CHAPTER ELEVEN.
THE WHITE HEN.
Meanwhile Ned and Frank had gone off eagerly to the attack upon thelurking water-dragon, terrible, in its way, as that which Saint Georgeslew, and about half-way to the stockade they caught sight of TimDriscol, seated under a tree, puffing away at a homemade pipe, composedof a short piece of bamboo with a reed stuck in the side. He had aneatly-made little basket by his knee, and as he saw the lads coming, hetapped the ashes out of his pipe, thrust it in his pocket, and rose topick up his basket, in which there was evidently something alive.
"Bedad and I began to think ye didn't mane to come," he said, with hiseyes twinkling.
"Oh, I should have come, Tim, if he hadn't," replied Frank.
"Av coorse ye would.--No offinse, Mr Murray, but why don't ye have adress like the young master here? Don't he look fine? I hear you tookhim for a young rajah."
"You come along, and don't talk stuff!" cried Frank. "Is that thechicken?" and he nodded toward the basket. "Well sor, I'd like to tellthe truth when I can."
"What do you mean? Haven't you got a chicken?" cried Frank, wrathfully."No, sor."
"I gave you orders to get one for a bait, and if you haven't got one,it's no use for us to go on."
"I did go to get one, sor."
"Well?"
"And the baste at the farthest off house said he'd find one for me."
"Well? Why, you have got it," cried Frank; "I can hear it rustling inthe basket."
"That isn't a chicken, sor."
"What is it, then?" cried Frank, impatiently.
"It's what he said was a chicken, sor."
"What is it, then?"
"I belave it's the ouldest hin about these parts, sor. He jabbered awayin his haythen dialect, and swore it was a tinder young chicken; butit's an ould hin, that's laid eggs till she's tired, and won't lay anymore, and he wants to sell her."
"But is it white?"
"Oh yes! it's white enough, sir."
"That will do, then. I don't suppose the croc can tell whether a bird'stender or tough. Come along."
Frank led on, leaving the palm houses behind, plunging among the trees,and winding in and out, till Ned recognised the spot where he hadstopped to watch the river, and there he could see, lying about in theshade, eight or nine of the Malays, most of whom had spears, which stoodleaning against the trunks of the trees.
"Now then, you two must talk English. I have got to speak in Malay, forI am going to do all the ordering this time. I say, Ned, you likefishing," he added, laughing. "You shall hold the line."
"But what are you going to do?"
"Wait a bit and you'll see," cried the lad; and he began to order theMalays about, the men hurrying here and there, and, evidently at hiscommand, keeping right away from the banks of the river.
"Don't want to scare our fish," he said, hurriedly, to Ned. Then, as aman came up with a coil of rope, Frank undid a part of it, and showedthat some feet of the end were not twisted, but all loose.
"Want to cutoff that bad bit?" said Ned, producing his knife.
"Bad, eh? Why, that's the beauty of it. I'm going to tie the hook onto it just there."
"But if you fish for a crocodile like that, he'll break away."
"Not he. They never do. If I fished with a hard piece of rope, he'dbite right through it."
"Then he must bite through that loose stuff. What is it--some kind ofhemp?"
"No; fibre of the gamooti palm, and his teeth will only go through theloose stuff and bother him."
He asked for something in Malay, and one of the men handed him acuriously-shaped hook, which he attached to the loose fibrous rope, andthen took a piece of stout twine from his pocket.
"Now, Tim," he cried, laughing, "give me the worm."
Tim opened the basket a little way, thrust in his hand, drew out theunfortunate hen, which was quite white, and began shrieking and flappingwildly till her wings were held down to her sides.
"Are you going to bait with that?" said Ned.
"Yes. Can't afford to bait with little boys and girls," replied Frank,merrily; "they come expensive, and the mothers don't like it."
"But you are going to kill it first?"
"Kill it? What for? We shouldn't get a bite if we did."
"But it's so horribly cruel."
"Is it? Well, I suppose it is, but if it wasn't killed this way, itwould have been killed directly to make into a curry. This is a betterend for it, for we shall save people's lives."
"If ye catch him, Masther Frank," said Tim.
"Oh, we shall catch him, Tim. You'll see. There, hold still."
As he spoke, Fred was busy tying the twine round the hen with ingeniousknots, till the poor bird looked as if it had been put in harness;while, firmly secured in amongst the string bandages, and hidden by oneof the wings, the hook lay ready for the reptile, if it did not prove tobe too cunning to touch the bait.
"There!" cried Frank, at last; and he then said something to the Malays,from whom a murmur that was a chorus of approval, arose.
