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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Gold Out of Celebes, by Aylward Edward Dingle
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Gold Out of Celebes
+
+Author: Aylward Edward Dingle
+
+Illustrator: George W. Gage
+
+Release Date: June 28, 2008 [EBook #25917]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD OUT OF CELEBES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Martin Pettit and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+book was produced from scanned images of public domain
+material from the Google Print project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+GOLD OUT OF CELEBES
+
+BY
+CAPTAIN A. E. DINGLE
+
+WITH FRONTISPIECE BY GEORGE W. GAGE
+
+[Illustration: Publisher's logo]
+
+BOSTON
+LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
+1920
+
+
+[Illustration: Natalie stepped softly beside them and gazed over their
+stooping backs, to swiftly step back with a choking sob of horror.
+FRONTISPIECE. _See page 175._]
+
+
+_Copyright, 1920,_
+BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+Published April, 1920
+
+
+Norwood Press
+Set up and electrotyped by J. S. Cushing Co.
+Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
+
+
+To
+
+WAGGLES AND BUBBLES
+
+MY DAUGHTERS
+
+
+
+
+GOLD OUT OF CELEBES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE
+
+
+Perhaps it was Jack Barry's own fault that he had spent three weeks
+loafing about Batavia without a job. Fat jobs were to be had, if a
+fellow persevered and could grin at rebuffs; but when he discovered that
+shore jobs for sailors were usually secured through the Consulate, and
+that his own country's Consulate Service was limited, as service, to
+cocktails and financial reports to Washington, he decided to avoid that
+combination and stick to his own profession. He had been mate of the
+_Gregg_, when that ancient ark foundered off Kebatu, and also held a
+clean master's ticket; but somehow he found that masters and mates were
+a drug on the Batavian market just then; hence his three barren weeks of
+idleness.
+
+"An American has no business with the sea these days," he reflected
+moodily. "Confound this stodgy port and its stodgy Dutchmen!"
+
+Legs wide apart, hands thrust deep into his pockets, he puffed fiercely
+at his pipe and surveyed the scene before him. He stood on the gigantic
+quay overlooking the seething activity of the inner Tandjong Priok
+harbor, and beyond this stretched the two monster jetties and the outer
+port. Eyeing the trading craft that lined the quays, Barry frowned and
+cursed his luck afresh.
+
+He did not notice a man coming up behind him, who now stood scrutinizing
+him admiringly from top to toe.
+
+"Hullo, my noble American sailorman!" The voice at his back brought
+Barry around with a jerk. He glimpsed a figure which might have stepped
+direct from Bond Street or Fifth Avenue,--natty, trim, wide-shouldered.
+Under a soft panama hat a keen, shrewd face smiled so infectiously that
+the disgruntled seaman smiled back in spite of his grouch.
+
+"Well, what of it?" he demanded. "Might as well be a wooden Indian in
+this one-hoss town."
+
+The other advanced with extended hand. His eyes narrowed in appreciation
+of Barry's sturdy, powerful frame and clean-cut face.
+
+"Spotted you right off the bat, hey? My name's Tom Little. Glad to know
+you," he greeted.
+
+"Barry--Jack Barry," returned the sailor.
+
+Their hands met, and in the grip each recognized in the other no mere
+wastrel of Eastern ports, but a man of energy, virility.
+
+"Sailor from sailortown, I'll bet," smiled Little. "Hey? Splice th'
+mainbrace!--Heave-ho, me bullies!--all that stuff, hey? How about it?"
+
+"You win," laughed Barry, amused at his new acquaintance's
+conversational powers. "But I'm a rat in a strange garret here. Nothing
+doing. Can't get a ship for love or lucre."
+
+"I knew it," Little nodded. "Look as if you'd lost your last copper cash
+and wanted to join the Socialist Party. But tell me; is this straight?
+D' you really want a job?"
+
+"Have another," parried Barry. "D' you need a skipper?"
+
+"Who--me?" Little began to roll a smoke, chuckling happily. "I'm a
+typewriter salesman," he said, "or was, until last night. I quit the
+job." He watched Barry keenly while lighting his smoke, then suddenly
+asked: "Where d' you hail from, Barry?"
+
+"Salem, where the sailors used to come from," growled Barry. He was
+disgusted again, sensing simply another waste of time in Little's
+manner. Little saw the change of expression, and puffed silently awhile.
+
+"Look here," he remarked presently, "I've sold typewriters for two
+years, from the Ditch to Nagasaki, and from the land o' rubies clear to
+the land of apes, and I'm doggone sick of toting literary sausage
+grinders around. I see a chance to horn in on a prospect that's sure to
+pay exes and maybe pan out a pile, but I need a good man of your
+profession in with me. How about you?"
+
+"I'd jump into anything clean," asserted Barry promptly. "But what's the
+golden hoodle?"
+
+"A brigantine and sealed orders," grinned Little, with an air of mock
+mystery. "Are you a sure-enough skipper, though?"
+
+Barry nodded, then turned. Along the wharves were junks, island
+schooners, cargo tramps, and riffraff of the Seven Seas, but only one
+brigantine. It was an uncommon rig in the port. The craft lay far down
+the quay, and even at that distance looked old and desolate.
+
+"That?" he asked, pointing.
+
+"Good eye," chuckled Little admiringly. "How d' ye guess?"
+
+"She's the only brigantine in the port...."
+
+"Oh, glory! Real story-book salt, hey? Show you a hunk o' wood, and
+you'll tell me the family history of the skipper of the hooker it came
+out of, hey? Barry, you're all to the mustard!"
+
+Little clapped him on the shoulder, and Barry gazed into his snapping
+black eyes for a moment.
+
+"Mr. Little," he said quietly, "if you're always as easy in your choice
+of men you're not the wise owl I thought you at first sight."
+
+"Me? Good guesser, that's all," returned Little, unrebuked. "Think I'm
+an easy mark, hey? Muggins from Muggsville? Come again, Barry. Beg
+pardon, Cap'n Barry, I should say. Haul th' bowline! Jack up th'
+fo'c'sle yard! See, I'm also a tarry shellback way down deep."
+
+Barry laughed outright. It was impossible to maintain a frown or a doubt
+in the salesman's breezy presence. "Just what is your proposition?" he
+asked at length.
+
+"Sh! Clap a stopper on your jaw-tackle!" Again that air of mock mystery
+came into Little's face. "Say, d' you know old Cornelius Houten?"
+
+"Heard of a trader by that tally. Don't know him."
+
+"Same man," Little nodded. "Only one like him. Known him a long time.
+Sold him a parcel of machines for his Government. He's a queer old duck.
+Made me a proposition last night. Millions in it. Chucked up my job by
+cable right away. Sorry this morning, though. Like a dream. I wanted to
+hunt up a fellow who could put me wise on binnacles and charts and
+things like that. Get me?"
+
+"As far as you've gone," chuckled Barry.
+
+"Well, Houten likes my style. Thinks I can do this job as well as I sold
+typewriters. I like you, too. See the drift? Come to his office with me
+and give the thing the once over. If you say O.K., you come in on it,
+and we'll sign up right away. I told Houten I was going to find a man."
+
+Barry eyed the other quizzically. Liking Tom Little at first sight, he
+liked him more now.
+
+"You're putting a lot of faith in a stranger," he warned.
+
+Little cut him short. "Cut out the cackle and talk hoss," was the
+retort. "I size up men first pop. My bet's down now on your blue eye.
+Let's get a rig. I don't know a darn thing about this part of the world
+except the drummers' hotels. But Houten takes a chance on me. And if I'm
+his blue-eyed boy, you're mine. I'm taking a chance without a qualm,
+Barry."
+
+Little passed an arm through his companion's, and they turned towards
+the railroad station. As they picked out a _sadoe_ from among the
+waiting vehicles, Barry strove desperately to recover a grip on himself.
+He had been all but swept off his feet by Little's cheery optimism and
+breezy confidence. Jack Barry was also accustomed to sizing up men
+quickly. Despite the typewriter salesman's slangy, easy-going way, he
+saw underneath a man shrewd, efficient, utterly dependable. And as the
+_sadoe_ rattled at the heels of the tiny Timor pony along the wide
+avenue, past the dirt-choked canals of the old port, he fell into rosy,
+perhaps premature, dreams of the future. Little awakened him with
+rapid-fire speech.
+
+"Selling typewriters out here is easy. Like getting rid of pink lemonade
+at a kid's party," chattered the salesman. "Was doing a wildfire
+business. Chucked the job clean, on Houten's face. Imagine how he struck
+me to make me do that." Perhaps thirty seconds of silence--a long
+silence for Little--then, "How'd you get stranded, Barry?"
+
+Barry told of the foundering of the _Gregg_, and though the recital was
+in the plainest of sailorese terms, Little's eyes popped in amazement.
+
+"Holy smoke! You've been shipwrecked? Floating around in an open boat?
+Didn't believe it was done, except in Perilous Polly Feature Fillum
+Bunk! Ph-e-ew!" and Little relapsed into a real, awed silence.
+
+They passed into old Batavia, amid its swamps and silted canals. Further
+along lay Welterreden, the new city, with its magnificent avenues and
+residences; but the business in hand lay in the older section. Here,
+among clustering mangroves, huge rooted and malarial, Chinese and native
+_kampongs_ huddled in the shadow of decaying ruins. Here was a deserted
+city, with jungle creeping over Dutch waterways and red-brick houses,
+whose quaint gables and leaded windows spoke of eighteenth-century
+Holland rather than of twentieth-century Java. One involuntarily looked
+for windmills. A few of the old houses were still occupied as offices,
+and at one of these, where a native _kampong_ nestled and stank beneath
+the rank shrubbery to one side, the _sadoe_ drew up.
+
+"Houten's," announced Little, recovering speech. Bidding the _sadoe_
+driver wait, he led Barry inside the office.
+
+A Javanese boy bowed them into a room where nothing was in evidence save
+a punkah, a giant porcelain stove, a huge desk and chair, and a monster
+man. Cornelius was fleshy to enormity. He was very like a mammoth but
+benevolent spider. Wealthy as he was fat, while many men had cursed him,
+many more had blessed him. His business interests were wide and
+complex, reached into many fields, and usually came to a good end. Also,
+to be the accredited agent of Cornelius Houten was in itself a
+recommendation as to probity and worth greatly to be desired. Rarely did
+his judgment err; the men who had failed to measure up to his estimate
+of them were extremely few.
+
+He acknowledged Barry with a grunt to Little's introduction, and
+motioned his visitors to two chairs silently produced by the Javanese
+boy. He sat in ponderous silence for a space, his piggy eyes dwelling on
+Barry with steel-point steadiness, his great hands resting idly on the
+desk before him. Then he spoke,--in thick, heavy English.
+
+"Good man. You will command my _Barang_, Captain Barry?"
+
+"Not too swift, Mynheer," chimed in Little. "Run over the business again
+for Barry, hey? Give him a chance to kick."
+
+Houten maintained his steady gaze. "You have master's papers, of course,
+Captain Barry?"
+
+Barry produced his certificate and discharges and laid them on the desk.
+Houten glanced through them and pushed them back with a nod. Then his
+gaze switched to Little.
+
+"You can tell him," he said, and Little leaped at the chance to talk
+again.
+
+"This is it," the ex-salesman began eagerly. He watched Houten
+incessantly for hint or encouragement. "Houten made one of his rare
+miscues on a man, Barry. One time in a thousand. Englishman, name of
+Gordon. Manager of a trading post in Celebes. Gordon sends back small
+parcels of trade but sends a lot of gold dust to a fellow in
+Surabaya--old capital of Java, y' know.
+
+"Evidently Gordon has located a gold-bearing river on the concession and
+is swiping the dust. Tells Mynheer a lot of lies to quiet him, Houten
+wants me to ferret out this Surabaya duck, get the hang o' things, then
+go out after Mister Gordon, chop-chop. You know--not the dust, but the
+principle of the thing, et cetera. Millions for justice but not a
+plugged Straits dollar for graft. Catch on?"
+
+"Why not invoke the law? No lack of it here, I understand," put in Barry
+innocently. Houten's vast frame shook with a silent chuckle.
+
+"Go on," he gurgled. "Captain Barry is no fool."
+
+"Act two--curtain!" Little complied quickly. "Surabaya chap is called
+Leyden, half Dutch, half English. Trader of sorts, see? Well, Leyden is
+bound for Celebes right now; hunt up the source of supplies, y' know. Up
+the Sandang River, where the post is, there's a missionary outfit that
+Houten is interested in. One of the Mission lot is a girl, and Leyden
+has boasted openly he's going to make a hit with the little frock.
+Houten aims to empty Gordon out, euchre Leyden, and give the good
+Mission people an object lesson on bad men in general, with Leyden as
+the horrible example. Savvee? Sure you do."
+
+Barry eyed Houten in some perplexity. Knowing little of the man, he was
+more than slightly suspicious of this tale.
+
+"I gather your intention is to interfere between this girl and Leyden
+more than anything else," he remarked slowly. "Well, frankly, I'd like
+to know why. It doesn't sound any nicer than the usual man-and-woman
+affair out East. It's too altruistic."
+
+Houten's steady eyes seemed to fire Little to further explanation.
+
+"Not a bit, Barry," Little went on warmly. "This fellow Leyden isn't a
+clean sport, by a jugful. Puts on heaps of side; carries a swagger
+front. Put over some shady jobs in the island already, and Houten's sick
+of it. Don't imagine our friend here has any interest in this particular
+Mission lady beyond befriending her and her kind. He hasn't. I'll
+guarantee that.
+
+"He wants to hand Leyden a swift kick, business and personal. Also save
+the little Mission toiler from contamination by personal contact with
+the bad man, or words to that effect. We take train to Surabaya--the
+_Barang_ picks us up there--size up Leyden's outfit, and put a spoke in
+his wheel that'll give us a start of him.
+
+"If we locate the gold river, we get half the loot, see? Forget the
+altruism of it--an old sea-dog has no business with a word like that,
+anyway. I know Houten, and I'll answer for his motives. How about it,
+Barry?"
+
+Barry thought for a moment, scanning both of his companions keenly the
+while, then: "Suits me," he said quietly. "I suppose we descend upon
+Surabaya as a pair of pop-eyed tourists, eh?"
+
+"Right, first shot!" cried Little jubilantly. "Then the _Barang_ picks
+us up. Cap'n Barry takes command. And it's Yo-heave-ho! on the briny
+billows in a bouncing brigantine! Coming, ain't you?"
+
+"Sure!" grinned Barry, and thrust his free brown fist into Houten's
+great paw. Little was pumping furiously at the other hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO
+
+
+In mid-forenoon of the second day's train ride, Little and Barry were
+forced to cool their heels at Solo Junction while the train waited for
+the tardy Samarang connection.
+
+The typewriter salesman was a keen man in his line of business, but he
+had never used his senses to much ulterior purpose while traveling about
+the East; he was much more concerned with a prospective customer's
+financial status than with the surroundings in which the customer lived.
+
+Now while fuming over the delay, Little stepped out on the platform and
+abruptly awoke to the fact that sheer beauty was riot in Java, if one's
+eyes were but opened to it. Hedges of lantana were not new to him, they
+were common from end to end of the island; but not until now had he
+appreciated the warm magenta coloring of gorgeous poinsettias and
+bougainvillea, the glowing-hearted, waxy white flowers of frangipani;
+not until now did he realize the prodigality of Nature towards Java in
+the matter of weird and awesome fruits and vegetables.
+
+He stood in wonder, gazing at the pendant fruit of a heavily laden
+sausage tree, for all the world like queerly colored, succulent
+sausages, garnished with brilliant green foliage; his wonder lasted
+until a coolie passed to windward of him munching on a great chunk of
+prickly durian, which fruit combines the flavor of ambrosia with the
+odor of a gasworks. He retreated incontinently, bursting in upon Barry
+who had remained in the train, and almost knocking over a lady who was
+hastily leaving. Apologizing confusedly, Little bore down on the sailor.
+
+"Phe-e-ew!" he gasped. "You're one wise old fox, Barry. Seen all this
+stuff before, hey? Say, there's a coolie outside eating armor-plated
+limburger, ten years defunct! Enjoying it, too. And I've just seen a
+tree full o' hot-dogs! Honest, Barry--Hullo, old boy, why the blushes?
+Why all the figuring?"
+
+Barry sat in the big soft seat of the first-class carriage, a scrap of
+paper on one knee, a pencil chewed to splinters between his teeth. His
+brow was puckered into deep lines above troubled eyes which stared
+absently at a Mesdag picture in blue and white tile set in the
+compartment wall. He smiled at his friend's exuberance and dropped
+pencil point to paper.
+
+"How in thunder do you figure this confounded Dutch money, Little?" he
+asked. "What's the fare in real money? Fifty gulden sounds like conic
+sections to me."
+
+"Why, fifty gulden is--But what for, son? Why the financial statement?"
+
+"Want to start right, that's all. You've paid for everything so far,
+Little, and I'm busted clean. Keeping tally, that's all."
+
+"Forget it," smiled Little. "I've got a note on Houten's bankers in
+Surabaya for the exes. Pitch that pencil out o' the window before it
+gives you indigestion. But there's something else," he accused, watching
+Barry closely. "Darned if I don't think you've started an affair! Who
+was the lady?"
+
+Barry got up quickly, stepped to the window and drew Little after him.
+After a swift scrutiny, he pointed out a graceful figure in cool white
+and answered Little's query.
+
+"See her? Yes, that woman just going into the crowd. Same one you nearly
+bowled over in the doorway. Came to me the minute you went out; greeted
+me as an old friend, though I never saw her in my life before. D' you
+know her?"
+
+Little stared hard at the retreating figure, trying to glimpse her face.
+The woman turned, gazing up the track towards Samarang, and the vivid
+sunlight irradiated her face with startling clearness. It was a striking
+face, full of mature loveliness, yet holding something in the deep
+expressive eyes that hinted at more than a woman's share of hard contact
+with the world.
+
+"No," Little said slowly, "never saw her, Barry. But I believe I'd like
+to meet her at that. Some queen, hey? What's she want?"
+
+"Wanted a passage in my ship!" exploded Barry. "See here, Little, I
+thought this job was on the quiet. I haven't said a word to anybody,"
+and he fixed an accusing eye on Little.
+
+"Me too," retorted the ex-salesman, as warmly returning the other's
+quiz. "Maybe you're oversensitive, though. How much did she seem to
+know?"
+
+"Can't tell," hesitated Barry. "Perhaps she startled me by simply
+talking ship. I suppose almost anybody can spot me for a sailor. But she
+seemed to be so darned certain that I was in command of a vessel leaving
+Surabaya, and she asked me for a passage, and be darned if I savvee why,
+since even Hawkeye himself couldn't tell where the ship is bound for,
+unless we blabbed it."
+
+"What did you tell her?"
+
+"That my ship was bound for Europe," grinned the sailor. "She came right
+back, too; said that's just where she wants to go. She was urging me to
+sell her a berth when you came in and saved me."
+
+Little glanced out again then suddenly pulled Barry from the window.
+
+"Come out and watch the crowd," he said. "Some of these people are worth
+watching. The Samarang train is due." With the announcement Little
+leaped from the train and impatiently awaited his companion.
+
+"Easy to see the people worth watching," laughed Barry, joining him.
+
+Little walked up the platform towards the knot of folks with whom the
+lady was last seen, and the sailor followed with an indulgent grin.
+Together they reached the locomotive of their train, and like a vision
+the strange lady emerged from nowhere and approached them, smiling
+brilliantly.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Little," she greeted, and Little's politeness was
+scarcely proof against his astonishment. He stared in amazement at her
+ready use of his name. And he was certain now that he had never set eyes
+on this radiant being before. The lady prattled on, with a note of
+reproof: "Captain Barry refuses to accommodate a lady in distress. Won't
+you persuade him to sell me a passage in his ship, Mr. Little?"
+
+Little was sharp-witted. But even he was nonplussed to find their errand
+so obviously known in part. As for Barry, simple, straight sailor that
+he was, he was dumbfounded.
+
+What the outcome might have been was left in doubt. The warning whistle
+of the incoming train jarred the warm air, and the crowd surged every
+way, creating a diversion that precluded reply. The train from the north
+drew in and disgorged its passengers, voluble or stolid, according to
+whether they were of the native subjects or the Dutch masters. Out of
+the scrambling chaos of chugging trains, first, second, and third-class
+passengers were directed or driven to their respective locations amid
+hoarse or shrill orders of guttural European or musical Javanese
+trainmen.
+
+Until the last few passengers were mounting the train steps, Barry and
+Little lingered, watching the human kaleidoscope and awkwardly conscious
+that they made poor figures before the lady at their side. Then they
+were attracted by an altercation going on farther along the station
+platform, and when they turned again the mysterious lady had as
+mysteriously vanished.
+
+"She's gone!" breathed Barry, with relief.
+
+"Good egg!" echoed Little, then seized Barry's arm. "Come on, Barry, we
+must hustle too. Gosh! See that?"
+
+A mild-mannered, soft-eyed Javanese porter had set down a heavy suitcase
+and was apparently trying to persuade its white owner to pay his small
+fee for carrying it. The white man, keen-faced, overbearing,
+immaculately dressed, cursed the porter in venomous Low Malay and picked
+up the suitcase himself. As he turned to board the train, leaving the
+fee unpaid, the porter trotted beside him with outstretched palm, asking
+civilly enough for his wage. The white man swung around, kicked him
+viciously, and sprang on the train, leaving his victim squirming in
+agony on the platform.
+
+"Here, I'm going after that duck!" gritted Barry, buttoning his jacket
+and starting forward. "That's the sort of white man that makes me glad
+I'm sun-tanned brown!"
+
+"Not here--not now," warned Little, seizing the sailor's sleeve. "We've
+got to hustle to keep our seats, son. Ain't that sort o' thing regular
+with white men in a black man's land? It is with these lordly Dutchmen,
+anyway."
+
+"Regular? Huh! Not if I can stop it," snorted Barry. "Would you see a
+dog kicked like that? Not much you wouldn't. I don't like that white
+man."
+
+"We'll sure agree not to like him, Barry, old scout; but for the love o'
+Mother Dooley don't start something that'll tie our hands this early in
+the game."
+
+Little led his obstinate friend to his seat, and until their fellow
+travelers melted away in the crowd at the Surabaya station he kept a
+wary eye on him. Barry snorted like a pugilist stung hard on the nose
+when the white corrector of insistent coolies marched from the station
+as if he owned the town; and the ex-salesman was forced to use all his
+diplomacy to restrain Barry from an outbreak.
+
+"Have a heart, Cap, have a heart," he pleaded, when Barry barely escaped
+collision with a speeding barouche while following with his eyes his
+unknown enemy. "We're a pair o' tourists, remember. You'll get all the
+scrapping you can handle when we get away from here. If you go after
+every white fellow you see slugging a coolie, we'll have no time to
+attend to our own business."
+
+"You're boss of the job; I'm dumb," grunted Barry. "All the same, I'd
+pass up Houten's proposition for the pleasure of pushing that chap's
+jib three inches further inboard. Let's get something to drink. I'm on
+fire."
+
+Little led the way to a quiet hotel whose veranda commanded a wide view
+of the harbor and the Island of Madura across the straits. He had
+stopped here many times in his capacity of salesman, had sold the
+landlord a typewriter, and was still a welcome guest in spite of it.
+Ordering two tall schooners of imported beer, the only kind drinkable
+even in that hotel, he took the proprietor aside and made some
+inquiries. Presently he sauntered back to Barry.
+
+"Going up town, Jack," he announced. "Too late for the bank. I'll go to
+the banker's villa for our _gulden_. Unless the bottom drops out of the
+_Barang_, she'll be in before morning, and we can't lose any time.
+
+"When you've lowered that bar'l o' beer into your hold--more nautical
+stuff, see?--you get busy too. Mynheer host tells me Leyden's schooner,
+the _Padang_, is hauled out for caulking. The job's done. They float her
+on this evening's tide. He says Leyden drops in about sundown whenever
+he's in town. He'll surely be here to-night, being busy about his ship.
+
+"Now, old salt, that schooner can sail rings around any shovel-nosed old
+boat with those funny little crosspieces on her masts. Houten admitted
+that. We must hinder that schooner, long enough to beat her to the
+Sandang River. That's your job, sailor. But don't pull stuff raw enough
+to get us clapped into the calaboose. Report back here. I'll be back
+like a shot. Then we'll camp on Leyden's trail and size him up."
+
+Barry set down his empty beer mug and stood up, glad of the chance of
+action. He hesitated, though, and said doubtfully:
+
+"If she's hauled out still, it's easy to fix her. But I'd feel easier
+about it if I knew that Leyden is actually the dog you say he is. If it
+turned out that he's only a keen fellow who's got to windward of Houten
+by straight methods, I'd feel as if I'd knifed him in the dark by
+playing tricks on his schooner to get a start of him."
+
+"Oh, splash!" ejaculated Little. He was hot and looked it. "I thought
+you were satisfied about that. Look here; go ahead, pull whatever stunt
+is up your sleeve. I give you my word that if you see Leyden and feel as
+you do about him then, we'll hold back our own vessel until he's under
+weigh, no matter what we lose by it. Does that soothe your blessed
+Quixotic scruples?"
+
+"Good enough," agreed Barry heartily, throwing off the half-felt doubts
+that had obsessed him. "I shouldn't have said anything like that at all,
+after taking you up. That coolie business got me heated. I'll probably
+feel better with something to do."
+
+They parted on the hotel steps, and Barry, after inquiring of the
+proprietor the whereabouts of the slipway where Leyden's schooner was,
+swung off in the given direction. Past wharves and warehouses he strode,
+throwing back his wide shoulders and inhaling great drafts of spicy
+ozone as he found himself once again among shipping, in the atmosphere
+that was meat and drink to him.
+
+At the northern extremity of the water front the craft in port dwindled
+from steamers and deep-water square-riggers to "country" ships,
+schooners, junks, and other small fry; and among the forest of masts his
+experienced eye picked out two spars, straighter and more shipshape than
+the rest, which guided him unerringly to the _Padang_.
+
+Blocked up on a tidewater slipway, every detail of the vessel was
+visible, even to the last fathom of oakum now being hammered into her
+port garboard seam. White painted and trim, she spelled speed and
+weatherliness in every line, and a note of admiration escaped Barry as
+he regarded her clean underbody from a safe distance. A trickle of water
+was already creeping up towards her stern; the rudder would be wet again
+within an hour.
+
+From the vantage point of a huge pair of sheer-legs Barry reconnoitered.
+He saw the last muddy toiler crawl from beneath the keel and scramble
+ashore. It was getting rapidly dusk as the sun dipped, and a lone figure
+high up on deck went around placing lanterns in readiness for working
+the schooner off when the tide served. Besides the solitary watchman,
+not a soul was visible. Barry stepped out cautiously and hastened down
+to the floor of the slip.
+
+One of Jack Barry's most cherished possessions was a weird Yankee
+contraption that cost him heavily in the shape of worn pockets. Its
+maker named it a knife; as a matter of fact, the knife part was
+worthless; but snugly and cunningly fitted into the stout buckhorn
+handle was a serviceable file, a hacksaw, and a marlinespike.
+
+In the brief time before the slipway employees and the schooner's crew
+returned from their supper, Barry worked swiftly and silently. He ripped
+out fathom after fathom of fresh caulking in the garboards, making
+assurance doubly sure, by thrusting his knife-blade clear through the
+seam in a dozen places. The anchor, hanging at the cathead ready to let
+go when the schooner floated in the harbor, he loosely connected with
+one of the chain-plates by a length of small wire rope, so that, when
+let go, it would hang a few feet under water and the schooner must
+drift, possibly ashore, before another anchor could be cleared and put
+over.
+
+In little over half an hour he climbed out of the slip again, dripping
+sweat, minus the skin of all his knuckles, and blistered as to palms and
+knees, but with a cheerful grin that spoke of a satisfied soul. He
+confidently depended upon the darkness, now absolute, and native
+unthoroughness, for his work to remain undetected until the sea came up
+and concealed it.
+
+After a bath at the hotel he sought Little and reported his
+achievement.
+
+"Good work!" chuckled his friend. Then Little whispered: "And who d 'ye
+suppose Leyden is, after all?"
+
+"Search me," said Barry, his eyes on a group of men along the veranda.
+"Who?"
+
+"Your coolie kicker of Solo!"
+
+A flash of joy lighted Barry's bronzed face, to be shaded in a moment.
+
+"That's the best news in months, Little. But Gosh! If I'd known, I could
+just as easily have ripped out another ten fathom of caulking!"
+
+As he spoke, Barry leaned forward suddenly. The group of men along the
+veranda had drawn his attention by their noisy laughter and greetings,
+and now he saw his man of Solo appear in their midst. Leyden was flushed
+and in high good humor; that he was hail fellow well met was obvious. He
+flung himself into a long cane chair and plunged into a recital that
+induced a gale of merriment in his listeners. Barry's eyes glittered
+like points of flame and bored into Leyden's back as if to force notice.
+
+"Go easy, Jack," warned Little, sensing trouble. "Don't start a fuss."
+
+"Shut up!" growled Barry, holding his gaze. "I won't start anything.
+I'll make him start something though; then I'll sail into him like a rat
+up a pump!"
+
+Leyden had finished his story, and the class of it was patent from the
+guffawed comments it excited. Another of the group capped it with
+another, grosser yet, and the party burst into an uproarious hilarity.
+Then a flabby-jowled, paunchy fellow urged in throaty gutturals:
+
+"Come, Leyden, tell us about the new flame. It's too good to keep to
+yourself. She's a good girl, isn't she--as yet?"
+
+No attempt was made to keep the conversation private. The whole party
+oozed a blatant superiority over any possible audience, easily traceable
+to the copious flow of schnapps at their table. Leyden alone, Barry
+noticed, drank nothing. A roar greeted the last speaker's shrewd hint at
+Leyden's reputation as a ladies' man, which he replied to by taking a
+fat wallet from his breast pocket. This he opened ostentatiously, and
+after a suitable pause, produced a cabinet photograph which he pressed
+to his lips with a theatrical flourish.
+
+Barry crouched in his chair, feet drawn under him, hands gripping the
+chair arms and supporting most of his weight. Little watched the group
+curiously, for the moment forgetting his inflammable friend. The picture
+went around, to the accompaniment of coarse jests, the burden of which
+indicated that the Celebes Mission field was due to either gain a
+convert in Leyden or lose a valued worker in the person of the picture's
+original.
+
+Leyden replied with a remark that would have procured him a beating in a
+sailor's dive, and Barry lurched to his feet with a lurid, rumbling
+oath. Little started up, too, but half-heartedly, then sat down to
+follow the action of his friend. He too had caught that last remark, and
+his fingers itched to feel Leyden's windpipe throb under them.
+
+Barry staggered across the veranda, cleverly simulating drunkenness.
+Furious as he was, he was cool enough to play a definite and reasonably
+safe game. He lost his balance ten feet from Leyden's chair, recovered
+himself with a damp hiccough and maudlin apology, then darted forward
+and sprawled among the hilarious group with hands outstretched for the
+table to support himself.
+
+Mumbling incoherently, he slowly raised himself and glared owlishly
+around, caught sight of the picture in Leyden's hand, and grabbed for
+it.
+
+"Pretty, pretty," he gabbled, leering at Leyden and prodding that fuming
+gentleman in the ribs with a hard finger. "'Zat your sister?"
+
+An awkward laugh burst from the party. Recalling the remarks they had
+been bandying about, they considered how little sport they would have
+caused Leyden had the original of that picture been in truth his sister.
+Leyden flushed to his hair roots, then paled with fury. He seized Barry
+by the shoulder, picked up a glass of schnapps, and flung the stinging
+liquor into the sailor's face.
+
+Barry's pose dropped in a flash. He made an expertly short job of the
+coolie kicker now the opening had come. Ramming a right fist like a
+jib-sheet-block hard into Leyden's solar plexus, he brought the same
+hand up streaking to the jaw; his left shot out as his man staggered to
+fall, and crunched home with a smash into the now distorted features.
+
+Uproar ensued. The landlord ran in, feigning distress. Little joined,
+and the supposedly drunken sailor was hauled away from his fallen
+adversary. A rapid exchange of crisp sentences passed between the host
+and Little, and the former nodded. He busied himself with Leyden and his
+vociferous friends, had the damaged man taken to a private room, and
+made the way clear for Little to hustle Barry out of the hotel and into
+a barouche.
+
+"I can't blame you, Jack," grinned the salesman as the carriage rolled
+away. "It was what we wanted, after all; but it may cause trouble yet.
+Some hothead, old scout! I'll look out I keep off your corns myself. Now
+we'll get to the front and watch for the _Barang_. She's about due, and
+the town's too hot for us after this."
+
+An hour later an anchor was let go somewhere out in the night. Little
+had secured a boatman, and the two friends put off to the brigantine
+full of self-congratulatory chuckles; for, whether Leyden had pulled
+strings to arrest his assailant or not, the mannikin at the end of the
+string had as yet shown no signs of jumping.
+
+As they neared the dark shape of the vessel, two market boats left her
+shadow, and voices came across the water, signifying the correct tally
+of sundry stores. Then the _Barang's_ anchor came up again immediately
+her new skipper set his foot on deck, the topsail yard, lowered to the
+cap on anchoring, was jerked aloft, and the brigantine stood silently
+out of the roadstead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE
+
+
+Cape Lapa, at the east end of Madura Island, was smoky and indistinct on
+the port quarter when Captain Barry came out of his stateroom after two
+brief hours of sleep. He had kept the deck through the night until the
+brigantine was well away; now, with a natural curiosity, he rose early
+to take a survey of his new command and her crew. Coming on board at
+black midnight he had sensed rather than seen his first officer. How far
+that first shadowy impression had satisfied him was evident when he
+permitted himself to sleep without verifying it by daylight. His crew he
+had only seen as noiseless shapes between dark bulwarks as they slid
+rather than ran in response to the officers' orders in getting to sea.
+
+The _Barang_ had a deckhouse companion,--that is, a square house built
+over and around the head of the companionway stairs, forming a
+convenient chart room for the officers or a snug smoking lounge for
+possible passengers. By the open door of this house Barry stood for a
+few moments, gazing intently at the picture he had snatched from Leyden,
+and which had remained in his pocket after the encounter. Out from the
+oval of the mount a sweet girlish face smiled at him. It was the face
+of a woman grown, yet retaining the utter innocence and trust of a girl.
+The picture had been taken in a studio, the Sumarang photographer's name
+was stamped on the card, and Barry felt a wave of anger creeping over
+him at the thought that Leyden could get such a picture. Then he thought
+it possible that the picture had been bought; for native photographers
+are not beyond taking money for pictures they have no right to sell; and
+the thought pleased him. He turned the card over, and was again absurdly
+pleased to find no signature on the back.
+
+"That's it!" he muttered. "She didn't give him this." He smiled back at
+the charming face and fancied it smiled up at him. Such a vision of
+fresh, wholesome loveliness had never crossed his horizon before. The
+level brows shaded eyes that looked straight out at him, fearless,
+unconcealing; the richly curved lips were parted in a dazzling
+expression of happiness. Barry gladdened at the sight, then frowned at
+the recollection of the discussion at Leyden's table. Such frank,
+unsophisticated loveliness was tender prey for the likes of Leyden.
+
+"Not if I know it, he won't!" the skipper muttered under his breath. He
+slipped the picture into his pocket and stepped out on deck, taking in
+every detail of ship and crew that came into his line of sight.
+
+In the strengthening sunlight of rising morning the brigantine would not
+have appealed very strongly to a landsman, or even to a yachtsman. As
+Barry discovered later, at breakfast, Little was sadly disappointed at
+the lack of polished brass-work, the bareness of the paint, the
+all-round creakiness of the ancient fabric. But to a seaman's eye the
+absence of brass meant a pleasing lack of irritating work on
+ornamentation; the worn paint showed sound timber beneath; there was
+just enough creakiness to indicate an amount of free play that made for
+pliability and strength.
+
+From forward came the musical swish of brooms and water as the
+bare-legged watch scrubbed decks. A burly Hollander stood on the spare
+topmast lying in the port scuppers, one leg crooked over the bulwark
+rail, scooping water from the ocean with a draw-bucket and discharging
+it with consummate skill among the brown legs of the scrubbers.
+
+Barry took notice of the big Dutchman, receiving an impression of quiet,
+ponderous efficiency that was yet strangely suggestive of a
+velvet-covered steel trap. This impression, however, was only a fleeting
+one as to the latter part; it struck Barry just once in that first early
+morning view of his ship, when the Hollander gave a softly spoken order
+to a brown Javanese, smiling ruddily as he spoke, and the sailor leaped
+to obey with fear so apparent in his face and movements that Barry was
+forced to grin at the ludicrousness of it.
+
+But the outstanding figure in the scrubbing party was Little, and the
+skipper quickly forgot the seaman's fright in amusement at his friend's
+antics. Broom in hand, his trousers rolled above his knees, and his
+shirt flying open at the neck, his face glowing with the exercise, the
+late typewriter salesman darted in and out among the other scrubbers,
+leaving the spot he was working on to pounce upon any fresh space of
+planking sluiced by the water. Getting in everybody's way, tripping
+himself with his own broom, hopping like a cat in a puddle when his toes
+were jabbed by the bristles, he displayed three men's energy and
+accomplished the work of a one-armed boy.
