingof allwasthe bitter coldat nightat least,it appeared bitter to Jack, lying on the wetground, usually in wet clothes. The smallest, thinnestof blankets, even an old sack, would have seemed analmost priceless treasure then. Heshivered, andshiveredagain; and only through sheer exhaustion did he sleepatall.In a way it seemed as though he was reaching thelowest depths of miseryin fact, he told himself so onmore than one occasion. It would have been veryeasy, terribly easy, to give way, to lie down altogether.Death would have come quickly enough; but he knewnow that his companions would not have abandonedhim, and, though he was often too weary to care forhimself, he did care for them, and so he stuck to it,stumbhng along witha kindofgrim persistence.^iways there was the ideathat he had to prove him-selfworthyofhis race and of his father's name.It was this which kept him going, far more than thedesire tohve. Reallythereweremanytimes duringthatterrible marchwhenhe was conscious of Uttle else.Onthefourthmorning they stoppedto restafewyardsbackfromtheriverbank. Jackmadeabraveattempttoeat some fruit, but it seemed to turn acid as it touchedhis lips;then, withagroan,hishead fell forward,and, forthe very first time, he found himself sobbing, though hiseyesremained dry.Alean yellowhandcaught his shoulderandshookliim.''Nodothat." ItwasAhLungspeakingseverely."Nomust do that. By and by plenty"Thesentencewas never finished. Acryfrom Mahomedbrought it to anabrupt close.28THE OTHER RIVER"Acanoe, sahib 1 I have found a canoeI"InstantlyJack waa onhis feet, hurryingto the watei 8edge. Thenativewasright. There,withits bow jammedbetweentwotreestumps,wasafair-sizeddug-out. Judgingby the dead leaves in it, it must have been there someconsiderabletime, butit wasalso evidentthat it was stillin seaworthy condition.Afew minutes later Mahomed hadgot it free, and hadbrought it to amoreconvenient place. Atfirst it lookedas if, apart fromapaddle, andthe leaves andrain-water,it contained nothing;but as thenativebaled it out, hiseyelighted onsomesmaUobject, whichhe seized eagerly.So far 13 Jackcould see, the thing was merely a nativebangle,amosttrumperyafiair; thenhenoticedastrangelookcomeinto the finder's face, and, amomentlater, thebanglehadbeenflungawayin horror."Whatis it ?"Jackmovedasthoughtopickitup.Mahomed's answer came quickly."Don't touch it,isahib I An evil thing indeed I It is one of the charmsof the Palapogs, Raja Seyed's bad people. How did itcome here, in this canoe ? Indeed an evil thing 1"andhe shivered sUghtly.Young though he was. Jack Wayneknew the wisdomof respectinganative's prejudices, so hemerelylooked atthebangleas it layonthe ground, withouteventouchingit with his foot. To him it appeared a very trumperyafiair ofglass andwire,thoughMahomed'smannershowedthat to a native it must have a very great significance.He remembered having heard Raja Seyed mentioned atthe coast as ascoundrel of a chief, withwhomtheBritishwould have to deal sometime, but beyond that he knewnothingofhim. NorcouldhelearnmuchfromMahomed."Raja Seyed bad man, sahib. Palapogs are some ofhis people, very bad too. Better not talk of them. All29THE OTHER RIVERevil spirits." Such was the gist of the answer hereceivedtohisquestions.TheChinaman,whowaslistening,madenoremarkatall.Once more the native wentonwith his baling, thoughnow he kept a keenlook-outfor anything else which mightbein theUquidmudatthebottomof the canoe. Still, therewerecertainly nomore bangles, andhewas just scrapingout the last of the mess whenhemadeanother find, thistimeofalittle stripofbrightmetal."White man's charm," he said, as he handed Jackwhat proved to be an aluminium tab, with some wordsembossedonit.Jack rubbed it clean, then read,"P. Van der Humm."Later on, he often found himself wondering that heshould have had no presentiment of what that name wasto meanto him.CHAPTER IIITHE YELLOW DWARFJACKput the aluminium tab into his pocket, thenturned toMahomed."Whois P. VanderHumm?"he asked.The native shook his head."It's a sahib's name. The sahib knowsmorethan Idol" Then, as though the matter were ended, "Thecanoe is nowready. With this stream, the one paddlewillbequiteenough."To Jack, the relief of being again inacanoe, of feelingthatonewastravelling easily, swiftly,backtocivUisation,was inexpressible. Nownoeffortwasaskedof him. Allhe hadto do wasto makehimselfascomfortableaspossible,whilst the others, who were adepts at the work, tookturns at the paddle.Itwasnotlongbeforehebegantofeelthereactionfromthe strain of the last few days. Before, he had beenterribly, unutterably weary ; now he was delightfullytired and drowsy. Anyturn in the river might, he felt,bringthemtosomewhiteman'srubberplantation, whichwouldmeanfood, anddryclothes, andsafety.He knew, at last, how greatly he had wanted to live,and hewas more than ever grateful to God for havinggivenhimthestrength topuUthroughthe ordeal. Onlyacowardwentunder, he told himself, and he knewnowthat h himself wa not a coward. Ha had proved it.31THEYELLOWDWARFAhLungknew it, Mahomed knew it, and infuture, whenheheardotherfellowsbraggingaboutwhattheyhaddone,or would do, he could hold his tongue and merely listenTherewouldbenoneedforhimtoboast.It is a great feeling, one of the finest feelings that canpossibly come to a manthe knowledge of your ownpersonal courage, the certainty that, whatever test maycome,youwillnot be foundwanting. It makesan immensedifference to your outlook on life generally. Yet it is athingwhichyoualwayswanttokeep secret ; it concernsonlyyourself;and, themomentyoutend toshareitwithanyoneelse, all the joyof itwoulddisappear. Youcannottalk about it. It is too sacred. You can only thankProvidencehumblyforhavinggivenyousomethingwhichhasbeenwithheldfromsomany.After a whileJackfell asleep, and, perhaps becauseof his crampedposition, begantodream. In that dreamweird, horrible, impossiblethings happened.HesawthePalapogs,whoprovedtobeacrossbetweenthe head-hunters and the long-nosed monkeys, withSebagTolhurstas their leader. Theychasedhimthroughforests, over mountain ranges, down the river, under thewater,even; screaming,allthetime,that Sebag and VandcrHummhad commanded them to getamovingpictureoftheEngUshboyhavinghisheadcut off. Whenhe awokehefoundthatthe perspirationwasstandingonhisforeheadin great beads, so grotesquely real had it all seemed.Helooked round a Uttle wildly, to find that the sunwasalready low, andthathewasalone in thecanoewithAh Lung. Mahomed was a little way off, up the bank,gatheringfruit for the eveningmeal.Sostrong was thememory of his dream, that the firstwords he spoke concerned it."Do youknowanything aboutthePalapogs,AhLung?"32THEYELLOWDWARFTheChinaman smiled grimly and jerked his thumb inthedirectionofMahomed."Plentyfool that,notalkee tohim. Tell younow."Thestory did not take long. Raja Seyed, it appeared,wastherulerofalargeterritoryonthecoast. Heclaimedto beindependent, and so far, though he was known tobean utter scoundrel, the jealousies of the white nationshad prevented them from bringing him to order. ThePalapogs, whowere the fighting portion of his subjects,belonged toasmalland extremelyfierce tribeof hUl-men,whose success in battle had gained them the reputationof beingmagicians. Therest of Raja Seyed'speoplewereordinary Malays, fishermen and cultivatorsat least,rumoursaidso,thoughnowhitetraveller hadever returnedfromtheRaja'sterritory toreportwhathehadseen."Plenty junk go there, though," Ah Lung added."Chinese pirate junk, savee? Go fetchee bird's