Tomorrow, apparently, the rest of the Japs will cross, and the barges will then proceed on their way ; and once they are out of reach of Ah Wong's coolies it won't be much use our chasing them."
Now while Biggles had been speaking Ginger had looked through the side window, mainly with the object of ascertaining how far the water had risen. It was up, he judged, about two feet, and he was about to turn back to the cabin when a movement on the bank caught his eye. For a moment he stared at an immense black object, and as it moved again, fear—fear of the unknown —chilled him. His face was a shade paler when he turned back into the cabin.
"I say ! Just a minute," he said breathlessly. "There's something on the bank—an enormous creature. I can't make out what it is."
Fee Wong permitted himself to smile faintly. "Elephant," he said. "Elephant belong my brother."
Ginger grinned sheepishly, not a little relieved. " I didn't know you had a tame elephant."
"We got a hundred elephant," said Ah Wong evenly.
Ginger blinked. "A hundred elephants ! Great Scott ! What do you do with them ? "
By this time Biggles was looking interested. He had no idea of a purpose to which a hundred elephants could be put, but he never left a possibility unexplored.
"Yes," he said quickly, remembering vaguely that elephants were used throughout the East for timber haulage, "what exactly do you do with these elephants, Fee Wong ? "
Fee Wong explained that when teak was first cut it was too heavy to float, and for that reason the logs, after being trimmed, were left lying on the bank for about six months, at the end of which time they were so far seasoned that they did not sink. They were then floated down to the saw-mill. The elephants were used to haul the logs to the water. Just above the point where the aircraft was moored they had a great number of logs ready for floating down. The work had, of course, been interrupted by the arrival of the Japanese invaders.
"Is that so ? " said Biggles, who was thinking fast. He turned to Algy. "A teak log is a pretty massive lump of timber. If we could get some of them on the water .they'd go down the river like battering-rams and burst the pontoon bridge. The disorganization would give us a chance to get at the barges." He turned back to Fee Wong. "Are the elephants up by the timber now ? "
Ah Wong stepped into the conversation and said that they were. They were hidden in the forest in charge of an Indian mahout.
"Will the elephants work at night ? " inquired Biggles.
Ah Wong smiled at the white man's ignorance. "These are trained elephants. They do what they are told."
"Okay," said Biggles. "Let's get busy. We'll bust the bridge and then set to work on the barges. Lead the way, Ah Wong."
CHAPTER XII
A HECTIC NIGHT
GINGER was wet through before he had climbed the muddy bank to the rough track which, it
was discovered, followed it. The world had become a nightmare of water, a deluge that descended in a never-ending stream from above and made the earth like a soaked sponge.
Everything dripped. The noise was unbelievable.
The elephant was a docile beast, as most trained elephants are. It turned out to be Ah Wong's riding animal. Ginger was invited to ride, but he preferred to walk, although he was soon glad to hang on to the elephant's tail.
"We're mad," he told Biggles, who trudged along beside him. "Everyone's mad. The whole world's gone mad."
" You invited yourself to the picnic, don't forget," answered Biggles.
On they plunged through a world of water, mud and water, for about twenty minutes ; then Ah Wong called a halt.
What happened after that Ginger was not quite sure. For one thing, something—he never knew what it was—stung him on the neck, and gave him a good deal of pain. There were shouts in the forest and, occasionally, the trumpeting of elephants. Great black shapes began to move. Logs crashed ; they rolled ; they splashed into the river, flinging up sheets of water to meet the curtain that descended. The three white men stood together.
There was nothing they could do. Fee Wong appeared from time to time and had a few words with them. Calm and unmoved, he might have been at a garden party. Sometimes he gave a word of advice to a panting coolie. To Ginger it was all a confused dream of pain and rain, rain, and still more rain. Sometimes he found himself wondering if it was really happening. Never with greater relief did he note the first dull streaks of dawn. The rain still fell, but not quite so heavily. The river was a turgid flood.
Ah Wong appeared and spoke to his brother. With him was a huge Malay foreman.