"Are you going to throw it into the river close by where I saw themonster!" whispered Ned.
"Throw it in? Why, it would drown the bird."
"Of course."
"Oh, I see you don't understand croc fishing," continued Frank, securinga piece of the fibre twine to one of the legs of the hen, and another toa stout peg of wood, leaving about five feet clear for the bird to moveabout.
These preparations made, Frank took the bird under his arm, twisted therope twice about the hand which held the peg, and then, sticking a shortstout staff in his belt, he stooped down, and, keeping the tree in whichNed had seen the monkey, between him and the water, he crept silentlyforward, dragging the rope after him, till he was close up. Then,taking the peg to which the hen was tethered, he drove it quickly andfirmly down into the ground, as near to the edge of the bank as he couldreach.
Ned watched him excitedly, and as he recalled his own adventure, he wasin dread lest the reptile should make a rush at the gaily-clad figure,so occupied in his task that he would have been quite at the monster'smercy.
Similar thoughts evidently troubled the Malays, for five of the men tooktheir spears from where they leaned, and stood some thirty feet behindthe lad, ready to rush forward to his help. But there was no need.Frank worked quickly and well, driving the peg down into the ground withthe club, sufficiently tightly to keep the hen from getting free, butnot hard enough to prevent its being drawn by the reptile, supposingthat the twine did not break.
It was only a minute's work before the club was thrust back into hiswaistband, and a quantity of the rope hauled down to the bank. Then thelad trotted rapidly back, leaving the hen walking disconsolately up anddown with the hook beneath its wing, and dragging the loose rope hereand there; while, so little was the poor thing troubled, that it beganto scratch and peck about beneath the tree by the time Frank was talkingeagerly to the Malays, who now lay down again with their spears ready.
"Shall I howld the rope, sor?" said Tim.
"No. Mr Murray likes fishing," replied the lad, with a grin; "and heshall hold the line till there's a bite. Better tie that other end,though, to that little tree."
Tim obeyed, and then seated himself in the shadiest place he could find,and took out his pipe again.
"Now, Ned, lay hold; and when the fish bites, give him plenty of line.Don't strike."
Ned took the rope offered to him eagerly, and yet with a feeling ofreluctance, for the game was formidable.
"Let him go back into the river, and swallow the bait; then we'll talkto him. Now all lie down and be quiet."
The Malays were already as silent and motionless as a group in bronze,and Tim and the lads followed their example, every one watching thewhite hen, which, in happy ignorance of its perilous position, stillpecked about quite close to the edge of the bank.
"Think it will come?" said Ned, after they had crouched there in silencefor quite an hour.
"No; it's too exciting."
"No need to hold the rope without you like."
"But I do like. Will he pull very hard?"
"When he's hooked, but you must not let him pull hard when he firsttakes the hen. It's just like some kinds of fishing; you don't want tostrike till the fish has swallowed the bait."
Another hour in that hot silence, and no signs of a crocodile. TheMalays were all watchful, their dark eyes fixed on the white bird, andtheir spears ready; but Tim Driscol had fallen asleep with his pipe inhis mouth, and the sight of the Irishman with his eyes closed, and hisbreath coming regularly, had a drowsy effect upon Ned, who half laythere on his side watching the glaring river, with the water lookingevery here and there like damascened metal. Then all at once, as TimDriscol's breath came thickly, the hen was not there, the rope wasrunning out fast, there was a sudden jerk, and Ned's eyes opened with astart.
"Don't go to sleep," whispered Frank. "He may come at any time."
"Don't go to sleep!" Then he had been asleep and dreaming, for therewas the hen scratching about on the bank, and the rope lying just as itwas before.
"I had only just closed my eyes, had I?"
"About five minutes, and your head was wagging about like a big fruit ona stalk. You don't want the croc to drag you into the river too."
These last words effectually drove away the drowsy sensation brought onby the silence and heat there beneath the trees; and, after a glanceround to see that the Malays were all as watchful as ever, Ned settleddown again to think about the white hen; about his own narrow escape,and then about the horrible mishap that morning, and of the poor girl'sfeelings as she felt herself seized by the great reptile.
"They ought to kill them all, Frank," he whispered.
"Kill whom?"
"The crocodiles. It is horrible to let these creatures be about theplace."
"Very well; let's kill 'em all, then. There'll be plenty of sport.We're beginning with this one."
"But he does not come."
"Well then, let's give it up now and go. He is too artful. I daresayhe sees us, and will not come till we are gone. We'll go away and comeback this evening. That's the way the Malays catch the wretches. Theydon't stop to watch, only let the rope be tied to a tree, and then comeback, and they often find one on."