nest.Plenty birds' nests, good chop, in Kanderong caves."Jackraised his eyebrows. He knew, of course, aboutthe edible birds' nests, the Celestial's greatest luxury,and at the beginning of his journey with George Northhe had seen the entrance of the Gomerton caves, withhundredsofswallowsflyinginandout, butNorthhadtoldhim that there werenoother similar caves onthe island.Ah Lung smiled."Kanderongcavestwo,three,fivetimesbigas Gomerton.Ask any Chinese man. Raja Seyed and YeUow Dwarfmakeplentydollar, mUliondoUar,there. Kanderongnestsbest of all," and,unconsciously,hehcked his lips.Asuddensuspicionflashed throughJack'smind.''Whois the YellowDwarf?"he asked.TheCelestialshookhishead. Tohimit wasmerelythenativenameof themanwhocontrolled the caves, amanwhowasneitheranativenoraChinaman.33THEYELLOWDWARF"la he white?"Jackasked.AhLungshruggedhis shoulders."Nocantell. Thinkeenot. YellowDwarfthat'sall."Then Mahomedreturned,andthesubjectwasdropped.They paddled on until about midnight, then tied upthe canoe, andslept till dawn,whentheystarted again.Sofar,judging bythesun,theyhadbeentravellingnorth-eastasageneraldirection ;and,fromwhatherememberedof the map, Jackbeheved that to be quite satisfactory.Anyway, he did not worryabout it greatly, forMahomedassuredhim that beforelong theymustcome to friendlyvillages,orwhitemen'splantations.Hitherto they had been passing through more or lesslevel junglecountry; butnowarangeof hills wasvisiblerightahead. Obviously therivermusttakeabigbendtooneside or theotherbefore long."It will turn towards the east, sahib," Mahomedsaidconfidently.'*It must do, or how could it join our oldriver,wherewelostthecanoes ? Besides, if onegoeswest,onecomestoRajaSeyed'scountry,wherethePalapogsandtheYellow Dwarfkillallstrangers."Jackstarted, remembering what they had found inthecanoe. Hadthatbanglebeenawarningtothem?The hiUs proved to be farther awaythan had seemedthe case at the outset. Noon came, and the river wasstill headingstraighttowards the centreofthe ridge. ForthehundredthtimeJackbeganmakingmentalcalculationsofthedistancetheyhadcomesincelosingtheirkit. Itwasimpossiblenowfor themtobemorethanafew milesfromthe sea, andthe sea oughttomeansafety, foodandrest.Then, suddenly, they cameto a big bend in the river,a bend in the wrong direction, towards the north-west.Mahomed frowned and muttered something inaudible,but AhLungspoka out.34THE YELLOW DWARF"Nogoodgothatway. RiverhegoPalapogcountry."Jack nodded."Yes, we must leave the canoe, worseluck," he sighed."Head her for the bank,Mahomed.''But, already, it was too late. The words were hardlyout of his mouth, whena \cry large dug-out, withacrewof some twenty men paddling and what appeared to beaEuropeaninthestern, cameinto view.Oneglancewasenough forMahomed."The YeUow DwarfI"he cried, then, without theslightest warning,he sprang overboard. Half a dozen bulletsstruckthewaterroundhisheadasitreappeared. Instantlyhe sank again, and it flashed across Jack's mind that thetroublesofone, atleast, ofthemwereover. Hehadseizedhisownrifle, butAhLunghad gripped his wrist."Nogood. Toolate," theCelestialmuttered.Asthebig canoecamealongside, themanin thestemhewasreally ahalf-casteswept off his hugehelmetwithasarcastic poUteness."I must introduce myself. IamPiet Van der Humm, Prime Minister to Raja Seyed.Andyouare myprisoners."35CHAPTER IVIN THE RAJA'S TOWN""^T'OU are myprisoners I"As JackWayne looked\ at the face of the speaker he reaUsed that AhLungandhunselfwereindeedin abadcase.Probably, as hisname indicated, Piet Van derHummwas half a Dutchman, the son of some planter in theneighbouring island of Java,where the Dutch havebeen for centuries;but it wouldhave puzzledanyonetosaywhat other blood hehad in him. Javanese, Filipino,Dyakit mighthavebeenanyof these, oracombinationof them all. It would have been difficult to imagineanyone morehideous. Hewas a dwarf in the sense thathe was so short, but in other ways he was bigger thanmost men, enormously broad, with extremely long armsand a very thick neck.Still, it was his face you noticed mostin fact, youcould hardly notice anything else. There was a grimpower in it which fascinated you. Ugly though it was,hideous at times, with a thin, straggling moustache, longnarrow eyes, and set off bylank black hair, it was theface of a man used to command, of a manwhohad tobeobeyed."Your savage seemed to know me. Perhaps he waswise." Vander Hummpointedtothespotwhere Mahomedhaddisappeared."Yes,perhapshewaswise;"he repeatedthe words slowly, emphatically; then"Get into this36IN THERAJA'STOWNcanoe," he said curtly,"you and the Chinaman. Mymenwill lookafter yourweaponsfor you."Jack obeyed, because there was now no alternativejyet, as he did so, he was filled with a wild rage againsthimself. Why, oh why, had he not made an attemptto escape ? To have gone through so much, and thento be captured so tamelyI True, he would have hadno chance. Every man on the canoe had a rifle, and,judgingbythewaythebulletshadfallenround Mahomed,the Palapogs were good marksmen, for savages; butwoulditnothave beenbettertohavediedfighting ?He recalled what he had heard of the Yellow Dwarf,and,3 he looked atthatface, heseemed to readno hintof mercy in it. Those queer, narrow eyes were fixed onhimwithakind ofcallousmockeryinthem.Foramoment the boywentcold;then hethrewbackhis head and met the other's look defiantly. Was henottheson ofWayne,V.C. ?A word from the Yellow Dwarf, and bark ropes wereproduced, withwhichtheprisoners' handsweretied, tiedwith brutal tightness;then they were ordered to squatdownin thebottom of thecanoe. Foramoment or twothehalf-casteseemedundecidedas tohis nextmove,but,afteraglanceatthesun,he madeuphismind."I was goingup the river to punish somedisobedientsubjects of His Highness, the Raja," he said to Jack."Butyouseemtobemoreinteresting, so I will takeyouback to Kaduk, the Raja's town. What were youdoinghere?"Thequestioncamesuddenly, savagely.Briefly Jackexplained. He had not much hope ofescapingdeath at the hands of his captors, but he wasgoing to doeverything possible to save his comradeandhimselfeverything that an English gentleman coulddo.37IN THE RAJA'S TOWNThe Yellow Dwarf listened in silence, his huge chinrestingonhis equallyhugehand."Yes,"heansweredatlast,"Iquitebelieveyou,thoughI hateall Englishmen"his eyes flashed horribly"hatethem. Still, they don't lie, as a rule. But I'm not surethat the truth will save you. Anyway, you will nevergetbackto yourownpeople," and after that he relapsedinto silence.It wasanhoarlaterwhentheycamein sightofKaduk,the capital of Raja Seyed's territory. The river, whichwas now tidal, had grown rapidly wider, and was a fullhalf-mile across. Two jetties, the first of timber, thesecond of rough stonework, ran out from the left bank,butatfirstsightthere wasnoothersignofatown,beyondafew small native shacksdottedabout amongst the palmtrees.TheYellowDwarf,noticingthelookofsurpriseinJack'seyes, vouchsafedafewwords of explanation."Wearenot quiteso silly as tobuild wherewecanbeshelled by one of 3'our gunboats. The town is half amile inland. Thereis afort hidden amongstthatbush,afort withhalfadozenseven-pounders. Idon't mindtellingyou, because you will ne\'er have a chance of repeatingit," heendedwith agrim chuckle.Jack did not answer. Whatever happened he wasnot goingto let the half-caste thinkhewasafraid.On the bankwere scores of dug-out canoes of varioussizes, a regular fleet ; asteamlaunch of ratherantiquatedpattern was lying alongside the stone jetty ; whilst alittle