Ginger happened to catch sight of the man's back, and shuddered. It had recently been flogged to ribbons. The man glanced round and saw Ginger staring. For a moment their eyes met, and at the expression of sullen hate in those of the native Ginger felt his blood run cold. He guessed who had done the flogging, and Ah Wong confirmed it.
" Kayan ask Japanese not to burn his home," he said evenly. "They flog him plenty much. He no like Japanese." "I can understand that," answered Biggles grimly.
Fee Wong said he thought that the logs by this time must have torn the bridge away by sheer weight, but suggested that it would be a good thing to make sure.
"All right, let's find out," agreed Biggles. He had to shout in order to make himself heard above the noise of falling water.
They all set off along the bank. The Cayman was still at its moorings, but it had been lifted up into the branches of the trees, an alarming and melancholy spectacle. The fabric had been torn in several places. Ginger noticed a water-snake coiled on the tailplane.
Biggles paused for a moment to look at the aircraft. He shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing we can do about it," he remarked.
This was so obviously true that no one disputed it. At that moment it seemed unlikely that the machine would ever fly again.
They went on. But not very far. At the next bend, a sharp one, with one accord they pulled up at the sight that met their eyes. For a full minute no one spoke.
Then Biggles said in a bitter voice, "Would you believe it ! "
What had happened was this. The timber had not gone down the river as had been intended. It seemed that a giant tree had fallen across the river during the night. Against this the logs had jammed, forming a dam behind which water, weeds and still more logs had piled up. Beyond it the river was clear.
Ginger could have wept with mortification and disappointment. "After all that work," he said sadly. The two Chinese simply gazed, impassive.
At that moment a coolie appeared running up the track. He was chattering like a monkey.
"What's he talking about ? " demanded Biggles.
Fee Wong turned. "He say Japanese are crossing river now," he said.
A strange look came into Biggles's eyes. "By thunder ! " he cried. "If that dam were to burst it would let loose a million tons of water and hundreds of tons of timber. The bridge would be swept away like a scrap of tissue paper—and so would the barges."
It is unlikely that Kayan the Malay understood these words, but he had heard what the coolie had reported, and he was not a timber foreman for nothing ; it may be supposed that he understood even better than Biggles what would happen if the dam burst. His face split in a dreadful smile, showing crimson betel-nut-stained teeth. Then, before the others realized his intention, and certainly before they could stop him, he had dashed down to the river. In his hand he carried a heavy crowbar that he had used during the night to move the logs. Using this as a balancing pole, he started across the dam, leaping from log to log with the agility of long experience. It was obvious what he intended to do.
Biggles shouted, but the native took no notice, even if he heard, which is unlikely.
"If that dam bursts he'll be ground to pulp!" cried Algy in a strangled voice.
"He knows," said Fee Wong calmly. "The Japanese have killed his wife and children, so he no longer has love of life. He prefers revenge. Kayan is a Malay."
When Kayan was about midstream he
chose a spot, drove in the iron bar and heaved.
Those on the bank could only watch helplessly. No one spoke. No one moved. It was one of those moments when time seems to stand still. Ginger saw the log on which Kayan was standing begin to move. The Malay threw all his weight on the bar. The log swung out. Then,, with a roar like a high-explosive bomb bursting on a concrete road, the dam fell, and the next instant a thousand tons of logs, impelled by a mighty tidal wave, were hurtling pell mell down the stream. For a brief moment Kayan stood poised on a log. He flung the bar away, and stood with his arms outstretched like a bronze statue in an attitude of triumph. Then he disappeared from sight amongst the grinding timbers and the flood of yellow, foam-flecked water.
Ginger drew a deep breath and moistened his lips. "I shall see that sight for as long as I live," he said in a hard thin voice.
" Quick ! " cried Fee Wong, for once shaken out of his Oriental restraint. He started running up a hill which at this point flanked the river.
The others followed. Unmindful of rain, of mud, of thorns that tore his flesh, Ginger dragged himself through the sodden jungle. He had no idea of where he was going, or why, nor did he trouble to think. Like an animal, he simply went because the others went.