+
+But his enthusiasm was pleasing to behold. It assured Barry that Little
+was not making the trip with a view to growing corpulent in the lazy
+luxury of immaculate attire and cabin cushions. The amateur shellback
+caught sight of Barry, standing regarding him with an amused grin, and
+he ceased his labors. Thrusting his broom into the hands of a sailor,
+Little gave a fore-and-aft hitch to his pants in approved Dick Deadeye
+style, plucked his forelock, and his joyful voice rang along the decks.
+
+"Ahoy--ahoy! Slack away for'ard, leggo aft! Tara-ra, tara-ra--A life on
+the ocean wave is better than going to sea! Keelhaul th' main scuppers;
+lash th' anchor to th' mast! Whe-eee! Say, Barry, but this is th' life,
+hey?"
+
+Barry beckoned him, and Little sauntered aft, rolling like a deep water
+man getting rid of a twelve-months' payday.
+
+"Look here, skipper," he said, halting at the deckhouse door, "I can't
+see why you don't give me a regular job in this boat. Dutchy there says
+I'm a born sailor, by the way I handle a broom. Suppose you sign me on
+as chief broom-rastler, or corporal of the starboard bucket rack, or
+something, hey? I know I've got Viking blood in me, the sea chatter
+comes so natural to me. I ought to be an officer, too; my appetite's
+much too good for a common sailor."
+
+"Glad to hear about the appetite, because breakfast is ready," grinned
+the skipper, casting a comprehensive glance around his ship before
+leading the way below. "Better slick up a bit, though, before going to
+table, Little. A piratical atmosphere's all right in its place, but I'll
+feel as if I ought to pack a pistol or two if I sit down to eat with a
+tough looking specimen like you."
+
+The chief mate ate at the first table that morning, and Barry took the
+opportunity to make himself familiar with some general details of the
+ship's company. The brigantine was a relic of an ancient period of
+shipbuilding, and her main cabin fitted her excellently. Dark, full of
+deep recesses in which great square windows opened to the ocean's free
+breezes; cosy with an old-world cosiness; picturesque with spacious
+skylight dome, in which swung a mahogany rack full of tinkling glasses
+and ruby and amber decanters; full of weird, whispering voices of aged
+bulkheads and cheeping frames. Such was the cabin. And the chief mate
+fitted the cabin as that apartment fitted the ship.
+
+Square as one of the stern ports, his face tanned and grained to the
+semblance of a piece of the skylight mahogany; honest as the timber that
+went into the building of the ship, Jerry Rolfe attempted no bluff,
+either in his table manners or his professional duties. As he ate, his
+shoulders swung to the heave of his arms, attacking the food on his
+plate as an enemy to be downed catch-as-catch-can style, no holds
+barred. Little stared in amazement at first. He shot a quizzical glance
+at Barry when the mate absorbed a cupful of scalding coffee with one
+gurgling, sucking swallow. But Barry expected only sailorly qualities
+and loyalty from his officers; on the first count he was satisfied with
+Rolfe, and his doubts were few on the second. He inquired now about the
+other member of the afterguard,--the burly Hollander who had
+superintended the washing-down.
+
+"Hendrik Vandersee 's his name; bo'sun, acting second mate's his
+rating," replied the mate in a plain, official tone. "Dunno anything
+about him, sir, only that Mr. Houten sent him aboard and said he's been
+highly recommended by somebody as knowing more about the place we're
+bound for than any other man in the East."
+
+"Well, what d' you think of him? Good second mate, eh?"
+
+"Oh, Barry," Little broke in exuberantly, "he's the jolliest fat sailor
+that ever swabbed a deck. Why, he told me I was a whale of a shellback,
+and he's going to teach me...."
+
+"This is business, Little," Barry interrupted, with a trace of
+irritation. "Come, Mr. Rolfe; if you've finished your breakfast, you can
+relieve Vandersee for his. We can talk as well on deck."
+
+The second mate was relieved and went below. Barry examined him casually
+as he passed, and again he was conscious of that same feeling that had
+swept through him earlier in the morning. Again there was that vague
+suggestion of a steel trap covered with velvet, or kidskin. Not to any
+one feature, either, could this suggestion be traced; the man's ruddy
+face was open and bland, his eyes sparkled like gems, his bearing was
+that of a man who owes no man, either in money or favor.
+
+Barry felt faintly angry with himself for harboring fancies and turned
+back to the chief mate.
+
+"I asked what opinion you had formed of the second mate, Mr. Rolfe," he
+said, joining the other on the weather side of the poop.
+
+"I never form an opinion of an owner's man, sir--not to talk about it,
+anyhow," returned Rolfe slowly. "In any case, you've known him almost as
+long as I have; you'll form your own ideas, no matter what mine are. I
+only know that Vandersee knows his work, and that he's supposed to know
+the Sandang River like one of its own fish."
+
+Barry knew by the length of the mate's speech that he thought little of
+his big junior officer. A good, or even fair opinion would have been
+simply expressed as yes, or good enough. Having in view the possibility
+of conflict when their destination was reached and the necessity for
+singleness of purpose among the ship's company, he went quietly to work
+on a mental register of every man on board from chief mate down to cook,
+to the end that he might have to depend on nobody's judgment save his
+own.
+
+The _Barang_ wallowed through the islet-studded seas in a fashion that
+brought many a grimace to the skipper's face. Frequently he caught
+himself gazing astern and persuaded himself it was the wake he was
+looking at; but when he snatched his eyes away from the stern and bent
+them forward at the blustering, smashing bow-wave thrown off to the
+leeward by the snub-nosed brigantine, he knew that his own wake was one
+of his lesser worries. Leyden's schooner was the cause of his
+uneasiness; for it would be a sluggish vessel indeed, of her rig and
+lines, that could not easily allow the _Barang_ a full day's start in
+the run to the river.
+
+A brisk breeze holding steadily southeast gave the _Barang_ the fullest
+advantage of her square rig and lessened the skipper's anxiety in some
+degree; and the Celebes coast stretched along to leeward like a roll of
+vapor in due course without any disquieting gleam of canvas having
+popped up over the stern-ward sea line.
+
+Then came a day of calms and baffling airs, and a sickening swell rolled
+in from the south that made of the brigantine a staggering, squealing
+platform, hammering all the Viking spirit out of Little for a while and
+forcing him to run to cover like a very greenhorn. Barry visited him in
+his cabin from time to time and at first ridiculed his weakness; but
+Little was undergoing a treatment in which he had a faith proof against
+ridicule. He waved a cheery hand at Barry, and a sickly smile puckered
+his pale yellow face.
+
+"'Vast, y' lubber!" he cried, in no manner abashed. "I'm not seasick.
+Just undergoing redecoration inside. At present I have a beautiful
+greenish-orange feeling in my lower hold; in an hour or so it'll change
+to purplish-pink and my face will change from yellow to green. Then I'll
+be all right again. Fit to take command when you curl up, old boy."
+
+"Don't you want anything?" inquired Barry, grinning admiringly at the
+sufferer's grit. "Brandy or something?"
+
+"Nothing, thanks. Vandersee's been in every half hour during his watch
+below; he's got some stuff that goes down like oiled honey and kicks
+hard when it lands. He's all right, Barry. His smile's worth a hogshead
+o' rum. Says, if I keep quiet here for an hour or so more, he'll have me
+fit to fight a roast turkey."
+
+The second mate stepped out of his own berth as Barry left Little, and
+the skipper regarded him with a new interest. The ruddy face wore a soft
+smile, and the big frame passed across the main cabin on feet light as a
+dancer's. He carried a glass of some mixture in his hand and entered
+Little's cabin, giving the skipper a deferential nod as he went by.
+Barry joined the mate on the poop.
+
+"Queer fellow, Vandersee is," smiled the skipper, joining stride with
+the other in his short walk. "You'd think he was a qualified nurse by
+the way he's coddling Little. I'll share his watch when he relieves you,
+Mr. Rolfe. He may want to administer a few more doses to his patient."
+
+"Huh! I'd be pretty sick before I'd let a smooth duck like him give me
+any doses--Beg pardon, Captain Barry. Yes, sir, I think he's quite a
+nurse," returned the mate, half committing himself before he could pull
+up. Barry let the slight outburst pass without comment.
+
+Vandersee relieved the deck for the first watch, from eight o'clock
+until midnight, and Barry remained on deck with him. A red sun had
+dipped below the sea line two hours before, and a faint breeze sprang up
+at his setting. Now the _Barang_ leaned slightly to full canvas and
+snored easily through the phosphorescent seas with a pleasant tinkling
+of running wavelets along her sides. Overhead the heavens were luminous
+with sparks of ultra brilliance; the decks and sails of the ancient
+brigantine were bathed in soft radiance, ruled across and along with
+bars of blackest shadow. A softly noisy chorus of sea voices kept rhythm
+to the swaying of the tall spars, and from somewhere out in the
+shimmering sea came the sob and suck of a broken swell over a submerged
+reef.
+
+A brown man stood at the wheel like a brown wooden figure, his arms and
+face vaguely illumined by the glow from the binnacle lamp. Forward the
+decks were silent and deserted, except in one spot. Here a thin bar of
+yellow light slashed in two the shadowed shape of the galley, eclipsed
+at intervals as the cook inside moved to and fro in his business of
+preparing dough for the morning's bread.
+
+The spell of the night fell over Barry. He sent his thoughts ahead,
+dreamily, trying to peer into the future as if to see what it would hold
+for him. But the picture invariably dissolved as soon as it was conjured
+out of the mists, and in its place glowed the vision of a girl in
+Mission dress, simple and sweet: the girl whose good name he had
+defended; whose picture now lay in the lid of his chronometer box, where
+he must see it every time he went to his room.
+
+Vandersee asked permission and went below to see Little. As he went, he
+remarked that it would be the last time his attentions would be
+necessary; the seasick Viking would be his own good man again by
+morning. Barry was dragged out of his dreams when the second mate spoke
+to him; now he shook off his fancies and walked aft to the compass.
+Satisfied with the steering, he passed along the poop towards the
+deckhouse and leaned against the lee forward corner of it, scanning the
+lofty, indistinct leeches of the forward canvas.
+
+Up through the companionway floated Little's voice, and the skipper
+smiled at the altered tone of it. It was the voice of a man conscious of
+a growing healthy appetite. Vandersee's voice chimed in and died away,
+as if the man had gone somewhere else, perhaps in search of food for his
+hungry patient. There ensued a space of perhaps ninety seconds when no
+voice was audible. Then, like a ghostly hand out of the black beyond,
+something whirred past Barry's face, touched the skin lightly in
+passing, and thudded into the bellying mainsail.
+
+Like a flash the skipper swung on his heel. As he turned he caught sight
+of the cook at his galley door; his eyes next fell upon the motionless
+figure of the helmsman; with the one motion he shoved his head through
+the deckhouse window and swept a keen searching look around the
+interior. It was undoubtedly empty.
+
+He stepped over to leeward without remark and looked for the missile in
+the hollow of the sail foot. Nothing there. But following the canvas
+upward, he detected a clean slit in the cloth and passed under the boom
+to follow his clue. Then, by the rail in the coil of the
+main-gaff-topsail-halliards, he saw something glitter and picked it up.
+
+"A pretty joke gone adrift!" he muttered, balancing the glittering thing
+in his palm. "Now who the devil threw that?"
+
+The missile that had fanned his cheek was a heavy-bladed, double-edged
+knife, a knife made for throwing if ever one was: such a weapon as no
+sailor ever had need of; a thing that could mean only murder when it
+left a thrower's hand. And it had come from one of only two possible
+directions: from aft, or from the deckhouse; and the deckhouse was
+empty. Barry walked swiftly aft and confronted the man at the wheel,
+holding up the knife.
+
+"What did you throw this for?" he snapped, boring into the man's placid
+face with blazing eyes.
+
+"No t'row heem, sar--no can do--No see 'eem knife lika dat, sar," denied
+the little brown man, merely raising his eyes to look at the knife, then
+stolidly fastening his gaze upon the compass again.
+
+Barry scrutinized the man keenly and shrugged his shoulders in disgust.
+He could have no doubt the man spoke truth. The little, soft-mannered
+Javanese people are not as a rule addicted to murder. Like a shadow the
+skipper sped to the taffrail and peered over. Nothing was there, save
+the big square ports, triced up by chains to admit the air into the
+saloon. Back again, Barry asked the sailor:
+
+"Did you see a man up here just before I came aft?"
+
+"No see nobody, sar," replied the man with cherubic simplicity. "Small
+bird, I t'ink, he fly by my face one time. Das all."
+
+"Little bird, hell!" snorted the skipper, moving away. He was inclined
+to make little of the occurrence, since the solution seemed so hopeless;
+but he did not permit himself to blink the fact that mystery had
+already crept into the cruise, and that mystery of a deadly sort. It was
+only in so far as it concerned him in person that he belittled it.
+Vandersee appearing at the companionway, however, reminded him of
+Rolfe's partly expressed opinion. He joined the second mate, peered into
+his face, and tried to detect some sign that might give him an opening.
+The Dutchman's face was bland as ever; his eyes sparkled with humor as
+he made some trifling remark about Little's improved condition.
+
+Barry had put the murderous knife into his pocket. He took Vandersee's
+arm now, turning him until he faced the mainsail.
+
+"See that slit, Mr. Vandersee?" he said casually, yet watching the man's
+face closely. "Might have a man patch that in the morning. Don't think
+it's necessary to unbend the sail, is it?"
+
+"No sir. Lower away to the first reef. That'll do. How did it happen,
+sir? That's a stout piece of canvas."
+
+"Stout's right, Mr. Vandersee," drawled Barry. "A bird flew through it.
+Pretty stout bird, hey?"
+
+"Bird? Surely you're joking, sir," laughed the second mate, his round
+face glowing with a jolly grin. "But I'll see that it's attended to."
+
+
+Barry went below, looked in on Little, who slept like an infant now,
+then sat in his own stateroom smoking and feasting his eyes on the
+precious photograph in his chronometer case until he heard a seaman
+knock at the chief mate's door to call him at midnight. When the seaman
+had gone on deck, the skipper stepped over to Rolfe's berth.
+
+"Mr. Rolfe," he said, "did you hold any communication with the shore
+before Mr. Little and I came on board?"
+
+"Ye-ow-ow!" yawned the mate, rubbing his eyes vigorously. "Beg pardon,
+sir. Communication with the shore? Why, yes--just before we dropped
+anchor in Surabaya a boat came off with fresh provisions that Mr. Houten
+had ordered by telegraph. That's all, sir."
+
+"Didn't ship anybody, hey?" pursued Barry.
+
+"Ship? Why, no, sir, unless some rat stowed away," returned the puzzled
+mate, struggling into his jacket. "Why?"
+
+"Never mind," returned the skipper shortly and retired to his own berth.
+
+He undressed now, putting aside all further consideration of his mystery
+until he could attack it in daylight. But on second thoughts he looked
+closely to his pistol and placed it beneath his pillow. Then he shot the
+bolt of his door and was satisfied that all proper precautions had been
+taken.
+
+"Just a little peep at dainty Miss Mission, to say night-night," he
+smiled, unfastening the catch on the chronometer case. "Then I'll sleep
+on the dirty knife business."
+
+He raised the box lid, started back in doubt, left the box open and
+glanced around the desk. Then he rummaged through all the litter on his
+table, opened drawers and left them open. He swore torridly, grinding
+his teeth with vexation.
+
+The photograph had vanished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR
+
+
+For a moment Barry blazed with a desire to turn the ship inside out, and
+if necessary search every man clear down to his bedclothes. But the
+thought of that flying knife came back to him, and the combination of
+mystery gave him pause; there must surely be some connection between the
+two occurrences, and the train of thought led directly to the notion
+that somewhere in the dark recesses of the brigantine lurked the person
+responsible.
+
+The voices of the two mates, one relieving the other, sounded softly
+through the open skylight, and Barry decided to curb his impatience. He
+mounted to the poop again and gave orders to both officers to keep close
+watch as the land was approached and to see that nobody left the ship.
+Once more he felt that vague suggestion of a cloaked trap in the second
+mate's smiling acceptance of the instructions, but now, strangely, the
+feeling did not bother him. The hint remained nebulous; he shook it off
+and went to sleep on the more important mystery.
+
+He was called at daybreak and went on deck to find the brigantine
+stemming the yellow current of a river estuary. A mile ahead the turbid
+waters churned and slopped over the sand bar, forming a sluggish but
+powerful eddy across half the river's breadth. Pieces of rotten wood and
+heaped masses of forest grasses swirled into a floating tangle in the
+lee of the bar.
+
+Preparations were going forward for bringing up, and the skipper's
+intention to apprise Little of the events of the past night was perforce
+laid aside. It was not until the ship was docked that Little heard the
+story. Rolfe was busy on the forecastle getting ready the anchors, while
+Vandersee, the bulky Hollander, had stretched out a new lead line along
+the poop and was carefully marking it off, after well wetting it. For a
+moment Barry failed to see Little. Even the cheery voice was not in
+evidence. Then the clattering of iron links, as the cables were ranged
+for letting go, was followed by a whoop of interest, and the ex-salesman
+popped into sight in the bows, deep in an examination of the tumbler
+gear that released the big anchors.
+
+Barry scanned the river mouth closely, dubiously. The available channel
+was barely wide enough to pass, even with good luck. The breeze blew
+straight into the river and across the current, causing a confused
+welter of water that made the picking out of a passage doubly difficult.
+If the wind had weight enough to overcome the stream, and remained fair,
+the passage might be accomplished, given shrewd pilotage; but a very
+slight swerve from the straight and narrow course would place the ship
+in the grip of that big eddy and inevitably on the bar. That was
+unthinkable. It could scarcely be hoped that Leyden's navigator would
+repeat such an error when he arrived, and such a mishap would at once
+wipe out the advantage gained through Barry's attentions to the schooner
+in the dry dock.
+
+Vandersee finished his task and coiled up the new lead line. He stepped
+over to Barry and with respectful confidence said:
+
+"If you know the channel, sir, I'll get into the chains with the lead
+myself. There's a bad shoal patch this side of the bar, and with the
+water slicking over it to the out-draw of that eddy, it looks like deep
+water."
+
+"All right, Mr. Vandersee--Oh, thunder!" Barry flung out the expression
+in petulance. "Why, you were sent aboard because you know this river,
+weren't you? I forgot."
+
+"Yes, sir," smiled Vandersee. "I'm fairly well acquainted here. Shall I
+take her in?"
+
+"Yes. Take the wheel and sing out your directions. Where had we better
+anchor? Can't go right up, I suppose?"
+
+"Tide's right, sir, and with this breeze, if we manage to avoid swinging
+across stream in making past the bar, we can carry our draft two miles
+up, anyway. If we have to bring up before that, there's a snug
+creek--there, see?--fifty fathom to the eastward of those trees--where
+we can lie moored fore and aft to the shore."
+
+Barry took up a position at the fore end of the poop, scanning the
+narrow entrance a trifle anxiously. He had no desire to cast his new
+command away in making her first port. But Vandersee undoubtedly knew
+his business. The _Barang_, for all her slowness, answered to the master
+touch on her helm and edged surely up for the deep water until the slop
+of the bar bore well abeam.
+
+For a moment the skipper held his breath as she lurched heavily to the
+suck of the current. He saw that smooth, flowing patch of oily water,
+which the second mate had said was in reality a real shoal, draw
+steadily astern; and he brightened at thought of the danger overcome.
+Then out of a clear sky came the unforeseen.
+
+From the forecastle head sounded the crash and rattle of chain and a
+resounding splash. The roar of cable followed, amid a volley of thumping
+deep-sea oaths from Rolfe directed at the devoted head of Little; and
+the _Barang_ snubbed up with a jerk, her stern swinging swiftly around
+towards the bar.
+
+Little stood aghast, replying nothing to the mate's harsh epithets.
+Barry bawled a demand as to the trouble and turned to the wheel. Again
+that subtle suggestion of padded steel struck him as he surprised a
+fleeting but unmistakable smile on Vandersee's calm face.
+
+"I think Mr. Little has unwittingly slipped the tumblers, sir," smiled
+the big Hollander, stepping away from the useless wheel.
+
+"To hell with Little!" shouted Barry. "Get a boat out, before we plow
+up that sand!"
+
+Then he hailed forward:
+
+"Mr. Rolfe! Get lines. Carry them to those trees. Hurry!" and to Little
+he barked: "You, Little, get aft here, and for God's own sake, keep your
+meddling hooks off things as you come!"
+
+Little started aft, abashed at last. The careful manner in which he
+avoided contact with crew or gear would have made Barry grin under any
+other circumstances; but now near disaster impended, simply on account
+of the irrepressible salesman's voracious appetite for knowledge.
+
+As he approached the poop ladder, Little grimaced up at the skipper and
+shrugged his shoulders resignedly in anticipation of the storm. Barry's
+face was flushed and angry, and his strong teeth shone white over his
+compressed nether lip. The brigantine's stern was awfully close to the
+edge of the bar, in spite of the swift action of Vandersee, who, in
+leaving the wheel and before going down to his boat, let go the big
+mainsail and took the after pressure off the vessel. Now the big second
+mate hailed from the top of the midship house.
+
+"This boat's all open, sir. She won't float a minute!"
+
+"Oh, blazes!" howled the skipper, flinging his cap on the deck. "Send a
+man to swim with the line. Any of them. They're all water rats."
+
+"Can't make a man swim here, sir," returned the Hollander, and even now
+his voice was velvety soft. "Alligators are too thick."
+
+Little paused on the bottom step of the ladder. He measured with his eye
+the distance to the nearest point ashore. Fifty yards it was; and on the
+water's edge grew a tangled mass of slimy roots, rising to gnarled,
+moss-covered trunks, monstrosities rather than trees. Even at that
+distance suspicious logs could be seen lying half in, half out of the
+water; but a space ten yards wide, including some of the biggest and
+ugliest of the trees, seemed bare of those logs.
+
+Barry sent a hail along to the forecastle to avast heaving on the cable;
+for some of the watch had remained on deck, when the rest went below to
+pass up lines, and were now taking spasmodic, aimless jerks at the
+windlass. The mate drove his brown-skinned men to marvellous feats with
+coiling lines, determined to be ready with his part when the boat was
+ready. He had not heard Vandersee's report on the boat.
+
+Now on the port side, that farthest from the bar, heaps of cleverly
+faked-down small lines were ranged along the waterways, in preparation
+for any emergency of drifting boat. The big Manila hawser lay coiled on
+the fore hatch, all ready to bend on when a small line was safely
+ashore. All these things Barry took in with quick professional
+perception. But now he was stumped. He was the last man on earth to send
+a man where he himself dare not go; and those filthy, suspicious logs
+had only too well corroborated the second mate's hint of alligators.
+
+He was aroused from his contemplation of them by a shout from Rolfe,
+echoed by Vandersee, and followed immediately by a tremendous splash and
+the whiz of small line running over a teakwood rail. A soft-eyed
+Javanese seaman worked feverishly near the fore rigging, flinging coil
+after coil of line overboard until the end was at hand. Then he stooped
+swiftly, seized the end of a fresh coil, and stood ready to repeat.
+
+Barry looked for Little now and missed him. He ran to the side. An
+excited chattering among the crew forward, and gesticulating arms,
+directed his gaze, and he gasped with amazed admiration. Surging through
+the muddy tide with a powerful trudgeon stroke, making a wake of
+swirling bubbles across which snaked the black coils of a heaving line,
+Little headed for the shore. Once he disappeared, as a freak of churning
+waters gripped several coils of line and jerked him back and under. But
+the innocent cause of all the trouble made no false estimate of his
+ability to rectify his error. He forged straight for his mark--that mass
+of slimy roots and mossy trunks--and soon he was seen to rise waist high
+from the water, stumble heavily as his feet sank deep in the sticky
+ooze, and, recovering, plunge headlong up the bank with his line.
+
+A cry of helpless apprehension burst from the brigantine's company as
+one of those suspicious logs stirred into reptilian life. A great,
+warty snout jutted upwards, with a swift half-turn towards the intruder,
+and the yellow water was swept into a furious whirlpool as the saurian
+secured leverage to turn by a convulsion of his powerful tail.
+
+The cry rose to a shout of warning, and with the shout Barry sprang
+below to his cabin. He returned on the run with a big-game rifle in time
+to hear a ripple of relief run from end to end of the ship; and his eyes
+opened wide with astonishment when he saw the cause.
+
+Other muddy logs had come to life on the foreshore and Little's attitude
+would have been ludicrous but for the terrible risk he ran. He stared at
+the suddenly awakened monsters as the sexton of a church might stare if
+one of his gargoyles suddenly spoke to him. But there was no fear in his
+bearing; simply the natural wonder of a man faced by a situation which,
+more than likely, he had disbelieved the possibility of until that
+moment.
+
+He had kept tight hold of his line, and as Barry watched, he gathered up
+the slack and with a whoop jumped nimbly over the back of the nearest
+alligator, charging now with open jaws. As he landed on his feet, he
+dodged behind a root, and his clear cry rang over the water.
+
+"The big rope, Barry, quick! I can dodge these big lizards. It's a
+cinch!"
+
+The mate bent on the hawser, and men picked up great coils of it and
+flung them overboard. Barry stood silent, dumbfounded, and watched
+Little haul in his line, only pausing from time to time to pass from one
+side of the tree to the other, as the alligators closed in on him. The
+eye-end of the hawser splashed up the shoal water, was wrapped securely,
+but in sorry landsman's fashion, about the big roots, and in response to
+a howl of triumph from the shore, Barry sang out:
+
+"After capstan here! Get a strain on the line, Mr. Rolfe!" And while the
+dripping rope crawled in through the fair-lead, cracking and twanging to
+the strain of the ship's arrested drift, he stood at the rail, rifle in
+hand, and muttered:
+
+"He's a comic-opera sailor, all right; but Lordy! what a man he'll make
+with his feet on dry earth! Let go my anchor, hey? By Godfrey, he can
+let go the forestay when we're going about, and I'll forgive him after
+this."
+
+The ship's stern answered to the steady pull of the line and dragged
+away from the edge of the sand until she pointed fair into the channel
+again. Forward, men hove in the cable until the anchor was underfoot;
+aft, men tailed on to the main halliards and sent the great mainsail
+aloft with a will. Barry waved the second mate back to the wheel and
+sent Rolfe forward to finish picking up the anchor. Then he swung around
+at a shout from the shore. He had momentarily forgotten Little.
+
+"Damnation!" he breathed, and jerked his rifle to his shoulder. Then he
+dropped his elbow to the rail, took snap-sights and fired.
+
+The greatest alligator of them all, the patriarch of all saurians, had
+attacked Little. That agile young man saw his foe in time to avoid the
+rush by leaping over the straining hawser, knee-high, and the ugly jaws
+closed with a crash on the rope. Barry's shot rang out simultaneously
+with the singing snap of a Manila strand, and the heavy bullet chugged
+home in the vulnerable skin on the alligator's throat.
+
+The _Barang_ gathered way, and the hawser sagged into the water as the
+strain was released. Whatever Little's limitations were as a seaman, he
+lacked nothing of common sense; he saw that the ship was independent of
+the line now, and Barry received another shock while trying to decide
+how to get his friend safely on board again.
+
+"That's the stuff, Barry!" Little shouted, capering madly as the
+alligator rolled over towards the river. "Keep your blue eye on these
+fellows and haul away on the rope!"
+
+With the words he was sawing away busily at the Manila with a fearsome
+knife he had invested in as part of a sailor's outfit.
+
+"Stop! You're crazy!" bawled the skipper. Rolfe cursed luridly, and even
+Vandersee's sleek face clouded.
+
+If Little heard, he made no sign. Without a wasted second after the line
+parted, he followed the running end down to the water, took a grip on
+it, and plunged in with a shout:
+
+"Pull away! Watch out for my toes, Barry!"
+
+The little brown men of the crew needed no order to pull. The sheer
+intrepidity of the man on the line had ensured their reverence and
+loyalty, and the heavy hawser came inboard with a whiz. At the end of it
+struggled Little, striking out frantically with his legs and free hand
+to keep his head above the water at the pull of those eager arms. As he
+took the water, from four separate points along the bank great reptiles
+slithered; their snouts and protuberant eyes left behind them sinister
+ripples as they converged on the swimmer.
+
+Barry watched with set lips and glittering eyes. He well knew the
+improbability of hitting a vulnerable spot in a swimming alligator; his
+marksmanship was scarcely equal to the certainty of finding one of those
+wicked, armor-lidded eyes. It was with a hard gulp of fear in his throat
+that he pressed the trigger for a second shot.
+
+The bullet took the foremost reptile on the point of the snout, checking
+the beast and causing a flurry among its companions. Little gained a few
+precious feet, and as a patch of dirty gray belly showed for an instant
+in the over-roll of the smitten beast, Barry fired again, and his friend
+gained a little more.
+
+Another factor now entered into the contest, and the ex-salesman was
+safe. The brigantine was steadily stemming the tide, and now fairly past
+the bar had reached far beyond the point to which the hawser had been
+made fast. As she forged slowly ahead, with gathering speed as she left
+behind the influence of the big eddy, the rope trailed more and more
+astern and the ship's speed was added to that of the incoming hawser.
+
+Little was hauled up to the quarter, and Barry himself let down the
+boarding ladder and went over the side to assist the half-drowned
+swimmer on board.
+
+When Little had coughed several pints of muddy river water from his
+system, he looked up at Barry with a whimsical grin, as if prepared now
+to take the calling down that his recent action had delayed. But the
+skipper had nothing to say about the escapade with his anchors. He
+gripped his friend's hand with a hard squeeze and took him below for a
+warming shot of rum with a simply spoken:
+
+"Thanks, Little. That's the greatest thing I ever saw. You're free of
+the ship forever!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE
+
+
+Late in the afternoon the _Barang_ rounded a bend in the river and came
+in sight of the trading station. The yellow, muddy stream swirled at her
+blunt bows, and the matted verdure on the banks reduced the hot breeze
+to a zephyr that barely gave her headway.
+
+Bamboo thickets alternated with patches of dark forest; cane-walled
+native houses peeped from beneath overhanging trees; silent, sarong-clad
+people suspended their leisurely activities to stare at the passing
+ship, and noisy birds and chattering monkeys redoubled their din at the
+apparition.
+
+A slimy reed-grown creek opened out to starboard, and evil miasma arose
+from the rotting tree trunks across its mouth; the entire scene was one
+of dreary, soul-searing repulsiveness and made a sorry jest of the
+strongly stockaded trading post whose defensive armament could be
+plainly seen peeping over a woven cane parapet.
+
+"Heavens, what a dismal hole!" ejaculated Little, as the brigantine
+swung slowly around the bend. "Mean t' tell me white people live here,
+Barry? I wouldn't swap a shop-soiled typewriter for the whole box and
+dice!"
+
+"Sure white people live here. Why would we be coming, else?" retorted
+Barry impatiently. He was scanning the buildings. Several white-clad
+figures passed and repassed among the huddle of squalid huts, all
+apparently bound towards the river wharf to meet the ship.
+
+"Wonder where the Mission is," the skipper went on musingly, to himself
+rather than to Little.
+
+"I get your drift," Little grinned back. "Yes, I wonder where she lives,
+too."
+
+Something gleamed in Barry's eyes that warned against jesting on that
+subject, and Little stepped aside with a shrug and watched Vandersee as
+that stolid worthy piloted the ship up to the crazy wharf with
+consummate skill.
+
+An anchor dropped in mid-channel stopped her way, and the forward canvas
+was hauled down. A pull to windward on the mainsheet backed the big
+mainsail and drove the stern towards the dock, whereon a mob of naked
+brown men awaited the casting of shore lines. The starboard quarter
+grated against the piling, and the open stern windows overhung the
+stringpiece for a moment. Barry was deeply interested in the probable
+location of the Mission--far too deeply interested for a shipmaster
+docking his ship--and Little, too, had his mind and eyes on the scene of
+his imminent adventures to the exclusion of all else. Rolfe, the dour
+chief mate, was where a good mate should be, on the forecastle head,
+looking out for lines and fenders. Vandersee alone appeared capable of
+handling his duties and giving attention to the shore at the same time.
+Never relaxing his vigilance for a moment in placing the brigantine
+advantageously in her berth, the burly Hollander nevertheless had an eye
+open for other things. A cloud passed over his shiny face as the stern
+touched; he stepped swiftly to the rail and peered over; two natives
+stood by, and he sent them hurrying forward with a Low Malay expletive
+that made them jump in fright. Then he peered over the side again, his
+face cleared, and he returned to his post at the stern fair-lead,
+shouting to his men to carry along the sternfasts. Barry turned at the
+shout, as if just awakening from a dream, and the second mate told him
+respectfully:
+
+"It would be as well to have the stern windows closed, sir. The natives
+here are not too honest, in spite of the Mission's good work."
+
+Barry gave the necessary order through the skylight and shook himself
+into a more vital interest in his work. He opened his mouth to direct
+the mate in some detail of mooring ship, and it remained open until he
+half-closed it in a whistle of surprise and seized Little violently by
+the arm. His eyes were fixed upon a figure walking easily and
+unconcernedly along the wharf.
+
+"Look!" he breathed, and Little winced with the pain of his grip. "Look!
+How in thunder did she get here ahead of us?"
+
+"She? Who?" stammered Little, gazing shoreward. "Oh, the woman who
+tried to scrape an acquaintance at Solo, isn't it? Steamer, I suppose.
+Gee! I thought you'd seen the little missionary by the savage way you
+bit into my wing. Hope I ain't in reach when you do catch sight of her,
+old scout. You're too blamed carnivorous."
+
+"Oh, shut up!" growled the skipper, shaking the irrepressible salesman
+furiously. "There's no joke in this. Wanted to go to Europe, didn't she?
+Wasn't that her reason for begging a passage? Well, you darned lunatic!
+Is this Europe? Or anywhere near it? Let me tell you, there's no steamer
+touching here from Surabaya or anywhere else. Sanjai's the nearest
+steamer port--a ship a month; besides, no man or woman other than a
+breech-clouted deer-footed native could get here from Sanjai in less
+than a week. She looks as if she just hopped out of a Paris trunk!"
+
+Little made no verbal response. He left Barry abruptly, sprang to the
+bulwarks, and leaped to the dock, not waiting for the gangplank to be
+run out. Then, assuming his best salesman's smile, he walked directly
+over to the woman and raised his hat.
+
+"Glad to meet you again, Madam," he smiled. "Small place, this old
+globe, isn't it? Didn't expect to see you until we reached Europe. How
+on earth did you get here so quickly?"
+
+"How do you do, Mr.--er--let me see--is it Mr. Little, or Captain
+Barry?" she beamed, extending a small, shapely hand frankly. "Mr.
+Little? Thanks. I'm so glad to see you. Business demanded that I make a
+call here before going home; but I never dared to hope that I would meet
+old friends here. I must visit your ship and renew the Captain's
+acquaintance," and she dazzled Little with a sunny smile.
+
+"Surely, do," invited Little. The sunniness of his own smile increased.
+"Please forgive me if I have forgotten your name?" She flashed a
+quizzical glance at him. "Mrs. Goring," she said. She indeed looked
+entirely desirable in that sweltering, reeking, jungle post. Her dress
+was of some flimsy white material that billowed and rustled with her
+every movement. The big sun-hat shaded her face and enabled her to
+maintain an aspect of fresh, delightful coolness. Her lips and eyes
+seemed in their moistness to resemble dewy flowers peeping out of a
+sheltering glade.
+
+How much was due to art Little cared nothing. It was, to his buoyant
+heart, like encountering a cool breeze in the desert to hold converse
+with such a creature in such a place. Besides, Little was bent on
+business first, last, and all the time; business might not be permitted
+to suffer from any incivility on his part. He asked, joining step with
+her as she moved along the rough planking:
+
+"But tell me how you got here so quickly. When we saw you in Solo, we
+understood you were bound for Europe. We might have given you a passage,
+you know."
+
+"But you were going to Europe, too, weren't you?" she laughed, and her
+violet eyes grew black. "Of course, I was only joking about sailing in
+your ship. I knew such a vessel did not usually go such long voyages.
+But you see I beat you here, didn't I?"
+
+"Yes, but how?"
+
+"Oh, that's a State secret, Mr. Little." The woman laid a slim finger on
+her red lips in mock seriousness. "My brother arranged it for me, and I
+arrived just as you docked. But I'm going to visit you as soon as I've
+been up to the post. I have a friend there. Good-by, Mr. Little. Please
+give my warmest regards to the Captain, won't you?"
+
+Little walked slowly aboard the _Barang_, never turning his head once to
+look after Mrs. Goring. He went directly to Barry.
+
+"Barry," he said, "you were right. There's no joke about this. Mrs.
+Goring is as deep as the Bottomless Pit! There's something back of those
+big violet eyes of hers that burns clear through you. She's coming to
+see you presently. What d' ye think about her being here at all?"
+
+"How do I know, yet?" Barry laughed harshly. "I'm glad these things have
+happened so soon, though. You see now, right from the start, this thing
+is real business and no moving-picture bunk."
+
+"Things? What else has happened?"
+
+"Don't you call that knife business something happening?" grunted the
+skipper, busy with some papers on his desk. "Don't you attach any
+importance to the theft of that photo from my chronometer case? That
+wasn't taken by any native thief. Never mind what picture it was, or
+what value I placed on it; whoever took it didn't swipe it for the value
+of it to them. Then this mysterious woman turns up as soon as we haul
+alongside, and now Rolfe tells me that the fo'c'sle hands say Mindjee
+slipped ashore as we came up the river, and a search proves it."
