CHAPTER VIII
KUALA BESUT
"Land ho!"
Early one morning the two magic words had thrilled the _Seamew_, andsince breakfast the two boys had been perched on the upper bridge withtheir binoculars. They were different from the pair that had left SanFrancisco, weeks before; sun and salt wind had tanned them,self-confidence and energy had filled their hearts, and Mart inparticular had gained an added air of resoluteness that became hisstrong features well.
And they had met with strange sights--unwieldy Chinese junks withmatting sails, island trading schooners, slimmer craft containingnatives, and even immense canoes which came from distant islands withfish and fruit to barter at sight of the yacht's smoke.
But now Asia itself lay before them--and the most uncivilized part ofAsia, which nevertheless was held by the flag of England. They hadpassed the Redang Islands, and were now standing in for the wide rivermouth which denoted their goal, Kuala Besut. On the right lay a low,palm-grown island some two miles long, which Jerry Smith declareduninhabited, as it was often awash at the rainy season. Directly aheadof them, the harbor deepened in to meet the river, and to right and leftthe long lagoons slowly opened out.
"By juniper!" exclaimed Bob delightedly, as the captain and Jerry joinedthem. "Let's you and me run over to that island some time, Mart! I'llbet we'd pick up some great old shells there!"
"That you would, lads," said the quartermaster, wagging his white hairin the breeze. "There be some fine shells hereabouts! Cap'n, we'd bestnot run up the river."
"Looks pretty good sized to me," returned Captain Hollinger, as he sweptthe harbor with his glasses. Although the river was still two milesaway, they could see that it was large and apparently of good depth."Had we better send out a boat to make soundings first, do you think?"
"No, sir--it ain't that. It's the natives, sir. They'll be off in boatsas soon as they see us slip our anchor over into the mud, and I'll talkto 'em. They'll remember me, 'cause why I've been in here before,trading."
"Very well, then. You'd better go to the wheel."
Jerry shuffled to the wheel house and took the steam steering-gear inhand, his blue eyes sweeping over their course. The shores ahead and oneither hand were low and thickly overgrown, but rose into hill-slopesbehind. All was a tangle of dark green jungle, and as the brown riveropened out before them, the boys saw that it was very sluggish andappeared to merge its waters with those of the lagoon.
The lagoon proved to be curious in this respect, for to the northeast ofthe river mouth, on the starboard side of the yacht, it ran far upinside the island, and its waters were here distinctly sea-green, owingto the channels beyond the island. Where the yacht was, however, and tothe south, the water was of a muddy brown color, proving that theriver-current tended to empty toward the southward instead of diverginggenerally into the entire lagoon.
Captain Hollinger had barely pointed out this fact when Jerry orderedtheir speed slowed down, and turned their course to the northeast. The_Seamew_ slowly ran into the lagoon, turned inside the island, where thegreen water narrowed into a half-mile stretch, and there the engineswere stopped. The anchor plunged over and the cable roared out, then aleadsman forward gave their soundings.
"Six fathom, sir!"
Captain Hollinger, who had the deck, went to the chart house for hissextant. It was just noon, and he wished to log their exact position.Mart gave Bob a meaning glance and the two boys went to the wheel house,where old Jerry was leaning on the idle wheel and gazing at the shore.
"Well, Jerry," said Bob, "where's the wreck of that old galleon, eh? Theone where the Pirate Shark hangs out, I mean."
Jerry chuckled, and pointed with his pipe to the northern end of thelagoon.
"Up there, lads, up there inside the channel beyond the end o' theisland. Eight fathom down, she is--down there among the rocks, and us upabove. Fish tell no tales, lads, fish tell no tales! Old Jerry's theonly man who knows--"
"How soon will any boats come out?" asked Mart, who had resolved tobother no more about the Pirate Shark, as he had a shrewd notion thatJerry was not quite right in the head. "Will they bring fruit?"
"Aye, lads, plenty o' that. But they'll not be out for an hour or twoyet, not they! Time for mess, lads--eight bells, time for mess!"