"How do they kill it, then?"
"Same as we're going to kill this one when he is hooked; but, oh murder,I'm getting so precious hungry; let's give up now. I'll tell them we'renot going to stay."
He crawled to the men, whispered softly to them for a few minutes, andthen came back, pausing to rouse up Tim, who looked very stupid.
"Ready?" said Ned, who was still holding the rope attached to the hen."No. I don't think I should like to give up. He may come yet."
"I don't know," said Frank. "The brute isn't hungry perhaps. I am, andI daresay there's a white chicken waiting at home nicely curried, andwith plenty of cocoa-nut cream in it, and the whitest of rice round,ready for me. I'm hungry, and can bite; so can you. Let's be off and--eh? What?"
"Hist!" whispered Ned; "the water is moving. Look! look!"
They could only see a little of the water near the bank, where thelotus-leaves were, but they were evidently being moved by somethingpassing through them, and the pale blue blossoms were nodding.
Then almost directly there was a splash, a hideous head appeared on thebank, the wretched hen uttered a cackling shriek and leaped up to thefull extent of the tether, a loud snapping noise was heard. They hadjust a rapid view of a huge scaly, dripping body in the act of turning,a great undulating tail waved in the air--there was a loud splash; and,thrilling with excitement, Ned saw the slack coils of rope running out,and that the bait was gone.
"That's right," whispered Frank excitedly, as a suppressed murmur rosefrom the Malays; "give him plenty of line. He won't go very far.There's lots of length;" and he stood looking on as, excited as he, Neddragged at the rope, and passed it rapidly through his hands as it kepton running toward the bank, and into the river more and more and more,till only about ten yards were left before the end was reached--the endtied to a young cocoa-nut tree.
One of the Malays sprang up, whipped out his kris, and was going to cutthe rope, for a check might have made the crocodile leave the baitbefore he had swallowed it, and the intention was to run with the endover to the river's brim, thus giving another fifty feet of line to run;but, just as he raised his kris, the great reptile ceased drawing outthe rope, and Frank gave his young companion a congratulatory slap onthe shoulder.
"Hurrah!" he cried; "he will not go any farther. He has got alurking-place down there, under those lilies, and he is busy swallowingit."
He turned and asked one of the men a question, and the answer confirmedhis opinion.
"Yes; it's all right," said Frank.
"Shall I strike now?"
"Oh no; give him plenty of time to swallow his chicken curry. I say,wait a bit; won't he find it warm in a few minutes."
"But I must strike soon. Let me do it."
"Oh yes; you shall strike, and then we'll have a lot of the fellowsready to catch hold, for that fellow's seventeen or eighteen feet long.I know, and you don't know, how strong these things are."
Ned made no reply, for he was suffering from a strange feeling ofemotion: his heart beat violently, there was a sensation of suffocationin his breast, and the hands which held the rope trembled and twitched.
"Feel frightened, sor?" whispered Tim, smiling in his face.
"No, I don't think I'm frightened, because I wouldn't let go on anyaccount."
"I know. I felt just like that the first time I saw one caught, and themen let me howld the line."
"But it must be time to strike now."
"Why, you talk as if you had a rod in your hand, and a fish had takenyour bait," cried Frank.
"Yes; it seems just the same."
"Only it isn't fishing: its reptiling. Give him plenty of time."
"But why?"
"Because perhaps he hasn't swallowed it, and is lying down there chewingit over in his jaws. If you pulled now, you might jerk it out of hismouth."
Ned uttered a sigh, as if he were getting rid of a great amount ofpent-up emotion while he stood there grasping the rough rope with bothhands, waiting and feeling more impatient than he ever had before.
"You'll see, when we pull him out, how useful the loose strands of ropeare. They'll be stuck between his ugly teeth. My word, it will make amess all about here. It will be wet and beaten down, and made into aregular puddle."
"Will he struggle much?"
"I should think he will. Mind his tail."
"You mean his head."
"No, I don't; I mean his tail. Of course he'll snap and bark, but hetries to sweep people over with his tail, just as if he were mowing youoff the ground. Hullo! he's moving now. Ready? Give the rope a jerk,and hold tight."
Ned obeyed his instructions, for the rope was beginning to glide overthe bank again, and, as it tightened, Ned gave it a sharp jerk, wentdown headlong directly, and as he still clung to the rope, began toglide rapidly toward the river.
"Oh murther!" roared Tim.
"Let go!" shouted Frank. But in his excitement Ned held on, and he wasdragged within a yard of the river before there was a tremendous checkput on the rope by the Malays, who stopped its progress, and enabled Nedto struggle up, Frank joining him, and the fight now began.
