Jungle and Stream: or, The Adventures of Two Boys in Siam

"The traitors – the traitors!" groaned Phra; "and we trusted them so. But tell me, Sree: those lights, the cries, and the beating of gongs to-night, what did it all mean?"

"Fighting, Sahib. The King's friends are very few, but some of his servants are with him still, and they beat the enemy off. Spears cannot reach so far as guns. Lahn says fighting like that has gone on all day."

"Hah!" ejaculated Phra. "But tell me: you, did you do nothing?"

"Yes, Sahib Phra; that made me so long. I went up in the dark to where there are many hundreds of the enemy all about the palace."

"But did you try to find a way by which we may get in tonight?"

"No, Sahib; the enemy are many, and they watch every place."

"But the terrace?" said Phra eagerly. "We could take the boat up there."

"Two of the King's barges are there, with many men guarding the landing-place, so that the King and his friends should not escape by the river."

"But at the back there, by the elephant houses?"

"A hundred men are there."

"By the garden?"

"It is full of spearmen."

"Oh, is there no place?" whispered Phra – "nowhere that we could crawl up unseen?"

"The Sahib Prince knows the place better than his servant, and that it is strong. His servant would have tried to climb over the wall, but there were many men everywhere, and he could not get near."

"If we could only let my father know that we are near!" said Phra excitedly.

"If we could, Sahib," said Sree slowly, "he would command you to escape, and wait till the danger is at an end."

"Yes – yes – he would wish me to go, but I cannot. Mr.

Kenyon – Doctor – what shall we do?"

"We must get help," said Mr. Kenyon promptly. "Phra, my dear lad, we can do nothing alone."

"But who would help us at a time like this? The priests and the whole city have risen against my father; who will help us now?"

"We must go down to the mouth of the river as soon as it is day, and see if there are any English or French vessels there. They would help us."

"Lahn says the river is full of the second king's fighting boats, Sahib, and you could not go down. The boat would be stopped, and you would all be slain."

There was silence in the boat till Sree spoke again.

"The Sahibs must hide."

"Hide?" cried Phra; "where could we hide now? We should be seen, and to please the bonzes the people would give us up."

"You must hide in the boat, Sahib Phra," said the old hunter quietly.

"What, go up the river again, and get into the jungle?"

"No, Sahib; we must be here – close to the palace."

"But with all the enemy's boats about, how can we?" said Mr. Kenyon.

"By being bold, Sahib," said Sree. "His servant will make the boat look dirty and common with mats where the cabin is, and throw that into the river. The Sahibs must hide beneath the mats; the men can hide their good padungs and sit in the boat and fish and chew."

"Yes, yes," said Phra; "no one would notice them. That is good. We must not go away."

"But help?" said Mr. Kenyon; "we must get help."

"His servant will swim to some boat, Sahib – he will find one, no doubt – and go down the river to try for help."

"No," said Mr. Kenyon, "we want you here. I will write on a leaf of my pocket-book, and you must send one of your men."

"Yes, Lahn would take it to an English ship if there is one," said Sree, whose voice suggested that he was pleased that he was wanted in the boat. "Lahn is here, Sahib. May he come on board?"

"Of course."

Sree uttered a peculiar sound, and a dark figure rose from the ground where it had lain flat, and glided down the bank into the boat.

"Now across to the other shore where we can hide," said Mr. Kenyon.

"No, Sahib," said Sree in a low, earnest whisper; "his servant has been thinking. We will go down to the landing-place at the bottom of the bungalow garden."

"Why there?" said Phra excitedly.

"Because the Sahib Prince's servant thinks if the cabin is taken down and thrown into the river to float away, the boat can be pushed between the big posts of the landing-place, and will lie under the bamboo floor."

"Yes, when the tide's down," said Harry; "but when the tide rises, what then?"

"The boat will be pushed close up against the bottom of the floor, and the water will rise a little round it, Sahib."

"But we should be shut up like in a trap, Sree, and regularly caught," said Harry.

"No, Sahib; the bamboos are split, and only tied down with rotan cane. It would be easy to undo two or three, so that we could pass out, or to leave a little of the boat outside one end, so that there would be room to get out on to the floor."