The captain got his sights, to be worked out later, and joined them. Ashe did so, Jerry made the request that he be given shore leave, as hemight want to go ashore with any boats that came out. He had been herebefore on a trading trip, he said, and knew the natives in the villageat the river mouth; so if he spent a day ashore he could arrange fortheir hunting trip and make firm friends of the Malays.
"Why, of course!" smiled Captain Hollinger, as they went down to mess."You're a guest as far as I'm concerned, Jerry, so do as you please."
The old quartermaster nodded and no more was said on the subject. To theboys, it seemed that Jerry's desire to go ashore was a good sign. Sincehe was willing to trust himself alone to the natives, it showed that onhis previous visit he must have made friends with them. The boys hadread and heard a good deal of how the more unscrupulous tradingschooners treated the natives, and they perceived at once that Jerry'sprevious visits must have been made in peace and good will.
Mart Judson, indeed, inclined strongly to the opinion that thewhite-haired old quartermaster was slightly "bughouse," as he expressedit. As to the dynamite on board, he concluded that whether the PirateShark was an hallucination of the old man's brain or not, the explosivemight come in useful in their diving operations. He gave no credencewhatever to the story of the wrecked galleon out in the lagoon "eightfathom down."
What Bob thought in the matter did not appear, for although thefreckled, blue-eyed chap seemed careless enough, in reality he wascautious in giving vent to any opinion whatever. He merely grunted inreply to Mart's arguments, that afternoon, and waved a hand beyond theisland, to the place Jerry had indicated.
"Six fathom here, Mart, and Jerry says it's eight up there. There's achannel to the sea, there, and rocks pointing up. The channel would beapt to cut it out deeper, and twelve feet makes a lot o' difference."
Beyond that he would say nothing at all, though indeed he got smallchance, for a few moments later they made out two Malay fishing boatsreaching out from the mouth of the river.
Behind them came others, approaching cautiously, and an hour later theyacht was surrounded by a dozen craft. All hands were on deck, but therewas no need for any fears. When the leading boat approached cautiously,Jerry Smith stepped up on the rail, shouting something in a strangetongue, and without further hesitation the boat darted up to the ladderand gangway, which had been put over the side, with a large floatingplatform.
Contrary to the ideas which the boys had formed, the Malays lookedanything but savages. They wore fez-like round caps, bright shirts, andsarongs or wrapped skirts of gay cloth, while all wore krisses ofvarious patterns, and a few carried old flint-lock muskets.
"Tell them we'll let only ten at a time on deck," said Captain Hollingerto Jerry. Swanson was up forward, looking on with the men. Jerryrepeated the order in Malay, and a moment later he was surrounded by agroup of grinning, chattering, excited natives who plainly recognizedhim as an old friend.
Captain Hollinger had already ordered a case of trading goods brokenout, and a few moments later the yacht was well supplied with bananas,pineapples, cocoanuts, rice and fresh fish. One of the Malays, who worea resplendent sarong of crimson silk, Jerry introduced as the headman ofthe village; he was a rather dried-up looking man, but his face wasintelligent and bright, and he shook hands all around in a heartymanner.
As Jerry was interpreting the captain's address to him, Mart noticedthat one of the men next to him wore a kris without any sheath. Glancingat the weapon, he drew Bob's attention to it; the blade wasflame-shaped, about three feet in length, and was inlaid with silverlines. Bob jerked the quartermaster's arm and pointed at the kris.
"Ask him if he'll sell it, Jerry!"
"Aye
, lad, he'll sell it right enough. I'll ask him, and you getsomething he'd like--say, some kind o' weapon."
Bob darted off, returning with an old-fashioned Colt cap-revolver, whichhe had hanging on his stateroom wall as a souvenir. Mart laughed atsight of it, but to his surprise the Malay eagerly made the trade, andthe kris was Bob's. Captain Hollinger examined it with some interest,and promptly made an offer through Jerry for a dozen more of theweapons, to keep as souvenirs.
