Under the Chinese Dragon: A Tale of Mongolia

by F. S. Brereton

  CHAPTER IX

  A Game of Long Bowls

  'Excellency, we have come to the end of the passage; we can go nofurther,' declared Hung, some two minutes after the Professor and hisparty had set out down the alley-way. 'A ladder leads to the deck above,while there are sleeping places for the crew on either side. Is it herethat you will make a stand?'

  'Halt! Put your loads on the floor and wait. Come with me, David.'

  The leader of the expedition, still puffing heavily at his cigar, andshowing an almost unruffled countenance in the lamp-light, steppedcasually to the foot of the ladder and began to ascend to the deck ofthe native craft which he had chartered at Shanghai for theaccommodation of his staff, and upon which such a treacherous andunforeseen attack had been made. But if he were the essence of coolness,and declined to hurry, he was by no means a fool, as he showed veryplainly in the course of a minute. For while the Professor refused to befrightened and scared out of his wits, he declined at the same time tothrow away the lives of his party for the want of necessary caution.

  'Don't come higher,' he whispered to David. 'I'll beckon if I want you.Ah, it is still too dark for those ruffians to see us from the poopwhere they are at work. Come up, lad, and look about you.'

  He tossed his cigar over the side, and David heard the hiss of the wateras it met the burning weed. A moment later he was beside the Professor.

  'Well?' demanded the latter, when some seconds had elapsed. 'What do yousay to the situation? Critical I think, eh? Very critical. By the rowthose demons are making they have broken through into our cabin in moreplaces than one. In a few minutes they will have a leader, and thenthere will be a rush. We certainly couldn't have stemmed it; they wouldhave killed us with the greatest ease; but where shall the next stand bemade?'

  Where indeed? David cast his eyes in every direction, piercing the gloomas far as possible. The bare decks gave no promise of successfuldefence. To retreat to the wide cabin below, which served as the crew'squarters, was but to repeat a former experiment. There remained therigging and the alley-way, and neither was very enticing. He shruggedhis shoulders, as if he had caught the habit from Alphonse, and thenturned to his employer.

  'We can put up a fight anywhere almost,' he said. 'Out here we shouldsoon be rushed and knocked down. In the alley-way we could hold them forhours. But it couldn't go on for ever; there are too many of them. Myidea was calmly to board the other ship and push her off. That wouldgive us a breathing spell. We could then discuss matters again andconsider our plans from a different standpoint.'

  The Professor chuckled loudly; unconsciously he reached in an innerpocket for his cigar case, and extracting a weed, bit the end off. Davideven heard the sharp snap of his teeth coming together. 'Boy,' suddenlyexclaimed the leader, 'they say that great minds think alike; then yoursand mine are great indeed, for the plan you have suggested is mine also.That is why we carried our baggage all along the alley-way. Summon theothers on deck. We go aboard the stranger and merely change ourquarters; but bid them be silent, for even now those fiends might hearsomething to rouse their suspicion.'

  However, it was not a likely contingency, for as David went to thehatchway to call to those below fiendish yells rose from the poop of thevessel. Then some ponderous weapon was fired, the flame for a momentallowing the Professor to catch a sight of the crowd on the roof of thecabin. A second later they were swallowed up in the gloom, though theirshrieks and shouts still told of their presence.

  'All on deck, sir,' reported David in his most official manner.

  'Then follow to the other ship. Not a sound, friends; not a sound. Onceaboard David and Dick run to find a suitable place which we can defend;Hung and his comrades set their boxes down and prepare to stop a rush.Alphonse and I cut the hawsers which hold the two ships and push themapart. Forward!'

  In one corner of his mouth the unlighted weed was held, and allunconscious of the fact that he had not set flame to it, the Professorsucked hard at the weed, exclaiming as he found it did not draw. Then,as if habit were too strong for him, or perhaps because he realised thatnone were likely to see him in that gloom, he stepped back to thehatchway, descended a few rungs of the ladder, and opening his lanternsucked at the flame. Then he followed the others, and was soon at theside of the vessel. Casting his eyes upward, he could see the rigging ofthe other ship against the stars, while a dull creaking, and anoccasional bump showed that the two ships were riding close together.