+
+"Mindjee? The Malay who had the wheel that night? No, sir! He's
+certainly not on board now," exclaimed Little, a queer bewilderment
+creeping into his face. "But he didn't swim ashore, unless he swam
+mighty fast and then ran some. I just saw Mindjee back of the godown!
+Thought you had sent him ashore for something, so didn't notice him
+particularly. Wouldn't have remembered which of the brown-skins it was,
+if it hadn't happened to be the one at the wheel when that knife was
+buzzed at your head."
+
+"Behind the godown? Where? What doing? Where was he going?" Barry was
+alert now.
+
+"I only saw him over Mrs. Goring's shoulder as I talked to her. He was
+sliding along pretty fast towards the stockade."
+
+"Then the fun starts right now, Little," said Barry quietly. "From now
+on, never go without your artillery and keep a hand on the butt, no
+matter whether it's man, woman, or missionary you're talking to. Come
+on. I'll post the mate; then we'll walk up and interview Mr. Gordon."
+
+Jerry Rolfe appeared surprised, and in a measure chagrined, to find that
+the second mate had not yet asked leave to go ashore. His opinion of the
+big Hollander was an open secret in the ship. It was easy to see that
+the total destruction of the _Barang_ and her people would have better
+fitted in with that opinion than the safe and expert passage of the
+tortuous river to a snug berth.
+
+"You ain't going to trust that fellow with a gun, sir?" the mate
+demanded, after receiving Barry's orders.
+
+"Why not?" returned the skipper, with a frown. "You must drive that
+notion out of your head, Rolfe, or you won't be able to trust anybody.
+We need all the men we can depend on, and I want you and Vandersee to
+pull together. I trust him, so does Mr. Little, and so does Houten,
+obviously. You and he will remain in charge of your regular watches,
+though you need not keep sea watches, and right now you'll decide whom
+you can trust with arms. We may not have to use 'em; but there's a big
+chance we will."
+
+On the way to the stockaded post the skipper told Little of the mate's
+doubts and suggested that it might be arranged for one of them at all
+times to be in touch with the ship after this first visit to Gordon.
+For, he said: "I'm not too sure of the man myself, Little, though
+something tells me I misjudged him at first. That subtle hint of steel
+under velvet sort of got me, and for a moment I suspected him of
+heaving that knife at me. But against that is his treatment of you while
+you were sick, and other things have helped to change my views."
+
+"Don't know what to think, myself," rejoined Little. "At first I thought
+there could not be another sailorman in the wide world like him. I was
+ready to lick his boots those first few days at sea. He filled all my
+ideas of what a rollicking sea dog ought to be, and I was tickled silly
+at the wrinkles he taught me. Then came that fool stunt of mine, letting
+go the anchor in a bad place, and it looked then that I had been
+purposely set to meddling with that gear just to bring that off. What d'
+ye think?"
+
+"May have been accidental. Anyway, better take my lead as long as you're
+doubtful. Rolfe is looking after him now, and we'll keep him in view
+between us. But my advice is, show him that we trust him. Won't do to
+anticipate trouble by making enemies."
+
+They walked on until the stockade opened to view through the jungle, and
+they turned into a narrow track leading to a strong gate ridiculously
+disproportionate to the strength of the stockade. Artillery might have
+battered in vain at the gate: one might force the walls with the
+gunner's ramrod. As they swung around the last twisting angle of the
+path, a flutter of white contrasted with the dark greenery for an
+instant, then came the sound of a gate crashing shut, and the vision
+vanished.
+
+"Another gate," remarked Barry, stepping up to the main gate and
+hammering on it with a piece of rock. "Was that a white woman? You saw
+it, didn't you?"
+
+"Looked like the fair Mrs. Goring," replied Little, staring in the
+direction where the glimpse of white had been seen. "It may have been
+one of the Mission folks, though. How about the gate? This wasn't where
+the frock came out."
+
+"This is the great main gate Houten told us about. He said it faced
+sou'west by west and had a green skull on top, didn't he?"
+
+"Sure thing! And there's the green head all right." Little whooped with
+delight at the touch of old-time ghastliness. "And I forgot for the
+moment you are a 'Heave-ho-me-Bully-Boy sailor!' able to spot a place
+from afar off by the direction of the sun at midnight. Gee! This is
+regular stuff, Barry. Mystery, secret gates, skull and crossbones, and
+nobody home! Knock again."
+
+Little heaved with all his strength at a huge boulder, intent upon
+gaining entry. Barry coolly placed his foot on the stone, hauled Little
+away, and fell to work with his knife on the wattles which bound
+together the bamboos of the stockade. Then the gate was opened suddenly,
+and a yellow dwarf with jagged teeth that chattered bade the visitors
+enter.
+
+"Gordon Tuuan he see you. Come." The custodian of the gate turned and
+dog-trotted up to a large, low building. One rambling, cane-walled hut
+filled most of the space inside the stockade, and under the same wide,
+leaf-thatched roof were all the departments of the post. A few small
+native huts were scattered along the fence, but apparently Gordon
+believed in working and living as nearly as possible in the same spot.
+Their guide brought Barry and Little to the main hut, ushered them into
+a dim, screened veranda and disappeared, leaving them blinking in
+semi-darkness.
+
+"Come in!" invited an unseen host in a high-pitched, quavering voice.
+
+"Come in! Where?" echoed Barry, his hearty sea-bellow shaking the flimsy
+structure. "If that's Gordon, come out, or have the civility to remember
+that we haven't got bat's eyes. We're from Batavia, Houten, and--"
+
+"All right, old chaps, all right. Sorry to keep you waiting. Wasn't
+expecting you so soon. I'll be out right away."
+
+On the heels of the announcement came the clink of glass and a shuffle
+of chairs. Then softly slippered feet shambled out of the darkness, and
+Gordon stood revealed as well as the light would allow.
+
+Little and the skipper felt a burning curiosity as to the man they were
+sent to deal with, and pity was the feeling that entered Barry's breast
+now they were face to face. The trader had the frame of an athlete and a
+head and face that must in years gone by have caused many a flutter in
+feminine hearts: But now the eyes were bleary and sunken from alcohol,
+the high forehead was hidden under a mat of dirty, nondescript hair
+that was once undoubtedly a glorious tawny blond. The wide shoulders
+stooped, the back bent forward from the waist, and the hands, yet
+retaining hints of care, trembled at the ends of bony, jerky arms. And,
+in the half-light of the veranda, the sodden features smirked and
+grinned, scowled and leered, with an incessant twitching at the corners
+of the mouth that showed teeth still white.
+
+"From Houten, you say? Come in. I'll get you a drink."
+
+Gordon led the way inside, stepping among the littered furniture with
+the instinct of a cat. He shouted an order, unintelligible to his
+visitors, and an entire side of the hut was raised, admitting the
+strong, pouring sunlight.
+
+"What does Houten want now?" he asked, his hands writhing nervously. "I
+sent him the last lot of dust with the last lot of trade. Didn't he get
+it?"
+
+"Yes, some of it," returned Barry, scrutinizing the nervous wreck
+puttering about the stained table, muddling with bottle and glasses.
+"That's why we're here, because he only got some of it. No, no drink,
+thanks; and it won't be a bad notion if you leave it alone for a while,
+until we settle our business. Why, man, you look ready to tumble into
+your wooden suit right now!"
+
+"That's all right, old chap," grinned Gordon, pouring out a strong peg
+of Hollands and gulping it down like water. "I've had a shock to-day;
+that's all that's wrong with me. I can talk business with you all
+right."
+
+"So we gave you a shock, hey?" chuckled Little knowingly.
+
+"You?" An undercurrent of contempt marked Gordon's tone.
+
+"No, you didn't shock me a bit, old fellow. Not many men can. It was
+a--er--a lady." The voice broke into a grating laugh.
+
+"Who? What? Was it Mrs.--" burst out Little incautiously.
+
+"Mr. Little!" Gordon snarled, his teeth showing viciously, "you forget
+yourself, I think. Remember you're in a gentleman's house, even though
+that house is only a hut and the gentleman's infernally drunk. That part
+of my business concerns neither you nor Houten."
+
+"Sorry," Little apologized awkwardly, blushing like a girl. "I ought--"
+
+"That's all right," broke in Barry shortly. "Mr. Gordon will understand
+that. At present we can't talk much business. The atmosphere doesn't
+seem right. Come, Little, we'll get back to the ship, and perhaps Gordon
+will come aboard to dinner to-morrow, eh, Gordon?"
+
+"Certainly, Captain, thanks. I'll be glad to eat at a white man's table
+again," cried the trader, obviously relieved at the departure of his
+guests. "What time?"
+
+"Well, say about noon; then we can talk business for an hour. By the
+way, can you direct me to the Mission?"
+
+"Just behind the stockade, Captain. Not a hundred yards away. But you
+can't see it for trees until you get there. Won't find anybody there
+now, though; it's the time of day when all the men are out teaching, and
+the women are visiting the huts to teach the mothers to look after the
+kids."
+
+Barry concealed his disappointment and departed for the ship. Little was
+silent, too; he was trying to gather up the threads of the connection
+between Mrs. Goring, the missing seaman, and the trader. He wasn't sure
+the threads led anywhere; but Barry discouraged conversation, and the
+volatile ex-salesman could not exist without either talking, surmising,
+or planning things. So they arrived in silence at the wharf, and neither
+raised his head to notice their whereabouts until Little tumbled over
+the _Barang's_ breast line. Then both looked up. Simultaneously they
+glanced up at the poop; they darted questioning glances at each other as
+Vandersee broke from a group and ran to the rail to meet them, his ruddy
+face alight with a redoubled glow.
+
+"Now what has he got to do with Mrs. Goring!" muttered Little. The
+wonder was lost on Barry, for that worthy mariner had seen something
+which effectually obliterated all thought of Mrs. Goring from his mind.
+
+"It's the little Mission lady!" he breathed reverently, looking past
+Mrs. Goring and straight into the sparkling eyes of a very human
+looking, merrily smiling girl in plain Mission print. He was abruptly
+awakened to the proprieties by Vandersee stepping forward and
+introducing him.
+
+"Captain Barry, Mrs. Goring wants you to meet Miss Natalie Sheldon, of
+the Mission. You've met Mrs. Goring, I think."
+
+Barry acknowledged the introduction awkwardly; he felt himself flaming
+to the roots of his hair, unable to control his tongue or his eyes. For
+many days he had dreamed of this moment. Now it was here, he felt he was
+making an ass of himself, and that Little was grinning at him for his
+clumsy behavior. The amused salesman jogged his ribs and brought him
+back to earth. He advanced with extended hand to the smiling young
+Mission worker, and in an instant he was transported into a world where
+she and he alone mattered; the other people, the ship, the stagnant
+stream, all went out of his ken like things that were not.
+
+"How do you do, Captain Barry," the girl greeted him, flushing under his
+unwavering gaze, yet amused at it.
+
+"Miss Sheldon, I have wondered if it were possible that you could be
+like your picture--and you are," he returned with true sailorly
+bluntness. He had no knowledge of the usages of society in such first
+meetings; he only knew that the shortest distance between two points is
+a straight line, and that was his course now. He suddenly became aware
+that the girl was regarding him curiously, and she asked in manifest
+surprise:
+
+"My picture? Why, where have you seen my picture, Captain?"
+
+In a flash Barry realized the difficulty of the question. Perhaps later
+he would feel at liberty to explain; but now no words that he was
+acquainted with could possibly explain without requiring further
+explanations to supplement them. Yet he could not think of letting go
+this chance of basking in the sunshine of his realized dream. He met
+Miss Sheldon's query with a warm smile and took her by the elbow.
+
+"I saw one in Java, Miss Sheldon," he said. "And ever since I have
+doubted the existence of an original anything like it. But you are; the
+picture doesn't do you justice. Let me show you my ship," he concluded,
+urging her towards the ladder away from the rest.
+
+To Barry it seemed that fifteen minutes sped like one. He never
+remembered, afterwards, whether he showed Miss Sheldon the ship, or not,
+or at least, how much of it. He only knew that he trod on air, and his
+ears were thrilled with music, that his blood leaped and tingled with
+the warm personality and rippling laughter of this pretty Mission lady.
+He suddenly found himself back on the poop by her side, and his foot
+stumbled on the top step because his eyes would not leave her piquant
+face. And together they rejoined the others, surprising upon two faces,
+at least, something that was not expected to be seen.
+
+Little stood by Mrs. Goring's side, frankly enjoying the spectacle of
+Barry's captivity. He glanced smilingly at Miss Sheldon, and Barry saw
+the rich color mount swiftly to the girl's throat and cheeks. But it was
+between Vandersee and Mrs. Goring that the tableau centered. The big
+second mate stood behind Little and looked sharply into the big, dark
+eyes of Mrs. Goring over the salesman's shoulder. And she, on her part,
+returned the gaze with interest that was nevertheless gone in a flash,
+to give way to a returning expression of polite indifference.
+
+But in that passing flash, Barry caught the unspoken message that leaped
+from eye to eye. It was as plain as if those two people had said, one to
+the other:
+
+"Right into our hands! Barry's caught, and the rest is clear!"
+
+The situation threatened to become strained, for Barry showed signs of
+questioning his second mate. The visitors were Vandersee's, and that
+able officer turned the circumstance to good use. Politely, yet
+insistently, he drew Mrs. Goring to the gangway; she in turn called Miss
+Sheldon, and before Barry could prevent their going, they had stepped
+ashore and departed in different directions.
+
+As they separated, Mrs. Goring spoke to the girl and then hurried away
+with a cordial hand-wave and a very softened smile. The girl stared
+after her for a moment, as if not understanding that which she said,
+then slowly turned to follow her own path. But in turning, she paused
+almost imperceptibly to flash another look at the ship; and Barry caught
+it, levelled full at himself.
+
+Wonder, doubt, unbelief were in that look. The pretty round chin was
+firm and hard, and in the expressive eyes the light was shot with specks
+of flinty coldness. But doubt predominated. Miss Sheldon resumed her
+way, and as if in final endeavor to learn the answer to a puzzling
+question, she looked back over her shoulder at Mrs. Goring. That lady,
+too, looked back at that instant, and again Barry caught a flashed
+message.
+
+Mrs. Goring's face was alight with emotions--gratification, love,
+hope--and the greatest of these was hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX
+
+
+Little overhauled his instructions from Houten early next morning and by
+breakfast time was ready to get down to business with Barry. The day
+dawned muggy and windless; one of the native seamen in a commandeered
+canoe paddled up from his observation point near the river mouth to
+report and get his relief. There was no sign of Leyden's schooner, nor
+did the day promise a wind that could possibly bring her in.
+
+The mate left the table early and relieved Vandersee, who went into his
+cabin before sitting down, leaving Barry and Little alone for a moment.
+
+"What d 'ye think of Mrs. Goring, and--oh, everything, old scout,"
+Little began. "You saw her face last night. Is she stuck on you, or me,
+think? Or why the interchange of cryptic eyes between her and little
+Miss Mission?"
+
+"Drop the josh, Little," Barry retorted, none too well pleased at the
+subject. "How in blazes can she be stuck on either of us, when we only
+saw her once before yesterday? As for cryptic glances, I'm not very good
+at puzzles."
+
+"Oh, all right, sobersides. But have you figured out how the lady got
+here, and why?"
+
+"No. I don't propose to clutter my head with stuff that does not
+concern my business here, Little. We're here to check up on Gordon and
+call Leyden's hand when he arrives. That's plenty for two ordinary men.
+The why and wherefore of mysterious women has nothing to do with me."
+
+"We-ell," Little drawled, lazily lighting a cheroot, "anything you say
+suits me, but I'll tell you my idea right now: That Goring woman came
+here in this blessed brigantine, Barry!"
+
+Barry stared at his companion in open amazement. Amazement slowly
+changed to mild scorn, and a sarcastic opinion of such an idea was on
+his lips when Vandersee emerged from his berth, dressed to go ashore,
+and halted the expression of it.
+
+"The first part of my contract is completed, Captain Barry," the second
+mate said respectfully. He smiled at Little and laid an open letter
+before the skipper. "This will explain, sir."
+
+Barry stared at the man for a moment, then frowningly perused the note.
+It was in the heavy hand of Cornelius Houten, written on the trader's
+business stationery. In brief, it was authority for Vandersee to leave
+the ship, if he so desired, immediately he had docked her at the post,
+and to rejoin her one day before she was ready to leave. Houten
+emphasized the point that Vandersee enjoyed his utter confidence, and
+anything he wanted that the ship afforded was to be at his service.
+Houten desired Barry to understand that his absolute command of the
+_Barang_ was in no way interfered with: simply that Vandersee was
+engaged on a definite and separate mission for the house, but had agreed
+to act on the passage as second mate and to pilot the ship up the river.
+
+"You know the contents?" Barry queried, peering up at the big man beside
+him.
+
+"Perfectly, sir."
+
+"Well? Anything you want?"
+
+"Not much, Captain. Simply permission to go at once and to take a box of
+ammunition specially placed on board for my Luger automatic pistol. I
+shall send a boy each morning with any news that should interest you and
+to receive any information you care to give me regarding the future
+sailing of the ship."
+
+"All right, Vandersee. You may go. Going on a still hunt after the gold
+dust I'm supposed to unearth, hey?"
+
+"No, sir. I'm not meddling with your affairs in the least. My business
+is entirely apart from yours, though our paths may cross to our mutual
+advantage. And I wish to say, Captain Barry and Mr. Little, that I am
+anxious for your success; far more so than you can possibly imagine. We
+have much in common, which I cannot speak of now. But if you need me in
+any tussle that may develop, I shall be at hand. I shall not be more
+than an hour's run distant, and if you want me at a time when my boy is
+not available just say to the dwarf at the stockade gate: 'The Dog
+Bites!' and I shall be with you quickly. But I ask you not to turn in
+that message until you feel you cannot handle things without me."
+
+Vandersee departed, leaving behind him an impression of subtle power and
+iron determination. Little looked thoughtful for a space. He fumbled
+with his inside coat pocket, withdrew his hand, hesitated, then went
+back to the pocket again, while Barry stared moodily up through the
+skylight, listening to the sound of the second mate's retreating
+footsteps.
+
+"Mystery, and more of it!" the skipper muttered at last. He regarded
+Little whimsically and surmised aloud: "Next thing, I suppose you'll
+flash a document that deposes me and puts the cook in charge."
+
+"Hardly that, Barry, but I've got a paper," replied Little, coloring
+deeply. He produced the cause of his embarrassment from the inside
+pocket. "I wasn't to play this until Gordon was present," he said. "But
+since Houten apparently keeps hold of all the strings, even at this
+distance, I'd better lay all my cards on the table," and he handed the
+letter to Barry.
+
+The skipper glanced through the note perfunctorily, then some part of it
+riveted his notice, and he read the rest avidly. Like Vandersee's
+letter, it was brief and comprehensive. It authorized Little to
+supersede Gordon at the trading station, if in his opinion the situation
+seemed to warrant such a course. And, as in the Hollander's orders,
+Little's letter concluded with the definite statement that Barry was
+not in any degree less captain of the ship and commander-in-chief of the
+expedition. In the last recourse, every man who had sailed in the ship
+from Surabaya was to hold himself at the skipper's orders.
+
+The two friends regarded each other intently when the letter was laid
+down, Little almost shamefacedly, the skipper as if on the border line
+of a disgusted withdrawal from the involved business. Presently Little
+ventured:
+
+"Sorry Houten thought it necessary to make all this mystery, Barry; and
+if you say so, I'll relinquish any powers this letter gives me to you.
+We should have no secrets between us; I've simply carried out my
+employer's orders. It isn't my wish."
+
+"Don't fuss yourself," retorted Barry grimly. "I don't blame you. Just
+don't fancy sailing under sealed orders, that's all. I've got my own
+instructions, and I'll carry 'em out, never fear. But I hate to feel
+that just when things get tight, somebody may flash another bit of paper
+on me and tell me I mustn't shoot, because the green man with the pink
+eyes is in charge of that department, or something."
+
+"I can assure you there are no other letters of authority, Barry,"
+stated Little definitely.
+
+"All right, then. Since I'm still in command of this fine ship, I'll
+stop the order for Gordon's lunch. Come on. We'll go to him and thrash
+the thing out at once," announced Barry, rising.
+
+At the station they found a pitiful wreck. Gordon was cold sober, and
+it was as if all his vital fluid had evaporated. His face was ghastly,
+his nerves utterly out of control, and his tongue stumbled as though it
+were hung by the middle with both ends at odds. Yet for all his shocking
+physical condition, something in the wastrel Englishman appealed to
+Barry as no part of the man had done the previous evening. Something
+hinted at a long deeply buried spirit struggling for release, and
+Gordon's speech, if stumbling, at least strove to be serious.
+
+"Glad you came, skipper," he greeted them, with a contorted smile that
+puckered his face and made plainer the hideous inroads of a life's
+dissipation. "Shan't be able to keep that luncheon engagement."
+
+The trembling fingers pushed a heap of papers and books over to Barry
+and immediately resumed the task of filling a battered portmanteau with
+crumpled clothes.
+
+"We came to talk business, Gordon. For God's sake, take a drink and
+steady yourself, man!" Barry jerked out, a great pity for the hopeless
+wreck coming over him. Gordon affected the sailor like a fine ship
+broken and disintegrating on a devilish reef.
+
+"Thanks, old chap. I'm all right. Business? I'm as capable now as I'll
+ever be. Come to chuck me out, haven't you? Go ahead. There are the
+records, stock lists, and the rest of the mess. Help yourself."
+
+An inquiring glance and a nodded assent passed between Barry and
+Little, and the latter gathered up the records, pushing Houten's letter
+over to Gordon as his authority.
+
+"Don't know how you heard of it, Gordon, but that will verify your
+supposition. You're not fired, y' know, unless you want to be--at least,
+not yet. Simply superseded during the period of the stay of a certain
+Mr. Leyden."
+
+The Englishman dropped the packed bag with a bang and gripped the table
+to steady himself.
+
+"Go on, Mr. Little, don't mind me," he muttered, groping for the bag
+again. "I'm a little off color to-day. Ought not to chuck up the booze
+so suddenly, I suppose. But I'll survive it. Go on."
+
+"Only one thing I want explained," said Little slowly. "The rest can be
+gathered from your books, I understand." The ex-salesman looked straight
+into Gordon's furtive eyes and uttered his words very distinctly. "How
+much of Houten's gold dust have you sent to Leyden? And where is the
+accumulated result of the past six months of washing?"
+
+Gordon's mouth twitched at the corners, imparting to his face the
+expression of a partially decayed skull. The breath whistled from his
+tightly drawn lips, while he fought with his nerveless legs for support.
+At last he mastered himself and stood upright, for the moment seeming to
+expand and straighten into something approximating a clean, complete
+man.
+
+"What Leyden has had can't be brought back," he said. "But you'll find
+in that leather book--last entry, made this morning--the sum due to me
+from Houten up to the end of this month. You'll find it entered in the
+credit side of the trade account. If I'm permitted to remain here after
+you've cleaned up, a similar sum will go down in the same column until
+what Leyden had is paid for. The rest of the dust is packed in bags. It
+was all ready for Leyden to call for. You get it now. The gargoyle-faced
+dwarf at the gate will show you where it is. Now, if that's all, I'll
+thank you both to get to blazes out of here and let me finish packing.
+I'm still trader here until I pass out."
+
+"Where are you going, Mr. Gordon?" asked Barry civilly. He was more and
+more drawn to this self-wrecked human being, so obviously once a
+gentleman. "There's a cabin aboard my ship, if you care to use it."
+
+"It's none of your damned business where I'm going!" Gordon snarled,
+with grinning teeth. Then his face softened, and he added: "Much obliged
+for the invitation, though, skipper. I'm a beast. But please remember
+that I'm a drunken beast trying to become a sober beast. Will you please
+go now?"
+
+"So long," Barry gave him shortly, and walked out. Little followed,
+calling back: "Better take that cabin, Gordon. Hotels must be pretty
+rotten here, hey? No? Well, so long, and good luck."
+
+They passed out by the big gate and caught sight of the brown dwarf on
+the parapet of the stockade. Pausing a moment, they debated whether to
+immediately demand the gold bags or to go first to the ship and get men
+to carry them on board. Barry peered dubiously at the entrance to a
+narrow trail winding about the stockade and disappearing into the thick,
+odorous jungle. Then he glanced at the sky and the tree tops. The sun
+told him it was yet far from noon; the foliage sleepily indicated the
+prolonged absence of a breeze.
+
+"Leyden can't get up to-day, Little," he decided. "Go and tell Rolfe to
+give you the men you need. Take the dust aboard and lock it in the safe.
+It's your job, anyhow. I'm going to hunt up the Mission."
+
+For a moment the Imp of Mischief prompted Little to perilous speech. He
+caught Barry's glittering eye in time and merely replied: "Aye, aye,
+sir. Don't forget what you told me: with man, woman, or missionary, keep
+your gun butt handy. That bush looks shivery. Be good and look after
+yourself."
+
+He swung off down the wharf path, and Barry stepped into the side trail.
+The sailor had not covered twenty feet, shivering involuntarily at the
+uncanny hush of the jungle, when he heard a faint rustling behind him.
+Before he could turn, a queer _whirr_ whistled in the air, followed
+swiftly by a hollow thudding sound as of an ax biting into a rotten log.
+Then an unearthly shriek rang out that chilled his blood.
+
+Just in time he leaped aside and avoided a flying creese that shot from
+the outflung brown hand of a fallen Malay. And, sticking in the man's
+naked back, between the shoulder blades, was the haft of a heavy
+throwing-knife similar to that which had so narrowly missed his own head
+on board the _Barang_.
+
+He savagely stirred the dead man with his foot and rolled the body over,
+face up. The next instant his shout recalled Little at a run.
+
+"Look, Little! Know this fellow?" he uttered.
+
+"Mindjee--the missing sailor!" gasped Little, wide-eyed.
+
+"Wait," snapped Barry. He plucked out the knife and ran back to the
+gate, still plainly in sight. On the parapet, in his old place, the
+brown dwarf squatted, expressionless as the Sphinx.
+
+"Here, Johnny, you throw this?" Barry demanded, holding up the knife.
+
+"Me t'row, all right. Give it." The skinny brown paw reached down for
+the weapon. All interest had apparently departed for the gatekeeper with
+the return of his knife. Barry was not so easily satisfied.
+
+"That won't do for me," he persisted. "Did you mean to hit that Malay,
+or did you just miss me, hey? Where did you get this sticker, anyhow?
+I've seen it before. Talk quick, now!"
+
+"You savvee dat fella got creese? All right. I send um knife, eh? Big
+fella man give it knife to me. You no bodder, Tuuan. You no kill, eh?
+Give it knife. I want um." The clawlike hand reached down insistently.
+"I tell you no bodder. I Gordon man. Gordon he Houten man. You Houten
+man too, eh? An' Houten he all right fine fella. You no 'fraid, Tuuan.
+Give it dat knife."
+
+Barry hesitated, not clear as to the man's meaning. He stared curiously
+at the stained blade in his hand, then passed it up with a shudder. He
+rejoined Little in silence, and they walked to the ship together, the
+Mission visit shelved for the time being. Arriving on board, Barry went
+to his cabin, made a swift examination, and burst out upon Little.
+
+"I've got the big fellow!" he shouted. "That knife is the same one,
+Little. Vandersee is the big fellow, and he stole that knife out of my
+room. What the devil is the meaning of this ruddy mess? Mindjee hove
+that knife at me first. He was Leyden's man, beyond doubt. He gets his
+knife back in the gizzard, and that wipes out one score. What next? What
+about Gordon? How did he get his information so soon? Begad! I'm at a
+loose end, Little."
+
+"Foggy to me, too, skipper," returned the other thoughtfully. "One sure
+thing, though, is that some sweet little cherubs are looking after us,
+and that death's-head at the gate is a good Joss, apparently. I'll go
+and get the gold bags, Barry, then I'd better take up quarters at the
+post. What d' ye think?"
+
+"Go ahead, son. And pick out say four men to stay there with you. The
+fun seems to have started. Pack your guns, too. I'll clear out the safe
+before you get back."
+
+The sun had passed meridian when Little returned, his men carrying
+fifteen small, heavy canvas bags. The dust was duly entered in a brand
+new book, after being roughly weighed on the cook's scales. Then the
+ship's company went to dinner, while the mate remained on deck until
+Barry could relieve him, for they stood watch and watch now, since
+Vandersee's departure.
+
+The meal was but half finished when a shout was followed by running feet
+on the deck overhead. Rolfe burst into the saloon without ceremony and
+reported:
+
+"Schooner coming up, sir! Just rounding the last reach. Got some sort of
+launch alongside, towing her. She'll be up in fifteen minutes."
+
+Little sprang up, his animated face aglow. This was the moment he had
+dreamed of ever since setting foot aboard the _Barang_. Barry
+acknowledged the report but remained seated. He remarked:
+
+"All right, Rolfe. Don't show fight. Keep six men on deck and have them
+in easy reach of their arms. I'll be up in a minute. You, Little, sit
+down and finish your meal. It may be long enough before you get another
+regular lunch. When you're through eating, hike up to the post. You'll
+find that gatekeeper worth asking, if you need advice."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN
+
+
+After Little had gone, Barry tried to map out his plans, and the deeper
+he got into the matter, the less sure he felt. The measures he had
+ordered seemed, on cool reflection, to be the very measures likely to
+defeat his ends. For beyond doubt Leyden had not made this voyage
+without a definite object in view; he had been to the trading post
+surreptitiously, often before, knew the country around, probably knew
+the precise location of the gold-bearing sands, and was intimate with
+Gordon. Knowing Houten's clear title to the trading concession, he was
+scarcely likely to bring his vessel up the river on an avowed piratical
+errand; and there was, too, the matter more important to Barry of
+Leyden's ambitions with regard to the Mission worker.
+
+"Won't be any fight of my starting," decided the skipper, preparing to
+relieve the mate. "Any fuss that's started, he'll start. I'll go up to
+the Mission. I'll get there this time and beat him to it."
+
+That Mission visit had been too long delayed already. He waited no
+longer than to give the mate time to eat lunch. Then, repeating the
+order to keep a keen watch on the schooner's people and to permit none
+of them on board the _Barang_, he stepped ashore.
+
+"If anybody tries to come on board, Rolfe, tell 'em I'm ashore and won't
+be back until evening."
+
+Then he struck off through the huddled village and took to the bush path
+which Gordon had told him led to the Mission. Bamboo thickets alternated
+with patches of lush jungle, and life seethed in both. The chirruping
+chafe of bamboo shoots were so many voices that hummed in harmony with
+the cries of birds and the chattering of monkeys. In among the tall,
+golden stems, short-statured brown ghosts moved, sarong clad; little
+people whose eyes gazed at the intruder with soft inquisitiveness as he
+strode sturdily forward. And a patch of gorgeous jungle was entered to
+the whisk and flirt of graceful heads and slim, swift legs, all the
+visible signs revealed by herds of startled deer.
+
+Barry noticed each passing thing of life with a start, for his steps
+kept time and rhythm with his thoughts, which ever flew back to the
+original of the photograph he had stolen and lost. His one brief meeting
+with Miss Sheldon in the flesh had enabled him to judge the status of
+the photographer, and the artist was placed very low in the scale of his
+craft. The living original of that picture could never be done justice
+to on a photographic plate, in the skipper's opinion.
+
+"This is no place for such a woman," he soliloquized. Then the hotel
+scene in Surabaya recurred to him, and his teeth clicked sharply. "And
+such a flower shan't wither in filthy paws like Leyden's!" he spoke
+aloud.
+
+He trudged on, wondering if he had lost his way, for as yet there was no
+indication of a clearing or any cultivation that must surely mark the
+habitation of white people in a foreign land. As he gazed around at the
+matted verdure, his ears caught a strange sound which was yet not
+utterly strange. It was a roaring, throaty voice, such as is only
+developed in the stress of storm and thundering canvas. It was raised in
+raucous song:
+
+
+     'Arf a ton o' white paint, 'arf a ton o' black,
+     'Arf a ton o' 'nammellers, an' paint pots in th' rack.
+     Ship's a bloomin' paint shop, a sailor's got no show;
+     So sink th' blarsted Navy, an' ol' Admiral Furbelow!
+
+
+The song was cut off abruptly as the singer tore through a mat of vines
+and stepped out right in front of Barry.
+
+"Ahoy! And who 'm you in this fine black man's country?"
+
+The man stood on widespread, deeply bowed legs, quizzically regarding
+Barry. Then a pair of sea-blue eyes twinkled, and a salt-toughened face
+wrinkled in a grin.
+
+"Holystones an' _sujee_! You 'm a sailorman, ain't you? Is there a real
+ship in this river o' mud at last? Not one o' them bamboo an'
+string-tied proas, or sich?"
+
+Barry returned the fellow's quizzical gaze, and in spite of his recent
+thoughts, he had to grin. Partially clad in the remnants of a navy
+working rig--tattered canvas jumper and wide trousers--the man looked
+the embodiment of one of Neptune's hoariest veterans. Where the skin
+showed through his rags it was tattooed blue and red in the numerous
+designs beloved of old-time seamen. A great ship sailed turbulently
+across his massive chest, her sails and rigging blackened ludicrously by
+the mat of close-curled hair that flourished on the human background.
+The rising sun of Japan blazed above her trucks, on the wearer's
+treelike neck; weird serpents and smoke-breathing dragons writhed about
+his arms from wrist to shoulder, and a red star on the back of one
+gnarled hand kept watch and watch with a blue star on its opposite
+member. Barry chuckled audibly as, in a casual flourish, one great arm
+was half turned, showing the comparative white of the underarm upon
+which was blazoned a pair of gory hearts in collision, impaled on a
+harpoon apparently. Around this work of art a flamboyant motto announced
+to the world: "I love Polly."
+
+"Ah, them's the follies o' youth," the tattered salt remarked sagely,
+noting Barry's attention. "Never have none o' that junk stuck into yer,
+Mister, leastways, not no woman's tallies."
+
+"Dangerous, hey?"
+
+"Wuss ner that. Why, I thought a lot o' that 'ere gal. Bought her a
+mangle when I stopped wi' her on leave once, so's she could do wi'out
+my 'arf-pay and wouldn't have to run up no bills wi' the meat an' bread
+pirates. Then I j'ined my ship, an' when I come home again she's sloped
+wi' a bloomin' leather-necked Marine wot used to peel orf his ruddy
+tunic an' turn th' mangle for her! Don't have 'em tattooed, Mister.
+Paint 'em on while yer with 'em, same's I do, then you kin wash 'em orf
+when you feels like a change."
+
+"Good stuff," agreed Barry, interest in the queer old fellow in some
+degree modifying his impatience. "But what about a ship? Want to ship
+out of here?"
+
+"That's me. I clumb down th' cable out of a man-o'-fight, all on 'count
+o' th' paint an' scrape an' polish of a new Old Man we got. Walked on
+th' bleedin' hoof, too, from Macassar to here, an' cadged at th'
+Missions an' stole from th' traders, an' slept wi' the niggers fer
+more'n a month, waitin' fer th' blessed ship they all said was due.
+That's me, Mister. Anything a-doin' in your craft?"
+
+Barry considered for a moment and concluded that he could do with such a
+recruit. In any case he was strongly attracted to the man from a
+strictly human point of view. He took out a pocket pad and pencil, and
+replied, while he scribbled:
+
+"I'll ship you. What's your name?"
+
+"Bill Blunt--'ere."
+
+"Then, here--" handing him a hastily scrawled note to the mate--"take
+this aboard the _Barang_, and the mate will fix you up. Look out you
+don't get shot going aboard. Show your note at the gangway. And be sure
+you get the _Barang_, not the _Padang_--my ship's the brigantine."
+
+"Your ship? Be you skipper then, sir? Beg pardon; didn't know," and the
+gnarled right hand snatched at the scanty forelock and the sturdy body
+bent awkwardly in exaggerated salute. Then a twinkle shone in the keen
+blue eyes, and Bill Blunt grinned: "Shootin', d' ye say, sir? Ain't
+goin' to tell me fun's afoot, be ye? 'T would be too good!"
+
+"Quite likely, Blunt. But you get aboard. If you get on the right side
+of the mate, perhaps I'll make you acting second mate when I come back."
+This apparently hasty half-promise was made with good reason. Barry saw
+a possible acquisition in the typical old sailor and made the partial
+promise as the best and quickest means of discovering what the man had
+in him. If good, he would prove himself in hope of the reward; if
+worthless, Rolfe could be depended on to find it out. He put a question
+as the man started off: "Tell me how far is the Mission?"
+
+"Just through that bamboo thicket, Cap'n. Ain't twenty fathom away.
+That's it," he sang out, as Barry thrust aside the close-standing stems.
+
+The skipper entered the thicket, and the closing stems shut out the
+roaring song with which Bill Blunt struck off for the ship. Almost
+before he was aware of the proximity of any habitation, he stumbled out
+of the brake into a neat, prosperous garden, surrounding a cluster of
+clean frame huts all under one immense galvanized-iron roof. A small
+number of natives worked desultorily among the plants, and farther off a
+stooping figure in a white dress and wide sunbonnet straightened up at
+the skipper's approach.
