by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XIII
THE CAPTAIN'S ASTOUNDING PROPOSITION
All the cabin party had their lines out, but not another fish wascaught. The place where they fished seemed to be a hole, and the waterwas deep and clear. Perhaps Morris's struggle with the big fish hadscared the others away, for not another could be seen. The day was done,and it was growing dark. It was decided to anchor where they were, andspend the night there; and they hoped the fish would be in bitingcondition the next morning.
Achang called the fish the gourami, or something like that; but beyondthis nothing was known about him. Louis, who was generally posted, couldtell his companions nothing about it. But Pitts had cut it up, and itwas fried for supper. The flesh was hard, and the flavor excellent.There was enough of it for all hands, and the supper amounted to afeast. A heavy thunder-shower made the evening very gloomy; but thecanvas roof and curtains of the Blanchita fully protected the party fromthe rain, which fell in sheets for full two hours.
The next morning when the party turned out, the weather was as pleasantas they could desire, and the air was cleared and freshened by theshower. The first thing they did was to throw over their lines; forthey could see the fish through the clear water of the lake. In about asmany minutes they had hooked four fish, though not one of them was solarge as the one Morris had caught the evening before. But at that pointthey ceased to bite, and not another nibble was had. Either the fish didnot like the looks of the boat, handsome as she was, which would havebeen very bad taste on their part, or the struggles of those which hadbeen hauled in frightened them away. Very likely the fish could haveexplained the reason for their sudden disappearance; but they did not,and it remained a mystery.
They had an ice-chest on board, and Mr. Eng had replenished it atSimujan. Pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the refrigerator. Forbreakfast they had fresh pork, and it was much better than that they hadhad before. They had learned to drink coffee without milk, for it wasnot often that it could be procured away from the larger towns.
"I say, fellows, don't you think there can be too much of a good thing?"asked Captain Scott at the head of the table.
"Of course there can be too much of a good thing; for a fellow might eatice-cream till his throat was frozen," replied Felix.
"Almost anything becomes a bad thing when you have too much of it,"added Louis. "But I think we could have stood about four more of thosenice fish. What is the moral of all this, Captain?"
"With me the moral is that I have had hunting enough for the present,"replied Scott. "I should like a little more variety in our daily life."
"I don't think I should care to go hunting more than one day in a week,or, at most, two," replied Louis. "We have had it right along for aweek; and, as you suggest, that's too much of a good thing."
"But it was you, Louis, who went in for three weeks of it," added thecaptain.
"Simply because I thought it would take the Guardian-Mother and theBlanche about that time to visit Siam and French Cochin-China."
"I suppose if we had made our trip up these rivers in a sampan, weshould not have got so far inland in another week," added Morris.
"I don't think we should have come up here at all if the Blanchita hadnot been available," said Louis. "But we are close to the mountains now,and I am in favor of a tramp on shore."
"All right; and after breakfast we will get under way, for I must attendto the navigation," replied Scott; "and I suppose Felipe has steamenough by this time."
They left the table, and Scott went to the wheel. To save time andtrouble, the men took their meals in the after cabin, and the engineerhad the head of the table. Both Louis and Felix had run the engine ofthe Maud a portion of the time on her memorable voyage from Funchal toGibraltar, and the former was sent to the engine-room. The boat wentahead; and after passing through a section of pandanus, they came to anopen lake, which they judged to be five miles long.
The water was shallow, though deep enough for the steamer. The captainopened the binnacle, and headed the Blanchita to the north. It was avery quiet time, and the boat went along at her usual speed. In littleless than half an hour she reached the head of the lake; but there wasno convenient landing-place for a craft of her draught, and she wasanchored at a considerable distance from the shore. Achang and two ofthe seamen were directed to attend the "Big Four," and they were landedin the sampan.
Each of the cabin party took his fowling-piece, while Achang had arifle, and each of the sailors carried one, the latter to be used by theyoung men if they were wanted. They had walked but a short distancebefore they came to a steep precipice about twenty feet high, at which anotched log had been placed by some former visitors, as they supposed;but as soon as they had mounted it, they came upon a Dyak long-house,which might have been better called a short-house, for it contained butsix doors, and therefore the tax upon the village need not have causedany grumbling.
The dwelling was not now a novelty, neither were the Dyak men andmaidens; for the latter were not as pretty as several they had seen onthe river. They were very hospitable, and invited the party to enterthe house, which they did; but there was little to interest them there.Achang talked with them, and the head man said they caught plenty offish in the lake, and they snared pigs, deer, monkeys, and other game.He engaged a couple of guides for the mountains.
The game was plentiful, and the hunters shot several deer, a pig, and aMalay bear; but they were not enthusiastic hunters, considering thatthey had come to Borneo for that purpose. After a four hours' tramp theyall thought they had had enough of it. Felix declared that he preferredto hunt cobras and tigers, for all the game seemed to be very tame tohim. Seating themselves on the ground, they rested for an hour, and thenstarted on their return to the boat. All the game was given to the Dyakguides, who were very glad to get it. They swung it on a pole, andtrotted along with their load as though it had been no burden at all.
"They do that all day," said Achang. "Never get tired."