  'But with rope fenders between them,' he told himself, 'else in thisswell they'd grind holes in one another. Ah, the rascals threw planksacross from rail to rail, which was most thoughtful of them.'

  With half his attention given to the enemy, and the other half to hisown following, he helped to hand the various bales and boxes across theplanks connecting the two ships. Then he crossed over himself, andsearched for the ropes it was necessary to sever. Here a suddendifficulty presented itself. One of the connecting links was a stoutchain, which the swell and the drift of the vessels had pulled so taughtthat there was no unloosening it.

  'We shall have to cut it,' cried the Professor. 'Alphonse, an axe,quick, those rascals are dropping into our cabin.'

  But to call for such an article when just arrived on a strange ship isone thing; to find it an altogether different matter. Neither Alphonsenor Hung, nor any of the Chinese could hit upon one. And while theysearched the uproar made by the enemy, which had almost ceased for atime, became of a sudden even more deafening.

  'Discovered our absence; awfully bothered,' ejaculated the Professor.'But they won't be long in discovering our ruse. Can no one find an axe?David, the scheme fails if we do not hit upon one within the minute.'

  Alphonse ground his teeth in a manner which would have made our herosquirm on any ordinary occasion. The Professor sucked hard at his cigarand muttered beneath his breath, while Hung threw himself upon thetantalising chain and tugged vainly at it. Then David recollected anincident he had watched at the beginning of the battle betweenthemselves and the Chinese pirates.

  'One moment, sir,' he said. 'An axe? Yes, I know where to find one.'

  Without hint of his intentions, he cooly stepped on to the planks stilluniting the two vessels, and leaped down upon the deck of the one whichhad proved such insecure shelter for them. Not a sound did his lightshoes make, while his figure was swallowed up within a few seconds; forthough it was already lighter, the dawn was not there yet, and gloomstill hung over the water. Behind him he left a Professor not sounruffled as he had been. To speak the truth the leader of the party wasdumfounded for the moment, and only awoke to the danger our hero wasnecessarily likely to encounter when the latter was already out ofsight. He called to him loudly; he even leaped on to the plankshimself. Then Alphonse stopped him with a grimace and a tug at thesleeve of his jacket.

  'Pardon, monsieur,' he said, 'a leader stays with the bulk of hiscommand. It is the young and brave who attempt such deeds. MonsieurDavid is no chicken; he will be back with us within the minute.'

  'Or hacked to pieces by those villains; but you are right, I will stay.Still I wish that I had guessed his intentions. Dick there, and all theothers, get ready, in case he is seen and pursued.'

  Alphonse clicked the lock of his rifle promptly, while Dick ranged up atthe end of the planks, his magazine revolver gripped in his hand. Thenthe ever-smiling Jong lisped an apology, pushed the Professor aside, andsolemnly clambered on to the planks and crossed them. There was a hugeknife in his hand, and his smile was but the cloak to a most sinisterexpression.

  'Velly likely he no wantee helpee,' he lisped, as he dropped to the deckof the other vessel. 'But velly likely also he velly glad. Jong stayhere unless he happen to see de Excellency; den p'laps he go towardshim.'

  The words had hardly left his lips, and his padded soles scarcely gainedthe deck when a figure was seen coming swiftly towards him. It wasDavid. No, it was a Chinaman, a burly, thick-shouldered individual; thenclose on his heels another figure followed.

  'Davi
d,' whispered Dick, scarcely able to breathe. 'George! that otherchap is coming aboard.'