+
+Barry blushed like a big boy and halted, for the lifted sunbonnet
+revealed the piquant face of Natalie Sheldon, and her white teeth
+gleamed in a rippling smile as she recognized her visitor.
+
+"Welcome, Captain Barry," she cried, stepping into the path and
+approaching him. "I'm afraid I can't be very hospitable, for all our men
+folks are busy in the village. I have to make a visit myself, but I
+shall be glad to have your company if you care to come."
+
+Big Jack Barry, the man who remained cold and unruffled in vital
+physical crises, met this second encounter with a very unformidable girl
+in different manner from the first. His mouth opened to reply and
+remained open; his eyes burned with the up-rushing flood that suffused
+his bronzed face, and the roots of his hair tingled to the blush. Then
+he realized that he was staring rudely at Miss Sheldon and had not yet
+responded to her greeting. He discovered, too, that the brim of his hat
+was suffering grievous damage in the grip of his nervously twisting
+fingers, and that the sun was beating on his bare head intensely.
+
+"Thanks, Miss Sheldon," he stammered at length. "I'll be glad to come
+with you if I may." Then, his hat replaced on his head, he found two
+awkward great hands at liberty, with nothing whatever to do with them.
+"Can I carry something for you?" he asked, more at ease in the prospect
+of some physical employment.
+
+"Oh, will you? I shall be glad if you'll carry a basket. It will save
+taking one of the boys, and I'd really rather not take one, as it
+happens."
+
+She went into the main hut of the Mission and presently returned with a
+big cane basket, covered with fresh leaves, which she gave to Barry. She
+herself carried a smaller bundle that might contain cloth or other soft
+material.
+
+"Come, then," she said, leading the way into the bush by another path.
+"I've got a patient, Captain, one of Mr. Leyden's men, you know. A white
+man, broken down by the awful loneliness."
+
+"Leyden's man?" blurted Barry. "Why, surely nobody's come ashore from
+his vessel yet? He only came up the river an hour ago."
+
+"Oh, this time, yes, Captain. But Mr. Leyden has been here many times,
+you know. We know him very well, indeed. We do whatever we can for him,
+for, you know, he has helped me--us--in many ways."
+
+Something in her speech drew the skipper's gaze to her animated face.
+Something he saw there brought a fleeting scowl to his own. There was no
+shred of doubt at that moment that Leyden had made considerable
+progress in intimacy with the Mission people. Miss Sheldon's speech and
+expression were such that Barry would have given an eye or a hand for
+the same.
+
+"You see, we hoped Mr. Leyden would arrive much sooner, Captain," the
+girl went on, striding freely along the narrow path which bent towards
+the upper reaches of the river. "We thought your ship was his, and that
+induced my visit last evening. The extra suspense played havoc with Mr.
+Gordon, for--"
+
+"Gordon! He's no man of Leyden's, Miss Sheldon! He's my own employer's
+man, if you mean Gordon from the trading post. I wondered at his
+attitude when we superseded him temporarily."
+
+The girl darted a swift glance at Barry and suddenly cut short the chat.
+She went ahead, giving no reply to the skipper's outburst, and he
+followed dumbly, wondering what new piece of trickery was to be revealed
+when Gordon's sudden illness was investigated. For fifteen minutes he
+followed in the girl's wake, attempting to reopen conversation and
+receiving brief replies; and gradually his irritation and puzzlement
+passed; he was fascinated by the easy grace of the girl; every step he
+took was as a rivet hammered into the armor of his determination to
+scuttle Leyden's ark of success at the earliest possible moment.
+
+His mind was set on means to that end when he at length looked ahead and
+discovered that the girl had vanished. In a dozen steps he came to a
+still narrower path leading riverwards, and here she was awaiting him.
+
+"I'll take the basket now, Captain. Will you wait for me here?" she
+said, looking into his face with a cool and plain hint that his further
+attendance would be inconvenient.
+
+"I may as well come right along," he returned, holding on to the basket.
+"I know Gordon. I'm sorry he's ill. I'd like to see him."
+
+"It will not be convenient, Captain Barry," she insisted firmly. "Mr.
+Gordon is too ill to see strangers. This cannot be the Gordon you know.
+He is a friend of Mr. Leyden. Please wait for me here."
+
+"Now what the devil have I struck!" Barry grumbled, when the girl had
+swept out of sight. The swish of her cotton dress could be followed
+through the canes and lantanas, and the impulse was upon him to ignore
+her command and plunge after her.
+
+"Gordon a friend of Leyden!" he soliloquized, restraining his impulse
+while he puzzled the problem out. "That's no mystery; suspense knocked
+him out when I got here first. That's no puzzle either. But how in
+thunder did Leyden get so solid with the little lady? That's my riddle."
+
+The tangle was too involved for the sailor's matter-of-fact mind. He
+obeyed his first impulse and dived ahead into the narrow path, bound to
+see Gordon himself and thrash out the matter with him in front of Miss
+Sheldon.
+
+He parted the cane thicket, and immediately all about him began the
+rustle and subtle movement of living things in concealment. He recalled
+in a flash that something very like this had preceded that whirring
+through the air, and that thud into flesh that had announced the attempt
+on himself and the death of Mindjee, back at the stockade gate. But no
+tangible obstacle fell in his way this time. It was a voice, sounding
+ghostly in the whispering canes, from an invisible yet very close
+speaker.
+
+"You no go, sar. Go back. Fren' for you say it."
+
+"Now by James, that's enough!" swore the sailor, leaping straight in the
+direction of the voice. "Come out here and let's see who's running this
+Pepper's Ghost hoodle!" With the challenge he pulled his pistol.
+
+He found nothing and nobody. But from the spot he had just vacated came
+the same voice again.
+
+"You no shoot, sar. You shoot fren's, dat's all. Go back."
+
+"I go back when I see what this humbug means. I'll shoot man or animal
+that runs across my bows!"
+
+Barry stumbled forward, and again the subtle rustling surrounded him,
+but no voice now. The sound seemed to vibrate and run before him, yet
+faster than he could travel afoot. Then, so suddenly that it startled
+him, he came alongside a stout tree, and other voices sounded,--voices
+of white people. For the moment he was at a loss; then the truth
+flashed upon him and he looked up into the umbrageous foliage of the
+tree.
+
+Above his head almost--he was still in the shade of the cane brake--he
+discerned the platform of a rough tree-dwelling from which depended a
+vine-stem ladder, steadied by pegs driven into the ground at the base of
+the trunk. And, peering over the rim of the platform, like a sailor
+looking over the edge of a ship's spreading top, he saw Miss Sheldon,
+displeasure clouding her face. Another face was at the Mission girl's
+shoulder, and impatience was the most prominent emotion on it. Barry had
+time to recognize Mrs. Goring in that second apparition; then swift and
+silent as a cobra's attack he was taken from behind.
+
+No word was spoken. Arms like steel bands smothered his limbs; his
+pistol hand was snatched back irresistibly, yet, he noticed even then,
+with no violence, and the weapon was taken from his powerless fingers. A
+piece of coarse cloth was flung over his head; vicelike hands gripped
+his ankles; he was borne with no apparent effort from the spot.
+
+After a brief initial struggle, Barry resigned himself to his captors
+perforce. Where he was bound for was beyond conjecture; he only heard,
+faintly through his hood, the cheeping and rustling of the canes; bush
+tendrils swept along his body and told him that he was being carried
+through the trackless part of the jungle. His journey was short. In ten
+minutes he was laid on the ground, still with no word from his captors,
+and in two long breaths no sound remained near him except the voices of
+the foliage. He lay still a moment, wondering what his fate was to be;
+then, involuntarily, he moved in his bonds, and found they were loose;
+he was unfettered.
+
+Hurling aside the muffling cloth, he started to his feet, and the grass
+bands fell from his arms and legs. He was in a dense grove, and his
+first thought was to hurl himself headlong into the bush in the frenzied
+hope of overtaking the men who had left him there. His foot struck a
+hard object, and he looked down. There was his automatic pistol, intact,
+but the precaution had been taken of slipping out the cartridge clip. He
+picked both up, reloaded the weapon, and pondered.
+
+"Sure thing they don't want me around there!" was the whimsical thought
+foremost in his mind. "Don't want to damage me, either. But they leave
+me in a blind alley of the jungle to dig my own way out!"
+
+As he cooled off, his senses resumed their normal alertness, and the
+ripple of running water regaled his ears. He tore through the jungle in
+that direction and burst out upon the river bank. Looking up and down
+stream, he stifled an exclamation of surprise; for, not a hundred yards
+away, down stream, stood the rickety old wharf, and alongside lay his
+ship, while at his feet a dugout canoe squatted nose-up on the muddy
+foreshore of the river. Just astern of his own ship the _Padang_ had
+hauled in, and a knot of excited men, white and native, were milling
+about the _Barang's_ gangway.
+
+"Time you got aboard, Barry!" he muttered and shoved the canoe off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT
+
+
+Barry reached the wharf, tied his canoe to a pile, and arrived at his
+own gangway to find Leyden at bay. Rolfe's sturdy figure barred the
+ladder; Bill Blunt grinned happily over the rail, tapping the wood
+playfully with the biggest iron belaying pin the ship afforded; while
+natives on deck and on the wharf looked on full of curiosity
+considerably tempered with apprehension.
+
+Leyden's face was deathly white with rage, and his right hand had gone
+to a hip pocket; but it remained there under the persuasion of a little
+round hole in the end of a cold blue tube displayed carelessly by the
+mate. Leyden caught sight of Barry as he came up and started violently,
+then forced a smile.
+
+"Why, are you Captain Barry?" he stammered. Whatever his knowledge of
+Houten's plans might be, it apparently had not included the association
+of the _Barang's_ skipper with the rude sailor who had upset him on the
+hotel veranda in Surabaya. If he harbored resentment for that affair, he
+concealed it now and tried to assume an expression of relief.
+
+"I'm glad you've come," he explained, with a sour smile that was meant
+to be pleasant. "Your mate is oversuspicious. He refuses to allow me on
+board."
+
+"Quite right, too," growled Barry, openly glaring his dislike for
+Leyden. "My orders. I expect them to be carried out. You can have no
+business with my ship, anyhow."
+
+"You're not very cordial, are you?" Leyden smiled back. "I wanted to
+inquire about one of my men who ran from me in Surabaya. I believe he
+joined you. My skipper said a brigantine came in for an hour or so about
+the time the man disappeared, and this is the only brigantine that's
+been in the port in months."
+
+Barry's keen eyes bored into Leyden so coldly and fixedly that, studied
+as he was in worldly encounters, that gentleman shifted uneasily on his
+feet. The _Barang's_ skipper knew well enough about that missing man,
+and also where he had gone to. He knew, also, that it was not in
+Surabaya that he entered the brigantine, but in far subtler manner, as a
+legitimate, signed-on seaman in Batavia. There was still a patch in the
+mainsail, a little more than man-high, to recall the man; somewhere near
+the stockade gate the insects and ground vermin were at that moment
+industriously engaged in stripping a skeleton which might have
+interested Leyden. But the blunt sailor, simple and straightforward
+though he was, was endowed with sufficient elementary cunning to cope
+with Leyden in that worthy's present state of irritation.
+
+"No strangers in my ship, Mr. Leyden," he said. "Try another tack.
+Sorry I can't stay to talk with you; I'm busy." He mounted the gangway
+without a further glance at Leyden, leaving that gentleman staring up
+after him with tight lips drawn back from grinning teeth and a quivering
+of the arm which was bent back to the hip pocket.
+
+"Don't try it!" warned Rolfe, edging aside as Barry passed him.
+
+"Shove orf, me son," added Bill Blunt and squinted along his belaying
+pin straight at Leyden.
+
+"Oh, leave the man alone!" growled Barry angrily. "You weren't put here
+to start something. So long as he stays off the ship, I don't expect you
+to stir him up."
+
+"Barry, just one moment," cried Leyden, and his face had assumed a smirk
+of contempt. Barry turned without replying. "I'd be thankful if you'd
+tell your pirates to leave this theatrical stuff until it's called for,"
+Leyden laughed. "I've been trying for five minutes to get my tobacco
+pouch out of my pocket, and every time I move a finger one of your bold
+desperadoes wiggles a gun at me, and the other buccaneer draws a bead on
+my unoffending head with that ferocious pin."
+
+Barry stared hard at the fellow, and as he saw the utter change that had
+come over Leyden, a tiny shiver ran rippling up his spine. All Leyden's
+anger and irritation had gone; the crafty, calculating man of the world
+peered out through glittering eyes; if Barry had entertained any
+foolish notions of the man's mettle before, they were dissipated now.
+Yes, there was no doubt of it. Leyden was laughing at him.
+
+"Nobody's stopping you getting your pouch," Barry blurted hotly. He
+preferred taking a beating at any time, if necessary, to being laughed
+at. "The whole wharf is open to you. But I advise you to move along a
+bit before pulling that pouch. My men don't like the smell of Dutch
+tobacco."
+
+To Rolfe he said: "Leave Blunt here and come below. I want to speak to
+you. Wait though," he suggested, "Blunt hasn't signed on yet. How does
+he suit you?"
+
+Bill Blunt's ears twitched with anxiety until the mate replied: "Good
+man, sir! Darn glad to have him. Coolest hand I ever saw--and a sailor."
+
+"Good. Stay here. I'll bring up the Articles and sign him on here. Then
+he can stand gangway watch with you. I don't want to leave the gangway
+without a white man on it so long as that craft lies ahead of us."
+
+Bill Blunt entered into the company of the _Barang_ and took up his post
+at the gangway with a roaring sea-song rumbling in his mossy throat.
+Some of his stout, devil-may-care spirit had gone into the native crew,
+and there was less of furtiveness and more of confident satisfaction
+with their job as the little brown men listened to the jovial harmony of
+their new white shipmate.
+
+Rolfe followed the skipper below, and at the table Barry told him as
+much of the day's events as seemed vital. Regarding the Mission, it was
+merely mentioned as being in some manner connected with Leyden's obvious
+familiarity in the trading station.
+
+"He's gone off that way now, sir," remarked the mate. "I noticed him
+beating up for the path as you brought up the Articles." Rolfe halted
+suddenly at the sound of grinding teeth and stared at the skipper in
+wonderment. But Barry cast off the spasm of rage and went along with
+business.
+
+"Now, Rolfe, you know what we're here for as well as I do. Much has
+happened that I didn't expect, but the main thing remains. On or near
+this stream gold is being taken out that belongs to my employer. It's
+getting into other pockets. And the man who owns those pockets knows
+more about the location of these gold sands than either I or Houten, and
+what's more, Gordon has been running this post not exactly on the level.
+
+"So long as that schooner lies there, I want her looked after. So you
+and Blunt stay aboard with half the hands and watch for funny business.
+But first, before I start up river, run up to Mr. Little and get an
+inventory of his spare men and arms. Spares, mind: those he can do
+without for a few days. Hurry back."
+
+Jerry Rolfe started without comment. That was his conception of duty. He
+had scarcely reached the deck when he was recalled. Barry could not
+erase from his mind that picture of Leyden, at that moment perhaps
+enjoying an intimate chat with Natalie Sheldon. And the more he thought
+of it,--the thought swept through his mind in a flash--the hotter he
+became, and he no longer restrained the impulse to follow, though the
+folly and possible danger of it was clear to him.
+
+"Rolfe!" he shouted. "Never mind. I'll go to the post myself. Stay here
+and get together all our own spares. You know them better than I do."
+
+The mate received this new order as complacently as the first. It suited
+him better. In that steaming, reeking river station he was more at home
+about his ship than tramping through an odorous village on shore
+business.
+
+Barry hustled up to the post and found Little deep in a stock-taking
+revel, as enthusiastic as a boy in his new sphere. The typewriter-sailor
+was more at home here than on board the ship, in utter contrast to
+Rolfe; and Barry grinned perforce at the formidable armament he had
+strapped about his body. He looked the part of a fiction trader, with
+pen behind his ear, big cheroot in his teeth, and two mighty revolvers
+in holsters at his waist.
+
+"Ship ahoy, me tarry shellback!" he shouted as Barry entered. "Snug as a
+bug already. Everything's fine--first-chop, except the station hands.
+Can't find where they're working, Barry, though the pay sheet shows
+fifty or more taking wages from Houten. But what's the trouble? You look
+as solemn as that crocodile you plunked on the beezer as he was
+investigating my free-lunch department."
+
+"Nothing's the matter," replied Barry shortly. "It's about the hands I
+want to see you. How many men, with guns, can you spare me for a few
+days? I'm going up river."
+
+"Whoopee!" yelled Little, dancing. "Up river? Me too. Say, we can
+take--"
+
+"_We_ nothing, Little. You stay right here. I want about six good men,
+that's all, to join up with one watch from the ship."
+
+"Oh, say now, that ain't fair, Barry. There's nothing to keep me here
+now the dust's aboard. Besides, Vandersee was here, half an hour ago,
+and mentioned the same thing. Said it as if he knew what he was talking
+about, too. Told me to tell you he was in reach of us all the time, and
+that we might safely leave the station."
+
+"Vandersee here?" cried Barry. "I'd give something rich to know exactly
+what piece he plays in this band!"
+
+"Same here, Barry. But never mind him. I feel safe about him. I'll come,
+hey? How about it?"
+
+Barry considered awhile, his forehead deeply wrinkled and his eyes
+aglitter. Soon he brightened, and, "Just as you say," he replied. "Get
+those six men. If you can't find them yourself, ask the gateman for
+them. Get 'em to the ship as soon as you can. I've got a little business
+to attend to yet."
+
+He left Little in ecstasies and tramped down the path and around the
+stockade. Scarcely directing his steps, he walked towards the Mission,
+knowing no reason except impulse. And he travelled swiftly, coming to
+the cane-brake dividing the post from the Mission before he was well
+aware of his progress. Here he was brought to an abrupt halt by nearby
+voices, and he could not possibly avoid hearing some of the
+conversation.
+
+The voices were those of Mrs. Goring and Leyden, and anger was the
+keynote of the discussion.
+
+"I tell you, Juliana, I won't stand this hounding!" Leyden was saying.
+"Remember you are not in Batavia now; and if you drive me to extremes,
+this jungle can hide a secret."
+
+"I fear neither the jungle nor you any more," Mrs. Goring returned, and
+Barry shivered at the intensity of her voice. "As for hounding you, I
+warned you. I came here to prevent this, your latest piece of rascality,
+and I'll do it. You might as well go back to Java."
+
+"I suppose so," retorted Leyden sneeringly. "You've no doubt spread your
+lies to good effect already, eh! Do you expect to be believed against my
+word? You are foolish. I stand too high here for you to harm me."
+
+"Stand high, fall deep," laughed the woman. "No, I have spread neither
+lies nor truth about you--yet. I can do that--"
+
+"Not yet, eh? Then, by the Lord Harry, you shall not!" cried Leyden, and
+there was a crackling of underbrush as he made a forward movement.
+Barry peered through the thicket, ready to leap to the aid of Mrs.
+Goring; but he saw his help was not needed and drew back.
+
+"Stop!"
+
+The word was sharp as a pistol shot, and Leyden was brought to a halt by
+the menacing muzzle of a small automatic pistol in Mrs. Goring's firm,
+tremorless hand.
+
+"Don't move a pace farther. I know you only too well, Mr. Leyden. The
+day has long gone by when I could be fooled by you. My advice is that
+you go back to your ship and to Java. There is nothing here for you.
+Your schemes have all gone awry."
+
+"Then your tale has been told! Vixen!"
+
+"Vixen, perhaps," and a low, mellow laugh accompanied the acceptance of
+the epithet. "At least you will find me one, if you persist. I have not
+mentioned your name to any one, yet. But I tell you now that each day
+you stay in Celebes adds to the weight about your neck that shall
+finally drag you down. There is one stronger than I keeping your
+account, and, have no false hopes, it will be paid in full. I warn you
+to go because of what I once thought you. Be wise in time and go."
+
+"Yes, I'll go,--to the Mission and find out what lies you have spread.
+For I don't believe you have let that chance slip, no matter what you
+tell me." Leyden's tone was truculent; yet he respected the warning of
+that small, steady pistol. "It is you who should take warning and go,
+Juliana. For as sure as you cross my plans, you shall suffer."
+
+"I can suffer no more," returned the woman bitterly. "As for the
+Mission, I can save you the trouble, for there is nobody there. You had
+better go and see Gordon. He'd like to talk to you, now that he has
+sobered."
+
+"Yes, Gordon!" snarled Leyden. "Another of your pretty tricks. Where is
+Gordon? He's not at the post. I tried to enter there and was refused
+admittance."
+
+"Naturally. It isn't your post, you know. But as you've tried, that too
+will be wasted time, won't it? So you'd better go to your ship, as I
+suggested at first." Mrs. Goring suddenly closed the interview by
+walking away from Leyden, keeping her face towards him, however, and
+retaining firm hold on her pistol. She almost brushed Barry as she
+passed, and as she glided swiftly and lightly along the Mission path,
+Leyden swung away with a curse in the opposite direction.
+
+Barry hesitated for a few seconds; he wanted to go to the Mission, too;
+but he believed Mrs. Goring had spoken truly when she said there was
+nobody there, and the only other place he could imagine where Miss
+Sheldon might be was at the tree-dwelling. To that secret bower he
+hurried, to be again halted by warnings from unseen guardians in the
+jungle fastnesses. This time he did not press his intention to
+penetrate, but stepped back until the whispering warnings were no
+longer heard and there waited, hoping that patience might be rewarded.
+
+It was. In a little while he heard some one coming along the path and
+stepped out of the snug couch of leaves he had made for himself and
+suddenly confronted the Mission girl. She started back in fright, then
+laughed in confusion as she recognized him. She bore two empty baskets,
+and Barry reached out for them.
+
+"May I carry them?" he asked simply.
+
+"Surely, Captain Barry. But you startled me. I was not expecting to meet
+anybody here."
+
+"Perhaps better me than others," replied Barry cryptically. "How is
+Gordon, Miss Sheldon?"
+
+"He is improving," the girl replied, and her eyes narrowed as she gazed
+quizzically at him. "But what is the riddle about better you than
+others? I don't understand."
+
+"Never mind," smiled Barry. "It doesn't really matter, since I was the
+lucky one, does it? But have you discovered whose man Gordon is, after
+all?"
+
+"Why, no, Captain. It isn't necessary, I think. Mr. Gordon has always
+been accepted by my fellow workers as Mr. Leyden's man, and we have
+known Mr. Leyden a long time. We don't know you so well, you must
+admit."
+
+"That's very true, Miss Sheldon. But I hope you will know me better
+before long," replied Barry, flushing at the implied doubt as to his own
+_bona fides_. He remembered, in time to avoid a bad break, that it was
+no part of his business in Houten's interests to show his credentials to
+Mission folks, no matter how devoutly he desired to place himself on a
+secure footing with them. His visit was entirely on Houten's account,
+and anything else was a side issue. So instead of blurting out an offer
+to produce his credentials, he remarked quietly:
+
+"If you will ask Mrs. Goring, she will tell you better than I can."
+
+"Mrs. Goring?" echoed the girl. "Why, I don't know her any better than I
+know you, Captain Barry. Why should I ask her to disavow something that
+needs no disavowal?"
+
+"Don't know her?" queried Barry, astonished. He had thought Mrs. Goring
+an old acquaintance at least, if not actually a friend.
+
+"No. We never saw her until the day your ship arrived. She brought a
+letter, though, from mutual friends in Batavia, so we have accepted her
+gladly. She has proved a wonderful nurse, too. Mr. Gordon could not be
+better cared for by mother, wife, or sweetheart."
+
+Miss Sheldon's face softened with the thought. She irradiated the spirit
+of Christian helpfulness while praising Mrs. Goring's work for Gordon,
+and Barry uneasily realized that his persistence in casting doubts on
+Leyden was likely to prove detrimental to himself. The feeling
+intensified when the girl added with enthusiasm: "So you see, Captain,
+Mrs. Goring is far too busy to be bothered with inquisitive questions
+about a gentleman whom she probably has never heard of."
+
+"Oh, yes, she has heard of Leyden, Miss Sheldon," Barry burst out
+unguardedly. "Not only heard of him, but knows him better than you do!"
+
+The girl stared at him in amazement. Then slowly the rich color mounted
+to her fair cheeks, and her eyes glowed with something as near anger as
+such a woman could feel.
+
+"If Mrs. Goring had known, she would certainly have told me," she said.
+"She has not said one word to suggest there is any truth in the very
+strange story you have tried to impress on me, Captain Barry. I can only
+think that you are mistaken."
+
+With which charitable remark, having come to the branch of the Mission
+path, Natalie Sheldon held out her hands for the baskets and dismissed
+the skipper.
+
+"Thank you. I can manage now," she said, smiling rather pityingly at
+him. "I hope you will find your mistake before you offend Mr. Leyden."
+
+"If I do, I'll let you know quickly," he retorted, nettled to discover
+how very solid Leyden had made himself. "Meanwhile, I can only offer my
+services in any way you may need them, Miss Sheldon, and suggest that
+you make a confidante of Mrs. Goring. Good-by."
+
+He left her gazing after him curiously and strode down the path towards
+the wharf. And as he entered the last narrow track in the labyrinthine
+bush, one of his native crew broke through the canes and told him:
+
+"Masser Rolfe he say come quick, sar! Schooner boats he go up ribber
+chop-chop. He got many many men."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE
+
+
+If, in the events already narrated, Barry has showed an unaccountable
+indecision, it must be remembered that he was a simple seaman, straight
+and clean, unused to subterfuge and trickery. When action was afoot, he
+knew what to do; while waiting for action on the part of his adversary,
+he was at a disadvantage. But the fact made for increased vigilance, and
+with the news that the _Padang's_ people were starting something moving,
+he cast everything except his own counter move from his mind.
+
+It was late afternoon when he finally looked over the situation and had
+to make a prompt decision. Rolfe, ably seconded by sturdy Bill Blunt,
+had collected a party of spare men and arms for the river trip, which,
+supplemented by Little and his five perplexed station hands, gave the
+skipper a very full crew for his largest boat, a lugger-rigged longboat.
+
+"Has the schooner's boat started?" Barry asked, scanning the yellow
+stream that flowed greasily past and bore no sign of life or floating
+craft.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the mate. "She went up just after I sent the
+messenger to you. Leyden wasn't in her, though, so I sent a couple of
+men up the bank, to keep her in view and give you the direction as you
+picked them up."
+
+"Then call away the boat!" snapped Barry. "If that fellow sneaks up some
+creek, we'll pass him surely in the dusk, and--"
+
+"Oh, he won't do that, Barry," interjected Little. "I got at least this
+from Gordon's records, that the gold-bearing sands are on the main
+stream."
+
+"Were the men armed?" asked the skipper.
+
+"Not that I could see, sir. That looked queer to me," said Rolfe. "And
+that steam launch started so fast--"
+
+"Steam launch! Here, Little, get your men into the boat. I don't know
+what this all means, but I don't trust Leyden, after what I saw and
+heard to-day." Barry leaped below to his cabin and gathered up a few
+necessaries for the boat trip, then returned on a run and entered the
+longboat.
+
+"Give way!" he ordered, and the oars flashed in rhythm, driving the boat
+out into midstream where she could set her sails free from the
+blanketing influence of the jungle-clad shore.
+
+"Good luck, sir!" growled Blunt, gazing down at the boat with sorrow in
+his jovial face. "Ain't no chance o' coming wi' yer, I suppose?"
+
+"No, Blunt. Stay here. You'll get your share of the fun if the dog
+bites!" Barry called back with a short laugh.
+
+"Then all as I hopes is that he bites, sir!" and the old salt walked
+away from the rail, unable longer to stand the pang of seeing that boat
+go adventuring.
+
+
+The longboat slipped along under her big lugs almost as swiftly as a
+launch could travel; the power craft would derive the fuller advantage
+from her engine when the twisting of the river put the sailboat on a
+beat. The stream quickly narrowed and shoaled when the post had been
+left astern, and in one place ran swiftly through a high-banked gorge
+that cut off the breeze and brought out oars again. Here the first
+watchman was picked up, standing on the high crest beside a tree and
+calling attention by a shrill whistle.
+
+"How long since the launch passed?" queried the skipper, when the man
+came aboard.
+
+"S-sh! She no go far, sar," replied the man, with a gesture of caution.
+"She right dar, 'longside dat big bush," and he indicated an outjutting
+clump of dense jungle that stood on the right bank a hundred yards
+ahead.
+
+Barry and Little peered through the gathering dusk in vain for sight of
+her; without slanting clear across the river, it was impossible to see
+past that point. After a very brief moment of thought, the skipper waved
+silently to the oarsmen and headed the boat back to the place whence the
+watchman had just come.
+
+"Come, Little," he said quietly, "we'll go and see what's afoot. She's
+no doubt waiting to pick up Leyden, and he hasn't stayed behind without
+reason."
+
+Like silent shapes they stole through the jungle, creeping along to the
+end and crest of the outflung point. Here, or rather beyond, the river
+widened out again, and the trees on both banks were farther apart,
+admitting more of the waning light to the muddy flats alongshore; and
+snug under the very roots of the matted bush lay the schooner's launch,
+steam swirling about the brass smokestack, the fire glowing redly as the
+engineer put in a stick of wood. All else was quiet; no sound came from
+the crew, though they could be plainly seen crouching on the locker
+seats and thwarts, some smoking, some dozing.
+
+"Looks innocent enough," remarked Little, a little chagrined. He had
+expected to plunge straight into lurid encounters and felt an almost
+irresistible impulse to draw two revolvers, let loose a yell of
+defiance, and shoot up that tantalizingly peaceful steamboat.
+
+"Hm! Looks!" Barry grunted. "Maybe is, too; but I have my doubts. Keep
+still, and we'll soon see. At least we're upsides with the chase."
+
+The darkness dropped down suddenly once the sun had set, and myriads of
+fireflies gathered like star-dust to match the galaxy overhead. The
+pipes of the smokers in both boats glowed brighter; but neither was in
+sight of the other, though from the crest where Barry and Little waited
+both were visible. All around the silent watchers the jungle voices
+whispered and crooned. In the trees above them monkeys chattered at the
+unheard-of intrusion of boats and men on the privacy of their sleeping
+places. A belated deer thrust his head through a thicket and gazed
+foolishly at Little's astonished face, then, with a whisk and flirt, he
+bounded back into the bush, sending twigs and leaves flying in his
+alarm.
+
+The noise served to arouse Barry, for his senses had been lulled by the
+dark soft night voices, and he had been dreaming again. He sprang alert
+in a moment at the deer's sudden commotion, and now his keen ear caught
+another, harsher sound; the sound of booted feet approaching.
+
+"Here's some white man!" he whispered, drawing Little back into hiding,
+for that ardent young man was yet staring open-eyed after the vanished
+deer.
+
+"Leyden!" breathed Little, and a voice from the as yet unseen stranger
+bore out his guess. Leyden came to the river bank without any attempt at
+caution. He sent earth and rushes scattering beneath his feet, and he
+hailed his boat's crew in a voice that carried clear over the river.
+
+"Start her up, lads," he cried, stepping down the bank where two men
+waited to hand him into the launch. "Give her all she'll carry,
+engineer. The luck's right with us!"
+
+The launch broke into sudden bustle, and sparks flew from the
+smokestack. The crew chattered freely and much merriment was mixed in
+the chatter. But the thing that shocked Barry, and gave even the
+unthinking Little cause for reflection, was Leyden's tone. If ever utter
+and complete triumph and exaltation were expressed in man's voice, they
+were ringing then in every word the man uttered.
+
+No particular word was spoken to give excuse for the feeling in the
+skipper's breast; but in every note and syllable Leyden uttered, even
+the bare order to cast off lines, there was jubilation and mirth. And
+mirth, in a man like Leyden, meant mischief, according to Jack Barry's
+ideas. When, after the launch floated away from the bank, the man
+actually began to sing a cheerful little song about ripe pomegranates
+and passion flowers, Barry's teeth had all but loosened themselves
+through sheer grinding rage.
+
+"Get aboard!" he growled into Little's ear, plunging down towards the
+longboat. "If only that rat would give me a chance to peep along sights
+at him!"
+
+The lugsails were useless until the gorge was passed; and in the
+narrowed river the current swept down with doubled velocity, making the
+stout oars crack as the seamen bent their backs to offset it. And when
+at last the wider stream was entered, and the sails began to draw, the
+launch had passed out of sight; only the distant and diminishing chug of
+her propeller gave indication that she was ahead. With gathering speed
+as the night breeze gained strength, the boat sailed on, and until she
+had suddenly to haul up at a square bend in the river, she equalled the
+chase in speed. But then, tacking close inshore to get a long board for
+the next bend, she suddenly grounded, silently, easily, with an absence
+of shock or grating that told only too plainly of sticky, fast-holding
+mud.
+
+"Confound such a ditch!" swore Barry irritably. "Why in thunder didn't
+that fat swab of a Houten tell me what the river was like! Overboard,
+every man," he ordered, with swift decision. "Over, and lighten her.
+Shove her into midstream, and we'll row it out."
+
+"Alligators!" Little whispered, much as he might have said "Skittles."
+
+"Damn the alligators!" retorted Barry, and set the example by leaping
+into the turbid river.
+
+Little struck the water almost with the same splash, and the boat's crew
+started to clamber over the sides, shamed into obedience. Barry stayed
+where he had jumped, and the position of his head could only be
+determined by the volley of disgusted anathema that pealed from his
+lips.
+
+"Don't jump deep, men!" he cried. "You'll stick up to the neck in this
+filth! Fall flat on the water and swim with the boat."
+
+"Sure, like me," chimed in Little, seizing the gunwale and striking out
+with strong leg strokes. The seamen joined their efforts, and with
+twelve expert swimmers thrusting the boat forward, the skipper was
+dragged out of the tenacious mud with a loud sucking sound.
+
+"Pull, confound you!" Barry panted, all but torn in two. "Another like
+that--Oh, blazes! There's my other shoe gone!"
+
+Before the great splash which followed his release had died out, from
+the near bank came the "plop plop!" of heavy bodies dropping into the
+water. Little swam around the seamen and surged up alongside the
+skipper, whispering into his ear so that none other could hear:
+"'Gators, skipper!"
+
+"Kick out harder!" breathed back Barry, and thrashed the water violently
+to drown the noises from shorewards that told of a great number of those
+inquisitive reptiles cruising to investigate the commotion in their
+river. It was impossible to keep the men long in ignorance of their
+danger, for as the boat crept into deeper water, their swimming made
+less noise, and the approaching saurians' progress was easier marked.
+
+"All aboard!" cried Barry at last, feeling, but never hinting that he
+felt, a hard, nuzzling snout brush by his leg. "Hurry, men, the breeze
+is shifting."
+
+The breeze was not shifting, but in the swirl of water at his side he
+heard the sudden sob of fear that told him the man beside him had
+realized that something else than current ripples was about him.
+
+Little sensed the peril, too, and like the fearless swimmer he had
+proved himself, he let go his hold on the boat and started in a close,
+loud-thrashing circle to round in the seamen who were trying with the
+clumsiness of fright to climb aboard. Barry, far less able swimmer,
+started around in the opposite direction; and between them they gave a
+hand here, darted off to drive away an alligator there, and got all
+aboard but one man. And this man, panic-stricken, strove alone to climb
+over the stern. His legs and feet were sucked in under the boat, and he
+hung by the elbows, unable to move a hand to get farther, and powerless
+through fear to let go for a fresh grip.
+
+"Let go, man!" shouted Barry, coming up on one side as Little ranged up
+on the other. "Let go and get hold along the gunwale. Here, Little, tear
+him loose; the man's crazed!"
+
+The seaman suddenly let go, and a shriek pealed from his throat. He
+disappeared from between Barry and Little with a swift downward plunge
+that almost took them as well; and the tremendous commotion in the water
+told only too plainly what agency had taken the man. And, as if in echo
+to the man's shriek, a second shrill whistle from the bank indicated the
+presence of the other watchman.
+
+"Come, we can't help him, Little," gasped Barry. "Save your own legs,
+man."
+
+"Poor devil! But I guess you're right," muttered Little, and helped by
+willing hands they clambered over the gunwale and fell panting into the
+bottom of the boat.
+
+They got sail on the longboat and stood straight up midstream, the oars
+driving her until she reached the next bend, where her altered course
+brought the wind to a sailing point. And in response to shouted orders,
+the man on the bank kept pace with them, until deeper water permitted
+the boat to edge in and take him on board.
+
+"Where's the launch now?" queried the skipper. The river had become as
+dark as a pocket. From ten fathoms out both shores were merged in one
+black smudge.
+
+"He go fast, sar, long time gone," replied the man, and his teeth
+chattered with excitement, for he had heard his shipmate's death cry.
+
+"Gone long time!" echoed Barry angrily. "Then what are you doing here?
+Why didn't you follow farther?"
+
+"No can do, sar. 'Nother ribber join here, sar."
+
+Investigation verified this. The man had been halted by a broad
+tributary stream, and fear had prevented him from swimming over. And he
+was not sure, either, whether the launch had gone straight up the main
+stream or taken the tributary. She had stolen along past him without
+lights, he said, and he could not follow her definitely by hearing. But
+the fact of her falling into silence warned Barry that she was nearing
+some destination or halting place, for she had left her last stop
+noisily enough.
+
+"Better keep to the river and make for the sands," suggested Little.