At first there was nothing but a steady strain on the line, as if theend were tied to a dead tree at the bottom of the river, and this kepton for some minutes, neither side stirring.
"Oh, he's a beauty!" said Tim, who was hauling hard.
"I told you he was a big one," said Frank; but Ned made no answer. Theinterest was too
deep, and he held on to the rope with all his strength.Then, all at once, a peculiar vibration ran through it, as if thecrocodile had rapidly shaken its head, and the next moment there was atremendous jerk, and right out in the river, a violent movement in thestilly flowing water, as if the monstrous brute had suddenly wallowedand twisted itself round, the water rising in eddies and then becomingdiscoloured with clouds of mud which flowed slowly by them, thedirection the reptile had taken being somewhat up the river.
The plunge was tremendous, and the rope was nearly jerked out of themen's hands, but they held on, threw themselves back, and once more thedull steady strain was there, the reptile lying like a log at thebottom.
"Look at that now!" cried Tim. "I belave he's tired, and gone toslape."
"He's a coward, and won't fight," cried Frank. "Let's have him out atonce," he shouted in Malay to the men, but their leader gave a decidednegative.
"Says he'll begin to fight directly," continued Frank; and hardly werethe words out of his mouth when there was another fierce shaking of therope, a furious plunge, and the brute began to make the line rushthrough the water here and there. The lotus-leaves were cut and tornoff and floated down the river, till, where the beautiful bed of flowerslay, all was muddy water churned up by the savage efforts of the beast,which tugged and dragged and sometimes drew the Malays a little nearerthe brim; but just as Ned was wondering whether they had not better letgo, the men recovered their lost ground again, and the water eddied andbubbled as the mud rose to the surface.
"He's trying to burrow down," said Frank; "wait a bit, and he'll showhimself. It's precious deep just there."
The fight went on, and Ned was beginning to think that their captiveought now to grow tired, when the strain suddenly ceased, and the wholeparty went down backward with their heels in the air.
"The hook's broken out. Oh!" cried Ned, struggling to his knees, hisvoice showing his disappointment. "Ah!" he yelled, "mind! run!" for hesuddenly caught sight of a fearful pair of open jaws thrust out of thewater not half a dozen yards away, the monster making a savage chargeright up to the bank, before its head sank down.
"Look at that now!" shouted Tim.
"Gone!" cried Ned; "and a good job too."
"Not he," said Frank, laughing. "Look!"
For the rope was running out again, showing that the hook was fast; and,as the boys seized the line once more, the men let it go a little, andthen gradually tightened it, with the result that the crocodile turneditself over and over, thrusting its loathsome head out, curving over anddiving down again, its tail appearing above the surface, waving, andgiving the water a tremendous slap, which sent the spray flying rightout over the bank.
It charged again right to the bank, but did not attempt to throw itselfout; always turning and plunging down again into deep water, the violentefforts testing the strength of the rope and the hold of the hook, butnothing gave way, for the strands were nearly new, and the toughest ofthe tough.
And so the fight went on, minute after minute, the men perspiring andthe boys' hands beginning to grow sore. How long the violent plungingand churning up of the water lasted they never attempted to guess, forthe interest in the fight was too engrossing as the monster now made arush to escape down the river, now up again, and at last made sodesperate a rush straight out as if to go across, that the party weretaken unawares, and were jerked right forward, losing their footing andfalling. Ned and Frank had to let go, to save themselves from beingdragged into the river, and as they lay close to the edge, the ropepassed over them, and Ned shouted, "Gone!" while Tim threw himself downin despair.
And so it seemed, for half the men had also let go, and the others hadso bad a hold that they followed their companions' example, so that allthe labour seemed to have been thrown away.
It was all the work of a few moments, and the reptile was now well out,and apparently escaping, when there was again a tightening, and theyoung cocoa-nut palm shivered and bent as the knots were tested wherethe end was secured.
The next moment, with a low cry of excitement, the men had seized theline again, and eased the strain on the young tree; then steadilydragging the reptile's head round, and drawing it back toward the banktill half the rope was recovered.
The struggle recommenced, for the monster seemed to be as strong asever, but it was now allowed to have no rest, and at last it was drawnto within some twenty feet of the bank, and four of the men let go andwent back.
"Here, hi! don't run away!" cried Tim.
"What are they going to do?" said Ned, panting with his efforts.
"Gone to get their spears. We're going to have him out now."
"And we're nearest!" cried Ned.
"Yes. Afraid? Shall we go back?"