"Well, you are a clever old fellow, Sree," said Harry eagerly. "And now the bungalow is burnt no one will come there."

"No, Sahib; they will keep away. Does Sahib Kenyon feel that we should go there?"

"Yes, my man, yes. It will be less of a risk, for boats that pass will not think of meddling with the one lying there."

That was enough. Sree said one word, and Adong rose from where he had crouched, plunged his oar into the water, and forced the boat downward against the tide, while Sree and the boatmen set to work and cut loose the mats which hung from the cabin roof. These were carefully rolled up by one of the men, while the bamboo rafters were cut away. Then four men stood on the sides of the boat, each by one of the stout uprights, and at the word of command raised the light matting and palm-thatch roof, and heaved it away, to fall edgewise with a splash into the dark river.

Ten minutes later the last of the four uprights was thrust overboard, and almost directly after the garden landing-place was reached, and Sree's calculations were put to the test.

They proved to be quite correct, for there was just room for the boat to glide in between the bamboo posts; and as to height, the occupants were able to keep upon their seats with a few inches above their heads between them and the joists which supported the bamboo floor.

"Ah!" said Phra between his teeth; "we shall be in hiding here."

"Yes," whispered Harry; "but I don't think we shall be safe."

"I don't know," said his father; "an open hiding-place is often the most secure."

CHAPTER XXII

DARING PLANS

The tide rose but a trifle higher, so that there was no imprisonment such as had been suggested, and the boatmen, after a modest meal of rice, calmly settled themselves down to sleep.

But, like his employers, Sree was wakeful, and sat near, ready to answer questions or offer advice.

He said that he believed they might stay where they were, unquestioned, for days; and as for provisions, it would be easy for him or one of his men to go here or there about the place and buy food.

These minor questions were soon disposed of. The main topic – how to rescue the King and their friends – then took up all their thought and kept them watching and waking hour after hour, a certain equality now seeming to reign, and the boys' suggestions being listened to eagerly by their elders.

But everything proposed seemed to be full of difficulties. The first most natural and simplest was to get the besieged away in boats, for the rivers and canals were the highways, the roads through the jungle mere elephant tracks. But this was at once seen to be impossible in the face of the facts that the way to the river was watched, and the large boats in the hands of the enemy.

Then there was the plan of escaping by means of the elephants, the whole of which were, according to Lahn, still in their great houses, close to the part of the palace defended by the King and his friends.

But supposing it possible that the whole of the defenders could be mounted upon the huge, docile beasts, and could succeed in forcing their way through the crowd of assailants, where could they go? Only into the jungle to starve, for there was no place to which they could flee.

It was always the same: they were face to face with the fact that in such a self-dependent place the King, who was all-powerful one day, might be the next weaker and more helpless than the humblest of his subjects.

Plan after plan was discussed during the calm silence of that night, when all were in momentary expectation of hearing fresh alarms and attacks; but every idea seemed perfectly futile, and a dead silence fell.

Harry was the first to break the silence.

"Why don't you propose something, Phra?" he said. "We've been talking all this time, and you've hardly said a word."

"I've been listening," said the boy gravely, "and I have thought."

"Yes, what have you thought?"

"That if we could think of some plan of escape, my father would help you to get all your friends away."

"Yes, of course," said Harry, for Phra had stopped. "Well?"

"But he would not leave the place himself. I know my father. He would say, 'I am the king here by right, and I will never leave. I would sooner die.'"

"I fear so," said Mr. Kenyon.

"I can only think of my father," continued Phra; "you only of your friends, and so we think differently."

"Oh no," said Harry. "Your troubles are ours, just as our troubles are yours."

"That is so," replied the boy; "but I can only think of joining my father to help him defend the palace till he has driven his enemies away."

"Phra is right," said the doctor. "We cannot bring our people away – it seems impossible. We must devote ourselves to joining the King and defending the palace against all enemies."

"It is good advice," said Mr. Kenyon, "but how can we join them? It seems impossible, too."

"We have not tried," said the doctor coldly.