  Certainly that was the man's intention. He was returning to his own shipto fetch a mighty muzzle-loader which he had previously forgotten. Hereached the rail, placed a hand upon it, and was about to spring on tothe plank bridge when Jong was upon him. And if any one had ever doubtedthe grinning Chinaman's courage before, his doubts would have been forever silenced if he could have witnessed what followed. For this was notone of those sudden conquests, when an unsuspecting man is struck downwithout time for self-protection. The stranger saw Jong as the lattermoved towards him, and faced round with the swiftness of a panther. Thenhis head went back, and such a shout went up that none could have failedto hear it. A moment later the two were locked in one another's arms,rolling this way and that on the deck, tearing madly at one another. Andover them David stepped, with an axe across his shoulders.

  'Grandly done! Bravely done!' cried the Professor, showing not a littleexcitement. 'David, stand by to cut that chain. Hung.'

  But Ho Hung was not there to acknowledge the summons. He had flownacross the bridge of planks the instant David gave room for passage,while Lo Fing chased close on his heels. How exactly they ended thecontest between the two rolling figures none of their own party everknew; but end it they did.

  Meanwhile a lamp flared suddenly in the cabin which David and hisfriends had so recently vacated, while shouts resounded from variousparts. Then the half shattered door of the cabin was burst open with abang, and a crowd of men swarmed on to the deck. They were met byanother group ascending from the hatch by which the Professor hadbrought his party, and then by a solitary man, who shouted and bellowedat them.

  'They have fooled us; they have slipped across into the other vessel.While we have been cutting holes through the roof of the cabin they havebeen transferring themselves and their possessions.'

  The greeting which the news received was such that Dick winced, and feltalmost unnerved for the moment. But the Professor reassured him; aglance at the leader showed that he was still drawing heavily at hisweed, while his features and his general pose were almost jaunty.

  'Shout yourselves hoarse, my beauties,' Dick heard him say. 'I fancywe've fooled you finely. Now, lad, you can strike your hardest.'

  And strike David did, careless of the shots which two of the enemy aimedat him. He brought the edge of his axe down with a thud on the chain,and severed it easily. Then he leaped from the plank bridge and helpedto throw the boards over.

  'Moving asunder already, sir,' he said. 'Might just as well get undercover.'

  'Quite so; it will want an active man to leap that breach. Get beneaththe rail all of you,' commanded the Professor. 'Don't trouble to returntheir fire, for they cannot damage us easily, while we have already readthem a handsome lesson. Ah, they are more than vexed, I fear.'

  Through the rising gloom it was seen that the rail of the ship which hadso lately borne David and his friends, and which had proved well nigh adeath-trap, was lined with men. Some had clambered on to it, and heldtheir places there with the aid of the rigging. All were shouting andgesticulating, all save the few possessed of fire-arms, and these rammedcharges home with frantic haste, and poured their shot into the vesselslowly and steadily drifting away. If their defeat so far had enragedthe piratical crews, their anger now was almost stifling. At the verybeginning the feat of murdering the foreign devils, and of purloiningall their possessions, was one not to be considered twice. Had theProfessor been gifted with second sight, or had he had the help of someclever native detective, he would have learned that the rascally captainwho had been so eager to charter his boat was already gloating over hisgains when the ship set sail from Shanghai, while the leader of thepirates treated the whole affair as if already accomplished. There wasto be a secret meeting, a sudden attack, and then cold-blooded murder.And see the result! Men here and there stark and dead on the deck or inthe alley-way, others grovelling in the scuppers useless to theircomrades, stricken hard by the knives of Hung and his fellows, or by thebullets of the foreign devils. Worse than all, the men whose death hadbeen aimed at were drifting quietly away, not showing so much as a head,bearing with them all their possessions--yes, all their possessions. Thepirate leader had already assured himself of that fact, exclaimingbitterly at it. David and his friends caught a glimpse of the man, abull-necked, almost bald-headed Chinaman, with long, swinging pigtail,and possessed of most powerful arms and legs. They saw him standing onthe rail, clinging to the rigging, brandishing a huge sword which, couldit have come into close contact with them, would have done grave injuryto more than one. The rascal seemed to be almost mad. The failure of awell-laid scheme, the loss of his own vessel on top of that, seemed tohave combined to rob him of his wits. His eyes were staring. He frothedat the mouth, while the cruel lips curled back from a row of fangs asyellow as his own skin. And how he shrieked! Then he suddenly droppedback on to the deck, and they saw him beckoning to his comrades, rushingat those nearest him and dragging them along with him by main force. Hedrove them with threats from his weapon to the halyards, and shouted atthem as they hauled at the rigging.