+"He's sure to go there."
+
+"I suppose he is," returned Barry, in puzzlement. "But which is the
+main river? I can't make it out in this coal pocket."
+
+"Think we'd better tie up and wait until daylight, or the moon rises?"
+
+"The only thing to do," grunted Barry. "And that means nearly daylight.
+There's no moon until morning."
+
+The sails were lowered, and the boat poled cautiously into the bank. She
+slid over viscid slime that scarcely impeded her and came to rest
+against the twisted roots of a malodorous tree from which drooped heavy,
+damp masses of moss, felt, but unseen. Barry gave orders to stretch a
+sail for an awning, sensing a heavy dew before darkness lifted; and
+setting a watch fore and aft, he bade the crew snatch what sleep they
+might.
+
+And silence had hardly settled over the boat when the underbrush
+crackled above them, and a quiet voice called out:
+
+"Given us the slip, Captain, hey?"
+
+Following the soft query, a huge bulk dropped nimbly and expertly down
+by an overhanging vine, and Vandersee sat on the stern boards beside
+Barry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN
+
+
+The big Hollander's sudden and unperturbed appearance in the boat seemed
+to cast a soothing spell upon the rattled nerves of the native crew. The
+night was yet too dark to distinguish faces; but every man in the boat,
+from Barry himself down to the greenest hand, knew from intimate
+association that soft, musical voice. Vandersee lit a black cheroot,
+passed some around, and remarked impartially to Little and the skipper:
+
+"Our task will be finished sooner than I expected."
+
+Such apparent coolness and breezy optimism at a moment when things
+looked to be at a dead end made Barry gasp in renewed amazement at this
+unfathomable second mate, who was so obviously something infinitely more
+than a second mate.
+
+"Sooner?" he echoed sharply. "You've got cat's eyes, haven't you,
+Vandersee?"
+
+"Not exactly, sir." The reply was enwrapped within a low chuckle. "I
+have fairly good eyes, though, and a very good equipment of the other
+senses."
+
+"Then for the love of Moses Malachi, don't talk in riddles!" snapped
+Barry. Little leaned forward, fascinated by the small circle of
+Vandersee's florid face illumined by the glowing tip of his cheroot.
+
+"Excuse me, Captain Barry," smiled back the Hollander. "I am forgetting
+that you have been tied to ship's business and have not had my
+opportunities. I mean, by the task being finished sooner, that Leyden
+has cast aside all subtleties and is going straight for his mark in
+spite of you. There is little to do now except to go out openly for him
+and get him. He has this evening finally persuaded Miss Sheldon, I
+believe, to accompany him when his schooner leaves--"
+
+"What!" shouted Barry, springing up to the imminent peril of the boat.
+
+"Sh-h," warned Vandersee respectfully yet irresistibly pulling the
+skipper down. "Sh-h! Nothing is to be gained by anger. Will you take my
+assurance that Miss Sheldon is at present in even better hands than your
+own? Oh, I know something of your mind, Captain. I have similar hopes
+and expectations for you with regard to the little Mission lady. And I
+can put you easy in your mind. Miss Sheldon is not for Leyden. Nor is
+any other woman in this world. That is all I can tell you now; but I
+swear it."
+
+Barry sat silent for some moments, cooling off before he would trust
+himself to speak. And the influence of Vandersee spread over all like a
+beneficent spirit, instilling calmness and confidence where a short time
+before had been bewilderment.
+
+"But you admit yourself he has slipped us, Vandersee," said Barry at
+length.
+
+"For the moment, yes. But you may be sure Leyden is still in the river,
+and you are between him and his ship. That is one fact that makes the
+thing simple. I came down merely to tell you that he has struck, and
+that in spite of him Miss Sheldon's situation need not worry you,
+Captain. I felt that you would be easier for the knowledge."
+
+"Then you know where he's flown to?" Little queried, breaking a long
+silence during which he had sat motionless, staring up at the vague
+outlines of the Hollander's face.
+
+"Not precisely, Mr. Little, but near enough to give Captain Barry a
+useful hint. For one thing, he's at this moment picking up arms, which
+he left his ship without for purposes of policy regarding the feelings
+of his friends at the Mission."
+
+"Oh, cut it short," interjected Barry impatiently. "I admit your greater
+knowledge in this, Vandersee. What shall I do? Wait here for daylight,
+then try back after him?"
+
+"Wait for daylight, yes. But instead of trying back, my advice is that
+you proceed straight up the river and find Mr. Houten's gold sands,
+Captain. I have other work, not connected in any way with gold dust, but
+our paths must surely meet shortly. When I told you that I was always in
+reach of a message delivered to the gateman I meant just that. I shall
+be within reach of you, too, wherever you are; and so long as you have
+left orders regarding that message with Mr. Rolfe, we shall all come out
+right. If I may presume to remind you, your first duty is to clear up
+the mystery of those gold deposits for Mr. Houten. Until that is done
+our tasks lie apart somewhat. But the moment you have satisfied yourself
+and Mr. Little on that score, I shall call on you for assistance in my
+own work, if you care to render it. It is not obligatory on you,
+though."
+
+"All right," returned Barry; "then since you appear to hold all the
+trump cards perhaps you can give me a hint where this gold washing is
+done, for all Little has found out is that it's somewhere on the main
+river."
+
+"Yes, Captain. If you hug the left bank all the way you'll find water
+enough, and there is no baffling stream on that side to give you
+uncertainty. You can't miss it. You'll find Houten's men working there,
+and it's only twenty miles up from here. Is there anything else?"
+
+"No, unless I repeat that I'd like to know more about the side issues of
+this thing, for I'm darned if I like this blind alley work."
+
+Barry's tone was disgruntled, and even the volatile spirit of Little had
+lost its bubbling quality with the night's mystery and darkness.
+Vandersee laughed softly, pleasantly, and replied:
+
+"Sorry I can't give you more light just now. It would injure my own
+plans, which, as I have told you, are apart from yours at present but
+will merge very soon. One thing, though, if you intend waiting for
+daylight it would be better to shift over to the other side of the river
+before you tie up. Now I'll go, gentlemen, for I hear one of my boys
+with news. Good luck to you."
+
+Nobody had heard a sound, save the indescribable night voices of the
+jungle and the rippling of the black waters; yet the big Hollander's
+ears had heard something different, and as he spoke he swung his huge
+bulk out of the boat and up the bank by the vines that had served him in
+coming, disappearing from sight and sound swiftly and silently as a
+great cat. Little and Barry leaned towards each other, seeking to
+discern features and expressions. It was hopeless in the blackness, but
+Barry's feelings were revealed in his tone.
+
+"Stow this awning!" he growled, rising to his feet and furiously casting
+off the stern line. "Little, if you need sleep, catch it now. I'll wait
+no longer for the answer to this riddle." Then to the crew he barked:
+"Cast off for'ard; shove off, bow; step the masts and make sail!"
+
+Again the boat moved smoothly through the water, the near bank faded
+into the general smudge of night, and she stood over until the farther
+shore appeared like a darker patch on a dark screen. Then two seamen
+with keen eyes were told off to keep the bank in view, and they alone
+served as guides for the blind course.
+
+For hours they stemmed the stream, brushing overhanging vines and
+mosses with their masts at times; then a great round moon peeped over
+the tangled trees and shed a ribbon of vivid light upon the river, ever
+intensifying and widening until the surrounding country stood revealed
+to them as clearly as in noontime.
+
+Little sat beside the skipper, wide-eyed and alert as himself, and now
+they could see something of the windings of the stream. Barry's chart
+had shown the river only as far as navigation was possible for vessels
+coming up from the sea, and that stopped at a very short distance above
+the trading post. Here, a few miles beyond the point where they had left
+Vandersee, the banks trended ever in a wide sweep, reach after reach,
+until, allowing for the moon's hourly passage, something in her position
+proved to Barry what he had for some time begun to suspect.
+
+"Say, Little," he remarked, "we've sailed or rowed almost twenty miles
+now, and be darned if I don't think we're within five miles of the post
+yet!"
+
+"Anything's likely to me, Barry," returned Little carelessly. "If you
+said we'd gone the other way and would sight Surabaya in fifteen
+minutes, I'd believe you, old sailor. This darkness and light, racket
+and hush, mud flats and moss on the masts, all in one evening, has got
+me flummuxed. But I've got one little thought myself," he added
+dreamily.
+
+"Ye Gods!" ejaculated Barry sarcastically. "What?"
+
+"Oh, just whether Leyden knows Vandersee's here or not."
+
+"I suppose so. The Mission folks and Mrs. Goring know it, don't they?
+And everybody knows more about this affair than you or I, don't they?"
+
+"I don't know," drawled Little, and without another word he pulled his
+hat over his eyes, snuggled down, and gave Barry his answer in the shape
+of a soft, prolonged snore.
+
+The moon sailed overhead and dipped with dimming luster behind a ridge
+of jungle giants whose upper branches were waking into life. Monkeys and
+parrots with higher, keener vision than that of the boatmen heralded the
+gray light breaking low down in the east, and with the swiftness of the
+moon's coming, dawn turned the black of the river to gray, then to
+yellow.
+
+But now the yellowness was clear and transparent, different altogether
+from the muddy foulness of the lower reaches. And the country around
+lost the density of matted jungle and undulated in a succession of
+grassy stretches through which cropped great round hummocks of sandy
+hills. The stream narrowed to a swift running gorge between two such
+hummocks, then suddenly widened out to five times the width, and the
+water rippled over sandy shoals that barred further progress in the
+loaded boat. Barry searched the scene eagerly, bringing the boat to the
+wind to arrest her way; then suddenly he awoke Little with a shake.
+
+"Come to life, man, we're here!" he said.
+
+Little sat up, rubbing his eyes in confusion at the total change in his
+surroundings, for he had not opened them once since falling asleep. To
+be there meant to him that he had arrived among gold dust and romance,
+and he sought as eagerly as Barry for signs of their arrival. He was
+disappointed, frankly and utterly.
+
+"Gosh, Barry, this can't be it!" he gasped. "Why, man, where are the red
+shirts and the faro joints?"
+
+To the eye Houten's gold sands offered little of allure. On both shores
+the river seemed exactly as other rivers, except for a small cluster of
+ramshackle grass huts under a clump of dwarf trees and a rough raft of
+logs tied with grass ropes to a stake set in the bed of the river
+itself. Of life there was none visible; but as oars rattled in the boat
+to swing her inshore, a sleepy native emerged from one of the huts, and
+his swift cry brought a score of his fellows to stare at the intruders.
+
+"Don't look like El Dorado, at that!" grunted Barry, steering inshore
+and running the boat up on the sand.
+
+"El Dorado? The gold washers look more like collar washers to me!"
+retorted Little disgustedly. "And is this what I gave up a decent
+drumming round for? Gosh!"
+
+Profiting by early lessons, Barry warned his men to keep a sharp
+lookout. He divided them into two watches, bidding them to cook some
+food for all hands against his return, and giving permission for them to
+rest or sleep if they wished to, so long as half of them remained awake.
+Then followed by Little in abashed silence, he went up to the huts and
+announced his mission.
+
+"Gol' dust, sar? No catchum here," was the response in a chorus.
+
+"No catchum, hey? Very quick I make catchum," retorted Barry grimly. The
+little brown men stared at each other and then at the white men, some
+grinning openly, others shifting uneasily under the skipper's scrutiny.
+
+"This is Cornelius Houten's gold camp, ain't it?" put in Little,
+addressing a man who seemed to be pushed forward by his fellows.
+
+"Ho yis, sar, dis Misser Houten's camp," the man replied, "but he no got
+gol' dust here. I don' know what Misser Gordon send us here for, sar,"
+he concluded, with a grin of enlightenment.
+
+"Don't know, hey?" burst out Barry, shoving the man aside and entering
+the biggest of the huts. "Keep your eye on these chaps, Little," he
+cried. "If they budge a finger don't wait. Shoot."
+
+There was no shooting. Barry found himself in a squalid interior,
+containing all the discomforts of native bachelordom with no
+compensating comforts. Remnants of food and dilapidated sleeping mats
+strewed the dirty floor. But the thing that sent the skipper outside on
+the run was the sight of a heap of gold-washing implements piled in a
+corner and bearing no evidence of more than very casual usage. Anything
+approaching the appearance of an active gold camp escaped his eye, and
+his eye was unwontedly keen.
+
+"Little, bring up half the boat crew!" he ordered, rejoining his friend
+outside. "Have 'em bring their guns quickly. And bring all the small
+rope there is. There's some queer business here."
+
+The skipper drew out his own pistol, huddled the wondering natives into
+a bunch, and kept them under his muzzle. When his sailors arrived, he
+lined out every man clear of the huts, compared their number with the
+figure on Little's list brought from the post, and then pulled out the
+spokesman by the ear, holding his pistol to the man's head. The boat
+crew held their rifles threateningly.
+
+"What's up, Barry?" demanded Little, in a mental fog.
+
+"Shut up!" snorted the skipper and turned to his captive. Giving the
+man's ear a twist, he demanded:
+
+"What's your game here? Speak up, or I'll shoot you!"
+
+The man squirmed uneasily, scared out of most of his wits; but in his
+fright he retained some sense, and what was better, some loyalty.
+
+"No game, sar," he cried. "Me Misser Houten's man. We all Misser
+Houten's man, sar. I tell you true; dere is no gol' dust here. Suppose
+you want to steal gol' dust, some other place, maybe. Here no gottit."
+
+"Steal? Why--Oh dammit, Little!" Barry exclaimed, "the fellow thinks
+we've come to rob Houten. Show him your letter, or whatever it is.
+Better yet, let one of the hands tell him who we are. I'll never make
+him understand."
+
+The _bona fides_ of the party established, the atmosphere was cleared to
+the extent of faces smiling where faces had looked frightened before;
+but no other answer could be got from the gold washers.
+
+"We been here many weeks--months, sar--but no gol' dust got. Very soon
+we all go back; no got food no more; nobody come here. Misser Gordon
+tell us stop along here until he say come back. Many days we wash sand
+in de river, but no gol', sar, no, sar."
+
+Barry was nonplussed. He glared at Little, seeking inspiration from a
+man as dumbfounded as himself. Little grinned sheepishly back at him and
+remarked:
+
+"I expected this, Barry. It didn't seem right, somehow, for me to ever
+find honest-to-gosh gold sands. All my adventures have proved dreams.
+This is about right."
+
+"Right! Then sleep on it. It isn't right to me, by a jugful, Little.
+Here!" he called one of his crew. "Bring that rope, and I'll see whether
+these fellows are playing straight with us."
+
+One by one the sailor passed down the line of natives, tying each man
+securely until only the spokesman remained free. This man Barry turned
+towards the hut, and said to him:
+
+"If you speak truth, you're all right. Lie, and you're all wrong, my
+lad. Take the gear you want for washing and get out into the river. Go
+right to it, if you want to save your skin. Let me see if there's gold
+or not there." He turned to the rest and told them: "You'll all have a
+chance. The man who brings me dust is free. The others--" he finished
+with a suggestive gesture that they could not misunderstand.
+
+"All ri', sar," replied the man, taking up his gear, "suppose I die, no
+can help. I tell you no gol' here, sar, dat's true." And as the fellow
+waded into the river, his companions echoed in dismay:
+
+"No, sar. No gol' in dis river. He some udder place."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN
+
+
+The cry of the gold washers did not alter Barry's plans; he followed the
+native to the river and kept him under close observation from the bank.
+But Little thought he had detected a note of sincerity in that dismal
+wail and undertook a little scrutiny himself. He, like Barry, was
+ignorant regarding the business of gold seeking; but the native sense
+and shrewdness that had carried him to a high point of salesmanship
+fitted him to at least read signs if such signs were. He opened a bulky
+wallet which served him for a travelling case, and from among a litter
+of shaving gear, hairbrush, and spare sock-suspenders, he took a huge
+reading glass, purchased in Batavia with a vague idea of studying insect
+life in the primitive wilds.
+
+This he carried into the hut and diligently sought with it for traces of
+glittering metal. Common sense told him that if gold had ever been found
+here, it must have been carried away or stored against transportation,
+and in so crude a plant it was conceivable that specks of gold would be
+discovered somewhere about the floor. Thus he scrutinized every square
+foot of the floors of all the huts, pulling off roofs and knocking out
+walls wherever necessary to get sufficient light. But no trace of metal
+did he find; nothing but a populous colony of virile insects that at
+last drove him out to the river, shedding clothes as he ran.
+
+Barry met him with a grin on the bank and helped him peel off his
+garments.
+
+"Struck it rich, hey?" chuckled the skipper, amused out of his scowling
+disgust. "Find any gold?"
+
+"Gold color, Barry, and they bite like gold-bugs!" chirped Little,
+irrepressible even in his discomfort; for red ants bite hard and deep.
+"How about you?" he shouted over his shoulder, as he floundered into the
+water to rid himself of his tiny tormentors.
+
+"I believe the man's right," returned Barry. "I never saw gold washing
+done, but if there's any gold in this river it's a long way from here.
+It don't _look_ like gold sand to me."
+
+Little emerged from his bath and sluiced out his clothes. While
+dressing, he began to see something more than a temporary fault in the
+search for Houten's gold. These few men from the post were undoubtedly
+loyal to his employer and Barry's; but why they should have been sent to
+this place to make a palpable bluff at gold mining, even to building
+huts and carrying up washing gear and food, beat him as a problem. And
+Barry was no clearer on the matter.
+
+"I believe I begin to see why Leyden showed such cocksureness," muttered
+Barry, taking his companion's arm and returning to the huts. He shouted
+to the man in the river to come out and gave orders for the others to be
+released; then, with a quiet hint to his own crew to keep an unobtrusive
+watch over the liberated men, he and Little walked upstream to a piece
+of high ground, and there they sat down to discuss the situation where
+they had under their eyes every yard of country within a five-mile
+radius.
+
+Upstream the river speedily dwindled to a creek, and its headwaters were
+apparently fed out of a maze of low jungle land that looked feverish and
+uninviting. Beyond the stream, the land rolled away for a mile in
+smoothly alternating downs and hills; on the near side, two miles of
+open country lay spread before them, fringed at that distance by a dark
+and luxuriant forest of stout trees. In the direction from which they
+had come, the river ran into the narrow pass, and disappeared from view;
+but the nature of the country beyond was well known to them by having
+passed through most of it by bright moonlight.
+
+"I don't mind being fooled like this, but what gets me is Vandersee's
+attitude again," remarked Barry, with his eyes roving keenly over the
+stretch of land that terminated in the forest.
+
+"That's what I can't understand," agreed Little. "He knows so much that
+he must know about this fake. If he does, what could be his object in
+letting us come up here?"
+
+"It beats me, Little," the skipper grunted. His gaze had fixed upon a
+point in the forest fringe, and for a moment he said no more; then he
+said with sudden interest:
+
+"You've got good eyes; what d' ye make of that?" and pointed.
+
+Out from the forest trees a party of people had emerged, and they seemed
+to be lined up in some sort of definite order. Little stared awhile,
+then replied:
+
+"In uniform, ain't they? Sailors or soldiers, hey?"
+
+"Look like naval seamen to me--natives too--wonder if the Dutch Navy has
+native crews out here."
+
+"There's at least one white man, Barry. Two--no, three--coming over
+here, too. Here, let's get back to the boat. Perhaps we'll find out
+something about this mix-up."
+
+"Bright boy," rejoined the skipper, rising. "Get ready to make the talk.
+You speak Dutch, don't you?"
+
+"Enough to sell typewriters," grinned the ex-salesman. "I can say gold,
+and point, anyhow."
+
+Back to the boat they hurried, and Barry first made his men stow their
+arms out of sight. Armed expeditions were not in favor with the
+authorities. The action did not escape the gold washers, and they drew
+together in a huddle, chattering among themselves. They had no arms
+visible, and the skipper took little heed to them; his entire faculties
+were working on the problem that faced him. Little, too, stood beside
+him, waiting for the strangers to come in sight above the hummocks that
+rose between river and forest. It was one of the gold seekers who
+startled them into swift life.
+
+"Oh, sar! Dat man he run! He queer fella, sar; no good, dat man!"
+
+Barry swung around, followed the direction of the speaker's outflung
+arm, and saw a brown figure running like a deer towards the down-river
+gorge. He had run the minute Barry disarmed his men.
+
+"Fire after him!" he shouted, then remembered that his men had no guns
+at hand now. He whipped out his own pistol and fired. But the distance
+was too great for such a short-barrelled weapon, and the fugitive ran
+on, bounding like a rubber ball over sand and grasses until he vanished
+from sight over the river bank.
+
+"After him and bring him back!" cried Barry, shoving two of his own men
+in that direction. The seamen followed with true sea clumsiness in
+running; but as they ran they gained speed, and they were not two
+hundred yards behind the chase when they too reached the river and
+vanished.
+
+"Now what's up, I wonder," muttered Little, staring from his skipper to
+the open-mouthed gold washers, who expressed alarm beyond suspicion of
+connivance. "Here, you!" he demanded of the man who had been spokesman;
+"what fashion that man, hey?"
+
+"He no man for us, sar," chattered the shivering native. "He bring de
+last lot of rice for us. Me no know him before, sar. He new man, I
+t'ink."
+
+"New man?" echoed Barry, still more at a loss. His face had darkened,
+and the scowl that sat on his forehead reminded Little of a certain
+scene on a hotel veranda in Surabaya. Further speech or thought was cut
+short then by a cry from one of the _Barang's_ crew, and topping the
+last rise of the river bank marched three white men in the uniform of
+naval officers, followed by twelve stout natives in seamen's rig. They
+advanced towards the waiting men of the _Barang_, lined up at a sharp
+"Halt!" and the white men came forward alone. They were keen-eyed men,
+tanned and capable, yet they impressed Barry as contrasting very poorly
+with the naval officers he had known. The men were poorer yet; they were
+utterly slovenly in their address, holding their rifles at as many
+different positions as there were men,--and even Little noticed that the
+arms were not all from the same factory. But the strangers were before
+them, and now one of them spoke curtly:
+
+"Your business here?" addressing Barry in English.
+
+"What is yours?" retorted the skipper as curtly.
+
+"Answer me!" snapped the officer. "I am seeking just such a party as
+yours."
+
+"What if I don't choose to tell you?"
+
+"In that case--" the man shrugged and smiled evilly. "Never mind, my
+friend. I, as an officer of the Dutch Navy, demand your business here."
+
+"Oh, since you speak officially, I am seeking gold for my employer on
+land that your Government has leased to him," Barry replied. The result
+was surprising.
+
+"Gold!" The officer croaked the word as if derision were choking him. He
+stared from Barry to Little and then at his companions, and they, too,
+broke into derisive grins that sent Barry's anger mounting.
+
+"Gold? A pretty tale, my friend. It is interesting to know that gold is
+to be found here. I must look into your boat and see what instruments
+you use to seek gold where no gold is. Search that boat!" he snapped,
+and another white went off with two men to the river bank. In a few
+minutes they were back, and they bore all the rifles lately stowed
+therein.
+
+"So!" sneered the leader. "All one needs to secure gold in Celebes is a
+rifle--yes--" he swiftly counted heads--"a rifle to each man. Stop!" he
+cried, as Little's hand slipped to his pocket. "You are my prisoners."
+
+His own pistol was presented at Barry, and beside him another man held
+an unwavering muzzle at Little. He gave some rapid commands in the
+native tongue, and two men stepped out and securely tied the hands of
+Barry and his friend. Another man stepped into the biggest hut, emerged,
+and searched the rest in order. When he at last rejoined his fellows, he
+carried some tins in his hand, and at sight of them a look of satisfied
+cunning passed between the Dutch officers.
+
+"Very good!" ejaculated the leader, and a cruel expression lurked in his
+eyes. He conversed in whispers for a moment with his mates, then nodded
+his head. "Easy to pick sheep from wolves here," he remarked, looking
+swiftly over the native seamen and the gold washers. "These men are all
+we want," and he indicated Barry and Little and the _Barang's_ party.
+
+A shuffling formation took place, and half of the Dutch sailors ranged
+up beside the prisoners; the other half remained and herded the gold
+washers together. Barry tried to look around, but a pistol at his head
+warned him not to try it again, and out of a corner of his eye he caught
+the grimace on Little's face which told of a similar disappointment.
+
+"Forward--march!" shouted the officer, and the party struck off towards
+the forest. Behind them the sound of axes told of a dismantled boat;
+when that sound ceased, another more ominous sound struck dismay into
+the captives. It was the sound of a fusillade of musketry, and echoing
+the reports came the shrill, entreating cries of the unfortunate gold
+washers. Shot after shot rang out, and cry after cry, until the cries
+ceased and only a few scattering reports indicated that perhaps one poor
+wretch had sought safety in the river only to afford sport for his
+assassins.
+
+"You infernal murderers!" gritted Barry and flashed about, all bound as
+he was, to rush at the leader.
+
+"Right about face!" the fellow growled, and a long knife in his hand
+pricked deeply into Barry's upper arm. "March, you dirty smugglers!" he
+growled again, and the column moved on.
+
+"Smugglers!" Little echoed, ignoring his own guardian and swinging
+around at the taunt. "Look here, old chap, if that's your idea, you're
+dead wrong. We're no smugglers--"
+
+"March, I said!" came the order, and Little also subsided, perforce at
+the persuasion of cold steel.
+
+
+Across the open they trailed in a long line, the rear brought up by the
+party hurrying up from the river. They entered the forest and struck
+into a trackless jungle, where Barry and Little suffered the torments of
+damnation from insects and swinging creepers that stung, neither of
+which could they avoid with their hands bound. As for their men, of such
+small importance did their captors think them that they were permitted
+to march unfettered, simply under the eyes of their guards.
+
+As the forest grew deeper and darker, the party straggled out more and
+more, until Barry began again to peer about him for an opening of
+escape. It seemed hopeless. At his side, and at Little's side, stalked
+one of the white officers, no matter how dense the thicket they passed;
+if it were too thick for two abreast, the officer would shove his
+captive ahead of himself to break the way, and until the breach was
+clear, a knife-point pressed sharply into the back effectively prevented
+a dash. But the seamen were not in such a fix. Little, in bursting
+through a cane brake, cringing with the pain of a sharp stab between his
+shoulders, found himself momentarily alongside one of the sailors of his
+own ship; and, daring even further visitation of the knife, he let fly
+the canes with a rattling crash into his guard's face and whispered
+fiercely to the seaman:
+
+"Run! Tell Mr. Rolfe!"
+
+His guard burst through, swearing vilely, and rewarded the temerarious
+typewriter expert with a twisting prod that kept him gasping for the
+rest of the journey, now nearing its end. But Little was satisfied. When
+at length they broke through a mat of bush and came out into an open
+glade dotted with great, bare, brown humps, his pained eyes twinkled at
+Barry with some of his old cheery spirit and, speechless though they
+were under coercion, imparted hope to the skipper.
+
+They were given little time to wonder what their fate was to be.
+Presuming they had been carried to this place for a midday halt, and
+that their journey would soon be resumed, Barry and Little flung
+themselves down to rest and maintained a careless attitude in the face
+of their captors. But this attitude was swiftly dispelled for, idly
+staring at the sailors, barely wondering at what they saw, they suddenly
+awoke to a fear that turned them cold.
+
+"Look!" muttered Barry hoarsely. Little needed no such reminder.
+
+One by one the _Barang's_ seamen were taken to trees and fastened
+securely by tough vines. No distinction was made between seamen and the
+men from the post, since neither wore uniforms but were simply dressed
+in flimsy cotton pants and shirt. In a wide circle they were placed, and
+gradually it dawned upon Barry that he and Little were in the center of
+the circle.
+
+Now the leader of the naval crew called his fellows, and they approached
+their white prisoners with ropes--vegetable vines. And with the leer of
+a devil, the officer leaned down and flung Barry over on his face.
+
+Swiftly both captives were secured, and with no tyro hands. Then they
+were dragged apart a bit, and each lifted and carried by head and feet
+until they were fairly over two of those bare, brown humps of earth.
+Here they were dropped, and a heavy stake at head and foot, driven into
+the ground, made tethering posts for their bonds.
+
+"My God! Ants!" gasped Barry, struggling madly. A laugh above him
+chilled his blood, and a drawling voice replied: "Yes, my brave gold
+washer. Ants. A fit amusement for such as you."
+
+Barry twisted his purple face to catch Little's eye. In the ex-salesman,
+so swiftly transferred from an atmosphere of peaceful trade to one of
+lurid tragedy, the skipper saw a pale, awed fear of the horrible; but
+not one trace of weakness was there: none of the coward. Little
+returned his friend's gaze and, bravely trying to conceal the effort it
+cost him, he winked slowly, whimsically, then wrinkled his nose in
+distaste.
+
+"In case you may not be sufficiently amused, we will make sure of good
+quick action," sneered the officer, and a man came forward with a pail
+of sticky native sugar. This he smeared over both the bound men, then
+laid trails of the mess in radiating lines to the edge of the ant hills
+to attract other vermin.
+
+And when all was done, the Dutch party withdrew, and Little's soul
+surged with renewed hope. He called softly yet clearly to Barry:
+
+"There's a chance yet! They'll go now. I sent a man to the ship!"
+
+"It is just a chance," returned Barry more hopefully. Then his heart
+sank again, and he groaned: "Not a chance, Little, old scout. Look! The
+fiends are camping. They mean to watch us out!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE
+
+
+Aboard the _Barang_ Mr. Rolfe and happy Bill Blunt kept a wary watch
+upon the vessel moored astern. For an hour after the boat had departed,
+an air of stupendous readiness for anything that might turn up pervaded
+the old brigantine, and her remaining crew showed in their attitudes
+their realization of the necessity for all these impressive measures.
+
+Then, as the evening drew on, something about the schooner astern caused
+the mate to secretly regard his newly shipped watch and mate, and in
+turn made Bill Blunt make many a trip to the shelter of the galley
+whence he inspected his superior quizzically. At length, when the hands
+were getting their supper, eating on the forecastle head in order to
+maintain their attitude of alertness, the mate joined Bill and remarked
+tentatively:
+
+"Seems quiet aboard there, don't it?"
+
+"Werry nice, sir, that it do," rejoined Bill, masticating a colossal
+quid with enjoyment.
+
+"Almost think she was--"
+
+"Deserted, sir? Took it right outa my mouth, you did," Bill filled in,
+and the two men peered into each other's faces questioningly.
+
+The _Padang_ did look deserted. In fact, ever since the big launch
+left, and a few hands had been seen about the wharf busily adjusting the
+lines that apparently needed no adjustment, no life had been conspicuous
+aboard her. The villagers had long since gone to their homes, since
+there was no work for them at the dock after Houten's small parcel of
+trade goods had gone up to the post, and the two vessels lay as quiet
+and peaceful as if in some humdrum port of concrete wharves and steam
+cranes. But now, as if to answer the doubts of the brigantine's people,
+a gangway light shone out on the schooner, and another, dimmer and
+partly obscured, sent yellow rays from the half-open galley door.
+
+"Somebody there, anyway," muttered Rolfe, and satisfied once more that
+vigilance was necessary, if not quite as vital as before, he split the
+men into watches, sent one half to sleep, and partook of a final pipe
+with the old navy man before turning in himself.
+
+And as the still, dark night enveloped them, and the river chill struck
+up, they made themselves more comfortable in the shelter of the
+deckhouse, one dozing on the lounge while the other remained awake, both
+ready for an instant call.
+
+It was the same black, opaque night as Barry and his crew spent up the
+river, waiting for the moon; and the mysterious night noises from the
+shore were lulling and drowsy. Gradually the schooner blurred into a
+vague mass of shadow, out of which the two lights twinkled uncertainly.
+And mingling with the chirp of insects and the fitful cries of dreaming
+monkeys came a gnawing and rasping of wood that seemed to echo
+throughout the silent _Barang_.
+
+"What's that?" growled Blunt, sitting up and listening.
+
+"Rats," returned Rolfe sleepily. "Th' darned old wagon's alive with
+'em."
+
+"Them's proper rats, I bet," rejoined Bill, snugging down again. "Reglar
+bandicoots, sounds like."
+
+Silence again descended upon the brigantine, and darkness broken only by
+the paling lights on the schooner and the red glow of the mate's pipe.
+Then out of the quiet came the sharp twang of a hawser, and the
+brigantine shivered. Both watchers started up and ran to the side,
+striving to penetrate the blackness. The lines ran down to their proper
+bollards, as usual, and the river sluiced swiftly alongside, swirling
+musically between the rotten piles of the ramshackle wharf.
+
+"Some current!" grumbled the mate, testing a line with his full weight
+thrown on one foot. "Better give her a bit more on all the lines, Blunt.
+Not much. Couple of feet or so. Seems as if the river rises at night.
+Hill water, I expect."
+
+The lines were surged and made fast again, and the _Barang's_ people
+resumed their silent vigil. But the absence of alarms worked against
+true vigilance. Profiting by the example of their officers, the little
+brown men coiled themselves away in corners and dozed, ready for a
+call, truly, but willing to wait for it. Aft, the two officers sat in
+their deckhouse, willing enough to watch, but inevitably rendered dull
+of sight and sense by the mystery of the night and the quiet peace of
+the river.
+
+Once, twice, and again the hawsers twanged, and now they twanged at
+will, for with such a stream running it was excusable for even such a
+worthy officer as Jerry Rolfe to put something down to natural causes.
+And incessantly the rats gnawed, gnawed, and ripped at the wood beneath
+them until even that sound helped to soothe instead of alarm.
+
+Then, suddenly leaping to his feet, shaking Bill Blunt furiously as he
+arose, the mate stared towards the schooner and cried, with arm flung
+out:
+
+"Ain't she moving? Is she--Holy smoke, it's us!"
+
+"We 'm adrift all right, sar," agreed Blunt, scrutinizing the schooner,
+which was now close aboard and growing visible.
+
+Both men ran to the lines, Rolfe forward, Blunt aft, and now the mystery
+of those twanging hawsers was clear. The ropes hung down into the water,
+and the _Barang_ moved on the stream until she was almost rubbing
+alongside the schooner, on whose decks men enough were visible now.
+
+"Aboard the _Padang!_" shouted Rolfe. "Catch my lines, will you? We're
+adrift."
+
+"Sheer off," came back the answer, and the voice was full of menace.
+"Anchor, you no-sailor! Fight your own troubles."
+
+"By Godfrey, I'll fight some o' you, soon's I get fast," roared the
+mate furiously, and stumbled to the windlass.
+
+The anchor Vandersee had dropped in midstream in docking the ship was on
+a long cable, and the _Barang_ was gliding swiftly down over it. His men
+were at hand, but Rolfe needed little time to decide that it would be
+quicker to bring up on a fresh anchor than to heave in enough of the
+first chain to snub her way. He started to cast off the shank-painter of
+the second anchor, when Bill Blunt's hoarse bellow pealed from aft.
+
+"Hey, Mister Rolfe, she's sinkin'!"
+
+It required but one keen glance over the side to prove the fact, and
+now, after one staggering moment of unbelief, the truth flashed upon the
+mate. The mystery of those gnawing rats, too, was clear.
+
+"You dirty swine!" he screamed at the schooner. "You and your crook of a
+skipper'll pay for this!"
+
+He snatched up a trailing hawser, saw the ends which had been cut
+through strand by strand, and with a grasp of the situation that had
+been better applied earlier, he ran aft, shouting to his crew as he ran:
+
+"Loose a jib and hoist it! Lively! You, Blunt, give her a sheer with the
+wheel--across the river--that's you."
+
+Sarcastic mirth murmured aboard the schooner, once more fading into a
+blur; but Jerry Rolfe had his plan, and as the forward canvas rattled
+up the stay, and the vessel slued across the current, drawing in for the
+farther shore, he shook his fist at the _Padang_ and growled:
+
+"Cut me adrift and scuttle me, will ye? And, by Hokey, you stay where
+you are until this ship's afloat again!"
+
+That was his plan, and it worked like a charm. When she had left the
+schooner a hundred yards up the river, the _Barang_ stuck her nose into
+the soft mud, slid greasily forward, shuddered and stopped; and every
+minute she sank deeper, until in ten minutes she stood upright and firm,
+planted snugly in the river bottom, fair across the channel, leaving no
+passage fore or aft for anything of bigger craft than a canoe or ship's
+boat. And after a silence that might almost be felt, uneasy voices began
+to sound aboard the schooner, until a chorus of furious howlings
+announced the discovery of a sad miscarriage of an unseamanly trick.
+
+"That's where they get theirs!" chuckled Rolfe, listening rapturously,
+forgetting for the moment his own sorry plight.
+
+"My respecks, sir. You 'm all the mustard in the sangwidge!" Bill Blunt
+rumbled in grinning admiration.
+
+The decks were almost awash, and the holds and cabins were full of muddy
+water, but aboard the _Barang_ there was gratification mixed with the
+mate's anger, for without a doubt the schooner was shut in as
+completely as if she were in dry-dock with the gates closed at low tide.
+In truth it was but fair reprisal for the trick played on Leyden's
+vessel by Barry in Surabaya; but Jerry Rolfe had not been aware of that
+exploit, and this last coup was to him simply a piece of bald
+wickedness, swiftly turned against the perpetrators.