lowerdownthe stream four large Chinese junkslayat anchor.There were onlyascore or so of natives in sightwhenthe canoe landed the prisoners ; but before the latterwere half-way through the palm grove, hundreds of theRaja's people came hurrying down, jabbering excitedly.38IN THE RAJA'S TOWNA word from the Yellow Dwarf, however, sufficed todispersethemagain, andtheyhadtobecontenttofollowata distance.Thetownitself wasasurprise to Jack. Situated inthemiddle of ahugeclearing, it consisted entirely ofbambooand palm-leaf shacks ; there was not one single stonebuilding in it ; moreover,there was no defensive workofany kind, not even a palisade of stakes. Evidently theRaja felt secureanddidnotanticipateeverbeingattackedthere.Perhaps Vander Humm readthe thought inhisprisoner'smind. Atany rate, he laughed."We've something a little stronger somewhere else,"heremarked;"youmayseeitoryoumaynot. This isinhabited entirely by Palapogs, our fighting men." Henodded in the direction of the escort, who had alreadystruckJackasbeingsavagesof apeculiarlyrepulsivetype."Theotherpeoplehavetheir ownvillages. Theyarepoorsortof creatures. Still, theycanbemadeto work,asyouyourselfmaylearn."Jack did not reply. Already hehad gathered that hewas probablygoingtobegivenachanceof life oncertainterms, though something seemed to warn him that thosetermswouldbesuchthathecouldnotaccept.Five minutes later they had reached the Raja's house,which proved to be by far the largest native shack theboy had ever seen. Really it was a collection of largehuts, joined together bycovered ways, thewhole capableof accommodatingat least ahundred natives.Scores of savages, all of them apparently Palapogs,werelounginginthecourtyard ; buttheysprangto atten-tion the moment they caught sight of the half-caste.Everywherethereseemedtobethesamefearofhim. He,on his part, took no notice at all of them, but after39IN THE RAJA'STOWNmakinga sign totheguardstokeeptheprisonersoutside,went into the central hut.Sofar AhLunghadnot spoken sincetheircapture,butnowhesquatted downbeside Jack."Plenty bad business," he remarked."Him YellowDwarf very mucheebad. Still, no can tell. Not deadyet."Jack nodded, but did not attempt to answer. Therewas little he could say. Alreadyhewas terribly thirsty,whilst the cord round his wrists seemed to be cuttinginto the very flesh. Never before had the sun seemedso pitiless, the heat and glare so appalling. . . , Half anhour went by, an hour, twohours. The sun wasgettinglow now,but itwas too late for the coolness of the au-to give him any relief. His tongue appeared to haveswelled untU it filled the whole of his mouth. He couldhardly have asked for water, even if there hadbeenanygood in doing so.He knew there was no use in trying, for soon aftertheirarrivaltheguardshadhelpedthemselvesfromahugecalabash, and had then derisively poured the remainsof the liquid at the prisoners' feet, a very refinement ofcruelty.At last the YellowDwarf reappeared in the doorway,and gave a curt order. A couple of minutes later JackandAhLunghad been forced on to their knees in frontof theRaja, animmenselyfat, bleary-eyedold man, lyingonawickerworkcouch.Seyed stared atthemfoolishlyevidently hewas underthe influence of some drugthen muttered something toPiet Van der Humm, who was standing immediatelybehind him.Thehalf-castegavethemoneofhisbittersmiles."His Highness has considered your case," he said.40IN THE RAJA'S TOWN"And he is inclined to be merciful, although you haveforfeited your Uvea by coming into his country. Ofcourse, hecannot let you goand carry information to hisenemies; buthe will grant you your lives, on conditionthat you becomeMahomedans. Then youwill be set toworkwithhis otherslaves."Jackmadean attempt to speak, but at first he couldget out noarticulate words;thenhemanaged to mutter,"Tell him I'm a Christian,andwillremainonewhatevermayhappen."Piet Van der Hummshrugged his shoulders. "Youhadbetter thinkitoverto-night. ThePalapogshavesomepainful ways of killing unbelievers. They are all goodMahomedans,justasIam." He gaveanotherofhishorriblegrins."Perhaps,to-morrow,whenyou see the waytheykillmenhere, youwillchangeyourmind.""Never1" Weakthoughhewas.Jackflungthedefianceathim. "Iwon'tdeny myreligion."AhLungnoddedtoo."Chineseman's jossquitegoodjoss. Nevertakeeblacksavage's joss."Ascowl crossed the half-caste's face."You'refools," he growled."I'vegivenyou a chanceoflife, becauseI wantskilled men inmyworkshops. But ifbynoonto-morrowyouhaven'tagreedtoadopttheRaja'sreligion, Ican't save you. I shan't tryto,either, remem-ber that. Anddon'tthink youwilleverbeallowedtoescapefromhereandguideaBritish forcedownonus. Iwouldkill you withmyownhands first."Thenhemadeasign fortheguardstotakethemaway.Apparently there was no sort of prison attached tothe Raja's houseprobably prisoners were not usuallykept long in suspenseand the place into whichJackand Ah Lung were thrust was really but a dilapidated41IN THE RAJA'STOWNhut at the back of the main building. The door was acrazy afiair without even a latch, though, as their feetwere nowtied as securely as their wrists, both locks andguardsseemed tobeunnecessary.Foronethingtheyweregratefulbeforeleaving finally,their guards gave them a drink of water. Never beforehad Jackenjoyed anything so much. For the moment,even their danger seemed to be of no account; thenAhLungheavedadeepsigh."Plenty muchee bad. Nothing can do. Better goto sleep," hemurmured,andafter that, to allappearance,hedidactuallydozeofi.To Jack, however, sleep was an impossibility. Inaddition to the horror of their position, there was theachingpainofhisbonds, in itselfenoughtohavekept himawake.Vaguely he heard what seemed to be some sort ofa war dance in progress, and he found himself wonderingwhethertheywouldbeatdrumsand yell whilsthe himselfwas being put to death on tlie morrow. Would he geta chance of a last handshake withAhLung? Hewouldlike tothanktheChinaman;hewould Suddenly hewas aware that Piet Van der Hummwas standing overhim. It was dark in the hut, of course, but still therewasenoughlightbywhichto recognisetheYellowDwarf'sfigure.The half-caste puSod out a large cloud of cigar smoke,then"You had better be wise to-morrow," he began."I have got you the chance of life, not because I care ajotaboutyour feelings, but because I wantyou and thatpig of a Chinamaninmyworkshops,repairingguns. I'mboss here, upto acertain point ; but justnowold Sej'edhas a religious fit on him. You won't get back to your42IN THE RAJA'S TOWNownpeople, anywayI will see to thatbutbybecomingMahomedansyouwillavoidanuglydeath."Jackdrew a deep breath. He knew the other wastelling the truth, thatthe offer of life was a genuine one,andyet, and yetHe remembered that he was an English gentleman,andhadtostandbyhis Faithandhiscodeofhonour."I shall dieaChristian,"heansweredquietly.The half-caste gave a vicious snarl."Diethen,youyoung fool. I've finishedwithyou. Itwon't be a quick or easy death," and he turned on hisheel and left the hut.At last Jack dozed off, or, at any rate, became semi-conscious. How long he remained so he never knew;but it could not have been more than an hour beforehe was awakened by someone touching his face gently.He would have cried out, had not a hand been placedover his mouth."Make no noise, sahib," awell-known voice said, in alowtone."I willcutthecords."It wasMahomed.43CHAPTERVTHEKANDERONGCAVESMAHOMEDhadasharp knife, andit wa3onlythework of a fewseconds to free both JackandAhLung;but itwasafull tenminutesbeforethey could use their