"Sree has tried to find a way in," replied Mr. Kenyon, "and he says it cannot be done. Do you not, Sree?"

"Yes, Sahib. If we go as we are, your servant and the men could perhaps make the second king and those with him believe that they were friends; but whether by night or by day, if the sahibs try to get there, they will all be speared. It is what the enemy would gladly do."

"We could fight," said Phra proudly. "We have guns."

"Yes, Sahib Phra, and some of the enemy would be killed, but what are we against so many?"

"Ah, what indeed?" sighed Mr. Kenyon. "A dozen or so against thousands upon thousands."

"Phra Sahib is right," continued Sree. "He is prince, and should take us to join his father the King."

"Yes, but how?" said the doctor.

"It can only be by cunning, Sahib," replied the man.

"Hist! One moment," said Harry excitedly; "what about the men? The spear-bearers forsook the King; how can we trust these boatmen?"

"Because they love and believe in the sahibs," said Sree. "I think we can trust them."

"But your two men, Sree?"

"My two – Adong and Lahn – Sahib Harry?" said the old hunter with a little laugh. "I have always been like a father to them, and they would follow me, even if it were to be killed."

"And you, Sree?" the said doctor bitterly; "why should you be faithful to us?"

"I don't know, Sahib," said the man simply; "only that Sahib Kenyon has been like a father to me ever since he brought me back here to my people from among the Indian sahibs, where I had lived for years. He has always been my good, kind master, who fed me when I was hungry, and gave me money to buy clothes. I don't know how it is, but I feel that I belong to him and the young Sahib Harry; and if they said to me, 'Sree, you must die that we may escape and live,' well, it would only be what I should do, and I should be happy. Yes, sahibs, I should die."

"I know you would, Sree," whispered Harry, leaning over to grasp the man's hands. "He would, wouldn't he, father?"

"Yes, my boy, I believe he would. He has saved my life more than once."

"Oh, I believe in Sree, too," said the doctor excitedly. "But those we love are perishing close by, and we are doing nothing."

"I know what we might do," said Harry eagerly.

"Yes, what?" said the doctor.

"Wait till to-morrow night."

"Wait till to-morrow night!" echoed the doctor bitterly. "Wait while they perish!"

"We don't know but what they can keep the enemy off till then," said

Harry, with spirit.

"True," said his father quickly; "but what if we wait till to-morrow night?"

"Then it would be dark, and we might go and join with the enemy when they make one of their attacks. Then, when they retire, we might fall down as if wounded, and wait close up to the gate."

"Yes," said Phra eagerly, "and as soon as the enemy were far enough off we could call to those in the palace that we were friends, and they would open and let us in."

"That sounds wild," said Mr. Kenyon, "but it is possible. What do you say, Sree?"

"No, Sahib; it would do for me and the men. We could get into the palace that way, but the Sahibs? No. The enemy would know them at once, however dark."

"True," said Mr. Kenyon.

"It is not possible," groaned the doctor. "We must try by force to break through."

"That would mean death to all, Sahib," said Sree in a low, sad voice; "and there would be no help for your friends."

"Stop," said Phra. "I think it might be done."

"Hist! Sahib Phra; a boat is coming."

All listened, but the Europeans once more felt that they had been deceived, till suddenly there was a faint splash, followed by the dull pattering of water against a prow, and this sound came nearer and nearer till a big, dark shadow propelled by quite a dozen oars was seen to glide up the river towards the palace landing-place.

They waited till the boat passed out of hearing, and Phra went on.

"Harry and I could darken our faces, hands and legs easily enough so as to pass for common people. We did once dress like that. You remember, Hal, when we went right down among the house-boats and no one knew."

"Yes, I remember," said Harry shortly.

"It would be easy for us," said Phra; "but – "

The boy stopped.

"Would Doctor Cameron and I disguise ourselves for such a purpose as this? Certainly we would."

"Yes, of course," said the doctor huskily. "What about the native clothes – the baju and padung?"

"They would be easier to get, Sahib – easier than spears."

"Spears?" said the doctor; "we have our guns."

"But they would betray us, Cameron," said Mr. Kenyon. "We should have spears for ourselves and men."