  'Going to set sail on her,' said the Professor, raising his head nowthat a greater distance separated the two vessels, and the shot hadceased to hail upon the one on which he and his party had taken refuge.'Well, two can play at that game. I'm not much of a sailor myself, butAlphonse knows something about other things besides cooking andvaleting. Eh, _mon ami_?'

  '_Parfaitement_; the Professor has a memory. Alphonse can certainly saila boat, though he has never attempted much with one of these nativecraft. But the thing shall be done. Will monsieur be good enough toorder the hands to come to the rigging?'

  It was remarkable how swiftly the gloom lifted, now that the dawn wasactually at hand. A second or so before it had seemed certain that thetwo vessels drifting slowly apart would soon be out of sight of oneanother. But though the distance sensibly increased David could stillsee men lining the rail of the enemy. He could still hear franticshouts, while now and again a muzzle-loader belched forth its contents,the flame of the discharge showing less redly than on former occasions.Then the dawn arrived. The expanse of oily, yellow sea, hithertoinvisible, widened on every hand, while a pinky redness towards the easttold of an approaching sunrise. The Professor sucked with satisfactionat his weed and glanced aloft. Alphonse was swarming into the rigging,no doubt to inform himself of its arrangement. Then he came scuttlingdown, his frightful check shirt fluttering in the fresh morning breeze.

  'It is easy, monsieur,' he said, with a bow, dropping on the deck at theProfessor's feet. 'All is plain and straightforward. I shall set thesails with the help of our friends, and then I shall go below and seewhat can be done in the way of coffee and something to eat. _Parbleu!_but the inside needs attention after such a night There are things a manloves more even than fighting.'

  He called loudly to the Chinese, and then, with David and Dick and theProfessor to help him, soon got sail on the ship. A vast expanse ofcoarse canvas was soon stretched from the rigging, and catching thebreeze caused the vessel to careen nicely. She gathered way, and wassoon tearing away with white foam washing about her stern post.Meanwhile the pirates had crowded every stitch of canvas they could findon to their own ship, and came heading up a little in rear and on aparallel course with the one the Professor had so cleverly taken fromthem. As for the latter, his jovial, fleshy face shone with good humourand _bonhomie_ as he stood at the tiller. Now and again he took hischeroot from his lips and regarded it affectionately, then he put itback between his fine, white teeth with such relish that one could seethat he was decidedly enjoying it. In fact, Professor Padmore wasproving himself a leader in more than one respect. For after all, beyondthe power to command, such an one has need to show other virtues. Ofwhat use even the most astute leader, if he be not confident even in themidst of acute danger? For confidence is as catching as is a display offear. Men will run from a fight with little reason if there
be onesuddenly to set the base example and arouse needless alarm. And on theother hand even those possessed of no extravagant share of courage willstand firm if they have a leader who laughs at danger, who scoffs at theenemy, who openly exposes himself to bullet and shot. But here therewere no cravens. David and Dick had proved their fortitude, while thefour Chinamen were to be trusted entirely. But the odds were vastlyagainst them, so great indeed that even bold men might have beenintimidated. However, the Professor smoked as if he had forgotten theexistence of the enemy, though now and again he cast his eye over hisshoulder.

  'Holding them nicely, I think, David. They're not likely to comealongside before breakfast's ready, and that'll be a comfort, for Iconfess to being ravenous. Just fancy a professor being anything sovulgar. But there you are, I admit to the vulgarity; this morning breezespurs a man's appetite.'

  He felt in his waistcoat pocket, and drew out a metal case, somewhatbigger than a watch. With a movement of the finger he sprang the lidopen, and exposed the face of a compass.

  'H-hm! North-north-east,' he said. 'That's our course. Not for a momentwill I allow those ruffians to set me off it.'