limbs at all, and even then theirmovementswereunsteady.Whilsttheywaitedfor thecirculationtoreturn, Mahomedwhisperedhis story. Really,he had not beentouchedbyanyofthebullets fired athim, buthadswumunderwaterto the bank, andthen had followed themup cautiously,hiding in the bushoutside the villageuntil nightfall. Hehad watched the dance in progress, had noted that thedancers werewell supplied with native spirits, and, whenthenoisedied down,hadcrept up, to find eventhesentryattheentranceof theenclosureasleep.Hehad run a terrible risk, of course,butluckhadbeenon his side, for he had come almost straight to the hutin whichthe prisoners were confined.Jack took a long drink from the calabash which hadbeen left in the hut, and handed it to Ah Lung; then,seeingtheChinamanwasready:"Lead theway,Mahomed,"he said.Notasoulseemedtobestirring, notalightwasshowinganywhere. Theycrept roundthe big, straggling building,andwereactually in thegatewaybeforetheysawanyone.Thenthesentry cameinview. Hewasasleep, withhisback44THEKANDERONGCAVESagainstthepost,andbothJackand Mahomedpassedhiminsafety; butheopenedhiseyesjustintimetosee AhLung.Andnow he madeamistake. Had he shouted atoncethefugitiveswouldhavebolted ;but,instead,hestretchedout his hand for his rifle, thinking theChinamanhad notnoticedhim.A wild cat could not have sprung more swiftly andmoresilentlythandidAhLung. Akindof gurgle, whichended in a gasp, was all that sentry got out beforethoseleanyellowhands throttled him."Plenty fine rifle and cartridge belt," the Celestialmutteredashehurried after theothertwo.Dawnfound thema good tenmiles from Raja Seyed'scapital. Fortunehadcertainly continuedto favourthem,for, an hour after their escape, a heavy rain had fallen,entirelywashingawaytheir spoor.The British settlementslay to theeast, and it wassafeto assumethatanypursuers wouldhunt forthem in thatdirection ; but, at Ah Lung's suggestion, they headednorth towards the sea. As he pointed out, they couldfollowthe coast Une round with the certainty of findingwhattheysought,whereas, inthejungle,theymighteasilystriketoo far inland.Hitherto, they had been forcing their way throughjungle in the darkness; but, just as it became Ughtenough to see, they found themselves on the crest of asmall rise. Jackgavean exclamation of surprise. There,buta quarter of amileaway,was a high clifE, having initwhatappeared to be themouths of half a dozen caves.Theseentrances wereof various sizes, and, at the sideofthelargestone,wasalong, lowshelterofpalmleaves andbamboo. As he looked. Jack saw a bird something likea swallow comeout of the big entrance. Afew secondslaterthere werebirds inscores, thenin hundreds.45THE KANDERONGCAVESAh Lung nodded."Kanderong Caves," he remarked."Plentybirds' nest forsoupthere, plentygoodchop."ButJackwas thinking of a very different aspect of thecase. There would also be scores of the Yellow Dwarf'snatives round the caves. They could hardly have blun-deredontoaworseplace. Moreover, he couldseenowthatthere was only about a hundred yards of open land, oldrice-fields, between the foot of the cliffs and the river.To attempt to cross that in daylight would be to askfor capture. The only thing to do seemed to be toturn back, and try to find some other way round theKanderongCliffs;yet, bydoing so,theywouldverylikelyrun rightintooneofPietVanderHumm'ssearchparties.Hewas still trying to decide what to do,when a riflecracked outsomefouror fivehundredyardsbehindthem.For an instantthethreefugitives stared atoneanotherindismay. Sotheir pursuerswereontheirtrack, after all IThenAhLunggrippedJack's arm."Hide in cave there, little piecee cave. No one comethere."Jack understood at once. The entrance to one of thesmaller caves was partially hidden bybush; evidentlyitwasnotusedat all by thenest-collectors; and, fromwherethey were, they could easily reach it unobserved. Theenemy would never dream of their taking refuge, so tospeak,inthelion'smouth.Aquarterofanhourlatersaw themlyingjust insidethetunnel, watchingfor their foesthroughthe screenof bush.Theyhad only just been in time,for theyhadhardly satdown before a party of a dozen of the hideous littlePalapogs swept past within a hundred yards, evidentlyon the look out for them. A small deer slung on theback of one of the savages explained the rifle-shot theyhad heard. Luckily, the ground was verystony at the46THEKANDERONGCAVESfoot of the cliffs, and it would have puzzled even anAfricanbushmantodetecttheir spoor.AhLunggaveasigh of relief."Nowcanrest,"hesaid,and withoutmoreado he stretched himself out andwentto sleep.Mahomed grunted,peered once more throughthebush,thenfollowedtheChinaman'sexample. ForafewminutesJack tried to remain on guard, gripping the rifle, which,with the exception of Mahomed's knife, was their onlyweapon; thenhishead,too,droppedandhefellfastasleep.ThesunwaslowinthewestwhenJackawoke. For amomenthe could not recall where he was;then he re-membered and looked around. To his dismay hefoundthathewasalone;and,whatwasmore, thattherifleandcartridgebelt hadgone. Ahorrible feeling ofhopelessnessswept over him. Naturallyenough,he assumed that hiscompanionshadcreptaway,trying tosavethemselvesbyleaving him to his fate. In a way they were right, hetold himselfthey were stronger than he was, far moreaccustomedtothejungle, abletodowithlessfood,andhispresencecouldonlybeadragonthem.For afull hourhesatthere, staringatnothing,wonder-ingvaguelyin whatformdeathwouldcometohim. Thenhejumped to his feet, looking roundwUdly for aweaponof some kind. Footsteps were approaching him frominsidethecave. Ashortpieceofdrywoodlayacoupleofyards away. Hesprang forward and seized this; thenalmost unconsciously he shouted a challenge:"Who's there ? Comeon, and finish it 1"Therewasaquiet laugh, and then Ah Lung'svoice saying:"Nomakee too much noise. Plenty Palapog outside,plenty slave-man in cave. Mahomed bring slave-man'schop."A minute later Mahomed appeared, carryingsome47THEKANDERONGCAVESearthenware dishes of boiled rice and fish. ImmediatelyJackrealised howhungryhereally was,howmanyhourshadgonebysincehehadtastedanythingmoresubstantialthan fruit. Fortunately Mahomed had taken the pre-caution of bringing all hecould find, and, even after thethree of themhad eaten their full, there was still someleft.Ah Lung put his dish down with a sigh, rubbed hisstomachcontentedly,andthenexplained. Theyhad gonedown the cavemoreout of curiosity than anything else,and at first they had thought that it was quite a smallone, especially as there were no nests in it, but asuddenturnhadbroughtthemtoatunnel,whichledintothe maincavern. Through this they had been able tosteal downto the placewherethenest-coUectorshad left their dishesoffood,andappropriatesomeofthelatter.TheChinamanlaughedsoftly attherecollection of theirraid." Every slave-man say other slave-man plenty thief.Wewatch. Byand by, Palapog came along and beatallverymuchhard."Thenhewentontoexplainhow all the actual work ofnest-collecting, work of the most dangerous nature, wasdoneby ordinary natives, whowere nothingmore or lessthanslaves,thedreadedPalapogsactingasslave-drivers.It wasalmost darknow, andtheheavymealthey hadhadheavyincomparisontowhattheyhadeatenlatelyhad madethem all drowsy;consequently, they decidedtoremainwheretheywereforthenight. Itwastolerablycertain thatnoonewould disturb them, and, bywaiting,they would give the Yellow Dwarf's search parties timeto return emptyhanded."Plenty nice soft place for sleep inside. No stormcomethere,"AhLungsaid.48THEKANDERONG CAVESJack