+
+The pumps were tried once more--they had been going, of course, while
+the brigantine kept afloat--but with all brakes working full force, and
+both mates lending a hand, the water came in faster than it went out,
+and by the time the moon bounded up over the trees, the situation was
+accepted as demanding measures beyond mere pumping. And Rolfe stood
+glaring over at the now clearly visible schooner, debating the wisdom of
+attempting to carry her by boarding. Bill Blunt joined him, and the old
+sea dog hitched his trousers, shifted his quid, and hinted:
+
+"Skipper talked 'bout some dawg a-bitin', didn't he, sir?"
+
+"Halleluja! Yes," shouted Rolfe, suddenly reminded of what he should
+never have forgot. "Let's see what the big Dutchman knows about dogs!"
+
+Without raising his voice, he sent Bill Blunt around to the crew, and
+like brown phantoms the little Javanese sailors worked at the gig falls,
+flitting here and there, and appearing twice as strong in numbers as
+they were, showing themselves over the rail, yet trying to give an
+impression of aiming at secrecy. And when the gig dropped into the
+water, on the blind side from the schooner, all save two slipped down
+into it and lay along the bottom boards, leaving the boat apparently
+manned by two oarsmen and the stout old navy man. Jerry Rolfe gave a
+final look around and below, to satisfy himself that there was nothing
+in the ship accessible to possible marauders, then he joined the men in
+the boat's bottom and gave the word to shove off. Keeping on the edge of
+the moonlight, dodging between light and shadow, the party pulled along
+past the schooner and landed abreast of the stockade, while the gig kept
+on with noisy oars as if bound straight up the river in search of Barry
+and help.
+
+With the mate and Blunt there were eight men, and besides the officers'
+own two revolvers, there were no arms save boat-stretchers, for the
+party with Barry had taken all available weapons. But the lack was soon
+to be made up. Rolfe left his men in the bush and went alone to the
+great gate, where the guardian peered over at his soft hail, alert as if
+he were but one of many watchmen instead of being, as it seemed he was,
+the only one.
+
+"Wassa matta you?" the grinning head whispered.
+
+"Dog bites," replied Rolfe, grimacing as he gave the word, curious yet
+unbelieving. His matter-of-fact sailor mind was incapable of completely
+throwing out his earlier aversion to Vandersee. He was ready to find now
+that this "dog biting" password was simply a piece of theatrical
+bunkum. He was to be swiftly put right.
+
+"Ho much he bite?" came the rejoinder, unruffled, without outward
+interest.
+
+"Th' whole piece!" growled Rolfe. "Ship's sunk."
+
+"All ri'. Bring men here. Wait till to-morrow. Eve'thing proper. You no
+bodder, sar."
+
+"No bother, hey? Damned simple, ain't it?" swore the mate, striving to
+scrutinize the impassive gargoyle face above him.
+
+"No bodder. I know. My man, he see eve'thing. Schooner no can sail, hey?
+All ri'. Bring men here. To-morrow p'isen dat dog, I tell you. Misser
+Vand'see, he say so. He know all things, sar."
+
+Rolfe turned away, more than half impressed in spite of himself.
+Growling and swearing he rejoined his men, and, sending a messenger to
+bring back the two men from the gig, after leaving her hidden in the
+riverside jungle, he led the party to the stockade. Now the gate was
+open to them; they passed inside and were shown into the big main hut of
+the post, where they might have been expected for weeks, so complete
+were the accommodations awaiting them.
+
+"Something creepy in this!" muttered the mate, gazing around. Beds were
+ready on the floor; a table was spread with a rough but hearty supper;
+things seemed to come out of the shadows, for not a man appeared to them
+once their guide had left them. But to calm any suspicions Jerry Rolfe
+might have excusably entertained, under the table lay a pile of rifles,
+and to each was tied a full cartridge belt. Even a last flickering doubt
+was set at rest; for examination satisfied the mate that every cartridge
+was a live one.
+
+"Reg'lar bloomin' fairy tale, I calls it, sir," whispered Bill Blunt
+hoarsely. "Too good to be true, be dummed if 't ain't. Here's weepins,
+an' powder an' shot, all sammee navy style, and ther' ain't a bloomin'
+paint pot in th' hull shebang! I be awake, ain't I, sir?"
+
+"Wide," returned Rolfe, grinning at the old salt's query. "If we'd been
+as awake two hours ago, we wouldn't have lost our ship."
+
+"Mebbe, sir. An' we wouldn't ha' started on what looks to be a reg'lar
+man's landin' party. Will I keep fust watch?"
+
+"Turn in, Blunt. I won't sleep to-night," replied the mate. And in two
+minutes the old navy salt filled the hut with deep-sea nasal noises, to
+the sleepy admiration of his little brown men who only snored in
+whistles.
+
+As the night turned to morning, Jerry Rolfe experienced a change of
+feeling, and when silent-footed natives brought in food for breakfast,
+he had arrived at a state of confidence that permitted him to sleep for
+two hours after eating, no longer hampered by doubts. As for Blunt, that
+very self-possessed seaman had accepted the situation immediately he had
+satisfied himself about those cartridges. He had slept well, eaten
+well, and now while the mate slept, he assumed with relish the job of
+issuing rifles and ammunition to his crew.
+
+A little uneasy as the forenoon wore on without a word from outside,
+noon found Rolfe and Blunt seeking the guardian of the gate for
+information. The gargoyle-faced native was absent, and the gate was
+barred; but while they lingered around the stockade the watchman came
+in, bringing two of the _Barang's_ men who had gone with Barry.
+
+These were the men who had run down river in chase of the flying gold
+washer, and their tattered clothes and bewildered faces gave the mate a
+jolt.
+
+"We follow dat man, sar, an' he come close to dis place," one of them
+chattered in reply to Rolfe's brusque demand. "Den he go some place we
+no can find, an' we see dis station fence. We no t'ink we so near, sar."
+
+"So near?" echoed Rolfe. "How far are the others from here?"
+
+"No can tell, sar. Boat he sail and row all night, an' we t'ink he very
+far. Den we run for dat man, an' in one hour--two, mebbe--we come here.
+I t'ink dat ribber he twist, sar."
+
+Then, so swiftly that it shocked, out of the forest stumbled another of
+the _Barang's_ seamen, panting, thorn-slashed, and frightened.
+
+"Oh, sar!" he gasped, "Cap'n Barry an' Misser Li'l, an' all mans dey
+pris'ner in de woods, an' de gol' washers dey all kill, sar!"
+
+"Hey, don't faint yet!" roared Rolfe, seizing the trembling seaman and
+hauling him back to his feet. "Prisoners where? Who's got 'em? Leyden?"
+
+"No, sar. Dutch navy man he come an' cotch us, sar. Misser Li'l he fly
+cane in de man's face an' say to me, 'Run!' Oh, verry bad, sar."
+
+The man collapsed at the mate's feet, and Bill Blunt sent two men to
+carry him inside the hut. When he rejoined Rolfe, he found that
+perplexed worthy staring in fresh puzzlement at Natalie Sheldon, then
+coming in through the gate, flushed and excited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN
+
+
+Rolfe awkwardly awaited the torrent of questions that obviously trembled
+on the girl's lips. He saw behind her the dwarf of the gate, shrugging
+his deformed shoulders in disgust at the intrusion of a feminine factor
+at such a time. Miss Sheldon came directly towards him and spoke
+hurriedly, agitatedly.
+
+"Mr. Rolfe, some wickedness is going on. What is it? Why have you come
+here to shatter our little people's peace?"
+
+"Me? I ain't shattered anybody's peace, Miss," returned Rolfe, as
+puzzled as she. "Wickedness--yes, ma'am, I know that. But it ain't
+wickedness of mine, nor my skipper's. D' ye think we'd be wicked enough
+to sink our own ship?"
+
+"Sink--your ship? Why--how--"
+
+"Yes, Miss, our ship. And what's more, if you don't mind, I can't stop
+chawing the rag here; Captain Barry and Mr. Little are in danger o'
+their lives, by all accounts."
+
+"Then it was true!" cried Natalie, her eyes gleaming with a hope that
+had almost gone from her. "They have been caught, as Mr. Leyden told me
+they would. Why did you begin your hateful work here?"
+
+"What did Leyden tell ye, mum?" old Bill Blunt put in, with gruff
+gentleness. He saw Rolfe's utter bewilderment.
+
+"Oh, you are a new man," she cried. "You cannot know that the men you
+are with are engaged in planting the curse of opium in this beautiful
+land, where our Mission has almost reaped the fruits of years of labor."
+
+"Opium be damned--beg your pardon, lady," exploded and apologized Rolfe,
+near bursting with rage. "If opium's being run in here, I can guess
+who's doing it. Not to mention names, ma'am, his tally begins with
+Leyden. None came in the _Barang_, I'll swear."
+
+"Me too, Miss," rejoined Blunt heartily. "New man I may be, but I ain't
+new among men, an' it ain't men like Cap'n Barry as runs p'isen to poor
+niggers."
+
+All the while they were arguing the matter, Rolfe's men were busy
+preparing for their march to Barry's assistance. Food and water and
+emergency medical supplies had to be rummaged for and packed; a
+wood-wise guide had to be obtained through the agency of the gateman.
+Miss Sheldon hovered nervously about them, struggling hard with some
+emotion within her, gazing searchingly from face to face as if to find
+there an answer to the problem that troubled her.
+
+The _Barang's_ men certainly looked anything but the rascals she had
+been told they were; she had never seen sailors more utterly peaceable
+in their demeanor. When the preparations were nearly complete, and but a
+few minutes could remain before the party set out, she forced a decision
+herself.
+
+"Mr. Rolfe, I am afraid," she said in low, tremulous tones.
+
+"Nothing to be afraid of in us, ma'am," growled the mate, hauling a
+second cartridge belt tight about his waist.
+
+"No, not of you, but of everything. Wait, please," she begged, seeing
+signs of impatience in the sailor's face. "Let me tell you; then advise
+me, please. This horrible traffic is being carried on, without any
+doubt. It has broken Mr. Gordon and has drawn nearly all our native men
+from their lawful work and the Church. All the Mission men now are away
+in the jungle trying to bring back the foolish boys to the village and
+the Mission. I am alone here, except for Mrs. Goring. I am nervous now."
+
+"Why are you staying, then?" demanded Rolfe, staring rudely into her
+dusky eyes.
+
+"Because I have--I--I have resigned from the Mission, Mr. Rolfe. I am
+waiting for Mr. Leyden's return. He has offered me a passage to Java and
+suggested that I go on board to wait until the _Padang_ sails. But I
+can't rest easily there. There is something in the crew that makes me
+shudder. I never met men of their kind before."
+
+"I'm sorry, ma'am, I can't offer you accommodations on our ship. She's
+on the bottom of the river just now--put there by Mr. Leyden's orders,
+no doubt. I haven't got any men to spare, either, nor no time, Miss.
+Tell me quick what you want me to do."
+
+Jerry Rolfe slung a water canteen over his shoulder, handed pistol
+cartridges to Bill Blunt from his own pocket store, and looked around
+impatiently for the guide.
+
+"I don't know what to do," cried the girl. She was not hysterical in the
+least; she seemed quite capable of revealing a wide streak of calm,
+helpful courage, if only her doubts might be set at rest. She went on
+hurriedly: "I cannot move hand or foot except between the Mission and
+here. Everywhere I go I hear, but cannot see, whispering men who follow
+me like my shadow. Why, Mr. Rolfe, I feel like a prisoner! Won't you let
+me come with you?"
+
+"That's impossible," grunted the mate and met Bill Blunt's horrified
+eye. "Why, lady, d' ye know where we're going and what for?"
+
+"I understand you are going to try to find your captain, of course. But
+I won't be a burden to you. I'll do just what you tell me, and I may be
+able to help, if--if--well, you may have wounds or anything, you know.
+Won't you let me come?--Oh, do take me, Mr. Rolfe. I cannot stay here
+alone!"
+
+The mate bawled loudly for the tardy guide, as much to conceal his
+uneasiness as to bring the man, for the gateman was even then chattering
+voluble instructions to a lithe, breech-clouted native who had just come
+in. There was nothing he desired less at that moment than to have a
+woman in the party; yet his stout heart reproached him for designing to
+leave the girl to her fears. His uncertainty was dispelled for him by
+the appearance of Mrs. Goring, as fresh and dainty as she had appeared
+that first day on the dock. She advanced with a smile of greeting, and
+Miss Sheldon met her eye with a guilty blush.
+
+"I am trying to persuade Mr. Rolfe to take me away with his party," the
+girl said. "You know how uneasy I have been here, Mrs. Goring, since you
+are so much away."
+
+"Yes, I know, my dear," the woman replied, and her mature face glowed
+tenderly. "And unfortunately I cannot avoid being away just now, as you
+know." She turned her smile upon Rolfe and Bill Blunt, soothing their
+awkwardness with consummate tact. "Take her, gentlemen, won't you?" she
+pleaded. "I know it will be all right."
+
+"All right?" echoed Blunt. "Say, marm, d' ye know what we take these
+playthings fer?" he asked, handling his pistol and rifle.
+
+"Yes, I know. Still it will be all right. Miss Sheldon will be in no
+danger with you that she would avoid here. Besides, Mr. Rolfe, I give
+you my word that Mr. Vandersee would approve of it."
+
+"Vandersee?" Rolfe glared from Mrs. Goring to Miss Sheldon.
+Slow-thinking as he usually was, he needed no mental jolt now to see
+something wonderful and strange in the association of Vandersee with
+both of these women, whose apparent interests were so diverse. He had
+thought of Vandersee as perhaps likely to be interested in Mrs. Goring's
+activities, because he had been on the _Barang's_ quarterdeck when the
+big Hollander introduced her to the skipper; but if one thing was more
+certain than another, it was that Vandersee had nothing whatever in
+common with Leyden, save enmity, and here was a girl avowedly friendly
+to Leyden accepting the advice of Vandersee's friend. He squinted at
+Miss Sheldon, puzzled, and stammered:
+
+"Would you take Vandersee's advice, Miss? Ain't he dead set against your
+friend Leyden?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know what to think about Mr. Vandersee," replied the girl,
+in distress again. "I know that he is with and for you, which suggests
+his antagonism to Mr. Leyden, who I am sure doesn't know him. But I
+know, too, that he is a gentleman, and I am satisfied to trust him on
+Mrs. Goring's word. Say I can go with you, please." Her sweet face
+clouded, and tears started into her eyes. Gruff old Bill Blunt clapped a
+huge hand on her shoulder and growled:
+
+"Dry yer eyes, my pretty, dry 'em, do. We ain't goin' to make gal's eyes
+waterfalls, no we ain't--" and he rumbled in an aside to Rolfe, intended
+for his ears only, but filling the hut with sound--"Let th' purty gal
+come, sir. Blimee, I'll carry her meself, if she tires. It's a bloody
+nuisance, but 't ain't a sarcumstance to havin' a paint-an'-polish
+bloomin' Hadmiral along in a ship. Take her, says I, an' Gawd bless
+her."
+
+They set out, Natalie marching between Rolfe and Blunt with the free,
+supple swing and stride of a real girl of the outdoors. At least she
+gave little promise of hindrance in the actual journey, no matter what
+the outcome might be when action was afoot. And as they threaded their
+tortuous way through odorous jungle and sickeningly sweet-scented
+thicket, at the nimble heels of the silent guide, Natalie surprised
+glances of awed admiration on the faces of her stout escorts.
+
+Jerry Rolfe became so nearly converted to her side as the journey grew
+hotter and heavier, seeing her maintain her pace as well as himself, if
+not better, that he found himself stumbling every few yards sheerly
+through his inability to keep his eyes from her. He was bursting to
+talk; there was yet a problem unsolved in his mind; and when a stretch
+of level glade gave him back his breath, he spoke.
+
+"Tell me, Miss," he panted, "just what is that Vandersee?"
+
+"Why, Mr. Vandersee is connected with the Holland Naval Service, I
+believe, Mr. Rolfe. Why?" answered Natalie, with a cool smile.
+
+Jerry Rolfe glared at her, his lips working furiously to no effect. He
+could not speak; and Bill Blunt, who had caught question and answer,
+seemed in as bad case. They sought each other's eyes, and the silent
+interchange of thought between them solved the puzzle, at least as far
+as the mate was concerned. He grew hot and almost choked; but his lips
+could only utter:
+
+"Naval service? Hell!"
+
+He muttered an apology, but for the rest of the journey Natalie walked
+in absolute bewilderment. She could have no idea of the effect of her
+reply, except as outwardly evidenced in the mate's attitude. She could
+not know that in the breast of Rolfe, as in that of Bill Blunt, she had
+resurrected the demon of distrust towards Vandersee. All the voyage's
+suspicion that had troubled Rolfe resurged to the top now; knowing that
+Barry had been taken by supposed navy officers, the honest mate saw no
+room for doubt that the big Hollander had deliberately insinuated
+himself into the second mate's berth aboard the _Barang_ for no other
+purpose than to defeat his skipper. And now he had done it properly.
+Jerry Rolfe was sure of it. He told his decision to Blunt, who knew
+Vandersee by report only; and the old sea-dog replied
+characteristically,--by spitting into his palms and loosening his
+cutlass in the sheath with a creepy rasp and crash.
+
+Natalie Sheldon sensed the strain that had come upon her escorts, and
+she felt less at ease in her journey. Never once had she faltered or
+complained, though she was sadly hampered by her totally unsuitable
+garments for such a walk. In the gloomy forest the heat was stifling;
+the trackless jungle was full of creeping life; at every step the feet
+tripped over fallen logs or crunched with shivery suggestion into rotten
+shells of storm-torn tree limbs. Bright eyes gleamed at them through the
+thickets, to vanish swiftly; monkeys in the foliage overhead chattered
+and howled, swinging from tree to tree in alarm, and glaring down upon
+the intruders with faces convulsed with rage.
+
+The girl shuddered violently when a thick, gorged snake squirmed from
+under her feet and scrawled like a monstrous slug into a bush. She
+simply must talk, or drop, she thought, so attempted Jerry Rolfe again.
+
+"Mr. Rolfe, I don't understand why you are upset at what I said
+concerning Mr. Vandersee," she ventured.
+
+"Huh," grunted Rolfe. "Naval man, you said, didn't you?"
+
+"Why, yes. But how can that make you so fierce and grumpy?"
+
+Old Bill Blunt grinned happily at her tone. He too had felt the
+oppressiveness of a speechless march. Sufficient for the moment being
+sufficient for him, the old salt had long since put aside all thoughts
+of Vandersee and the Holland Navy, content to have all the trouble in
+one parcel when it should come. He wanted to chatter, and cared nothing
+what about.
+
+"Be we grumpy, Missy?" he chuckled. "Then bust me binnacle if we ain't
+swabs! Asks yer pardon, then--"
+
+"Shut your trap!" growled Rolfe surlily. He muttered, for Natalie's ear
+alone: "S'pose you heard that Cap'n Barry and Mr. Little was euchred by
+a naval party, didn't you?"
+
+"Yes, of course. But that cannot be in any way connected with Mr.
+Vandersee. He's on leave, you know, for private business. He cannot
+possibly be conducting official business now; and it's quite ridiculous
+to think of him as being responsible for Captain Barry's misfortune.
+Why--oh, Mr. Rolfe," she burst out, laughing a trifle unsteadily, "it's
+too silly. Mr. Vandersee is about the one man here that speaks well of
+your party."
+
+"That's easy," retorted Rolfe, unconvinced. "Private business, o' course
+he's on. Speaks well of us? Why not? Ain't he a slick, smart fellow? Why
+wouldn't he speak well of us! He's got the skipper and Mr. Little
+buffaloed by such tricks; I know that."
+
+Miss Sheldon gave up in despair, turning to Blunt for relief from
+Rolfe's surly silence. She found in the old sea dog a ready companion,
+and he rattled along in his whimsical, uncouth language, spinning
+endless yarns of a "Hadmiral as prayed to a paint pot" and "cleaned his
+bloomin' teeth wi' holystone," until the girl unconsciously resumed her
+brisk, tireless step and found herself laughing merrily in spite of her
+disease of mind.
+
+"An' there's our blessed Cap'n, ma'am," went on Bill, warming under the
+girl's happiness. "Gennelmun if ther' ever wuz. Sees me, he do, a
+roarin', ragged, bacca-chawin' ol' swab, an' I ses to him, 'Giv 's a
+job,' an' he up an' makes me a bloomin' orf'cer! Me, as never knowed
+nuthin' 'cept drawin' me grog rations twice. Missy, there's a man for
+ye. If ever yer wantin' a real sailorman to steer yuh clear o' shoals,
+Cap'n Barry's th' blue-eyed boy--Oh, blast my eyes!" Bill burst out, "I
+forgot he's in the bilboes, Miss. Now ain't that a dummed shame?"
+
+"I begin to think it is," replied Natalie seriously. She had rippled
+with laughter while the old fellow chattered, had colored warmly at his
+rough eulogy, and now felt a sinking of the spirits that harmonized not
+at all with her earlier feelings.
+
+"But what can you do, if he is in the hands of the naval authorities?"
+she asked. "You wouldn't dare attack Government officers?"
+
+"I dunno, Missy," returned Bill, scratching his towsled head in
+perplexity. "That's fer Mr. Rolfe to say. I only knows as I'd tackle th'
+Great High Hadmiral o' H--Beg pardon, lady, but you knows what I means,
+I 'spect--I'd tackle him if 'twas to get Cap'n Barry offen a lee shore."
+
+The girl relapsed into thoughtful silence, and the party plunged into a
+belt of jungle so thick that single file was forced upon them. Here the
+messenger despatched by Little, who had stayed behind at the post until
+he recovered from his exhaustion, overtook them and told Rolfe that it
+was here he last saw Barry's party.
+
+"Get ahead with the guide," Rolfe ordered him, and the march was
+conducted with stealth and painful slowness. A broken cane here and
+patch of dead leaves crushed into the black mold there gave slender
+hints that a party might have passed that way; and every ear was attuned
+to preternatural keenness for human sounds, for the eye could not pierce
+the thicket a yard before.
+
+Out upon this tense atmosphere burst a ghostly brown native, own brother
+to their guide in appearance, appearing so suddenly that Natalie uttered
+a little shriek of alarm. Bill Blunt, cool as a cucumber, charged his
+rifle chamber and clapped the muzzle against the brown man's breast
+without a word. The man stopped, amazingly unafraid, ignored Bill, and
+handed a piece of cane to Rolfe, picking him out as the leader
+unerringly.
+
+Jerry stared at the small stick, turning it over and over in his hand
+like some backwoods denizen receiving a letter for the first time in
+forty years and scared to open it. Then Natalie detected a loose end to
+the stick and suggested that it might contain something of value. Rolfe
+stripped a rice leaf from the cane, opened it, and found a message
+written on it in a fair hand.
+
+"On no account attack naval party. Barry and party are safe. Vandersee."
+
+Rolfe glowered at the brief missive and looked up to find the messenger
+gone and Bill Blunt staring at the muzzle of his rifle which had a
+moment before been jammed against the man's brown skin. The mate read
+the words aloud and sought for an answer in Miss Sheldon's eyes. She
+brightened swiftly and cried out with relief:
+
+"Oh, I said so, didn't I? Your captain and his party are safe in Mr.
+Vandersee's hands if they have done no wrong."
+
+"Safe in Vandersee's hands," repeated Jerry slowly, as if groping for
+inspiration. "In--Vandersee's--hands! Pi'zen my soul, but that's what
+I've believed all along! Come on--March!" he gritted, and plunged ahead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN
+
+
+The trail became more open shortly, and progress was swift. Natalie kept
+her place with increasing difficulty, but never a murmur escaped her.
+Her shoes had long since become shapeless envelopes of soggy leather;
+her skirt was tattered like a Foreign Legion battle flag. Her hands and
+face were scratched and swollen with insect bites, but her eyes were dry
+and her lips firm, for some inward voice told her that she was about to
+learn some part of the truth that had been hidden from her. For all her
+earlier assertion that Vandersee was Barry's friend and a man to be
+trusted, a stubborn question had taken root in her breast since that
+message was delivered. If Vandersee was the man who had taken Barry's
+party, what became of all the previous suppositions and arguments
+regarding their relative relations with Leyden?
+
+If the question were not to be answered quickly, at least it was to be
+forced aside by more vital affairs; all doubts were to be settled by one
+swift decision. The guides suddenly ran back, chattered volubly and
+murmuringly together, then stepped aside, waved Rolfe forward with a
+warning of caution, and joined their fellows who had been carrying
+their guns for them.
+
+Rolfe parted the thicket, peered through, swore fiercely under his
+breath and didn't apologize for it. He beckoned Blunt, and that dour old
+salt squinted at the sight that had staggered the mate. Natalie stepped
+softly beside them and gazed over their stooping backs, to swiftly step
+back with a choking sob of horror.
+
+"Navy party all right!" gritted Rolfe, squirming in every inch of his
+skin with the tremendous responsibility confronting him. None knew
+better than he what the consequences must be of attacking a party of
+Government sailors. But the sight he saw--the sounds he heard!
+
+He looked out across a wide circle of sward, dotted with hummocks of
+brown earth. The trees surrounding it held fruit of Nero's kind. To each
+trunk a writhing, moaning _Barang_ seaman was lashed, his face and body
+smeared with sticky stuff that was alive with crawling ants. A man
+squirmed and whimpered within five feet of Jerry Rolfe's eyes; the havoc
+of those busy insects was only too horribly apparent.
+
+And on two of the brown hummocks, spread-eagled with vine ropes that cut
+deep into wrists and ankles, lay Barry and Little, grimly silent as to
+complaint, but with the haze of gnawing terror in their eyes. Their
+bodies swarmed with scurrying life; the heat had melted the native sugar
+on their naked skin until it had run in sticky rivulets to every part
+of their tortured bodies. Under the heaving multitude at Barry's throat,
+blood was trickling; an awful hint of a frightful end not far away.
+
+Lounging at their ease, smoking or eating, lay a party of men in naval
+uniforms, three of them white men, the rest native Celebes. They chatted
+and laughed together with callous indifference for their captives'
+agonies; and at these white men--officers, by their dress--Rolfe found
+Bill Blunt glaring with eyes that were puzzled at first, then blazing
+with fury.
+
+"Mr. Rolfe, pile into 'em!" the old salt growled hoarsely. "Give 'em
+hell an' blazes. Them ain't no more Dutch Navy men than you be! Gawd!
+Ain't I manned gangway fer th' Hollanders offen enough to know 'em? Them
+swine is fakers!"
+
+Old Bill moistened his palm again, charged his rifle under his coat, and
+got on his toes waiting for the mate's word. Rolfe needed no other
+excuse to attack. Even though Blunt's announcement proved simply a ruse
+to force his hand, he cared nothing now. He led Miss Sheldon back to a
+clump of great trees, put a native by her, and handed her his own
+pistol.
+
+"Stay here, Miss," he commanded sharply. "I'll come for you when it's
+safe. Don't move!"
+
+Natalie took to her hiding place trembling, but not with fear. She had
+seen and heard that which chilled her blood and filled her head with
+redoubled doubts. But she had no time for considering those doubts;
+Rolfe darted back to his men, divided them into two parties, and,
+carefully assuring himself that the entire band of captors lay before
+him, he sent Blunt around to an opposite point on the glade and awaited
+the prearranged whistle.
+
+Soon it came--a cleverly imitated boatswain's pipe for All Hands!--and
+suddenly the moaning ceased, the guards sat up in swift alarm.
+
+"Give 'em hell, bullies!" roared Rolfe, and in a flash the glade crashed
+to the discharge of a dozen rifles. The first shots went astray, because
+the boatswain's pipe brought the captors to their feet after the first
+surprise; but a second discharge took heavy toll, and the three white
+officers rallied back to back, shouting frenziedly to their men to
+stand.
+
+"Ay, they'll stand--stiff!" growled Bill Blunt, swinging his rifle
+end-for-end and jamming the butt into the face of a panic-stricken
+native seaman. A bullet from Rolfe passed through the head of the
+leader, and out of a whizzing shower of lead from the _Barang's_ men
+another white went down. Then the native guards broke and ran, flinging
+guns away in their panic. The remaining officer, glaring around with
+savage hate in his eyes, turned to run too, but before leaving the spot
+he sprang over to Barry and placed his pistol to the prostrate skipper's
+head.
+
+Then from the forest rang another shot, echoed by a sobbing cry, and the
+fellow pitched headlong across Barry, dead, his pistol exploding
+harmlessly, his throat pouring out his life. And Bill Blunt, following
+up that shot, came upon Natalie Sheldon, fainting on the edge of the
+glade, a warm pistol gripped tightly in her rigid hand.
+
+Rolfe and his men had gone immediately to the aid of the tortured
+captives, and the two guides were despatched hotfoot after water. Then,
+with willing hands busily washing pained bodies free from sticky sugar
+and fiercely fighting ants, some distance removed from the spot where
+other hands were setting fire to the grass to beat back the scurrying
+hordes, Jack Barry and Little began to draw breath free from pangs and
+scrutinized each other in silent appraisal of damages. Neither had given
+sign of the agony sustained, save an occasional inevitable moan; yet
+neither had escaped without grievous injury that was painful if not more
+serious. But Little's bubbling spirits had not been utterly quenched,
+only damped; and now he grinned at the skipper with a brave effort at
+humor.
+
+"Ain't very big, but ain't their darned feet hot!" he said, shrugging
+his shoulders suggestively.
+
+"Huh!" grunted Barry, swabbing away at his throat, which still bled.
+"Only thing that bothers me is that a white man can't very well
+reciprocate the same way. I'd lose an eye to change dispositions with
+Leyden for just one hour and have him in my hands!"
+
+"Cheer up, old hoss," grinned Little. "Go to it, if the chance turns up,
+and maybe the missionaries will convert you back to whitemanship
+again."
+
+Their thoughts were turned into a pleasanter channel by the arrival of
+Miss Sheldon, recovered from her faintness and eager to be of service to
+them. She knelt between them, Rolfe's medicine kit in her hands, and
+began to cleanse and bandage their more painful hurts. The seamen, cut
+down from their trees, were in the hands of their shipmates.
+
+"This is horrible, Captain Barry," murmured Natalie, avoiding his eyes.
+A flush overspread her fair face as she strove to utter the thoughts
+nearest her heart. "I am terribly upset about this," she said. "It seems
+impossible that sailors of any civilized government could do things like
+this."
+
+"They don't, Miss," returned Barry grimly. He sought her eyes, and her
+gaze met his for an instant, to be immediately lowered. "These fellows
+were no more sailors than you are. Perhaps you will be disagreeably
+surprised to hear that your friend Mr. Leyden looked in on us while the
+ants were feeding."
+
+"Mr. Leyden? Impossible!" cried the girl, drawing back and regarding
+Barry with horror. "Surely you are mistaken."
+
+"I thought you wouldn't believe it," rejoined Little, with a wry smile.
+"True, though, Miss, and he said he'd look in on us again before the
+ants took their dessert."
+
+"What about Vandersee, Cap'n Barry?" blurted out Rolfe, coming up and
+breaking in on the talk without ceremony.
+
+"Vandersee?" queried the skipper. "What of him, Rolfe? I'd have given a
+lot to have him around when this happened. I'll bet we never would have
+got into this mess."
+
+"But didn't he get you?" Jerry Rolfe's voice went to a squeak with
+astonishment.
+
+"Get us? What's biting you, man?"
+
+Rolfe showed the skipper the message he had received from the big
+Hollander, and Barry scanned it narrowly, then passed it on to Little.
+
+"I don't quite understand this," replied Barry, puzzled. "Perhaps he
+meant real navy men. These were fakes, as you have found out by now."
+
+"Sure, but I'd have been leary about firing on 'em at that if Blunt
+hadn't spotted their imitation uniforms first, sir."
+
+"Well, Vandersee had nothing to do with this, Rolfe. As I have told Miss
+Sheldon, it was Leyden who looked in on us; and it was Leyden's men who
+got us, fooling me with their official attitude."
+
+"Oh, what does it all mean?" cried Natalie, gazing from face to face in
+perplexity. "Are you sure that Mr. Leyden has done this thing? He told
+me you were opium smugglers, Captain Barry, and I believed that he was
+aiding the Government to stamp out the traffic."
+
+"Opium!" gasped the skipper furiously. "That's what the fake navy
+officer pulled on us up the river. He contrived to find a can or two in
+the shacks, too."
+
+"And is it untrue?" The girl's low tone held a tremor of hope.
+
+"Untrue! Good God, Miss Sheldon, what do you take us for?"
+
+The girl was silent. She lowered her face and went on with her work of
+alleviating pain, and all talk ceased. Every man there realized that
+somewhere behind the outward show of chance hostility lay a deeper, more
+sinister problem yet to be solved. Barry found himself peering up at the
+girl, wondering if after all she was out of his reach. Her touch
+thrilled him, and when her eyes met his in fleeting glance they glowed
+warm and moist, her lips trembled as if she were fighting to restrain
+tears. And for what? Barry hoped, then feared. Only a sight of Little's
+quizzical grin fastened upon him prevented him uttering a speech that
+must have embarrassed the girl.
+
+The silent stress was relieved by the gruff, deep-sea voice of Bill
+Blunt, leading somebody into the little jungle covert where the injured
+men lay.
+
+"I tell ye we didn't pitch into no navy party, Mister," the old fellow
+growled. "All as we done wuz to knock seven bells outa a mob o' dirty
+murderers. Come on an' see th' skipper hisself. He kin tell ye."
+
+Vandersee emerged from the bush, strode across to Barry, and knelt
+beside him. His face was dark with irritation.
+
+"I am sorry to see this, Captain," he said softly, and his usual smile
+swept across his face, to leave it dark again. "I particularly wished to
+avoid this attack, though. It's very unfortunate."
+
+"Unfortunate!" snapped Barry, amazed at the man's cool attitude.
+"Wasn't it more unfortunate for us to be making a meal for a few million
+ants? I'm darned glad Rolfe attacked, and I don't understand your
+message telling him to hold off."
+
+"Let me explain, sir," replied Vandersee, and now he was entirely like
+his old self,--suave, smiling, soft-spoken. "I wanted to get Leyden
+myself. That is why I am here. I missed him by minutes when he first
+visited you to gloat over you; and I had him followed and knew he was
+coming back. He killed my man, so I had nothing to do but wait here for
+his second visit. Now he won't come back, for his men who got away have
+rejoined and are with him by now."
+
+"See here, Vandersee," exploded the skipper angrily, "I want to know
+more about your part in this mess. I have been held up as an opium
+smuggler; there is no gold in Houten's river--never has been--yet Leyden
+got dust through Gordon; and when Little and I and all Houten's men are
+threatened with annihilation by some of Leyden's men masquerading as
+Dutch sailors, you coolly tell me our rescue is unfortunate. Houten sent
+you here, didn't he? Then what's the answer?"
+
+Vandersee smiled gently and regarded Miss Sheldon with a wonderful depth
+of tenderness, strange to see in a man of his bulk. Then he shrugged
+slightly and answered:
+
+"I think I must tell you, since matters have turned out this way. It
+will interest Miss Sheldon, too, I hope, and perhaps it won't hurt my
+plans very much after all.
+
+"I am an officer in the Holland Navy. On leave now, I am completing some
+private business of my own while doing some work for my Government. Only
+to tell you what immediately concerns you, I am out to catch Leyden's
+band of opium runners."
+
+"Mr. Leyden an opium runner!" breathed Natalie, dumbfounded.
+
+"I'm sorry to say he is, Miss Sheldon. Oh, have no fear--" he
+interjected, seeing the pain in her eyes--"he would never have been
+permitted to carry you from here, Miss. You have been in good keeping,
+before and since you left the Mission. There was a reason for letting
+Leyden go so far; a reason which I must withhold still. But there is a
+definite limit set to his progress, which I hoped would be reached
+to-day. Now, unfortunately, he has escaped me for the moment; but have
+no doubts, you, Captain Barry and Mr. Little, that at the proper time
+you will be let in on what seems no doubt a mystery just now."
+
+"Mystery's right," retorted Little. "You know, Vandersee, I have always
+looked upon you as a sort of Admirable Crichton among sailors. Yet you
+let me make that awful mess back at the river entrance, letting go the
+anchors by meddling with the gears you had showed me. Now here you crop
+up, when I am half eaten, and tell me when the proper time comes I'll
+know all! It's like a yellow-backed novel."
+
+Vandersee smiled broadly. He admired the cheery ex-salesman. He rose to
+his feet, carefully dusting off his knees, and replied:
+
+"That accident with the anchors was nothing but chance, Mr. Little. If I
+smiled, it was simply because there was an element of humor in your
+amazement at the result of your meddling. I assure you that was all."
+
+"Then why not push right after Leyden now and get the thing settled one
+way or the other?" blurted Barry. "All this stuff about opium smuggling
+doesn't concern us much. We came here on a definite errand for Cornelius
+Houten, and it seems that's a flivver. What's to hinder Little and
+myself clearing out from here? Your affair with Leyden isn't our affair,
+is it?"
+
+"Oh, Cap'n, I forgot to tell you the _Barang's_ sunk," put in Jerry
+Rolfe, who had approached and had been listening. "It clean slipped my
+mind, in the excitement."
+
+"_Barang's_ sunk?" echoed Barry and Vandersee together. And queerly
+enough, Vandersee evinced the greater alarm.
+
+"Sure. She was scuttled by some water rats, and her lines cut. I just
+managed to get her down river and across the channel, so as to block up
+the _Padang_; then she settled in the mud."