"Do you want to?"
"No."
"More don't I," said Ned, desperately.
"It's all right," said Frank. "We can run out of his way if he makes ajump at us. You'll easily know if he's going to. You'll see him humpup his back if he's going to rush at us. But what you've got to mind ishis tail. He'll try, as I told you, to flip you into the water. He maybreak your legs. Now then, be ready for a good haul. Here they arewith their spears."
The four men came back, two going on each side of the rope toward thebank, and standing ready with their weapons to try to plunge them intothe reptile's throat. Then the principal Malay said a few words,uttered a shout, and the strain was increased a little, then a littlemore, as the creature began to be drawn nearer the bank; then they movedfaster and faster, Ned wondering whether the rope and hook would stand;and as he ran on with the men, he looked back and saw the reptile's headwith its jaws wide appear above the muddy bank, then its fore-paws wereover, and the next moment it was gliding over the grass, striking rightand left with head and tail; while, as it was dragged right away fromthe river, and the men paused, it raised itself up high on its feet,arching up its back like an angry toad of monstrous dimensions, andsnapped its jaws.
"Pretty darlin'!" cried Tim. "Oh, how proud his mother must be. Lookat his smile."
Frank uttered a triumphant shout, and Ned joined in, but only feebly,for he was too much excited and on the watch for a charge from theircaptive.
Two or three of these were made as the men attacked it with spears; butthe strain of the rope on the reptile's head prevented it from doing anymischief, and though it laid about it, thrashing furiously with itstail, no harm was done, while the men contrived to give it thrust afterthrust in the soft under-parts of the neck, weakening it so, that atlast they managed to turn it over on its back, and one of the Malaysleaped upon it, and with a great knife ripped it up nearly from end toend.
Ned turned away sickened as the men now unfastened the rope from thetree and retied it, so as to give the reptile a very short tether.
"There's no need for that now--is there?" said Ned, as he stood wipinghis brow.
"No need to what?"
"Tie it up."
"Only, that if they did not, the brute would crawl back into the river."
"What, wounded like that?"
"Oh yes. They don't seem to mind much. They'll go back into the watereven after the Malays have cut them open and taken out their inside.They always do that to see whether they are man-eaters. They're doingit now. Come and look."
"No," said Ned. "I'm satisfied. We've caught him. That's all toohorrible."
By this time the report was being spread that the monster had beentaken, and footsteps were heard approaching, quite a little crowd hidingthe reptile from the boys, and out of which crowd rose directly after alow wailing sound.
"How horrid!" whispered Frank.
"What does it mean? Are they sorry we've killed it?"
"No, they have found something inside the beast which tells them that wehave caught the right croc. I daresay it's the one that took the poorgirl."
Frank was right, and after a time the lads returned, the crowd--a partof which had gone back in procession toward one of the houses--making
way for them.
The men standing about the horrible reptile gave them a quiet but warmgreeting, and there was a look of triumph in their eyes as one of themtold Frank, what he afterwards interpreted to his companion, that thiswas undoubtedly the monster that had taken the poor girl; and theyshowed him too a silver ornament, blackened and strange looking, whichmust have been in the creature for perhaps months.
Ned turned shuddering away from this recital to examine the hideousmud-coloured brute, Frank eagerly showing him how the loose strands hadopened out as the reptile bit at them, its great teeth passing throughwithout damaging the strength of the rope; and it was interesting to seehow the hook had taken too fast a hold to be dislodged. Then heexamined the great bulky body with its crooked legs and claws, and theformidable tail, everything tending to show that it was a reptile justin the full vigour of its existence.
"They never get bigger than this, do they?" said Ned, after a carefulmeasurement had proved the crocodile to be within an inch or two ofeighteen feet, and bulky in proportion.
"Bigger? Yes, half as big again. My father saw one twenty-five feetlong, but he says those very large ones are so heavy that they are slowand not so dangerous. It is those fellows from fifteen feet to eighteenthat the men are most afraid of. They can quite dart through the waterlike a fish."
"What will they do with it?"
"They are going to leave it here till our people have seen it, and thenthrow it in the river again. And I hope," added Ned merrily, "it willbe a lesson to all the others, and that they will behave better. Here,come along, and let's get something to eat. I say, what a horrid mess!"
"It's dishgusting, sor," said Tim. "Here, I must light a pipe to takethe taste out of my mouth. But it's a puzzle--a reg'lar conundhrum,that's what it is."
"What's a conundrum?"
"Why sor, whatever crocodiles could have been made for. But I say,Masther Frank, he thought it was a chicken. He nivver knew it was atough ould hin."
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