found that he was right. Once they were reallyinsidethecave,thefloorseemedtobecomealmostspongy.They sank ankle deep in some soft matter, which feltlike dry moss. It was far too dark then to see what itwas, butat least it hadnosmell, and made a mostcom-fortable mattress. Moreover, the cave wasboth dry andwarm;consequently, thelackofblanketsdidnottroublethem greatly.The sun was streaming in through the mouth of thecave when Jack awoke. Apparently, Mahomed or theChinaman had been out already, for, in addition to theremjiins of the rice and fish, there wasa quantity of wildfruit. The boy felt thoroughly refreshed, ready to faceanything, but theothers were notso cheerful. AhLung,it seemed, had narrowly escaped being seen by a partyof Palapogs outside. Mahomed, watching through thebushes, had seen another party, and it was evident that,for some reason or other, there were now a good manyof the Raja's savage followers in the narrow strip of landbetweenthecaves andthe river."Doyousupposethey'relooking for us ?"Jackasked,naturallyenough.Mahomed shook his head."No, sahib, too many for that. I think Chinaman injunk, pirate-Chinaman, coming to try and steal birds'nests."The boy glanced at Ah Lung, whonodded cheerfully."Plenty fight by and by. Very bad Chinaman, verybadYellowDwarf. Westay here."There was no questioning the wisdom of this advice;in fact, when Jack himself looked out, he could see atleast a hundred Palapogscamped amongst thetrees, nota stone's throw away. Evidently, as Mahomed said,theywereexpectinganattack of some sort.49THEKANDERONGCAVESHe went back to where they had slept, and sat downagain. The only course was to wait. Apparently theyhad taken refuge in the most unfortunate place possible.More or less unconsciouslyfor his mind was full of thedangersoutsidehebegantoexaminethatcuriousspongycarpet of the cave, and, to his astonishment, found thatit really consisted of the dried remains of tens of milUonsof insects of thetypeof ahugegrasshopper.^Hepicked up a handful of the stuff, and, as he did so,hisfingers cameincontactwith somethinghard. A momentlater he had unearthed a large curved sword with anivory hilt.Ah Lung, who had been watching, leaned forward,quivering with excitement."Chinaman's sword," heexclaimed."Plenty big Viceroy's sword. What himmakee here ?"Then he, too, began to scrape away thestuffonthe cavern floor.'This is ict\ially the case in the cavea.30CHAPTER VITHEBLACKPEARLAHLUNG'Sfirst find was a kind of halberd."Belong Viceroy's guard," he announced."Plenty big mandarin die here. One China-manburyall his things." Heglancedround,and his eyefell on what appeared to be several small heaps of thedeposit, a few feet away.It was only the work of a minute to uncover a skull,then an entire skeleton, with rags of clothing still roundit. In all, they found the remains of four men, as wellas a couple more swords of a plainer type, and an oldpistol, bearinganEnglishmaker's mark, andhavingsomeChinesecarvingonthe stock.That, however, seemed to be the limit of what theywere going to discover, and Jack was just about to giveupthesearch,when,oncemore,hefeltsomethingmetallic.It proved to bea small bronze box, with Chinese designsembossedon it."What's this, AhLung?"heasked.The Celestial, who was still examining the skeletons,looked up;then he almost snatched the boxout of theboy'shands. It wastheViceroy'slettercase,heexclaimed.The task of opening the bronze box was no easy one;but at last the Chinaman touched some secret springandthehdflewopen,revealing arollcoveredwithChinesecharacters.451THE BLACK PEARLAminutelater," CantonViceroy,"hemuttered."Canreadthese writings."Jackwatchedhimin silence. Hehad always suspectedthat Ah Lung wasgreatly superiortotheordinarycoolie,andwas not surprised to find he could read the script of hisowncountry; but he wsis surprised at the changewhichgradually came over that usually impassive face."BlackPearlofPeihoo 1"AhLung lookedupquickly."BlackPearl, verygreat thingofChineseEmperor. OneChinaman stealee long ago. All about himhere." Thenhewentonwith his reading.At last he finished, replaced the roll with a decidedlyunsteadyhand, andturned to theboy."BlackPearlofPeihoo hide himnear here, with plentymorepearl. Wefind himand get plenty dollar, somanydollarnoknowhowto count." Hedrew his handacrosshis forehead, as though he was slightlydazed, then gaveJackthestory, as hehadread it ontheroll.The Black Pearl, he explained, had been one of themostfamous,andmostsacred, possessions of the ChineseEmperors. Its history went back to the very beginningof things: in fact, it was supposed oncetohavebelongedtoConfucius himself. For twenty-five centuries specialsentries hadguardeditdayandnight ; consequently,whenit becameknownthat the jewel, aswellasalarge numberof lesser pearls, had been stolen, there was the utmostconsternationthroughoutthe FloweryLand."Plenty chop ofi guards' heads," Ah Lung added."Executioner-manverymuchtired.""Whenwasthat ? Whatyear?"Jack asked.AhLungcountedbackwith the patientaccuracyof hisrace, until he reached 1852."That was the year," hesaid. Since then, nothing had been heard of the greatpearl, though all Chinamen knew of the matter; hence52THEBLACK PEARLhis excitement over the discovery of the papers, for inthesewasthestoryofthePearl'sfate.It wasatale sufi&ciently dramatic to stir anyone. Thewriter, Chang Ho, secretary toWangFu Sin, Viceroy ofCanton,hadsetitail downcarefully,in the formofareportto the Emperor. TheViceroy, it appeared, had seized asuspicious character, and, after torturing him sufi&ciently,had learntthattheGreatPearlwasonits way,bysea, toCeylon,whereit wastobehandedovertotheagentofanenormouslywealthy Indianprince,whohad long covetedthejewel.At once the Viceroy himself had set oft in pursuit.True, the thieves had ten days' start, but they had onlyanordinary junk, whilst he hada swift war-junk, and itwassafe to assumethat he would reach Ceylon ahead ofthecriminals.However,hewasdestinednevertocompletehisjourney.Onedaya junk'sboatwassighted andpicked up. In itwere two dead men and one who wasnearly dead, thesole survivors of the crew of the vessel belonging to therobbers. Therescued man hved just long enoughto tellhis tale. Badweather had driven the junk close to theshoreof Borneo,whereshehadbeenattackedby pirates,the subjects of Raja Seyed's grandfather. During thefightthethree menhad managedto escape in the boat,the pirates being afterwards too busy looting theirprizetoworryabout pursuingthem.Wang Fu Sin madeup his mind instantly. Heknewnowwhere the Black Pearl was,in thepossession of thisforeignruler. RajaIsmail, andhis dutywastorecover it.Hehad a large and well-armed crew, and, for centuriespast, his nation had been accustomed to raiding all theports of Borneoand the adjacent islands. Moreover, thecaptain of his junkknewthe wayuptheriver toIsmail's53THE BLACKPEARLtown, the place in which Jack had recently been aprisoner.The attack, madeat night, wassuccessful. TheSacredPearlwasfound, Ismailhimselfkilled, andthejunkstartedbackdownwiththeriver, adistanceofabout fifteenmiles.Then the luck changed. The vessel ranon a sandbank,andbefore she could berefloated, the Palapogs, whohadnowrecoveredfromtheirdefeat, sweptdownonher.TimeaftertimetheChinamenbeat themoff, but, in theend,thejunk wassetonfire. FiveofhiscompanyescapedtheViceroy,his secretary,and three sailors;and, withthem, wentthe GreatPearl.Fordaystheyhid in thejungle, then, seeing nohopeofgetting away, and knowing that his strength was going,the old