  Perhaps a quarter of an hour elapsed from the time when sail had beenset before Alphonse put in an appearance. He came clambering to thedeck, his enormous hat set far back on his head, and showing the stubblygrowth beneath it. In one hand he bore a smoking coffee pot, and with itbeckoned to the Professor.

  'I have the honour to announce breakfast!' he exclaimed, in his mostpompous manner, and with his most portly bow. 'There is a cabin belowdecks, not big, monsieur, not very clean either; but serviceable, andpossessed of a table. There I have laid the things.'

  The whole thing seemed so impossible, that as they squatted before atable not more than a foot high, and ate rashers of bacon which weresteaming hot, David could hardly believe that but an hour ago they hadbeen fighting desperately. The change in their circumstances was soextraordinary. It was so entirely unexpected, and withal, so fortunate.And here they were, satisfying the inner man, for Alphonse was anexcellent caterer. The boxes which the Professor had brought with himcontained a multiplicity of things, including cameras and otherinstruments necessary for exploration. And amongst them was one fittedwith all the implements to make a field kitchen. There was a charcoalstove, as well as one designed for the use of kerosene under airpressure, an instrument with which a good-sized kettle of water could bemade to boil within a few minutes. Then there were pots and pansinnumerable, while other boxes contained stores of groceries and tinnedgoods sufficient to keep every member of the expedition satisfied for aconsiderable period.

  'Now to discuss the position,' said the Professor, when he had swalloweda third cup of coffee and had begun to smoke again. 'Hung has just senta report to inform me that we still hold our place ahead of those menwho so dearly long to draw level with us. We sail, as I have saidalready, on a course which suits us exactly. That being so, we shallcontinue till we reach some port, where we will run in and demandprotection, or until we meet with some other vessel. There are gun-boatsin these waters at times, and we might have the fortune to hit upon onebelonging to Great Britain, or to France or Germany. I fancy thoserascals would quickly beat a retreat if that were to happen.'

  'Meanwhile, perhaps, sir,' began David, 'we might as well see if,supposing the worst were to happen, there are means aboard to make thosefellows keep their distance.'

  'Cannon?' asked the Professor.

  David nodded. 'That was my idea, sir,' he said. 'This vessel belongs topirates; the chances are that they have some sort of weapons.'

  'And we might make good use of them. Good! we'll make a search.Alphonse, we leave you here for the moment.'

  They clambered to the deck hurriedly, to find the ship careening well toa freshening breeze, and bowling along merrily through a sea that wassunlit in all directions. Some distance astern, and now on a dead linewith them was the other craft, white foam at her fore foot. Even herwhite decks could be seen as she canted over, while with the naked eyeone could distinguish figures moving about on it. Suddenly Dick gave ashout of satisfaction, and pointed to a canvas cover at the back of thesteersman.

  'A long tom, or I'm much mistaken!' he cried. 'Covered up to keep theweather from it, and used only to bring some stubborn captain to hissenses. Couldn't we manage----'

  'I rather think so,' agreed the Professor, smiling gleefully. 'I ratherfancy we might make use of that weapon, Dick. Strip the covering, andlet us obtain a glimpse of it.'

  It took but little effort to lift the cover which had attracted Dick'sattention, and then, as they had suspected, there was a long, swivel guncast in brass, and no doubt capable of throwing a shot some considerabledistance.

  'Then we'll put it in action,' decided the Professor. 'Not that I wantto damage any more of those rascals; but there might be some accident toour rigging. Or, in a fresher breeze, which I fancy is coming, thisvessel might prove slower than the other. We'll make the most of fairlysmooth water and of our new possession; perhaps it will scare them.'

  Once more the handy and invaluable Alphonse was in request. The nattylittle Frenchman seemed to have had a hand in almost everything. Hecould cook, as all knew, particularly his employer, while he was thetidiest of valets. Moreover, Alphonse could fight, and with a spiritthat matched the Professor's. Now he showed his capacity as a gunner. Heled the search for shot and powder, and then ranged himself behind thegun.