"Better let that wait, sir," said the quartermaster. "It ain't best tobe in too much hurry, Cap'n. When you've gone ashore, after that therehuntin' trip, sir, then's the time to trade for such stuff. Wait tillthey know as they're goin' to lose you, and you'll get bargains."
The wisdom of this was quite evident, so Captain Hollinger nodded. Thenthe quartermaster turned to the headman and spoke for some moments atlength, after which he announced that he was going ashore and wouldreturn to report to the captain in the morning. He said it would benecessary to consult men from other villages as to where tigers might befound, as well as to arrange for beaters and a party of hunters, butthat all would be arranged that night or in the morning.
With this, Jerry went below, got some of his things together in aduffle-bag, and went over the ladder into the fishing-prau, with afarewell wave of the hand at the boys and his other shipmates. TheMalays put out their long oars, shouted a farewell to which the crewresponded with cheers, and the dozen boats swept back toward the river.
"Well, we've got a pretty good crew now!" laughed the captain lookingaround at the decks. Their duties being over for the time being, theengine-room crew had come on deck, fraternizing with their brotherKanakas, and everyone, from old Borden to Mart and Bob, was busy stowingaway fresh fruit, of which the supply was bountiful.
The boys examined Bob's silver-inlaid kris, with its carven handle ofbone, and it was indeed a trophy worth carrying home. At mess thatevening Bob's father announced his desire to take Joe Swanson with himon his initial hunting-trip, at which the burly mate was no littleastonished.
"Well," he said, with a slow grin, "I'm not much on shootin', Cap'n, butI'll be mortal glad to stretch my legs ashore. Who'll take charge o' theship?"
"Well," smiled the captain, "I'll leave the boys in charge, with Jerry.The quartermaster is capable, and he's going to start diving operationsup the river. I want to see what things are like in the jungle beforeI'll take the boys hunting, as it's apt to be pretty dangerous."
"I dunno, sir," and Swanson frowned, staring at his plate. "I've heard agood bit about Jerry, and I wouldn't leave him--"
"Oh, nonsense!" Captain Hollinger laughed out, and the boys rememberedthe mate's protest before the voyage began that Jerry was "unlucky.""I've heard about his piratical tendencies, but don't you worry, Mr.Swanson. He's all right."
The mate shrugged his shoulders heavily and said no more. That eveningthe boys proffered a request that they be set ashore on the island inthe morning. Both were anxious to set foot on the sands, and to prowlabout the place at their leisure, and as the island was clearlyuninhabited, Captain Hollinger assented willingly. Mart decided to takethe motion-picture machine along in order to try it out, and Bob laterconfided to him his intention to take along a rifle in case they sawanything to shoot at.
"Shucks, there's nothin' around here to shoot," returned Martscornfully. "And 'specially on the island. Besides, your dad wouldn'tstand for it."
"That's all right," grinned Bob. "I'll get one of those thirty-thirtiesout of the rack and slip her into the boat. Maybe we won't use it, andmaybe we will. We might meet that Pirate Shark, you know!"
"Oh, shucks!" ejaculated Mart.
They breakfasted early the next morning, and as the captain wanted amessage relayed to San Francisco, the boys sought the wireless housewhile Dailey and Borden and Yorke were getting a boat over the side.After some persistent efforts, Mart finally raised an answer, and afterlooking it up in his blue-bound book, found that it came from a Dutchsteamer of the Nederland line, and promptly got rid of his messages,which would be relayed by more powerful instruments to Manila andHonolulu. During this labor, Bob slipped away, and after Mart hadreported to Captain Hollinger and secured his motion-picture camera, hefound his chum waiting in the boat, where Dailey and Yorke, Borden andBirch were at the oars. Waving farewell to the ship, they moved away;Bob nudged Mart and pointed to a tarpaulin under the stern.
"There she is," he said mysteriously.
"What?"
"That rifle," reported Bob, chuckling. "We're off, old scout! I wishwe'd meet that Pirate Shark o' Jerry's. I guess a thirty-thirty bulletwould make him sick!"
"Huh!" grunted Mart, his eyes sweeping across the sunlit waters. "Nochance!"