Mandarindecided toputthePearlwhereno savagecouldeverreachit. Intothe"Holewheredevilsbreatheout smoke"thetreasure waslowered, carefully, solemnly,until theboxrested on the firstledge. Then,likeagreatnobleman, the Viceroy went to the Kanderong Caves, to"prayto the spirits of his ancestors until deathshouldrelease him."Ah Lung told the story quietly, but none the less hewas evidently moved by it, proud of it. Jack, too, wasmoved. Hecould picture the oldmand}-ing, picture thesecretary, faithful to the last, writing up his report, evenwhen it seemed impossible that anyone should ever readit, andthendyingtoo, perhapscommittingsuicidebecausehis chief was dead. Probably all but one of the partydidthesame. Thelastmanmusthavecoveredthebodieswithsomeof that strange deposit, andthenhavegonetoseekdeath outside.WhenAh Lunghad finished,"\Vhat does that mean,'Theholewheredevils breatheoutsmoke'?"Jackasked.54THE BLACKPEARLThe Chinaman, whowas nursing the little bronze boxonhisknees,shookhishead."No can tell yet. But find him by and by. FindBlack Pearl, too. Then plenty dollar."Jack could not help smiling, then, suddenly, he grewserious. After all, they themselves were in little bettercase than the Viceroy had been, except that they werenot old and infirm. To speak of finding the Pearlseemed absurd. They would be lucky to escape withtheir lives.Thesound of a shot fired outside thecavebroughthimback to the immediate present. Apparently, however,it was merely a false alarm, for the party of Palapogswas still camped in the same place, and, judging by thefactthatroughshelters of palmleaveswerebeingputup,there seemed no chance of the savages shifting on thatnight.Jack'sheartfell. Theyhadfinished all their foodnow,and they had no water. Atthe end of another twenty-four hours they would indeed be in a bad way. Yet,to venture outside the cave was to ask for death. Heshuddered at the very thought of falling again into thehandsof theYellowDwarfandhis gangof fiends.The hours dragged by with deadly slowness. To killtime, theymadeafreshsearch for further remains of theViceroyand his followers, butfoundnothingmore. Thentheylay down, keeping as still as possible, in thehope offighting oil hungerand thirst.It wasjustbeforesundownthatAhLungrose."Goand get some more chop and some water," hesaid."No make any good stay here." Then, takingtheViceroy's sword with him, he started to climb up totheholethroughwhichthemaincavewasreached.Jackwatched him go with a curious mixture of hope55THE BLACK PEARLand despair. Really, their plightseemedtogrowsteadilyworse, andhefelt that, if anythinghappenedtoAhLung,therewould be no chance left for Mahomed and himself.Atthesametime,helongeddesperatelytoseethe Chinamanreturningwithsomefoodandwater, especiallywater.The sun went down;the short twihght came to anend; through the mouthof the cave they could see thestars twinkling;and still there was no sign of AhLung.Mahomed,whohadbeenonguardattheentrance,crawledback."Palapoggoingto havedance,sahib,"hesaidhoarsely."They light big fire. No chance we get out of hereto-night."Theboygroaned. If, as nowseemed likely, theChina-manhadcome to grief, this meantthat they wouldhaveonce more to go through the awhil agony of thirst. Helay downon his back,and tried to persuade himself thatthe darkness had brought relief, but the attempt wasnot a success;instead, he began to recall the tortureshe had suffered when a prisoner at Raja Seyed's town.Suddenly he was aware of a tiny light shining in thecave itself. He sat up quickly, gripping the rifle, thenmade out the figure of the Celestial emerging from theconnecting passage, a tiny torch in onehand, whilst withthe otherhandhewas gripping the waistcloth of anativeyoungster."All right. Prisoner he carry chop and water," AhLung announced, and Jackcould see that the captivehada large calabash anda basket. Theboygavea sighof relief. It was as thoughtheyhadbeen granted anewleaseoflife.TheChinamanstuck his torch in a crevice in the wall,where the light could not be seen from outside, then,assoonas JackandMahomedhadhadsomewater,toldof56THEBLACKPEARLhis adventures.This time he had found no suppUesclose to the other end of the tunnel, so had crept alongin the darkness, rightinto that part of the maincavernwherethenest-gathererswereatwork.At first he had met no one. All the Palapogswereoutside, takingpart in the war dance,whilst those ofthe slaveswho werenotat workweresleeping.Finally,however, he had lightedon the food and water, and wasjust returningwith his loot, whenhe stumbled across hisprisoner." Methinkee,'Kill him or takehim?'"he explained."Thenthinkee'Takehim.'Alwayscan kill byand by;but if kill firstnocantake."The native squatted on the floor of the cave, staringat nothing, evidentlyexpectingtobeputto death; then,finding that his captors were not worrying about him,helooked round, as though meditating adash for liberty.As he did so, his eyes met those of Mahomed,who gavea cry of surprise."AbduUa,sahib !"saidthelatter,turningtoJack."Itis indeed AbduUa from myown village. Long ago hewasstolenbyevilmen,andmadeaslave."It wassometimebeforethe two compatriotswerecalmenough to answer Jack's questions; but, when they didso, AbduUa explained that Ah Lung's theory was right,that certain junks full of Chinese pirates were on theirwayup the river to attempt to loot the stores of birds'nests, and that the Palapogs were waiting for them.Several days might elapse before the battle, and duringthattimetherewasnochanceofescapefromtheentrancestothecavesfacingtheriver.Jack caught at the phrase, "the entrances facing theriver.""Are there other entrances?" he demanded,57THE BLACK PEARLVery"reluctantlyAbduUaanswered:"Yes, there is one, leading out at the back. Youcouldreachiteasily, withoutbeingseenbyanyone."Danger had made Jacksharp-witted, alert. At oncehe saw what seemed to be the weak spot in the story.Why, if there was this entrance, did not the slaves in thecaverntrytoescape ?AbduIIa's answer brought Ah Lung to his feet witha cry of mingled surprise anddelight."You cannot get out there, because you have to passthe'Holewheredevils brc.ithe out smoke,'and the devilswould pull youdown," the prisoner answered.AhLungturnedquickly to Jack."We go there, out from cave, and findee him BlackPearl of Peihoo."In his excitement he reached out for the tiny torch;but, as he gripped it, the flame flickered out. HebegantomutterangrilyforaCelestialhewasunusuallymovedbut Jack seized his arm, and pointed towards the mouthof the cave. There, silhouetted against the sky, easilyrecognisablebythe big sun helmet,wasthe sinister figureof theYellowDwarf.5*CHAPTER VIITHESMOKEHOLEYES,therewas no question about it. The man inthe entrance of the cave was undoubtedly PietVan derHumm.Aminute after he appeared another figure climbed upbesidehim,evidentlyoneofthePalapogs.Jack's blood ran cold. Had they been traced afterall ? He forgot, of course, that though they could seethe Yellow Dwarf clearly, he most certainly could notseethemin theblackness of the cave.AhLunghimselfwasthefirst torecoverfromtheshock."Only watch Palapog-men dance," he whispered, andintheend heprovedtobe right, though, afterwards, thatwaitinthecavehadanimmenseinfluenceonthefortunesof all, for Mahomed spent the time in talking toAbdulla.At last the shouts of the dancers died down; after afew final bursts of noise, the drummers seemed to haveretiredforthenight ; then theYellowDwarfrose,stretchedhimself, and disappeared as suddenly as hehad come.The moment the way