"There are plenty of guns in the palace," said Phra. "Sree, could we get spears by then?"

The old hunter was silent for a while, as if thinking deeply.

"How long is it before morning?" he said.

"It must be near day-break now," replied Mr. Kenyon.

"No, Sahib. Not for two hours yet. There are many spears in the big boats that have gone up to the palace landing-place; and if the men on board are asleep, we might get what we want."

"There are sheaves and sheaves in the guard-rooms, Sree, if we could get them."

"Yes, Sahib Phra," replied the man; "but that we could not do. If the sahibs will get on to the floor above us and stay there with the men, it is very dark to-night, and Adong and Lahn might go with me in the boat. We could row up very quietly, and perhaps get enough from one of the barges."

"Try," said Mr. Kenyon laconically. "You could not hurt if you were careful."

Phra whispered a word to Harry.

"Yes," he replied. "Father, Phra and I want to go with Sree."

"It would be better for him to go alone."

"The young sahibs have been trained by me to be silent when seeking wild creatures in the jungle, Sahib. They could help us by taking the spears, if we get any, and laying them in the bottom of the boat."

"Why not take two of the boatmen?"

"His servant would rather trust the young sahibs," said Sree.

"There is no time to discuss the matter," said Mr. Kenyon firmly. "Be careful, boys, and go."

Harry's heart gave a big throb, and he gripped Phra's knee.

"Ah," whispered the latter; "this is what I wanted. It is doing something to help."

"Yes," whispered back Harry. "It is horrible sitting here doing nothing but talk."

Even in those brief moments something had been done; the boat had been set in motion, and now glided with the stream from beneath the bamboo platform out at the upper end.

Then at a word the boatmen followed the two gentlemen and Mike out on to the platform, and squatted down at once; Adong and Lahn seized oars, passing the cocoa-nut fibre loops over the posts which served as rowlocks, and, with the boys' hearts beating high with excitement, the boat began to glide rapidly and silently up stream with the tide.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE SPEAR HARVEST

The distance was short, and to favour the daring enterprise, the darkness seemed to grow more intense as morning drew near. The banks of the river were invisible as they glided silently along, and the boys were whispering together when Sree suddenly stepped to where they sat amidships.

"We speak not when near the tiger's lair," he said softly. "When we go alongside the boat I pick, I shall hold on, Adong and Lahn will go on board; you two will silently take the spears and lay them along the thwarts."

"Yes," said Phra, and the old hunter passed on, bare-footed, forward to where Adong was wielding his oar.

The two comrades sat straining their eyes, for the barges, they felt certain, were not far ahead, and wondered whether the two boys, as they called them – though they were full-grown men – would succeed in the daring venture; and it was on Harry's tongue to whisper, —

"Oh, I wish we had made Sree send us instead."

It was only a momentary thought, before he felt that the two dark, nearly-naked Siamese, as strong, active and silent in their movements as leopards, from long training as hunters, were far better adapted for the task; and he had nearly come to this conclusion when a low muttering reached his ears, and looking to his left, he could just make out something dark which he knew to be one of the barges anchored almost in mid-stream.

The next minute he caught sight of the dim glow of a paper lanthorn, and that was on the prow of another barge close in to the palace landing-place; but the boat still glided on, for the keen, owl-like eyes of Adong had seen another of the barges a little ahead.

All was wonderfully still, but there was a dull, indescribable murmur in the air which told of sleeping men being near at hand, and a faint, human odour reached Harry's nostrils which endorsed the fact.

But he had no time for thinking: the movements of the three Siamese hunters were so rapid. The next minute they were close up to the last barge seen, and the boat quivered a little as Sree made a movement which meant that he had reached over and caught the side.

So to speak, the boys listened with all their might, and their ears, made more sensitive by excitement, seemed to magnify sound, and their eyes to have increased power; still the darkness was so intense that they could not see the actions of the men forward and astern.

But their sense of feeling had grown so acute that they were conscious of the fore part of the boat rising a little, and then of the hinder portion lifting, each time there being a light quivering and lapping of the water against the sides.

