And yet he was obliged to own that it would have been unjust to rob them at the station of part of their strength, when at any moment they might want it all.

Bob Roberts was the better Malay scholar of the two, but his vocabulary only extended to asking for a durian, Good morning! How are you? and the favourite Malay proverbial saying,--"_Apa boleh booat_"--It was to be, or It couldn't be helped.

They had been progressing now for hours, and the heat was insufferable-- a heavy, moist heat, in that narrow way, shut in between two walls of verdure, and yet there seemed to be no signs of their journey being nearly ended. Under the circ.u.mstances Bob Roberts was set to try and get some information out of their guide, whom he tried with "Good morning," in the Malay tongue; and then, after a civil answer to his remark, plunged at once into plain English with,--

"How much farther is it?"

The Malay looked hard in his eyes, and Bob repeated the question.

The Malay seemed to divine what he meant, for he raised one bare brown arm and pointed forward along the course of the river.

It was a mute but conclusive reply, telling the middy plainly enough that they had farther to go, and once more the attention of all was taken up by the navigation of the narrow winding channel.

Still there was no fault to be found with Ali's message, for the water was deep, and though the steamer seemed at times to be running right into the bank, there was always room to turn what looked to be an ugly curve, and onward they went through the dense jungle.

On either side the primeval forest seemed to stretch away, and where there were changes of a more park-like character, so rare was the sight of a human being there that the shy pea-fowl, all metallic plumage and glorious eyes, could be seen gazing at the steamer before taking flight.

There were deer too seen occasionally, and had this been a pleasure-trip the sportsman would have had ample use for rifle or gun.

But this was no pleasure-trip, for the deck was cleared for action, and the men were at their quarters, ready to send shot or sh.e.l.l hurtling through the jungle whenever there should be a reason for such a step.

Another hour, and another, and still the Malay guide pointed before him, gesticulating a little sometimes, as if bidding them hasten onwards.

The speed was increased at such times, though it was risky, for the narrowness of the course, and the size of the steamer, rendered the greatest care necessary to avoid running her bows in among the trees.

Lieutenant Johnson stamped impatiently at last as the sun was descending behind the trees, and still the Malay pointed onwards.

"It is enough to make one think it a wild goose chase!" he exclaimed.

"We have made a grievous mistake in not having an interpreter. Roberts, you ought to be able to speak the Malay tongue."

"Yes, sir," said Bob, "I ought!" And then to himself, "So ought you!"

Another hour and they were pa.s.sing through a denser part than ever; so close were they that the large drooping boughs of some of the trees cracked and rustled and snapped as they pa.s.sed by, to get to what seemed to be quite a lagoon shining clear and silvery, as seen by those on board the steamer through quite a tunnel of overhanging branches.

"We ought to be able to hear firing by this time if it is going on at the stockade," said the lieutenant. "What a place to bring Her Majesty's ship into! If I did not know that those poor fellows were anxiously expecting help, not a fathom further would I take the steamer than into yon open water to-night! Here! fetch that Malay fellow here, and let's see if we cannot get something out of him!"

Bob Roberts went forward to where the Malay stood, leaning over the bulwarks gazing at the trees on either side--at least he went to where the Malay did stand gazing at the trees, but now to Bob's astonishment the man was not there!

"Where's the Malay guide?" he said sharply to d.i.c.k, who was nearest to him.

"Well, sir, if you call that there chap a guide," said d.i.c.k, "I've done."

"I say where's the Malay guide?" said Bob, angrily.

"Haven't seen him, sir," said d.i.c.k, touching his cap.

"But he was standing here not ten minutes ago, just before we brushed against those trees!" exclaimed the young officer.

"Well yes, sir, I remember as he was," said old d.i.c.k, and several of the sailors were ready to affirm that they saw him not five minutes before.

A look round the deck showed that he was not there, and Bob stood looking puzzled; for the man had evidently looked upon himself almost as a prisoner, and not free to go about; he had consequently stood leaning against the port bulwark all the time, except when he had squatted on the deck to partake of the food supplied to him.

"Couldn't have been knocked overboard by the boughs, could he, sir?"

said d.i.c.k.

"Impossible!" exclaimed the middy; and he hurried off to report the fact that the Malay was missing.

"Are you sure?" exclaimed the lieutenant sharply.

"Certain, sir! He's nowhere on deck!"

"I thought as much!" cried the lieutenant angrily. "Good heavens, Roberts! that we could have been such idiots! Gray was right!"

"I do not understand you, sir."

"Understand? It's plain enough! That man, Private Gray, said he suspected the fellow, and yet we allowed him to gull us with his plausible story. Here, look sharp there!" he cried, as the steamer stood out now free of the tunnel-like ca.n.a.l, through which she had pa.s.sed, and was now approaching the centre of a tolerably broad lagoon.

The lieutenant gave his command in short, sharp, decisive tones, and a minute later a little anchor fell with a splash into the water, and the steamer swung in the just perceptible stream.

"I dare not attempt the journey back to-night, Roberts," he said. "We should be aground in the thick darkness before we had gone a mile."

"But won't you go forward, sir? We must be near the stockade!"

exclaimed Bob.

"If we go on till the river becomes a ditch, we shall find no stockade here, Roberts!" cried the lieutenant. "Why should there be one? There is neither campong nor sampan upon the river, and it is evident that there is no trade. No, Roberts, we have been tricked--cheated, and we must get back at full speed as soon as day begins to break. I have been uncomfortable for hours now, as I felt that our poor friends could never have come through such a forest as this. It is only pa.s.sable for beasts!"

"But the Malay and his message?"

"The Malay is as great a cheat as the old fruit-seller; and that message was never written by young Ali, unless he, too, is an enemy!"

"My life upon it, he is not," cried Bob.

"Then either he has been killed, or our plans were overheard, or betrayed, or something or another! That fellow--I see it all now it is too late--has quietly led us up here, awaiting his chance, and it came when those big boughs swept the side. He swung himself into one of the trees, and is by this time on his way back to his friends."

"But the jungle is not pa.s.sable!" said Bob.

"Then he will make a bamboo raft and get down the river. Oh, that we could be such fools!"

Bob Roberts stood in the gathering darkness staring at his superior officer, and trying hard to believe that the Malay might have been swept over by accident; but by degrees he felt his mind veering round to the lieutenant's ideas.

The next minute orders were being given respecting the watch on deck, every light was extinguished, and extra care taken lest they should have been led into a trap and attempts be made to board the steamer during the night. But as the hours glided on, all they heard was the distant roar of some beast of prey, or an occasional splash in the water--sounds that had a strange attraction for Bob Roberts, as, with no thought of going to his cot, he leaned against the bulwark watching the fire-flies amid the trees, and mournfully wondered how they were getting on at the station, and what had become of Ali, shuddering again and again as the lieutenant's ominous words recurred to his mind.

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE.

PRIVATE SIM IS VERY WIDE AWAKE.

Lieutenant Johnson had said that in all probability Ali had been killed, this being of course his surmise, for he had no real reason for such an a.s.sertion. He was quite right, though, about having been tricked, for one of Rajah Gantang's cleverest spies after hearing from his hiding-place the plans that had been made, a.s.sumed the part of Ali in disguise, and pa.s.sed unchallenged by the sentries to go straight to the rajah and plan with him a way to divide the forces by sending the steamer upon a false scent.