+
+"Thank Heaven!" burst from Vandersee, and his round face, which had
+gone dead white, became normal in color again. Barry and Little stared
+at him in amazement, but his smile told them nothing.
+
+"I'm thankful even that your ship is sunk, Captain, since it is sunk as
+a barrier to the _Padang_," he said, and left them still in a fog. "But
+I am forgetting, and you, Miss Sheldon, are permitting me to forget,
+that our friends here need more comfort than we can give them in the
+jungle."
+
+"I need no comfort!" growled Barry, staggering to his feet. Little
+followed his example with a twisted grin. Both tottered and pitched to
+the earth again, groaning dismally.
+
+"I know, gentlemen," Vandersee said, motioning to some of the _Barang's_
+crew. "I have seen much of this sort of thing. It will be several days
+at least before you recover from your ordeal. Meanwhile I suggest that
+you have your men carry you back to the post. Mrs. Goring is caring for
+Gordon there and will gladly take care of you, assisted by Miss
+Sheldon."
+
+"I shall be very glad to do anything," the girl responded, and suddenly
+Jack Barry felt the need for comfort he had disdained a moment before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN
+
+
+Cornelius Houten's trading post was no longer a place of commonplace
+commerce. With the return of the injured men, the dim, cool main hut was
+transformed into a quiet hospital, in which two sore and weary men were
+ministered to by two gentle, capable nurses. There was something
+amazingly mysterious in the swift change; for Barry and Little were
+carried inside, placed on ready cots, and soothed with cooling unguents
+without a moment's delay, as if they had been expected in just such a
+fashion ever since their advent on the river.
+
+Mrs. Goring came in without the least visible surprise and with her
+usual sweet smile, her low voice was that of a woman intent on a
+customary duty; she directed Natalie Sheldon in the work and received
+her unquestioning obedience. When the side of the hut was raised to
+admit the afternoon sunlight, Little sought Barry's eyes with whimsical
+wonder, and the skipper shook his head painfully and growled back:
+
+"Oh, what's the use! May as well hold tight and give the cure a chance.
+No good asking me what I think of it all. I give it up. No good at
+conundrums!"
+
+The last words drawled out, and Barry fell asleep. Then Natalie bent
+over him, drew a mosquito curtain around his head, and gazed down at him
+with a soft, uncertain light in her luminous eyes. Mrs. Goring watched
+from a dark corner, and when the girl moved away from Barry's cot and
+approached Little, the older woman smiled with great sympathy and went
+quietly out.
+
+The ex-salesman watched too; and his eyes twinkled when Natalie bent
+that searching look upon Barry. He noted with a grin her tender little
+touches at the skipper's couch and settled himself complacently in
+expectation of similar attention. His eyes closed, and he folded his
+hands placidly over his chest as Natalie stepped to his side, and then
+he peeped slyly at her, ready to give her some characteristically
+humorous greeting.
+
+But to his discomfiture he saw tears brimming her eyes, and the small
+hand that drew his curtains trembled piteously. Tom Little lost all his
+humor and lay quite still until she turned away. Then, with a sob, she
+ran outside after Mrs. Goring, and so unsettled by her trouble was
+Little that the sleep which should have placed him on the road to
+recovery utterly deserted him, and the heat became suddenly oppressive.
+
+So he tossed and writhed through the hours, while Barry slumbered
+peacefully and breathed in new strength. Little was aware of a subtle
+drone and hum all around the place; he placed it to the further credit
+of pestiferous insects and cursed them dully. From the river crept in a
+rank odor of musk and mud that mingled with the sleepy sounds to lull
+him, yet his brain refused to rest. He sweat and twisted in the depths
+of dire discomfort.
+
+Wondering how many hours went to a Celebes minute, how many ages into an
+hour, he was suddenly aware of a silent figure that crept into the hut
+and sat on a low stool beside the medicine chest. It was a man, shod,
+therefore a white man; and some vaguely familiar, yet utterly strange
+gesture gave Little a hint of his identity.
+
+"Gordon!" he whispered, and the man sprang up with a muffled exclamation
+of annoyance.
+
+"It is Gordon, isn't it?" whispered Little, welcoming any break to the
+awful monotony, doubly glad that it was Gordon who made the break. "I
+can't sleep, old chap. Come and chat, there's a good sport."
+
+"I'll give you a draft to help you sleep," muttered Gordon, searching
+out a bottle. Little noticed even in the poor light that this was a
+different Gordon from the shattered wreck he had first seen. There was
+no tremor, no uncertainty, in the fingers that unstoppered a small
+bottle and poured out a draft; when the man leaned over him, drawing
+aside the curtains, the eyes that looked down at Little were bright and
+clear, true windows of a healthy soul.
+
+"Drink this and try to sleep," urged Gordon gently. "I ought not to talk
+to you at all, you know. You're a pretty sick man, Little, and I'm only
+convalescent yet. Come, drink it; it's harmless and very efficacious."
+
+"I'll swallow that stuff if you'll talk to me a bit, Gordon," Little
+bargained. "Unless it's powerful dope, it won't make me sleep. I simply
+can't sleep."
+
+"Drink it then, and I'll chat with you until you drop off," replied
+Gordon, and his tone revealed uneasiness. He pressed the glass into
+Little's fingers and repeated, "Drink it."
+
+Little gulped the stuff down, and a glad warmth shot through his veins,
+soothing him, to his surprise. He returned the glass and grinned up at
+Gordon. Already the heat seemed less oppressive, the outside sounds more
+lulling.
+
+"That's fine stuff, Gordon. Some class to our hospital. Glad to see
+you've benefited by it too. But when do our fair nurses come on duty
+again?" His eyes drooped, and Gordon regarded him with a smile of
+understanding.
+
+"Oh, very soon, very soon, Little. I'm only lending a hand while they
+attend to your crew. You were supposed to be asleep, or I would not have
+come inside. Now sleep, man, sleep. When you wake up, one of the ladies
+will be here."
+
+Gordon gazed into Little's dulling eyes, and as he watched, his head was
+bent alertly as if to catch outside sounds. Voices were heard
+approaching, and Gordon started with faint alarm as Little's eyes opened
+wide. The next minute a peaceful grin overspread the sufferer's face,
+the wide eyes closed, and Little fell into a deep, healing sleep.
+
+And into the hut stepped Vandersee, silent as a great cat, and with him
+two other men in uniform,--naval uniform and legitimate this time. A
+silent question was flashed at Gordon, and he nodded relievedly; then
+Vandersee stepped over and peered at Barry, giving a deft and tender
+touch here and there to displaced bandages. For a long moment the big
+Hollander regarded the sleeping skipper, then moved over to Little's cot
+and repeated the scrutiny. His blond face was soft and serious, his
+large round eyes glowed with pity. He turned at length to his
+companions, and they saluted him with deep respect.
+
+"This would be only well repaid if we permitted Captain Barry to fix the
+payment," he murmured to them. "Such fiendish barbarity deserves payment
+in kind; and if it were only an official matter, gentlemen, I would
+gladly send you and your men away and stand by while settlement was
+made. As it is, I cannot permit these men to rob me of Leyden. That foul
+devil is mine by all the laws of God and Justice."
+
+Gordon stood by, his gaze fixed full on Vandersee, his face alight with
+the fervor of high hope. When the Hollander paused, Gordon moistened his
+lips and whispered:
+
+"Mine too, Hendrik! Can't you let me do this? I'm fit now, a man again.
+Let him be mine."
+
+Vandersee smiled back, compassionately and understandingly, and laid a
+tremendous hand on Gordon's shoulder.
+
+"I know, old fellow, I know," he said. "Nobody knows as I do. But half
+of our vengeance would be defeated should anything happen to you. No.
+This is mine, Gordon, and--"
+
+Barry stirred, and Vandersee stopped speaking; shooting a hurried look
+at the skipper and then motioning to the others to follow, he went
+swiftly out of the hut. Gordon remained and stared full into the
+wide-open eyes of Barry.
+
+"What was Vandersee doing here?" demanded Barry, not yet distinguishing
+Gordon's face.
+
+"You've been dreaming, skipper," returned Gordon, busying himself with
+fresh bandages to avoid facing Barry for a moment.
+
+"Dreaming my aunt!"
+
+"I think you have," insisted Gordon, and now he came to the cot and
+began to remove Barry's bandages. "Let me renew your dressings."
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it, Gordon?" exclaimed Barry, now wide awake, if he
+had been dreaming before. "Then you'll tell me the truth, won't you? If
+that wasn't Vandersee I saw a moment ago, and two naval officers with
+him, my brain's cracked, that's all."
+
+"Not cracked, Captain. That's the effect of the medicine you've taken.
+No doubt Mr. Little will have some queer notions, too, when he wakes
+up. It's better for you to throw out all these notions as soon as they
+form. They only hinder your recovery. Now let me fix you up."
+
+"Not one damned bandage! If I'm to be treated like a baby, I'll act like
+one. Let Miss Sheldon do it. She won't lie, anyhow."
+
+Gordon laid down his dressings and left the hut without a reply. And
+Barry lay there, fuming, sore, and sick, waiting for the nurse who never
+appeared. Hours seemed to pass; certainly one hour had gone; then it was
+Mrs. Goring who came in, swiftly hiding a troubled expression beneath a
+sunny smile of greeting.
+
+"I'll have to inflict myself on you, Captain," she said, deftly removing
+his bandages, in spite of his petulant objections. "Miss Sheldon has not
+yet returned," she went on. "She visited your men, you know. She will
+come to you as soon as possible, for she considers you her own private
+patient."
+
+Mrs. Goring beamed kindly upon him, and the skipper's irritation passed
+under her sympathetic touch.
+
+"Tell me," he begged cajolingly, "wasn't that Vandersee in here awhile
+ago?"
+
+"Oh, he's been here many times, Captain," smiled back Mrs. Goring.
+
+"Yes, yes, I know. I mean while Gordon was here with us."
+
+"Why, didn't you ask him?"
+
+"Oh, tell me, or say you won't," Barry burst out angrily. "Of course I
+asked him. He said not. Gordon's a liar!"
+
+"S-sh!" she soothed, laying a cool hand on Barry's heated forehead. He
+failed to catch the look of pain his words brought into her eyes, or he
+must have cringed with shame. "This is not like you, Captain Barry, to
+say such things behind one's back."
+
+"I beg your pardon," mumbled the skipper humbly. And he relapsed into
+sullen silence, feigning sleep again simply to escape her steady gaze.
+She watched him awhile, then giving an inquiring glance at Little,
+adjusting his curtains and pillow, she left the room, and silence once
+more settled down that lasted until Little emerged from his drugged
+sleep and sat up with a noisy yawn.
+
+"Say, Barry; what did you dream about?" he cried, rubbing his eyes
+furiously as if to clear cobwebs from his brain. "Did you have any dope
+in your physic?"
+
+"I don't know," growled the skipper. "I know I saw Vandersee here, the
+moment I woke up, with some sailors, and they tell me I dreamed it!"
+
+"Oh, then, it's all right," replied Little carelessly. "You must have
+had the same dope. I dreamed they were here just as I dropped off to
+sleep. Was Gordon with you, too?"
+
+"He was, and he was no dream!"
+
+"That's right, too. He gave me some dope that made me sleep like an
+infant. I suppose it's the poison of those ants that makes us imagine
+creepy things."
+
+"By Godfrey, I don't imagine anything!" cried Barry, and he tore down
+his curtains and leaped to the floor. "I'm going to dress and put an end
+to this Hobson-Jobson flummery!" He tottered, clawed wildly at the air,
+and pitched headlong beside Little's cot.
+
+"There! It's the poison," moaned Little, squirming out of his bed and
+trying to lift his friend up. Then his own world spun around him, and he
+fell beside Barry, every inch of ant-bitten skin a blazing patch of
+torture.
+
+Mrs. Goring and Natalie, entering together five minutes later, found
+them there; and all the good already accomplished had to be done over.
+It was two days now before the patients were able to recognize their
+nurses; but when recognition came, at least one of the women sighed
+thankfully to notice that Barry no longer harped upon naval officers and
+Vandersee. His relapse seemed to have driven all earlier ideas from his
+head; his bodily weakness was so intense that Mrs. Goring found him a
+babe in her hands, and Natalie could scarcely tend him for the weakness
+that attacked her at sight of him.
+
+But the day came when he and Little were permitted to walk, and then the
+stockade formed their promenade ground. With a nurse for each, their
+convalescence could have been no more agreeable in the midst of
+civilization. And as Barry gained strength, yet before Jerry Rolfe was
+allowed in to worry him about the ship, he found himself and Natalie,
+Little and Mrs. Goring, pairing off in their slow rambles, and once more
+awkwardness of speech descended upon him like a wet blanket. He had
+caught a suggestive look on Little's face, and an answering smile on
+Mrs. Goring's, that told him as plainly as words that his opportunity
+was thus given to him.
+
+So, while his heart burst with sentiment, and his arms ached to take
+Natalie in them, his tongue declined its office and left him a gaping,
+speechless sailor. Natalie did not help him either; for as his
+awkwardness increased, he sensed at first, then saw, that she was
+consumed with some powerful emotion that certainly was not love for him.
+Then he surprised her regarding him with fixed attention, when he had
+turned away to gather a flower for her hair; and in a flash he saw what
+her emotion was. It was dull, rankling uncertainty, and all the lover
+fled from him, leaving only the keen sailor with a keen sailor's sense.
+
+"Miss Sheldon, I was just going to call you Natalie and tell you
+something very near to my heart," he blurted out. "I'm going to forget
+that, now, and wait until you get what's troubling you off your mind."
+
+"Why, Captain Barry!" she cried, blushing furiously, "whatever do you
+mean? There is nothing troubling me, except the trouble that has come
+upon this peaceful little station."
+
+"I beg your pardon, but there is," persisted Barry bluntly. "You still
+doubt me and my business and feel that I have painted Leyden black out
+of spite. Now, if Vandersee and Mrs. Goring and the rest can't convince
+you, I'm going to let you see it for yourself when the time comes. Let
+me tell you one thing, though; if Leyden were on the square, he'd be
+down at his ship seeing about getting her out of this hole. You don't
+see him around, do you?"
+
+"No!" the girl cried hotly. "Of course we don't. What is the use of Mr.
+Leyden staying here when your ship blocks him in? He told me he was
+going to the other side of the island for official help."
+
+"Official help!" gasped Barry, peering hard into the girl's eyes, in
+amazement at her utter belief. "He told you! Why, he can get all the
+official help right here, any time Vandersee's around. He don't dare,
+though. What did he sink my ship for?"
+
+"He would dare, I know, if Mr. Vandersee's friends were true sailors.
+Mr. Leyden has told me repeatedly that those naval seamen are false; and
+since Mr. Vandersee disappeared a few days ago, never inquiring into the
+matter of these two ships in the river, I'm inclined to believe him,
+though I was almost persuaded that you were right and he was wrong."
+
+"But my ship! He sunk her, didn't he?"
+
+"I don't believe he did, Captain Barry," returned Natalie simply.
+"Whether you know it or not, and I'd rather think you did not, I believe
+somebody in your own crew sank your ship simply to annoy Mr. Leyden."
+
+The skipper panted heavily, almost choked by his rising spleen,
+tottering shakily, as temper battled with imperfect recovery of
+strength. His lips opened and remained open, speechless; and his face
+grew purple, then white, until Miss Sheldon cast off her own trouble and
+saw in him only a patient needing the tenderest care. She assisted him
+back to the hut and saw him safely on his cot; then he was given a
+strong sleeping draft and slept clear through the night, awaking with
+clearer head and a determination to say no more to Natalie until things
+had straightened themselves out.
+
+In the morning Mrs. Goring entered hurriedly and her first words were:
+"Captain Barry, Miss Sheldon's disappeared! Gone utterly!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN
+
+
+The announcement staggered Barry and caused Little to gape like a
+stranded codfish. The ex-salesman, not having suffered such a relapse as
+the skipper, got in motion first and darted outside to get a better
+grasp on things in the open air. Mrs. Goring and Barry, left alone,
+looked at each other closely for a silent moment, then the skipper
+gasped:
+
+"Leyden's work!"
+
+"I'm afraid it is," replied the woman, and her soft eyes moistened at
+his agony. "His work or his agency, Captain."
+
+"Mrs. Goring," Barry's voice grew level and cold, "will you tell me what
+relationship there is between that sweet girl and that utter scoundrel?
+She saw some of his fine work when Rolfe found us on those ant heaps;
+she heard all about Leyden's fake sailors, by whom we were taken; she
+told me over and over that she believed in Vandersee--yet last evening
+she returned to the same old story, doubting me and my business, and
+intimating that Leyden was the wronged innocent. I'm no lady's man--I'm
+a simple sailor--and I'm blessed if I can fathom it!"
+
+Mrs. Goring was silent for several minutes, gazing into his face with
+deepest sympathy. She was troubled too; but under the pain a glad
+resignation seemed to shine out. She said, very softly:
+
+"My dear friend, a woman's heart is a wonderful enigma. A girl's first
+love is far more wonderful. It is beyond reason, beyond understanding,
+incapable of analysis. And that is all the mystery with Natalie. She is
+the soul of purity, Captain, and more honest than honor. You have seen,
+and others have seen, that she likes you and aches to believe in you;
+but, innocent soul that she is, Leyden met her first, was the first man
+to apply himself to winning her affections, and he has fascinated her.
+You know she has left the Mission to go back to Java with him?
+Yes--Then, knowing what you do of her, can't you see that this is only
+another example of the splendid loyalty that actuates her? My good
+fellow--" Mrs. Goring's tone became almost motherly, and Barry
+worshipped her for it--"poor Natalie is to experience a sad
+disillusionment very soon; she will suffer; but from the suffering she
+will emerge as clean as before in mind and body, and when her loyalty is
+enlisted in the proper place, the fortunate man will be glad that such
+loyalty is in her."
+
+"That is all very well," Barry retorted hotly. "But why is she to go
+through all this trouble? Surely you have had chances enough to put her
+right. Leyden should have been run off the place when he first arrived.
+Vandersee is full of mystery, too, and I can't for my life see why he,
+if he is, as he says, a Government man, can't take charge of the
+schooner there, flog the jungle with trackers, and finish Leyden and his
+opium runners off-hand. Why, he has had a dozen chances. If my hands had
+not been tied by secret orders and later circumstances, I could have
+potted the beggar myself, easily. Now Miss Sheldon is gone. Where? You
+say Leyden fascinates her. Well, has she joined him? Where can she find
+him, in this maze of poisonous bush?"
+
+"Let me assure you again, Captain Barry, that Mr. Vandersee is just what
+he has represented himself to be. Though things have happened to make
+you doubt him perhaps, believe me if I say that Leyden will not be
+killed by any chance bullet; he will be caught, and caught when his
+capture will have the result of bringing all the tangled threads
+together in the presence of every one vitally concerned. There is
+something far, far more serious than opium smuggling, or Houten's
+affairs, or his conflict with your party, for him to answer for. He will
+answer for all in the one great instant. Won't you please, please,
+Captain Barry, throw aside all doubts of Mr. Vandersee?"
+
+She clasped both hands about his arm, gazed pleadingly into his dark
+face, and her red lips quivered piteously.
+
+"I'd be glad to, Mrs. Goring, only for Miss Sheldon," replied Barry, his
+brain whirling again. "I have always believed in Vandersee, except at
+moments like these, when I think I ought to be taken more into his
+confidence. Can you wonder why I doubt, when that innocent girl vanishes
+like a ghost, and we all know what kind of snake waits in the grass for
+her?"
+
+"Oh, I wish my--Mr. Vandersee--would come!" panted Mrs. Goring. "What
+can I say to you, Captain? I understand, perfectly, your emotions. Yet I
+can only repeat what seems to you a parrot cry, that Miss Sheldon shall
+not suffer one jot at Leyden's hands, except the suffering that must
+come with disillusionment. I say it again, and I swear it by the God
+that shall kill me if I lie!"
+
+Barry rumpled his hair in perplexity. He did believe this pleading
+woman, usually so capable but now so piteous. But everything that had
+lately happened went to make chaos more chaotic in his mind. He placed
+his hand gently on the woman's shaking shoulder and soothed her:
+
+"Yes, yes, Mrs. Goring, I believe all you say about Vandersee and am
+trying to believe the rest. I want to, because I have long since ceased
+to puzzle myself over your errand here or the manner of your arrival,
+and only see in you a woman bravely carrying on some great struggle that
+I know nothing of yet. But you ran in here five minutes ago, crying out
+that Natalie had vanished--the one thing on earth to send me headlong
+through the place with murder in my soul--and now you try to prevent me
+doing a thing towards finding what's happened to her."
+
+"Oh, I can't explain it, Captain," she cried, but her face was brighter
+now. "I'm only a woman, too, and Natalie's disappearance shocked me,
+although I had expected it. I ran in on an impulse; an impulse forced me
+to try to restrain you; and I made a bad mess of it altogether, I'm
+afraid. It is so utterly vital, so tremendously imperative, that Leyden
+comes to no serious harm before Mr. Vandersee is ready to strike, that I
+feared to let you or Mr. Little seek him out in hot temper to kill him
+perhaps. But I do care about Natalie. Though I know quite well that she
+will suffer no harm at Leyden's hands here, my blood curdles at the
+thought of her being near him at all," Mrs. Goring shuddered violently,
+and Barry saw in her face a look of furious loathing that implanted
+still another question for future investigation in his already burdened
+mind. She went on: "If I have persuaded you of the necessity for leaving
+Leyden's fate in Vandersee's hands, Captain, I shall see you start out
+to find Natalie with glad heart, and God speed you."
+
+"Then speed me now," laughed Barry, buckling on a cartridge belt and
+looking to the magazine of his automatic pistol. "Tell me one thing,
+though, to quite settle my doubts: What makes you so certain that Leyden
+can't harm Natalie, if she is in his hands? Then I'll go like a shot."
+
+"You saw the dwarf at the gate?"
+
+"Oh, yes, and he's a good hand at flinging a silent knife!"
+
+"There's your answer, Captain. He, or another of his tribe, is within
+knife-throw of Leyden every minute!"
+
+"Oh, good!" cried the skipper. "Then if I find gargoyle-face, I find
+Miss Sheldon too, eh?"
+
+"If she has joined Leyden, yes, Captain. I hope you find her and can
+bring her back. I will tell Mr. Vandersee where you have gone. I
+expected him before this. Good luck."
+
+Barry went out, grimacing sourly in spite of himself. Always Vandersee!
+Every turn in the course Vandersee!
+
+"Oh, well," he grinned, regaining his good temper as he caught sight of
+Little coming towards him, armed to the teeth, "I'm skipper of a ship
+that's a home for mud-eels at present; so I may as well do as friend
+Little does, take all in good part until my boss says fight, then take
+all my grouch out of the fellow I scrap with."
+
+Little swung in alongside of the skipper, and as they went out through
+the stockade gate, he chattered on:
+
+"Been snooping around, Barry, while you were flirting with the fair lady
+inside, and I found out that our friend over the gate has gone off on a
+job too. Figuring out the things that have gone before, I conclude
+perhaps he's trying to trail Miss Natalie, hey? Good Sherlock stuff,
+what?"
+
+"Mighty good, but late," grinned the skipper. He briefly recounted what
+Mrs. Goring had told him, and Little's face drew down in dismay.
+
+"Gosh!" he grumbled. "Every time I put two and two together they make
+five! When I sold typewriters, if I sold twice as many machines on a
+trip as I did the trip before, I used to figure that the demand had
+doubled: but out here in the jungle, by golly, if I get a lot o' clues
+and map out a plan o' campaign from 'em, I find that my clues are old
+stuff and a little bow-legged skeezics with a face like a cancelled
+Chinese stamp has already eaten up most of my plan o' campaign! Ain't it
+a shame?"
+
+"Shocking!"
+
+"You said it! But allee samee, it's good to be moving again, ain't it?
+There's ginger in the air, Barry. Smells like something going to happen,
+to me. Good. Let 'er come! I'm tired of being fed with a medicine spoon,
+and only let me get a sight o' Leyden at the end of my six-gun, and
+blooey! Hey?"
+
+"I wish it could be, Little, but I'm afraid it won't!"
+
+Barry and Little halted sharply and swung to one side at the sound of a
+soft voice that came out of the cane thicket. The canes parted, and
+Vandersee emerged, followed like a small shadow by the deformed
+gatekeeper.
+
+"Oh, good, Vandersee!" Barry exclaimed, preparing to overwhelm the big
+Hollander with a rush of questions long sizzling in his brain. "You can
+tell me a lot of things now. But what's the gateman doing? I thought he
+was shadowing Leyden; and hoped to find him to get some dope on Miss
+Sheldon's whereabouts." Barry had passed beyond the stage where
+Vandersee's sudden appearance might have startled him. He had come to
+expect such things lately. But the big man's placid face clouded at the
+skipper's words, and obviously he was startled out of his calm.
+
+"Miss Sheldon's whereabouts?" he echoed. "Since when?"
+
+"She disappeared this morning," cried Barry angrily. "Do you mean to say
+that's news to you? Ask the dwarf there. He's been close to Leyden,
+hasn't he?"
+
+Vandersee spoke swiftly to the dwarf in his native dialect, and the
+little man nodded his head vehemently.
+
+"This is bad news, Captain," said the Hollander seriously. "This man has
+followed Leyden all night until relieved by his mate; but Miss Natalie
+has not been seen." Thinking silently for a moment, the great human
+enigma suggested with his old suave smile: "This is a matter better left
+to the natives, Captain, unless it should be found that Miss Sheldon is
+still nearby about her own affairs. I can assure you that no harm shall
+befall her--"
+
+"Oh, confound you!" burst out Barry furiously, "all the time it's
+assurances, assurances! Mrs. Goring had me almost crazy with that word;
+now you pile on the agony, and I'm damned if I make another move at your
+suggestion. I'm more interested in the safety of that girl than in
+whatever schemes you have in hand. My business here is--"
+
+"Pardon me, Captain Barry," interrupted Vandersee, with quiet yet utter
+authority, "I understand your business to be the care of your employer's
+best interests. Your interests concerning Miss Sheldon are not precisely
+business, although I am ready to admit without reservation that they do
+you credit. In spite of that, I must remind you that Cornelius Houten's
+vessel is still in the river mud, and your contract calls for her return
+to Batavia or a report from yourself that your expedition has failed."
+Barry gestured wildly, bursting to speak, and Little looked on with a
+puzzled grin.
+
+With a soothing smile the Hollander concluded: "Personally I don't
+believe Miss Sheldon has gone far away. She certainly is not with
+Leyden. So let me assume responsibility for immediate search for her.
+You shall be kept informed. At present my business is with you
+entirely--oh, you too, Mr. Little--and I have come a long distance to
+see you, since my messenger informed me of your near recovery. If you
+will walk back to the post with me, I have a plan to lay before you
+which will be in keeping with your real business and at the same time
+help along the work of cleaning up my own affairs."
+
+Together they retraced their steps, Little accepting the sudden switch
+with his usual good temper, Barry gradually coming out of his dark mood
+under the influence of Vandersee's quiet, capable presence that refused
+to notice temper just then. They reached the main hut and found Gordon
+seated at the table--his own old table of trading days--looking fit and
+well, but wearing an air of intense boredom. He rose as they entered,
+and Vandersee stopped him with outstretched hand.
+
+"Stay here, Gordon," he said, with a kindly smile; "you look almost
+ready for work, hey? Feeling fit again?"
+
+"Fit as a fiddle, thanks to you and Ju--Mrs. Goring," replied Gordon, in
+a voice that rang with the pressure of clean, healthy lungs. "I want to
+do something. I'm infernally weary of this booby trap, playing hospital,
+and climbing trees to go to bed, and laying around like a pampered
+Sybarite. I'm coming out with you when you start again!"
+
+"Not with me, yet," smiled Vandersee, and his eyes twinkled with
+pleasure to see Gordon's complete rejuvenescence. Little and Barry, too,
+stared amazedly at the change in the man, although they had seen
+something of him during their own sicknesses and might have been
+prepared for his improvement. "But I have plenty of work you can do, if
+you don't mind chipping in with the skipper here. D' ye mind, Barry?"
+
+"I'd be glad to have Gordon with me," growled Barry surlily, "if by
+having him I can get into action. I too am weary--weary to death--but
+it's at the mystery and theatrical mumbo-jumbo rather than at inaction.
+What's your scheme now?"
+
+"This, gentlemen." Vandersee produced a folded map and smoothed it out
+on the table. It was a map of Celebes, and across the face of it ran red
+lines. Celebes is shaped like no other island on earth. It is like a
+nightmarish starfish shaved clean of legs on one side. It is nothing but
+a series of peninsulas, and along each peninsula runs a mountain range,
+from which rivers small or fairly big run either way into the sea. It
+was across the peninsula partially drained by the river they were on
+that the red lines were exclusively traced, and Barry noticed with a
+seaman's eye that the marked soundings showed the river survey to have
+been very complete, while less frequent soundings on the ocean side gave
+a condition of bottom utterly obstructive to navigation. He caught
+instantly the significance of the map from a naval viewpoint but was
+puzzled at its significance for him or his ship. He glanced up to find
+Vandersee regarding him intently.
+
+"Good map, Vandersee," he remarked and looked his further question.
+
+"It is a good map, Captain. And I'll show you how it will concern you
+very deeply. Then I have no doubt you will see your duty lies in raising
+the _Barang_ without delay.
+
+"You see the ocean side of this map is poorly surveyed. That is because
+we have decided that the coast offers no attractions for deep vessels.
+The rivers are better--and this is about the best. But over on that
+side--" pointing to the ocean--"lies a thick population, and there is
+Leyden's great opium market. We have driven the traffic away from there;
+at least, we made it impossible for vessels to run the stuff there; but
+there happens to be a tremendous combination of attractions between here
+and there which has caused all this trouble.
+
+"First there is a trail across to here--very bad, but easily passable
+for natives, even fairly well burdened--and then up the mountains, right
+where the trail crosses, gold is found in abundance. Begin to see?" he
+smiled at his audience. They looked rather less puzzled, but still
+uncertain, and he went on:
+
+"Don't you see Leyden's scheme? You, Gordon, know it, of course." Gordon
+flushed uncomfortably, and Vandersee patted him on the arm gently.
+"Well, gentlemen, the first thing was to report a gold find on this
+river. Pardon me, Gordon, if I have to keep mentioning you in this; but
+I think the soreness will wear off in time. The gold find was reported
+to keep Houten quiet, since Gordon was essential in the scheme, and it
+was best to have him remain as Houten's agent than have a change and get
+old Houten out here to see for himself. By the way, it was Leyden's
+greed that at last forced Houten to send you fellows here to search out
+that gold source. Now, Leyden arranged to have carriers from the other
+side come here for their opium, bringing gold in payment for it, and
+Gordon received a share as his payment. He had to send some to Houten,
+to keep the supply of trade goods coming in; but at last Leyden's greed
+got so intense that he forced Gordon here even to pay in trade for the
+small amount of gold he got, and so latterly Houten had not only
+received no gold dust, but his trade goods have shown no profit."
+
+Gordon's face had cleared as the talk went on, and when Vandersee
+finished, he raised his eyes and met the gaze of all of them fearlessly,
+confident in his own recovery from a hateful bondage.
+
+"May I ask if there is anything more against Leyden than opium running?"
+inquired Little quietly.
+
+"No doubt you have heard there is," smiled Vandersee, but his smile was
+sad. "My Government want that business cleaned up, of course. I think
+Houten will be satisfied with your work, when it's finished, and I give
+him my report too; but there is another side to the business which is
+mine entirely, at least until it comes to a head, when you shall all
+share in the harvest. You know, don't you, Gordon?"
+
+The big Hollander appeared sorely agitated, and his utter alteration of
+countenance sent a pang to Barry and Little. They ceased to wonder and
+decided to accept Vandersee without question, when Gordon quietly
+responded: "Yes, God knows I know! And when it's over, gentlemen, you'll
+hate yourselves for ever doubting!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
+
+
+Vandersee folded away his map and then outlined the plan he had formed.
+While he spoke, Gordon shifted uneasily to the other side of the room,
+merely saying, though Little had not spoken:
+
+"Don't look at me like that, Little. I'm clean now, if I wasn't when you
+first met me; please let that be my excuse for the present for anything
+I may have done to offend you or Houten, won't you?"
+
+Little colored deeply and looked embarrassed. He found he had been
+staring rather inquisitively at the man he had come to supersede, and
+with his native courtesy and honesty he thrust his hand over the table
+to grip Gordon's. Neither man uttered another word; but Gordon's eyes
+unmistakably said, "Thank you."
+
+Vandersee watched this little side play, pausing in his explanation,
+then resumed:
+
+"You see, Captain, as long as your brigantine is blocking up the river
+for his schooner, Leyden is not likely to hang around here. And the
+trails over the island are so many and divergent that I believe all the
+men I have at my command can scarcely hope to track every one of his
+gang. Of course, we want him most; but every man of his crew is wanted,
+too, and unless the _Barang_ is raised and moved, to give him hope of
+escape, I'm afraid he will prove slippery for sometime yet. One other
+thing is, that through his cunning and lies, the Mission folk here fully
+believe that Cornelius Houten is the rogue, and their reports to my
+Government are becoming quite harmful to our friend in Batavia.
+
+"I might say here that Houten is on his way to us by now." An
+exclamation of fresh surprise from the skipper halted the big Hollander,
+and Gordon's face went livid again. Vandersee hastened to add: "Don't be
+alarmed, Gordon. You have suffered, and I give you my word that Houten
+fully understands everything." He turned to the rest: "I sent one of my
+runners to the coast with a cable to Houten the moment I knew surely
+that there was no gold in his river. I thought it best.
+
+"Now, Captain Barry, how long will it take to raise your ship?"
+
+"With Rolfe and Blunt and a full crew I can get her afloat in two tides,
+unless her leaks are bigger than her own and some extra pumps can
+check," the skipper replied confidently. "How's the mud here?"
+
+"Mere slime. Pumps ought to suck it out. As for your mates and the crew,
+they are all living in the village. Plenty of huts there now, since most
+of the male natives have gone over to Leyden. Two tides then?"
+
+"Plenty. What do you want me to do with her when she floats?"
+
+"Take her downstream to that swampy creek I pointed out in coming up.
+I'll have some men clear away the grasses at the entrance, and she will
+float inside there easily. You can leave her there, hidden from the
+river, until one is almost abreast of her; and if luck favors us to the
+extent that Leyden falls into the trap, we can haul out quickly and get
+his vessel as she comes down, with all her crimes in evidence aboard of
+her."
+
+"But suppose she slips us before I can get the _Barang_ clear? What of
+Miss Sheldon then, if she's on board?"
+
+"Once more I ask you to rest easy about that, Captain," Vandersee smiled
+back, and suddenly Jack Barry felt complete trust take hold of him. He
+nodded, without further question, and turned to Gordon. "How about you,
+Gordon? Want to lend a hand?"
+
+"To raise your ship? Like a shot, skipper. And the harder the work you
+give me, the better I'll like it. I'm in need of hardening."
+
+The river soon seethed with activity again. Bill Blunt came down from
+the village, leading the crew with great importance, for he was going to
+a job that would call forth all his exhaustive knowledge of the sailor's
+craft. Jerry Rolfe scouted for boats, and by half-ebb tide the
+_Barang's_ wet decks were filled with men.
+
+Rigging extra pumps occupied all the time until low water, and as the
+sluggish stream paused at slack, just before turning, every available
+hand in the ship ground away on brakes and chain pumps until the old
+brigantine gushed yellow water at every scupper. Barry, hanging over the
+hatch coaming, peered anxiously into the dark hold, hoping against hope
+that the pumps were gaining. The sight of swirling waters that surged
+upward from the sides and spread oilily over the lowering surface proved
+that the leaks were too serious to be completely checked, and it was
+necessary to do something else.
+
+"Have to send divers over and try to plug those leaks," he announced and
+stared doubtfully at the panting crew. Gordon asked some questions of
+Rolfe, then stepped beside the skipper.
+
+"You can see about where they are, can't you, Barry?" he asked, peering
+down at the foul water inside the ship.
+
+"So far, yes. But they must be near water line, or the rascals could
+never have made 'em. Unluckily we can't raise her to her water line; and
+I hate to send men down into that slime. It might mean suffocation.
+Don't you smell the gas?"
+
+"But why not outside?"
+
+"Too smooth, Gordon. Inside there are stringers and frames to claw on to
+while feeling around; outside her skin is too slick for anything except
+a barnacle to grab hold of."
+
+Gordon coolly flung off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. And
+little, at first not seeing the move, suddenly sprang to join him,
+throwing aside his own clothes with a whoop of joy.
+
+"Gosh, Barry! Why didn't you say you needed a fish?"
+
+The skipper grinned at him in spite of his uneasiness at letting men go
+down there and shrugged his shoulders resignedly.
+
+"Go ahead, both of you. If Gordon's as much at home in the water as I've
+seen you, our job is done. Don't know how I forgot your mudlark
+proclivities, Little."
+
+There was a glow of enthusiasm on Gordon's face as he followed Little
+over the hatch coaming, and Barry thrilled to see it. There was needed
+no better proof of the man's complete emancipation from the alcoholic
+curse that had made him a willing and pliable tool in Leyden's crooked
+schemes. For a moment the skipper watched the two men, not quite
+satisfied of their safety, ready in an instant to order them up or go
+after them himself, should they get into trouble. But he was soon
+reassured. First Little came up, snorted choking mud from his nostrils,
+inhaled a breath of clean air, and plunged down again. Gordon followed,
+and at the second plunge both reported having found a leak.