  'Once I was a soldier, monsieur,' he said, 'and though I did not belongto the artillery, still I had to do with a gun; for I was in garrisonwhere a mid-day gun was fired, and to me that duty fell. _Oui,vraiment_, we shall be able to manage. We must guess the charge ofpowder. Not too much at first, monsieur David; else there will perhapsbe only pieces of us left for the pirates. We will watch where the ballstrikes the water, and add more if necessary. You shall see; Alphonsewill send those men a pill which will make them ill at ease and causethem to go elsewhere in search of a doctor. Ah, there is the powder; wehave rammed it home. Now a piece of the sacking as a wad. Now the ball.Push with me on the rod and we will soon send it home.'

  The practical little fellow slewed the muzzle of the gun round, and usedthe screw as he squinted along the sights. Already he had sprinkledpowder on the touch hole, and presently announced that all was inreadiness.

  'I have laid it to be fired as we rise to the top of the swell,' hesaid. 'Now for a match with which to fire it.'

  David had thoughtfully prepared a match, consisting of a candle end tiedto a stick, and shaded by a paper hood which kept the wind from it. Itwas a makeshift affair, and the flame blew out twice in succession. Thenthe gun splashed out a stream of flame, followed by a dense volume ofsmoke, which, however, blew away instantly. Their ears were stilltingling after the loud report when a jet of water was seen to rise ahundred yards in front of the pursuer. Instantly Alphonse tossed his hatinto the air and shouted.

  '_Bon! Bon!_ The next time we will do it, yes,' he said. 'Now to spongethe gun clean, and then for a fresh charge.'

  That second shot proved far more encouraging. The ball struck thesurface just to one side of the vessel that was following them, andricochetted some three or four times before it finally sank to thebottom. But the third shot plumped clear on to the deck of the enemy,causing considerable commotion.

  '_Bien_, we have the charge at last, and with this long swivel the aimis easy,' cried the Frenchman. 'Let us try again.'

  A roar of applause greeted the fifth shot, for though fired by amateursit struck the mast of the pursuer, and as they watched, the Professorand his friends saw the rigging sway and come tottering over.

  "A ROAR OF APPLAUSE GREETED THE FIFTH SHOT"]

  'Thus ends all our trouble,' he cried. 'We can shorten sail, and go onslowly.'

  Late that evening Hung announced a ship in the offing, and beforedarkness had fallen a gun-boat ranged up beside them. In fact, she fireda shot across the bows of this suspicious-looking vessel, and then senta boat's crew aboa
rd her. A dapper little Chinese officer swarmed up onher deck, and even he, with all his native impassiveness, showed unusualsurprise as his eyes fell upon the Professor and his party.

  'English?' he asked pleasantly, bowing courteously, and then, when hehad received an assuring answer, 'Then there is something to explain. Weare in search of a notorious pirate.'

  He spoke English with hardly an accent, and his face lit up wonderfullyas the Professor answered. Then, as he listened to the tale the lattertold him, a flush rose to his sallow cheeks.

  'You will please to come aboard at once,' he commanded. 'This news isvery important. My commander will require the fullest information.'

  It appeared, in fact, that news of the pirate's presence in those watershad come to the Chinese navy officials, who had despatched a gun-boat.

  'Some one gave information in Shanghai,' explained the dapper littleofficer. 'No doubt he did so for a reward. But we learned that someEuropeans had set off in a native boat, and that there was a plot toseize them. We made sure when we sighted you that you were the pirate.Now, of course, we shall take them easily.'

  Which actually happened, for four hours' steaming brought the gun-boatwithin easy range of the vessel that had so lately accommodated theProfessor and his party. Then, such is the summary justice handed out bythe celestial race, the ship was callously bombarded, and sent with allthe villains aboard her to the bottom.

  'For which one cannot really grieve, though it does seem a barbarous wayof executing them,' said the Professor. 'And now to get ashore andpursue our search for ruins.'

  Two days later saw them landed, and within a little while the expeditionhad left for the interior.