In five minutes they reached the brow of the hill, and then he understood. The river swept round the hill in a wide curve, and from their new position they could see beyond the bend. They were just in time to see the churning wave strike the bridge, and as Biggles had prophesied, it was swept away like a scrap of tissue paper. With it went Japanese soldiers, lorries and guns, to swell the tumult that rushed on in an ever-spreading tide. It overswept the banks and tore away great trees as if they had been soft-
stemmed weeds.
Fee Wong pointed. "The barges," was all he said.
Ginger had not noticed them, for they were loaded deep in the water and moored close to the bank. Now, for the first time, he saw them, and the crews who were jumping ashore in a desperate attempt to save themselves from the raging flood that was sweeping down on them. What happened after that was not clear, for the barges were swallowed up in leaping spray and plunging logs. A length of teak, looking harmless enough from the distance but weighing many tons, struck one of the barges like a torpedo. Other logs were thrown on top of the sinking vessel, and presently all that could be seen was a curtain of spray in which logs and barges were hopelessly intermingled.
Biggles was the first to speak. " Kayan did a fine job," he said. "He took it out of our hands. There seems to be nothing more for us to do. It will take an army to clean up that mess, even if it is possible to clean it up, which I doubt. The troops left on the north side of the river will have to stay there until the monsoon is over. What are you going to go, Fee Wong ? "
The Chinese spoke to his brother in his own language. Turning back to Biggles he said, "
My brother stay here. I stay, too. Perhaps we get back to China some day. What you do ?
"
Biggles made a wry face. "To tell the truth, Fee Wong, I don't know. I shall be in a better position to decide when I've seen my aeroplane."
Through slime and rotting vegetation they made their way down to the river bank, now a morass from which protruded dead trees and the roots of trees from which the soil had been washed ; every one provided a sanctuary
for centipedes, scorpions and an occasional snake. The air was heavy with the stench of rotting wood and leaves.
The Cayman was still at its moorings, but it presented a depressing picture. It had been lifted by the water that had piled up behind the dam into the branches of the trees which hung low over the river. When the water had fallen suddenly on the bursting of the dam the mooring-rope had caught in a branch so that the nose was held up clear of the stream.
The wing fabric /as torn in several places, but the hull, as far as could be seen through mud and festoons of weeds, appeared to be undamaged. The snake was no longer sitting on the tail, Ginger noticed.
Biggles made a quick examination. "She doesn't look exactly pretty, but I don't think there's any serious damage," he announced. "We have only to cut the mooring-rope and she'll flop down on the water. Anyway, the river is rising again, so she'll soon be afloat, although if it gets very much higher she's likely to be smashed up completely."
"Could we get her into the air, do you think ? " asked Algy.
"We shall only find that out by trying," answered Biggles. "I feel like trying to get her off right away, although, of course, we haven't enough petrol to get back to Borneo."
"How much are we short ? " inquired Ginger.
"It's impossible to tell just what remains in the tanks while she's in this cockeyed position," replied Biggles. "If we could get the forty gallons of juice Ah Wong had at the mill, and which presumably is still there, it would help, but that still wouldn't guarantee us enough to get home. I must admit it's a bit of a problem. It seems crazy to take off knowing that sooner or later we shall have to make a forced landing ; on the other hand it seems equally hopeless to stay here." Biggles looked at Fee Wong. "Do you think there is any chance of getting the petrol from the mill ? "
Fee Wong spoke to his brother, who looked dubious.
What his answer would have been must remain a matter for conjecture, for before he had time to speak the conference was broken up in a devastating manner. First, there came a sound of crashing in the jungle at no great distance. Mingled with the crashing was a strange clanking noise, as if chains were being dragged. Everyone looked in the direction from which these sounds came, which was up the river bank. The clanking and crashing approached ; it might have been a train coming through the undergrowth. Then a shrill trumpeting provided a clue to the mystery. Ah Wong cried out a single word, but before it could be translated there burst into sight the most enormous bull elephant Ginger had ever seen. It was coming at a quick run, its trunk coiled inwards. Great beads of greasy sweat formed two channels down its face. Broken shackles clung to its legs.