was clear, Ah Lung produceda box of matches from some secret hiding-place on hisperson, relighted the torch, then led the way throughthesmall tunnel into themaincavern.At first Jackstared round in amazement. The placewas huge, fully a hundred and fifty feet in height, witha vast floor area. Even in daylime, with the sunlight59THESMOKEHOLEcoming in through the entrance, it would haveseemedstrange; but at night it was absolutely uncanny.Downbelowtherewasnolighting of anysort, notevena fire; but just beneath the roof, apparently swingingfrom it, were scores and scores of little torches, similartotheonewhichAhLunghad captured. ForamomentJack saw only these specks of light, then he made outnumbers of ropes hanging from the roof, and he under-stood. Each of those torches represented a nest-gathereratthetop of arope-ladder."Plentybad workthat," AhLungwhispered;"slave-man no likee. Ladder break and him fall very hard."Thecavewasso largethat theirguidehadnodifficultyin taking them round a way in which there was littlechance of their encountering anyone. Finally, afterturningsharplytothe left andclimbinga short rise, theycaughtsight of theskythroughasmallopeningonlysometwentyyardsahead.The guide stopped dead, and began to speak rapidlytoMahomed,who, in turn, interpreted to Jack."He says he has done his work now, sahib, and hewantsto goback. Hesoonerbeslavethanbecaughtbydevils outthere."Jackhad been expecting this and had already madeup his mind. There could be no question of allowingAbduUa to return. Hewould be certain to tell some ofhis fellow slaves of what he had seen that night; theywoulddiscuss itamongstthemselves;thePalapogswouldoverhear; and in avery fewhours PietVan der Hummwould once morebe on the right scent."He'sgottocometoo, Mahomed,"theboysaid sternly.''Tellhimso. I'll guard himfromanyevil spirits."It was evident that Mahomed himself was afraid, butinhiscasetherewasnochoice. Hehadto goon, or fall60THESMOKEHOLEinto thehands of the Palapogs ; but he put in anotherpleaforAbduUa,declaringthatthelattercouldbetrustednotto talk. Jackfrowned. It wasnotthetimefor dis-cussionsofthiskind."Bring him along, Ah Lung,"he saidsternly, "this isall rubbish aboutthedevils outside. He'llbegladenoughlatertofindhimselfafree man."The Chinaman stretched out his hand, intending toseize the native by the waistcloth, but he was a littletoolate. Withasuddentwistof hisbody,Abdullaeludedhimanddashedbackintothedarknessofthecavern.Foramoment the others stared at oneanother in dis-mayprobably they had now turned the guide into anenemy;thenJackshruggedhis shoulders,andsaid :''Wemust hurry on, that's all. Hemay not betrayus;"buthedid notbelieve his ownwords.Afewminutes later theyhadscrambledacrossastretchof broken rock, and were once more in the open. Asingle glance showed them that theyhadnow got intoatype of country very different from that on the otherside of the caves. It was just as though someimmensevolcanohadbeenblowntopiecesbyaninternalexplosion.Huge masses of jagged rock were bedded in what hadbeen streams of molten lava. There were no trees,nograss, only an all-pervading smell of sulphur; whilsttheairwasfullofwhat seemedlikethesoundoftheboilingof avast kettle of water.Although it still neededsomehours to dawn,afterthedarknessofthecaverntheywereabletoseethingsoutsidewithcomparativeease."I don't wonder the natives avoid thisplace,"Jackmuttered."It is about the hmit for desolation,andthesulphuris nearlyenoughto Idll you." Thenhegripped AhLung's arm and pointed to a place on the left,whence6iTHESMOKE HOLEapufiofsmokehad suddenlyissued."Isthat thedevils'breathing hole ?"he asked.TheChinamanhad noticed it too."Thinkeeso. Waitand see him byandby, when sun-light come.""No, no," Jackprotested."We must get on. AhLung. Never mind about that. Daylight or not, wehaven't got aminute to lose."But, for once, the Chinaman mutinied. To him theBlack Pearlwassomethinginfinitely moreimportantthaneven his own life, and he was not going on until he hadascertained if the place whence the smoke was issuingwasreally whereWangFuSinhadhidden it. In despair,Jackglanced atMahomed,butsawatoncethat therewasno help to be obtained in that quarter. It was onlytooplain that the latter was scared out of his wits. So hehadtogivein, and, asit appeared, toagreeto wasteseveralprecious hours in that vile atmosphere, merely to gratifythe Chinaman's curiosity.He was furious about it, so furious that had it beenpossiblehewould have pushedonalone; butsuchathingwas outof the question;consequently,hesquatteddownwith his two companions behind a huge boulder, to waitfor thedawn.There must ha^e been something in the atmospherewhichmadethemdrowsy, somethingwhich,fromtheverymoment when they emerged from the cave, made themtake strange views of everything. At any rate, the sunwas high when Jack awoke, Iieavy-eyed, with a curioustaste in his mouth, and even then he had no easy taskin awakeningAh I.ung andMahomed.However, once the Chinaman was on his feet, heremembered.Ahuge puff of white smokecame out of the ground a6aTHESMOKE HOLEhundredyardsaway,hungmotionless in the air for a ftwseconds,thenspreadoutanddescendedonthem.AhLungrubbedhisejestheywerebleared andblood-shot."Welookeenow,"hesaid."Plentysmokecome,thenno smoke. Plenty bad place this."All three of them staggered as they started towardsthesmokehole. It seemed to Jackas though the grounditself wasrising in billows in front ofhimtomeet his feetas he put them down. And then, after what seemed anamazingly long mterval, he was standing on the edge ofa huge pit,a pit without a bottom, grippingAh Lung'sarm.Amomentlater he was vaguely aware that the China-man was speaking, that he wm pointing down the pit,tryingtomakehimsee something.Then he sawit clearly. Yes, it wasthere, resting onaledgesomeforty feetdown,athingthatlookedhkeabox.Anotherpuffofsmokecameupsuddenly, like thesmokefrom a gun, and after thatJack rememberednothinguntilhewasawakenedby Mahomedpouringwateroverhishead. His mouth was very bad, horrible, and his headwas aching as though it would burst ; but he understoodclearly enoughwhenAhLungexplained.The Chinaman and Mahomed had carriedhim somedistance away. Fortunately they had not beenaffectedso muchby the foul gases as he had been,otherwiseallof them would probably have perished.Nowtheywereinacomparativelysafe place,hiddenamongstsomejungleonthe otherside ofthevolcanicridge.Jackdrewhishandacross hisforehead."I seem to remember seeing somethingon a ledge,"hemuttered.TheChinaman'seyes gleamed.63THESMOKE HOLE"Box there, yes," he answered."Plenty big Chinesebox, Viceroy's box. Black Pearl of Peihoo in box. Butnocangetbecause ofsmoke."Theboywas terribly drowsy still. Hefelt that, at allcosts,hemustsleepsleep forhours;yettherewassome-thinghewantedto say first."Ifyouhadsmoke-helmets,thethingstheyuseinminedisasters, you would get down there easily enough. AhLung,"hemurmured;thenhis eyes closed again,andheforgoteverything.64CHAPTER VIIIMAHOMED'SINDISCRETIONDAWNwas just breaking when Jack awoke again.Hewas cold and stifi, but his brain was nowperfectly clear and thathorrible taste had goneoutofhis mouth."Twenty-fourhourssinceweleftthecave,"hemutteredashegotup andstretchedhimself,"and,duringthattime,we've only gone about a mUe1 Weshall have to get amove on to-day." Then he roused his two companions,whowereasleepafewyardsaway.Acouple of hours later theyhad crossed asmaU ridgeand found themselves actually in sight of the sea.Jackheavedabigsigh of relief. ItseemedUkemeetingan oldfriend