"They have load enough to feed the village for a week," added thecaptain. "I should not care for the fun of feeding them another week,for I find hunting here very tame business."
"My sintimints also," added Felix.
After a walk of another hour they reached the Dyak house, and the wholepopulation of the place followed them to the shore. They were filledwith wonder and admiration at the sight of the Blanchita, and went offto her in their sampans. They were permitted to go on board; but whenFelipe fed the fire in the furnace, and the steam began to hiss, some ofthem were frightened, and fled to their boats.
Dinner was all ready when the party went on board; and Achang wasinstructed to send off the guests, for the boat was to get under way atonce. They got into their sampans; but they remained near the Blanchita,evidently desirous to see her sail. They had not to wait long, for theanchor was weighed, and the captain rang the gong. She went off at herusual speed, and the Dyaks expressed their astonishment in various ways.
"Dinner all ready, gentlemen," said Pitts as soon as the steamer waswell under way.
"What have you for dinner, Pitts?" asked the captain.
"Baked fish, Captain, in two pieces; for he was too long to go into myoven," replied the cook.
"All right. Take the wheel, Clingman, and make the course due south."
"Due south, sir," repeated the wheelman.
The party hastened to the after cabin; for they were hungry after theirlong tramp, though they had taken a light lunch with them. The fish, "intwo pieces," was placed before the captain; while Pitts stood by hisside, ready to pass the plates, and hear any comments the captain mightmake on the principal viand.
The odor from the steaming fish was emphatically agreeable to the hungryhunters, and so was the soft divan to their tired legs. Scott helped themembers of the party to liberal portions of the dainty dish, and withoutpausing for manners they began to partake. When the captain had tastedthe fish, he stopped short, and looked at Pitts. Then he reached out hisright hand to him.
"Your hand, Pitts!" and the cook took it, his face wreathed in smiles."You have cooked a dish here, Pitts, which is fit for any king on thecontinent of Europe, to say nothing of Asia."
The rest of the party applauded vigorously, and every one of them,following the example of the captain, took the cook by the hand, andbestowed additional praise upon him; and Louis declared that he couldnot have done better if he had served his time as a _cuisinier_ in theGrand Hotel in Paris. But the most telling tribute to the skill of thecook was in the amount consumed; and the captain expressed a fear thatthe engineer and five seamen would have to "kiss the cook."
"It is only a woman cook that gets served in that way, and then notunless she is good looking," replied Pitts, laughing. "But you need haveno fear, Captain, and the second table will have no occasion to kiss thecook, even it were one of the pretty girls we saw at the long-housebelow; for I have another fish in the oven, and it will be done by thetime they are ready for it."
"That's right, Pitts; look out for the men as well as you do for therest of us," added the captain. "Now, fellows, I am going to the wheel;and I want to see all of you in the fore cabin, for I have something tosay, and we may have occasion to vote."
"Vote on what, Captain?" inquired Felix.
"There is no motion before the house, Flix; and when morning comes thesun will rise, not before," replied Captain Scott.
As soon as a plum-pudding had been disposed of, the party hastened tothe fore cabin; for their curiosity had been excited by what had beensaid. The captain took the wheel; and Louis went to the engine, thoughhe could hear what was said while near enough to the levers to act incase of need. Scott had brought from his berth in the after cabin ablue-colored roll, which all understood was a chart, though of what seathey did not know.
"Now, fellows, I have come to the conclusion that we are all tired ofpaddling about the muddy rivers of Borneo," the captain began, after hehad scrutinized the compass in the binnacle. "I have said so before;though I have not enlarged on the subject, or spoken half as strongly asI might. The rest of you may not take my view of the situation; but I donot ask you to do so, and I hope you will all speak out just what youthink, as I have done, and shall do stronger than before. We wantsomething that is not quite so tame as shooting pigs and crocodiles atthirty-six cents a foot."
"I am quite of your opinion, Captain," added Morris. "I don't thinkthere is any more fun in shooting orangs, for we are not naturalists norscientists of any sort. If we had brought a naturalist with us, weshould have done better."
"I have had enough of it for the present; but we have two weeks yetbefore the ship will come to Kuching for us, and what are we to doduring that time?" said Louis, walking a little nearer to the wheel.
"That is precisely the conundrum I intend to guess on the presentoccasion, and for which I have called this meeting without consultingMr. Belgrave," replied Captain Scott, giving the wheel to Morris, withthe course, and unfolding the blue roll. "The Guardian-Mother will go toSaigon before she comes back to Sarawak. That is about a two days' runfor her. From Sarawak, or the mouth of the river, the distance is fivehundred sea miles. Now, to flash it on you all at once, I propose tosail in the Blanchita to Point Cambodia, where the ship will pick us upas she comes down the Gulf of Siam. Now I am ready to hear you allgroan."
"It looks like a risky voyage in such a craft as this steam-launch,"said Louis, when there was a prolonged silence.
"I wish you all to look over the chart of the China Sea; this meeting isadjourned to the after cabin at four o'clock, and you may do yourgroaning there."
The men soon came out of the after cabin, and Pitts was busy removingthe dishes and putting everything in order. At the time stated, theparty were seated around the table in the after cabin, ready to considerthe captain's astounding proposition.