"It's Sultan ! " cried Fee Wong. "He's mad ! "
Ginger recalled vaguely that he had heard of bull elephants in captivity having occasional outbursts of madness, but this was the first one he had ever seen. He did not stay to watch. Nor did the others, for at that moment the great beast saw them, and with a shrill blast of rage it broke into a lumbering gallop. It was obviously futile to try to escape by running. There was only one possible way of evading the crazed animal's fury, and that was by water, and everyone seemed to realize it. With one exception there was a general rush
for the aircraft. Ah Wong climbed a tree. Unfortunately it was not a very big tree, and it was due to this fact that the others were given a chance.
Biggles took a running jump into the cockpit, and from there into the cabin. He reappeared with the emergency axe. One chop severed the taut mooring-rope. The aircraft crashed down on the water like a ship launched down a slipway. By this time the others had either jumped or pulled themselves aboard, Ginger on the hull, Algy on the centre section, and Fee Wong on the tail. Biggles yelled frantically for help. He was pushing against a thick branch trying to shove the aircraft clear. He also yelled to Ah Wong to jump for it.
Ah Wong was still in the tree, and it was upon him that the elephant's bloodshot eyes were turned. It had seized the trunk and was trying to tear it out of the ground. The tree swayed horribly. Finding that it could not uproot the tree, the great beast put its head against it and pushed. The tree bent before the ponderous weight. Ah Wong slid along a branch and hung by his hands.
"Look out ! " yelled Biggles. "The tree is going."
As he spoke he pulled out his revolver and opened fire on the elephant, not with any idea of trying to kill it with so small a weapon, but in order to attract its attention. In this he succeeded, but not before the tree had snapped. It fell into the muddy water, carrying Ah Wong with it. Ginger ran forward and grabbed a branch. The elephant slid down the bank into the water, and the surging wave its mighty body produced provided just th
at little extra force that was required to drive the Cayman free. It surged out into the swiftly running. stream. Ah Wong, by scrambling over the branches of his tree, was able to reach Ginger's hand.
Panting with exertion and excitement, Ginger dragged him aboard.
"Get him into the cabin and help me clean up this mess ! " shouted Biggles, who by this time was tearing at the weeds that festooned the aircraft, and flinging them overboard.
The Cayman, broadside .on, drifted, a helpless hulk, with the fast-flowing stream. Ginger started to laugh foolishly. He had never seen an aircraft in such a state, nor could he have imagined it. It was splashed to the wing tips with mud. Weeds hung across the hull and from the engine cowlings.
"What in thunder are you laughing at ? " shouted Biggies. "Let's get the worst of this stuff off her. Don't you realize that in another five minutes, if we don't get off, we shall be passing the mill, running the gauntlet between the Japs on both banks ? "
Ginger stopped laughing abruptly. He wasn't really amused. Loss of sleep, excitement and exhaustion, combined with the steamy heat of the monsoon, were beginning to tell on his highly strung nerves. However, making an effort to pull himself together, he tore at the weeds and cast them into the river. He supposed, for the time being at any rate, the excitement was over ; but in this he was mistaken. It is true that the elephant, mad though it was said to be, was not so crazy as to pursue the aircraft in the river. It stood in the slime of the bank, frustrated, but watching, waving its trunk in animal rage.
The next incident was different. There was a sudden shout. A rifle cracked, and a bullet tore a strip of canvas from the wing within a foot of Ginger's face. He nearly fell into the river. Grabbing the engine cowling for support, he looked in the direction from which the shot had come, and saw with consternation not fewer than a score of Japanese soldiers scrambling along the river bank. They were just below the elephant, which had turned its massive head in quest of the new diversion. What the Japanese were doing Ginger, of course, did not know, but he supposed that they had been sent up the stream to see who was responsible for throwing the logs into it—or possibly they were looking for Ah Wong. However that may be, they saw the British aircraft and at once turned their attention to it ; and the plight of the airmen would have been precarious indeed had it not been for their late enemy, the elephant. The Japs had not seen the elephant. They were looking at the aircraft. In any case, smothered with mud as it was, and standing below the level of the track, the creature would have been difficult to see had the aircraft not been there to absorb attention. The Japanese lined the bank, taking up convenient positions from which to open fire. At the same time the elephant climbed the bank to locate the new arrivals, which it had heard but so far had not seen.
28 Biggles In Borneo Page 11