after along separation.Abaremileawaytheycould seethemouthoftheriver,and, as they watched, the sails of a large Chinese junkappeared behind the trees on the bank. Evidentiyshewasdriftingslowlydownstream. Afewminuteslater sheseemedtocatcha shght breeze,andit wasnotlongbeforethe vessel was in mid-river, where they could see herclearly.AhLungnoddedwisely."Cantonesepirate-man. Very bad man indeed.ButtoomanyPalapog menbelong YellowDwarf.Drivehimpirateaway.''Certainly it looked as if he were right, for therewere65MAHOMED'S INDISCRETIONunmistakable signs of the vessel having suffered badlyin a fight, whilst the second junk, of which AbduUahadtold them, wasnowhereto be seen. It wasquite possiblefor there to havebeen heavy firing on the bank withoutJack and his companions hearing anything of it at theother side of the KanderongRange."Well,I suppose we ought to be gratefultothosepirates,"Jacktold himself."If it hadnot been for them,Piet VanderHumm would probably have found us. They kepthim busy.''That night found them a full twenty miles nearercivihsation. They had passed several vUlages, but hadbeen careful to keep out of sight of the natives, as, in allprobability, theywere stiU in Raja Seyed's territory. Onthe other hand, Mahomed had succeeded in creeping upto anisolatedhut,whichprovedto beemptyat the moment,and securing a cooking pot and a basket of rice, whilst,just before sundown. Jack had shot a small wild pig.Consequently, they had the first really satisfying mealfor manydays.Afterwards, as theysat besidethe fire. Ah Lung beganoncemoreto talk of theBlack Pearl. Hehad, of course,brought the old Viceroy's papers with him, and, as hereadthemthroughagain by theflickering Ughtoftheflames,the description fitted exactly.Thebox they had seen on the ledge was of hammeredbronze, he declared, and though the foul gases musthaveaffected theoutside,theywouldnot have gottothe contents.Theprecious gem, the Pearl of all pearls, was stiU there,onlysomeforty feet downthe pit.As he spoke of it, the Chinaman's voice shook withexcitement. All his oriental calm seemed to leave him.Notonly was there a fortune to be madeby recoveringthe boxit appeared that the other gems v.-cre worth66MAHOMED'S INDISCRETIONan immensesum in themselves^but there was also thegloryof restoringtheBlackPearltoChina. Theirnames,and the names of their ancestors, would be glorious forever, hedeclared.Jacknodded. All day long his mind had been fullof the question. He, too, had no doubt as to what wasin thatbox, andheknewthat, with asmokehelmetandaropeladder, itwouldbeasimplemattertobringtheboxtothe surface. Onthe other hand, there was the risk ofthenatives. HewentcoldattheveryideaoffallingoncemoreintothehandsoftheYellow Dwarf,though,ofcourse,it was quite possible that before many months werepast some civilised nation would have wiped out theabominationsof RajaSeyed's rule.The idea of the adventure fired him, especially nowthatthefoodhadgivenhimnewstrength. Yes, it wouldbeagreatthingtodo,and,ifevertheopportunityoccurred,hewoulddo it. Still, he did not forget the claims of hiscompanions. Theymust,ofcourse,sharein theadventuretoo, and he determined that, as soon as they reachedcivilisation again, he would get an agreement properlydrawnupandsigned.He had no misgivings regarding Ah Lung. When aChinamanmakes a bargain, either verbally or in writing,hestandsbyit, absolutely, beingthemosthonestbusinessmanintheworld ;but Mahomedwasdifierent. Hewouldprobably hasten back to his village, and, as soon as hehad filled himself upwith native spirits, the whole storywouldbecomepublic property.Jackglanced at the native. Yes, he had proved him.self brave and faithful ; they owed their very Uves tohim;but could he be trusted to keep a secret ?Amomentlaterthatquestionwasansweredby Mahomedhimself.5 67MAHOMED'SINDISCRETION"Yellow Dwarfknow about Black Pearl hidden some-where, sahib,"he announced." Theymuchwantto findhim."BothJackandAhLungturnedonhimquickly,"Howdoyouknow?"theboydemanded.Andthen it cameout. Whilstthey werewaitingin thecave, Mahomed had told Abdulla of the finding of theViceroy's papers I True, Mahomed knew no details,and Abdulla had fled before they discovered the boxlyingon the ledge, but a great deal of mischief had beendone. Abdulla knew that Jack and Ah Lung held thesecret, and it was more than likely that he would tryto curry favour withPietVanderHummbytelUng himofthe fact."Malaymanplentybig fool," AhLunggrowled wrath-fully."Cannot trust one little piecee," and hewenton,grumblingto himself in his owntongue.Jack, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders. Theharmwasdone,andtherewasnousein complainingaboutit. After all, the Yellow Dwarf could only learn thatthey knew. Abdulla could not furnish him with a singledetail, and the chances of anyone going into that deadlypiece of countryat thebackof thecaveswereverysmall;smaller still was the chance of anyone peering down the"SmokeHole"andnoticingtheboxasitlayontheledge.StiU, it did prove that Mahomed's discretion was notto be trusted, and now, of course, Mahomedknew33wellas they did wherethe Black Pearlwas.68CHAPTER IXBY THE SKIN OFTHEIR TEETHATnoonthefollowingdayJackcalled ahaltat thefootofasmallhiU. Theyhadmadeanexcellenttrek, andoncemoreMahomed had succeeded inobtainingsomerice, sothattheywereall right as regardedfood.Whilst the pot was cooking, Mahomed stroUed awayupthehill-side, whencehewouldbeable to getsomeideaof the country ahead of them. Five minutes later theyheard him shouting excitedly:"Come here, sahib, and look. There is a steamer, asteameroftheEnglish, inthe little bay."Jackneeded nosecond bidding. One glance confirmedthe native's report. Yes, thereshewas, a coaster ofsomefive or six hundred tons, anchored not a mile away fromthem, apparently taking in cargo from a little fleet ofdug-outcanoes.Theboyheavedabigsigh of relief, andareal heartfeltprayer of gratitude went up from him. He had beenprotected in a marvellous manner throughout that longandperilousjourney, andhewasnotashamedto acknow-ledge the fact. In his direct, honestnature there wasnoroom for any of that cowardly shyness of admitting hisfaith, whichmakesso manyyoungsters give upprayer atthe very time when they need its support the most.Mahomed prayed openly at the times laid down by his69BYTHESKIN OF THEIRTEETHcreed;probablyAhLungdid thesamein hisway; and,if only because he was their leader and a white man.Jack's very pride would have made him keep up theoutwardforms of his beUef. Thevoiceof Mahomed,whohadclimbed atree in order to get a betterview,broke inonhis thoughts."I can see the village now, sahib. It is amongst thepalms on the beach. There areOh1 The snake1"heendedinaterriblecryofhorror.Jackswunground instantly, to see himfling fromhimathickgreenishsnake,sometwofeetinlength.."Hasit bittenyou?"theboygasped.For answer,MahomedsUd to the ground,and drawinghis knife began frenziedly to slash the flesh of his thighacross and across, groaning the while.AhLung,whohadracedupatthe first alarm,shookhishead sadly."Nocan do anything," he said." Nomedicine."Thememoryofwhatfollowedseemedtoburn itself intoJack's brain. Fortunately, it lasted but a quarter of anhour; then the rigid Umbs suddenly relaxed, the foamceased to bubble from those livid lips, and it was allover.Astheycoveredthe bodywith palmleaves,theonlyformofburialtheycouldgiveit there,theboyrememberedwithasob his thoughts of the night before, his irritation withMahomed for having gossiped to Abdulla, the uneasinesshehad fe