"They've got aboard her," thought Harry, whose mouth and throat grew dry. "The next thing will be spears indeed, but a shower sent at Adong and Lahn. Then they will leap overboard with a splash, Sree will push off, and the two boys will swim to us."

"Oh!"

It was a mental ejaculation, and the boy's thoughts formed this question, —

"Will they think to swim with the tide, for we shall float up stream?"

A faint click as of wood against wood interrupted his musings, and then he started, for Phra pinched his leg, the compression of the flesh being painful from the excitement of the giver.

Harry responded with another pinch, which to his credit was of a much milder form, and then all was still, while the boys waited on the qui vive for what seemed fully five minutes.

All was perfectly still, and Harry strained his eyes so as to make out Sree holding the boat alongside in a position which enabled him to keep it steady, while at the same time he was ready to thrust it right away into comparative, though not perfect, safety, for a well thrown bamboo-hafted spear flies far and with deadly power.

"There are none, or they can't find them," thought Harry, but the next moment the bamboo shaft of a spear touched his shoulder, the man who handed it being careful to pass the butt end of the weapon first, and quick as lightning the boy received it and laid it down behind him, reaching up his hands again to feel for another, and becoming conscious at the same moment that Phra was stooping to lay down one he had received.

It was not easy to feel the weapons in the dark, but they felt for and received two each, and then there was a pause, while they listened to the murmur, murmur from one of the other great boats, which sounded as if some one was relating a long story in a low tone.

Then two more spears were passed down, and two more, it being hard work to lay them alongside the thwarts without making them rattle; and again there was a pause for what seemed to the boys fully ten minutes, before they heard a low, rattling sound, as if several of the bamboo shafts had been laid together against the rail of the barge, and the murmur ceased.

Harry held up his hands for another spear, but he reached about in vain. There was no response till the murmur recommenced, when there was another rattle, louder than the first, and again the murmur ceased.

But now the butts of two spears touched Harry in the chest, and he seized and laid them down, finding two more waiting.

These he grasped and laid down. Then two more, which he also seized, thus taking possession of six in less than a minute; a dull rattling in front telling that Phra was as busily employed, though how many he had obtained it was impossible to tell.

The murmur of voices began again, but the two men did not make any sign of returning, and the boys waited with beating hearts, but waited in vain.

They raised their hands and felt about overhead, but nothing more was handed to them, and the desire was strong upon Harry to creep to where Sree was holding the boat close against the barge's side, and ask him what he thought; but the feeling that the old hunter was in command, and that the two boys might be only obeying their master's orders, stayed him, and he waited.

"Here they are," he thought at last, for there was a movement high up on the side of the barge.

He raised his hand again, and as he did so he felt a sharp jerk in the sleeve of his jacket and starting back he knew instinctively that the blade of a spear had been sharply thrust down instead of the butt, and had passed through his jacket, grazing his arm, while the jerk he gave held the blade entangled lightly between his arm and side.

"What does he mean by that?" thought the boy as he was dragged forward and nearly off his feet, for he had seized the shaft with both hands.

He knew the next moment, for there was a loud shout, the sound of a blow; the spear came free, and something heavy and soft drove him backwards, while a sudden jerking of the boat brought Phra to his knees.

The shouting increased, and was responded to from barge after barge, the alarm having spread; but the boat was rapidly gliding across the river, and, turning at the opposite side, began to descend again at a pretty good rate, while a couple of lanthorns could be seen moving about on the barge they had left, and others were being lit as fast as was possible – slowly enough – on the others.

It was still too dark to make out what was taking place in their own boat, but it seemed to Harry in the excitement and confusion that only one of the men had dropped in and was rowing forward, while Sree was working the after oar, but with danger so near, he dared not even whisper to Phra, who was close by. Another thing was that he was trying to draw the spear from his left sleeve, in which it was strangely tangled, as if the man who thrust had given it a twist; and, worse still, he had become conscious that his arm and sleeve were wet, a peculiar smarting sensation telling him that he was bleeding freely.

"At last!" he said to himself, as he tore out the spear; and then he started, for Sree was leaning over him.