+
+"Holes about an inch across, in groups of five in a space as big as a
+plate, skipper," gasped Little, resting before taking another dive
+farther forward. Gordon had found a similar leak; and another search
+discovered a series of such places running half the length of the ship.
+
+"Holy smoke!" growled Barry in wonderment. "Must have had twenty water
+rats working on her to do that in such a short time. Rolfe must have
+been dreaming not to hear anything."
+
+But Rolfe and Bill Blunt were away in the boats, picking up the upstream
+anchor which could not be hove in, simply because the ship could not be
+brought over it. And watching their arduous labor, Barry put aside his
+rising irritation and postponed the warm reproof he was bursting to hurl
+at them. Instead, he set men busily to work making plugs for the holes,
+and when the pumps were still for the moment he dropped into a canoe
+alongside and paddled down to join the boats.
+
+"Got it, hey?" he remarked, nodding with approval as Blunt's boat hauled
+the great anchor dripping between his boat and Rolfe's, where the mate's
+crew made it fast, swinging on both gunwales by a baulk of timber laid
+across, ready to be either let go again, or taken under the brigantine's
+bows and hove up with the windlass.
+
+"She sartainly sucks hard, sir," said Blunt, straightening his broad
+back and taking out a huge plug of tobacco. "If that there mud sticks to
+th' ship like it stuck to this yer mudhook, then we'll need sheer-legs
+to raise her, Cap'n."
+
+"Saw a pile o' empty oil drums behind the stockade," rumbled Jerry
+Rolfe, avoiding the skipper's eye as if expecting to hear some scathing
+comment on the ship's situation.
+
+"How many?" Bill Blunt demanded, without waiting for Barry to speak. "Be
+they big uns? Is ther' plenty of 'em? Holy Sailor! Beg pardon, Cap'n,
+but them's what we want, ain't they, now?"
+
+"What can you do with them, Blunt? You'd need a thousand to raise the
+_Barang_ a foot. And how will you fasten them? Can't get lines under the
+keel."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir, fer a-shovin' in me oar," returned Bill, with a
+grotesque tug at his forelock. "I seen som'at o' the sort done once,
+though, an' if so be as you ses so, I'll do me best, sir."
+
+"Oh, go ahead, Blunt. Go right ahead. I suppose whatever you do won't
+put her in any worse a pickle. No doubt she'll come up herself when the
+holes are plugged and the pumps get going again."
+
+They pulled aboard the _Barang_, and while the boats were sent ashore to
+bring down all the empty drums, Bill Blunt assumed a comical air of
+study and thought out his plan. He first asked about the holes and what
+had been done with them. By this time the tide had risen a foot, and the
+plugs were almost ready to be driven in. Barry watched the old fellow
+with a grin, and when Bill began to count laboriously on his gnarled
+fingers, stepping from the bulwarks to the hatch and back again, peering
+over the side and down the hold, the skipper said with mock apology:
+
+"I suppose you're wondering why we're going to drive in the plugs from
+inside, hey?"
+
+"No, sir. I never wonders at what my skipper does. It's allus right.
+That's what you be skipper fer, I take it. No, sir. I sees as it ain't
+easy to drive plugs into holes as you can't reach, and them holes seems
+to be away below the mud outside. Course, some clever sharks as I knows
+on might say as you was wrong, and that the water outside 'ud drive them
+plugs back into the belly o' the wessel. But 'tain't so. No, sir." The
+ancient mariner maintained his bearlike pacing to and from the hatch,
+and his speech was astonishingly longwinded for him; still he kept on
+chattering, and presently Barry began to listen with real interest, and
+Little and Gordon, waiting for the plugs, stared at the sailor in awed
+admiration.
+
+"No, sir," went on Bill, "them plugs has to be druv from inside; an'
+makin' free, genelmen, I'd make 'em twice as long as them you have
+ready."
+
+"Twice as long?" snorted Barry. "D' you mean these are all useless?"
+
+"P'raps not quite useless, Cap'n, but they ain't no blessed good, an' I
+bet my head on that. See, if you drives all them plugs well through her,
+and they sticks out good an' proper outside, it ain't so hard to grope
+around under the mud an' grab a holt on 'em. Then 'tain't very hard,
+genelmen, to paddle away a bit o' mud about each bunch o' plugs, an'
+when that's done, 'tis about all done. I'll lash a wire to them long
+plugs, and stretch her right along th' ship. That keeps them plugs in,
+don't it? an' it's some'at to hang short lines to, ain't it? Werry well
+then; say we has a hundred or two hundred short lines bent on to that
+wire, genelmen, an' on each short line is a hempty drum, bunged up
+tight--"
+
+"And at dead low water next tide we fasten those drums down short, the
+tide 'll help raise her, hey?" finished Barry, persuaded that it might
+be done. "But how about the other side?"
+
+"She don't matter, sir," the old fellow asserted. "We got plenty o' time
+afore next tide. Plenty o' time to cut fresh plugs an' git lines ready.
+Then when tide rises again, them drums 'll roll her over if they won't
+lift her. Ain't it easy then to get at them leaks? Better'n layin' her
+ashore somewheres fer caulking, if yuh don't know this yer river very
+well."
+
+Barry needed but one minute to see how infinitely better was the old
+sailor's plan than the one he had formed himself. Merely to raise the
+vessel and then to lay her on the alongshore flats to stop the leaks,
+left a serious loophole for the swift escape of the schooner; but the
+simple scheme of Bill Blunt left the _Barang_ in her blockading position
+until she was fit to move anywhere under her own sail power.
+
+The river rose rapidly after half-tide, and it had reached full height
+by the time the fresh plugs were ready and the wire and short lines
+prepared. Evening fell, too, before the stream turned again, and the
+hands rested against the time when Gordon and Little could get down to
+driving in the plugs.
+
+Then the work was resumed with feverish haste, for much small detail in
+the dim light took plenty of time. The old brigantine rang and rumbled
+to the thumps of hammers below, sometimes ringing clearly until the
+hammers struck beneath the water, then sounding dull and soggy as iron
+met wet wood. Over the side Blunt hung on to a line and felt for the
+outer ends of the plugs with his bare prehensile toes; then, lowering
+himself still more, he paddled industriously in the liquid mud until he
+had cleared a space around one bunch of plugs. Afterwards it was simply
+a matter of setting the crew to work right along the line, and long
+before the river reached its lowest level again, nimble fingers had
+firmly seized a strong wire rope to the long plugs stretching along more
+than a third of the ship's length.
+
+Then came low water, and every man in the ship except Gordon and
+Little--too exhausted from their own submerged labors to be of much use
+for a while--went to work fastening the tight empty drums to the wire by
+their short lines, until the ship's side rumbled to the bobbing of the
+waters like an immense tom-tom.
+
+"All right here, sir," reported Blunt from forward. "All right aft,"
+echoed the mate, and Barry ordered all hands aboard.
+
+"Now pump her!" he cried, and the muggy air of the night throbbed to the
+clank of the brakes.
+
+The decks gushed with water that became more and more plain mud as the
+water lowered in the hold; the sounding rods showed the decrease inside
+to have at last overcome the outside rise; still Barry, looking
+anxiously overboard, saw no sign of the vessel rising herself. That mud
+held like Fate. Jerry Rolfe remained forward, in readiness to drive his
+watch to making sail or anchoring, should the ship actually float beyond
+expectations; Bill Blunt hung over the rail beside the skipper, and
+Little and Gordon joined them in silent wonder, neither of them quite
+clear about the results of this queer undertaking.
+
+"Say, Barry," whispered Little, unable to keep quiet any longer, "if she
+rises as you expect, won't she float entirely? What's the necessity of
+all this drum business? The leaks are plugged, and she either floats or
+she don't, so far as I can see."
+
+"Went up under sail on top o' high water, sir; slid through mud as is
+hardening like glue, an' she ain't got drift enough to suck clear,"
+replied Blunt, taking the answer out of Barry's mouth. He had seen the
+skipper's increasing doubts and felt the need of speech to ease his own
+impatience. "If she rolls up wi' them drums, genelmen, she'll bust a
+hole fer herself, d' ye see?"
+
+Pop!--Boom!
+
+"There's a drum bust loose!" cried Rolfe from the foredeck.
+
+The increasing strain had broken a small line, and the released drum
+popped to the surface, letting its fellows in the bunch come together
+under water with a hollow crash.
+
+"Can't do anything but hold on," growled Barry, all but convinced that
+every drum would burst loose before that horrible mud let go. And so
+they watched, every eye, and still the pumps clanged and clattered;
+still their feet were sluiced with out-gushing liquid that was now
+merely slime. And then the first pump sucked--sucked hoarsely and
+throatily--and another, and another--yet the mud clung tenaciously to
+the vessel's keel and bilges.
+
+"She rises! Th' bloomin' ol' lady rises!" roared Blunt, and Barry stared
+at him in disgust. No other ears had heard, no other eyes had seen, the
+signs that the old seaman had sensed above the sucking of the pumps.
+
+"She rises, I tell ye!"
+
+Then from the swirling water alongside, rising swiftly as the tide made,
+came a long, hollow sound like a Gargantuan boot being tugged out of a
+morass. The _Barang_ moved, shivered, and heeled slightly; then came one
+tremendous, prolonged sucking sound, and she rolled lazily over until
+the drums floated high on the surface and rattled together like drums of
+victory.
+
+"Guy out the booms to keep her down!" shouted Barry; "Rolfe! shift
+everything heavy over to that side, too. You, Blunt, get a boat away and
+carry out a kedge astern. When you're through, set a watch on deck and
+let the hands turn in. We can fix the leaks in a couple of hours in
+daylight at low water again. Thanks, Blunt! You're one real sailor,
+anyway."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
+
+
+Gordon took the canoe and went ashore to sleep after the work was
+finished; the _Barang_ was the epitome of malodorous discomfort after
+her submersion, and even the crew preferred to coil up on deck rather
+than risk the dampness and possible intruding river life of the
+forecastle. Little looked at the departing canoe with humorous envy in
+his face, for he had not yet reached the point in sea-hardness where he
+preferred an uncomfortable bunk on board the ship to a comfortable couch
+ashore.
+
+"Want to go with him?" queried Barry, shuddering himself at the prospect
+of a steamy wet night to be followed by a chilly damp dawn without a dry
+covering. "Call him back then."
+
+"Not I!" retorted Little. "Think I'm no better a sailor than that, after
+all I've learnt? Shame on you, Jack Barry! Me, I eat oakum and drink
+tar, and if I can't sleep in water, I'll keep awake. Turn in, you poor
+old fish. I'll keep watch."
+
+Barry went into the deckhouse, grinning, and the watch was set, leaving
+the brigantine to the silent night. Little curled up inside the
+deckhouse also, but shivering at the touch of sodden couches, he
+returned to the deck outside and fell to pacing back and forth in hope
+of adding to the fatigue earned in the hold. Tired he was--even to
+pain--but while his limbs would keep still when he lay down, his eyes
+refused to close, and every tiny sound from nearby waters or distant
+jungle hummed and burbled in his ears until his head was full of waking
+thoughts that absolutely prohibited sleep.
+
+He gave up the struggle after a short while and determined to remain
+awake. The whimsical idea came to him that by so resolving he would
+surely drop asleep. But with the resolve came a wider wakefulness; and
+as the lagging moments crept by, he found a new interest in the vague
+and shadowy outline of the _Padang_ at the wharf. The schooner was
+deserted to the eye, even in daylight. Certainly there were a few men
+aboard her, and a watchman never failed to oppose an attempt to mount
+the gangway, but visible activity had been absent from her vicinity for
+days. Now Little found himself watching her dark blurr with keen vision,
+and the feeling stole upon him that she was full of men.
+
+There were no audible voices to convince him. Rather it was an
+indefinable murmur that rose from her decks, an aura of sound. Sight
+gave him no corroboration, although he went aloft halfway to the main
+crosstrees with the shrewd idea that by so doing he would secure a
+downward sight that must surely reveal a gleam in the skylight if any of
+her official crew were in the cabin.
+
+He saw nothing, but Little was no longer a complete greenhorn. "Covered
+the skylight up, of course!" he muttered, and watched the schooner
+closer yet because of his decision.
+
+At length, after an age of watching that made his eyes hot and weary, he
+caught a swift, almost fanciful, yet undoubted flash of light at a
+porthole in the quarter. It was the sort of flash that would be seen
+through an imperfectly curtained porthole of a stateroom if the door
+from the lighted saloon were quickly opened and shut.
+
+"Cabin's occupied, that's sure!" decided Little and ran to wake Barry.
+
+"Losing no time, are they?" muttered the skipper, waking in an instant
+with all his senses alert. He concluded that Leyden's men had watched
+the operation of raising the _Barang_, and everything was being held
+ready for a dash down the river the moment the raised vessel swung aside
+from the channel. Together the two friends peered at the schooner,
+striving to distinguish more than bare hints of sound or sight; then
+suddenly the hum ceased; not suddenly, either, but as if a crowd of men
+walked away, chattering as they went, and gradually passed beyond
+earshot.
+
+"Say, Barry, isn't that a tiny streak o' light about where the forward
+stateroom porthole should be?" whispered Little presently.
+
+"I don't see it--wait, get my night glasses from the companionway." The
+glasses rendered the schooner perfectly clear as to outline; they
+revealed a ship deserted to all outward sign; but they also revealed a
+slender streak of light where Little's keen eyes had detected it.
+
+"You're right!" said Barry. "That's a light supposed to be covered by
+the curtains, and badly done or purposely foozled. I'm going over to
+look--see. Coming?"
+
+"What d' ye suppose? Think Miss Sheldon may be there?"
+
+"Just what I do think. And I'm going to find out. If she's there under
+restraint, I'm going to haul her out if it busts all Vandersee's plans
+higher than a kite. If she's there of her own free will, she can stay,
+and I'll wish her good luck of her choice. Here, give me a hand with
+this paint punt; it's the smallest thing that'll carry us."
+
+A paint punt is a small, flat, square-ended raft with raised sides, used
+for floating around a ship's water line to renew the boot-topping paint.
+A single oar, used as a scull, a pair of oars, or a paddle, are all
+equally capable of navigating such a craft; and Barry and Little shoved
+off with a paddle apiece, sending the tiny float softly and easily
+across the river. They entered the patch of shadow cast by the schooner
+and dipped their paddles with greater caution. But no challenge greeted
+them; they pulled up under the overhanging stern of the vessel itself
+without obstruction.
+
+And as they reached the side, the tiny streak of light above their
+heads vanished,--not as if suddenly curtained, but as if utterly
+extinguished.
+
+"Here, look around for something to get up by," whispered Barry, hauling
+the punt along the side by digging his fingers into the above-water
+seams which the long sun-blistering had opened. The main rigging was the
+first available means of access, and the skipper clambered nimbly into
+the channels, making no more noise than a cat. He raised himself above
+the rail and peered down upon dark, mysterious decks, untouched by a
+single ray of relieving light. And his breath stopped painfully at the
+shadowy sight that struck upon his senses out of the darkness: silent,
+ghostlike shapes that moved as noiselessly as shadows themselves,
+vanishing over the open main hatchway,--two score even as he watched.
+And vague as it all was, he knew that they were no sailors, nor even
+Mission natives; their headdress and crouching gait betrayed them as
+natives from the interior.
+
+Barry glared helplessly, fearing to move either way lest he make some
+noise that should attract these jungle-men to his own disaster; and
+again his popping eyes stretched wider, and all his muscles quivered,
+for out of the schooner's main cabin, by way of the main-deck doors,
+stepped a figure in white, a female figure, walking quickly across the
+deck to the gangway.
+
+"It's Natalie!" breathed Barry, bewildered. He watched the girl until
+she topped the gangway and went down it, a vision of utter freedom and
+ease of mind. He dropped silently into the punt and startled Little with
+his news.
+
+"Just visiting, hey?" remarked the salesman. "Seems to like his company,
+anyway. Suppose we'd better leave her to her own affairs."
+
+"I suppose so," growled Barry forlornly. "Let's shove in under the wharf
+a minute, Little. I want to say something to her. She's going to the
+post, apparently, and here it is long past midnight."
+
+"Go ahead," grunted Little. "Barry, if we ever come across one single
+man in this goose chase that isn't wrapped in mystery, I'll kiss him, by
+Hokey!"
+
+They drew the punt under the wharf well astern of the schooner,
+wondering, with all those men on board, why the _Padang_ kept so
+careless a watch. Barry climbed up a pile and walked swiftly in the
+direction of the stockade, to intercept Natalie, and soon he saw a white
+figure hurrying towards him. He stepped out with a greeting and an
+excuse, and for the second time in ten minutes received a shock that
+almost paralyzed speech.
+
+The woman was not Natalie--it was Mrs. Goring--and her face showed
+confusion at meeting him.
+
+"I beg your pardon--I thought you were Miss Sheldon," stammered the
+skipper, doffing his hat awkwardly.
+
+"Did you really expect to meet Miss Sheldon at this hour of the night,
+here?" she returned. Her tone was sharp.
+
+"No, but I was near the schooner, and thought I saw her come ashore.
+You know the last thing I heard of her was that she had vanished. It was
+natural that I should want to see her, wasn't it?"
+
+"Oh, forgive me, Captain," the woman cried, and she was again the cheery
+friend. "I had forgotten that. Of course. Well, I'm sorry for your
+disappointment. But shouldn't you be on board your ship, Captain? I
+believe there is something about to move on that schooner."
+
+It was perfectly plain that Mrs. Goring did not intend to be
+communicative regarding her own errand or business with the schooner.
+Barry felt that, and bit back the impatient speech that welled to his
+lips. Whatever this woman turned out to be in the end, it was certain
+that at present Barry was not in her complete confidence any more than
+he was in Vandersee's; and after all, his own affairs were solely
+concerned in his ship. But he knew, apparently, a detail that she did
+not.
+
+"Let 'em start something, Mrs. Goring," he replied sourly. "They can do
+no more now than during the past week. My ship still lies across the
+channel, even though she is raised. She stays there, at least until
+ready to move in any direction."
+
+"Oh, I wish I had known that an hour ago!" the woman cried. "Are you
+sure?"
+
+"I am her skipper and should be sure," he retorted and continued: "Well,
+if you've left something undone, there's lots of time to repair the
+omission. From what I can see you have undisputed entry to the
+schooner. It's easy to go aboard again, isn't it?"
+
+"Captain, you are very patient, but you have not yet learned to believe
+in your friends," she replied very softly and with a world of
+tenderness. "You are angry now, and really I can't blame you. But if it
+will ease your mind and prevent you worrying continually, I can tell you
+that Miss Sheldon is found--is not far away--and is safe. What I said
+about knowing of your situation an hour ago simply concerned Natalie's
+comfort, which might have been provided for more fully."
+
+"Oh, I don't pretend any more to understand anything," Barry replied,
+"so must accept what you say without question. I might ask how it
+happens that you are so free of the _Padang_, but I won't. Live and
+learn--wait and see! Good night, Mrs. Goring."
+
+"Good night, Captain," she cried back at him, and so utterly relieved
+was her tone that the skipper dropped down upon Little, swearing like a
+half-smothered coal heaver with hot irritation.
+
+"What's biting you now?" grinned Little.
+
+"Shove off and shut up!" retorted Barry and dug his paddle furiously
+into the river, careless of noise.
+
+They reached the brigantine without having raised a sound from the
+schooner; but they saw no more lights aboard her, and the chill dawn
+broke and found all hands busy while yet the skipper wrestled with his
+bewilderment. Little kept away from him, until they met while taking a
+little food as the sun came up; then his bursting curiosity got the
+better of his restraint.
+
+"Don't be so darned grumpy, Barry," he protested. "Didn't I share the
+trip? Ain't I entitled to know what happened?"
+
+Barry grimly related his experience on the wharf, and as he spoke he
+detected a light in Little's wide eyes that grew from astonishment at
+his tale to unbelieving contempt for his own denseness. "What's the joke
+now?" he demanded bearishly.
+
+"Gee-hos-o'-phat!" gasped Little. "D' ye mean to say you didn't tumble
+to it? Why, man alive, because you saw Mrs. Goring leaving the schooner
+at midnight, when you expected to see Miss Sheldon, that don't prove
+Miss Sheldon wasn't aboard there!"
+
+"Hey, Rolfe!" the skipper roared, "keep an eye on that schooner and
+hurry up with those leaks! Stand by until I get back!"
+
+In a couple of minutes Barry was in the punt and well away from the
+ship, paddling swiftly towards the wharf astern of the schooner. He tied
+up his tiny craft, ran along to the _Padang's_ gangway, and mounted to
+her deck with arms swinging and fists tight, determined to meet any
+opposition with force.
+
+And he found his entry ridiculously easy. A little brown man at the
+gangway grating stared at him with faint interest; another little brown
+man stepped aside for him at the main-deck doors to the cabin, and
+neither of them showed either concern or hostility. For a moment this
+very circumstance halted Barry, whose temper had not entirely burned up
+his shrewdness. He made the rest of his way to the saloon with caution,
+but without any more hesitation, and while his hand closed on the pistol
+in his pocket he kept it there. He listened for pattering feet, or
+closing doors; but no trap was sprung on him, and he entered the great
+saloon and was brought to an abrupt stand at sight of Miss Sheldon
+sitting calmly and comfortably at the table engaged on some trifle of
+feminine sewing.
+
+"Good morning, Captain," she said brightly, rising and extending her
+hand. "This is an unexpected visit, isn't it?"
+
+"I expect so," he returned, gazing hard into her smiling face. As her
+smile grew brighter, his own face darkened, until she began to look
+embarrassed at his boorish temper. "I want you to tell me, once for all,
+Miss Sheldon, that you are here of your own choice and free will," he
+blurted out. "If I'm uncivil or rude, excuse me. I can't feel any other
+way until I know this. Ever since you were reported missing, I pictured
+you in trouble, and I have been told not to worry about you. Do you
+think I could avoid worrying?"
+
+He met her eyes with a troubled stare, and he gulped at the expression
+that had come into her face. She smiled at him still; and in the smile
+was a depth of kindness and great pity that illy matched her words.
+
+"Two days ago I should have cared little whether any one worried or not,
+Captain," she said quietly. "Now I value your interest; yet I must tell
+you that I am here entirely of my free will and remain here of my own
+choice."
+
+"And Leyden?" Barry choked it out.
+
+"I have not seen him recently; but I hope to see him here very soon,
+Captain." Again that wonderful pity glowed in Natalie's eyes and made
+the puzzle more puzzling yet for Barry. Since he had first met her, he
+had never seen anything so flattering to himself in her face as this;
+yet it was utterly contrary to her expressed thoughts.
+
+"And truly, I am glad to see you, Captain Barry," she added, "but for
+your own safety and my own comfort I must beg of you not to remain here.
+Every minute that you are away from your ship is vital to all of us."
+
+"All of us? I dare say. But which of us?" he demanded. "I don't know a
+thing about this muddle of motives, but I do know that my ship and
+yourself are my two vital interests, Miss Sheldon. I will go immediately
+if you will prove to me that you are really at liberty; that you are a
+free agent and can leave this ship if you really want to. If that is so,
+I have no further concern with your affairs."
+
+The girl stepped out on deck without a word, but in her glorious eyes
+beamed a light that Jack Barry would have given an eye to see with the
+other. She walked down the gangway, turned to await him, then smiled
+softly at him and said:
+
+"There, Captain. Does that satisfy you? Let me tell you that I am
+comfortable, quite safe, and wholly desirous of your good success and
+happiness. Good-by now; I cannot keep you longer."
+
+Jack Barry stumbled away towards the stockade like a man in a trance.
+Here was mystery piled on mystery. Natalie Sheldon, at liberty on board
+Leyden's schooner, happy and comfortable, yet being visited at midnight
+by Mrs. Goring, friend of Leyden's fiercest foe, and wishing the
+_Barang's_ skipper success and happiness!
+
+Barry plunged straight along for the stockade gate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN
+
+
+Inside the main hut the skipper burst upon a little tableau that sent
+him hastily back with apologies in place of the hot inquiries he had
+prepared. Gordon and Mrs. Goring were standing in the middle of the hut,
+and the man's arms were holding the woman closely, while her face,
+upturned to his, glowed with a love that irradiated the place. They
+started at the intrusion; then, recognizing their visitor, Gordon called
+to him.
+
+"Don't run away, Barry. I'm coming on board with you."
+
+"Yes, wait a moment, Captain," Mrs. Goring rejoined. "I have something
+for you."
+
+Barry returned, doubting the good of anything that might be for him. But
+Mrs. Goring took something from the table and went to him, smiling.
+
+"There, Captain," she said, proffering the thing she had picked up. "You
+may have it now."
+
+Barry took from her the picture of Natalie Sheldon that had been stolen
+from his chronometer case on the voyage from Surabaya. He stared at it,
+then at the giver, and from one to the other in a daze.
+
+"How did you get this?" he stammered helplessly.
+
+"Oh, it came to me," she smiled. "You will know how, all in good time.
+But I can tell you why you lost it, if you care to know. It was stolen
+from you--as you stole it yourself, you know," she rippled--"but with
+different motives. You lost it in order that you might be kept hot in
+the service of its original."
+
+"Then it worked! Have I ever cooled? It seems to me that I have been
+required to keep cold and hold off."
+
+"Yes, Captain. Events have turned out rather differently from our
+expectations, but they are running smoothly now. You may safely have the
+picture. And I believe you will find little restraint upon your actions
+from now on."
+
+The skipper gazed at the photograph for some time without speaking, then
+he laid it down on the table and said quietly:
+
+"I don't want it now. If that picture ever takes a place in my cabin
+again, it will be placed there by Miss Sheldon. That is not very likely
+to happen. Thank you, just the same, Mrs. Goring, and if I never know
+how it was lost, it won't bother me much. I'll go aboard and move my
+ship down river. Coming, Gordon?"
+
+Gordon embraced Mrs. Goring again and kissed her, totally unembarrassed
+by Barry's presence, then followed the skipper out and down to the
+wharf. As they paddled out to the ship, Barry eyed the schooner narrowly
+but saw nothing unusual aboard her. He wondered about all those silent
+figures he had seen entering her hold the night before; but somehow in
+the past hour he had lost much of his interest in Leyden's ship. He felt
+a growing desire to get away out of the river into the clean salt ocean.
+
+The _Barang's_ crew had made great progress with their work; and Rolfe
+hailed as they approached the side to say that the ship was ready to
+drop down at high water. Out in midstream Bill Blunt and a boat's crew
+were returning after laying out an anchor to a great coir-fiber hawser,
+springy and stout, and a glance at the shores showed rapidly rising
+water.
+
+"Get a strain on the hawser and keep taking in," ordered Barry as soon
+as he got on deck. "Gordon, if you want to harden up, take a handspike
+and have a turn at the capstan. Where's Little, Rolfe?"
+
+"Little?" Jerry Rolfe looked alarmed. "I haven't seen Mr. Little since
+you went ashore, sir."
+
+"I seen him a-swimmin' over by the schooner, awhile agone," remarked
+Blunt, bringing the boat painter aft to make the boat fast astern. "I
+thought he wuz goin' arter you, sir."
+
+Barry suddenly renewed his interest in the _Padang_. Smothering a curse
+at Little's meddlesomeness, he snatched up his glasses and focussed them
+on the schooner. There was nothing to be seen out of the ordinary; but
+as he looked, that indescribable hum arose from her deck, and it
+intensified to a snarl. Then a flying figure appeared at the schooner's
+rail, and Little leaped over and into the yellow river with a yell.
+
+As he struck the water, a shower of missiles followed him, and throwing
+clubs and short spears whizzed around his ears. He came up from his
+plunge into the midst of potent death, and with something like the
+cheery yell with which he had greeted the alligators, he took in a great
+breath and dived again, coming up the next time halfway to the _Barang_.
+So with successive plunges he approached, and after the second discharge
+of missiles from the schooner, he was permitted to reach his ship in
+peace. He clambered aboard, grinning sheepishly, and Barry met him with
+no word of praise, congratulation, or censure, but with a wide-open
+stare of fresh amazement.
+
+"Who are they?" the skipper gasped.
+
+"Cannibals, I think," grinned Little. "Am I all here?"
+
+The schooner's rails were bare of heads again; but while Little was
+being bombarded, all eyes had stared wonderingly at a line of tufted
+headdresses surmounting faces belonging to inland savages.
+
+"They're what I saw last night, going into the hold," said Barry. "But
+they didn't bother me, Little. How did you stir 'em up?"
+
+"I don't know. I clambered aboard, thinking to find you there. I just
+took a peep down the hatchway and must have interrupted some ceremony.
+There was a white man powwowing to 'em--no, it wasn't Leyden--and one of
+'em grunted when he saw me, and the white chap sicced 'em after me.
+Gosh! but I'm getting all the joy out o' life!"
+
+"I've got all I want for the present," growled Barry sourly. "Perhaps
+I'll feel better out of sight of this post and that schooner."
+
+"Not going to quit, are you?" Little gasped, staring at his friend with
+horror. "Is this the bold Jack Barry I picked out on the dock fer a
+partner?"
+
+"Quit nothing! I'm going to see this thing through, but I'll follow
+Vandersee from now on. I wouldn't bother that schooner again on my own
+account for all the gold that ever came out of Celebes. If Leyden starts
+something, I'll meet him; but for my personal part he is welcome to keep
+what he's got aboard there."
+
+
+In mid-forenoon the _Barang_ yielded to the strain on her hawser and
+slid into deep water. A faint breeze downstream filled her sails, and
+slowly she swept around the bend out of sight of the post. Barry had
+watched the pilotage coming up, and conned his ship down with the
+knowledge gained, bringing up abreast of the swampy creek pointed out by
+Vandersee shortly after the noon meal. He stared at the place in doubt
+for a moment, then cried out to Little with utter relief.
+
+"This is the first time I've felt easy in weeks! See that? Vandersee
+said he'd have the entrance cleared. It's like magic. You could float a
+thousand-tonner in there now!"
+
+Vandersee had kept his word. The creek, which had been hidden behind a
+maze of swamp grass when the _Barang_ entered the river, now lay fair
+and open, and a boat sent in to sound reported water enough for her
+full-load draft. And as the vessel was slowly warped in, two great
+mooring posts were found in the shore at precisely the best place for
+her to lay. Still there was no visible sign of the big Hollander
+himself.
+
+"Come on down to the entrance awhile," said Barry to Gordon and Little,
+when the vessel was moored. "There must be somebody or something to give
+us a lead. We were never sent down here just to lie idle, and unless
+Leyden means to carry his schooner to sea with those cannibals as crew,
+she can't be ready to leave yet."
+
+"I expect you know as much as I do, Barry," put in Gordon, "but it might
+help if I mentioned that news came down from Van last night that his men
+had got the opium chaps in a semicircle and were driving them quickly
+towards the river."
+
+"Leyden, too?"
+
+"I understand you saw Miss Sheldon on the schooner, Captain," replied
+Gordon.
+
+"Oh, do cut out the riddles!" snapped Barry. "Can't you answer a
+straight question either? What has Miss Sheldon got to do with Leyden
+being driven this way?"
+
+"He is not being driven. He's too smart for that. He is coming down of
+his own free will and will come the sooner because Miss Sheldon has
+accepted guest's quarters in his ship."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+Barry made no further remark but led the way back to the point where the
+main river rolled by in full sight. Both banks of the creek were rank
+with lush jungle; great, warped trees seemed to stagger, so gnarled were
+their trunks; while immense beards of moss depended from their hideous
+branches almost to the water. A sullen, ominous splash under the bank
+was sufficient warning against frivolous bathing.
+
+They stood on a tiny patch of bare ground at the mouth of the creek and
+gazed far up and down the turbid stream, sending up its simmering steam
+under a hot sun, and evil with feverish reek. Little stood with his back
+to a lone tree in the bare patch of earth and pulled his hat over his
+eyes to shade them from the water's glare, and something touched him on
+the shoulder from above.
+
+"Ouch!" he yelled, springing away in deadly fear of great serpents that
+roosted in such trees as that. He looked up, and his companions stared
+at him in amusement. And a long, lean, brown arm reached down, and in
+the skinny, black-nailed hand a stick was gripped,--a stick such as had
+once before been handed to Jerry Rolfe in the jungle.
+
+"Big fella talk," came a thin voice from the tree limb. "Look-see. Me
+lookout."
+
+Almost proof now against surprise, Barry took the stick and unrolled the
+leaf cover. It was a brief note, signed Vandersee, and read: "Leyden has
+learned my plans. He knows where you have laid your ship. Will attack
+you to-night with inland savages. Have no fear. I shall be close by.
+Halt Houten and take him on your ship."
+
+Again that thin voice from the tree, and the long, skinny arm handed
+down a second stick, more bulky than the other.
+
+"Gib to odder big fella. You no see. He for Missy Houten."
+
+"Everything laid out like a stage set," chuckled Little. "We are surely
+horning in on the deep, deep stuff, skipper. I suppose Houten will drop
+in on us next, appearing out of a pink cloud, or something. Golly!
+Houten with cherub's wings riding down on a pink cloudlet!" he laughed
+outright. Cornelius Houten wasn't built for wings.
+
+"Time enough when he comes, and it doesn't matter how," returned Barry.
+"Main thing is that at last there is something definite to do. Say--" he
+called into the tree--"suppose you see ship you tell me, hey? Suppose
+see big fella, allee same, hey?"
+
+"Me here for dat, sar. You no bodder, Tuuan. I tell you."
+
+The quiet, utterly unruffled, pipelike voice filled the three white men
+with confidence, and it was a new Jack Barry that led the way back to
+the ship and prepared her for defense against the promised attack.
+Little received the orders with his own matchless grin of boyish
+expectation; but Gordon's handsome face took on a look of serious
+purpose that gave deep thought to the skipper. And another surprise was
+in store for Barry, for Gordon suddenly gripped his hand, looked
+straight and hard into his eyes, and said with a depth of earnestness
+that thrilled:
+
+"Here is to be the scene of such a retribution as will settle a dozen
+crimes in one. Now I can tell you, Barry, that your happiness is not
+lost, as you think. My own is so near that I must tell you this, for you
+have been such a good sport all through a maze of subterfuge that would
+easily have disgusted another man. Don't ask me more; but this much I
+tell you, so that you can make your plans with an easy mind."
+
+"All right, Gordon," Barry laughed easily. "Thanks for the kind thought;
+but I have quit worrying over the future. At present I'm simply going to
+carry out orders and fight for my ship. I'll gladly find a good place
+for you if you'll tell me what you prefer--risk or safety."
+
+"Safety? Say, Barry, I want to be placed, if possible, where I can do
+good work without getting popped off by some footling little arrow
+before the big game arrives. That's the only safety I want. I don't ask
+to be guarded even to secure that; but if I can keep on my feet until
+Vandersee comes, I'll die happy. That's how I feel."
+
+"Vandersee? You mean Leyden, don't you?"
+
+"Both. They'll get here together, skipper. Oh, I know."
+
+"I see," returned Barry shortly, and set about his plans.
+
+Bill Blunt was called into the consultation, for the old shellback had
+established his worth as a man of action. The _Barang_ could muster
+sixteen men besides the skipper, mate, Little, Gordon, and
+Blunt,--twenty-one in all. And the surrounding land offered a vast and
+impenetrable concealment for foes from that side.
+
+"An' that's whar she'll bust, genelmen," stated Blunt with decision.
+"Cos why? Y' see, I figgers as the only reason why they wants to bust us
+up at all in this yer crick is to stop up a-sailin' out an' ketchin'
+that schooner as she passes. Ain' that it, cap'n?"
+
+"No doubt of it, Blunt."
+
+"Well, then, if so be as it's inland savages as is to do it, they ain't
+werry fond o' water fightin', they ain't. Don't I know 'em? I tromped
+clear through their country afore the cap'n found me and I knows 'em
+like my own toes. Them ain't werry savage at that, gents. More 'n likely
+them is some o' Leyden's opium eaters, an' it'll take a hull dollop o'
+dope to make 'em fight at all--"
+
+"By Heavens, I believe you've hit it!" Barry interrupted. "They can be
+set on us as the ship that has stopped their opium. And at the same time
+they may be left to fight until they drop, while Mr. Leyden is coolly
+getting away."
+
+"He won't get away, Captain," put in Gordon quietly, "but your notion is
+right. It's exactly what Leyden is counting on, I'll wager a hat."
+
+"Sure! That's why they are all on the schooner now!" cried Little. "Of
+course they chased me out, when I spied on 'em. Oh, Corks!"
+
+"All right, then we'll haul out into the middle of the creek," decided
+Barry. "Rolfe, carry out a warp over there, and as soon as an alarm
+comes in, we'll haul her clear of the bank and fight 'em in the water.
+Blunt, rustle up all the arms and get plenty of rock ballast out of the
+hold too. Maybe we can save shells by dropping stones on 'em. Quieter,
+too."
+
+Evening was drawing down when the preparations were completed, and an
+air of anxiety pervaded the decks; for the creek had become hushed and
+still, the jungle noises alone broke the stillness, and that medley of
+faint sound might easily conceal the whispering of a thousand men.
+Supper was eaten on deck, and Barry sent many an anxious glance towards
+the creek entrance, expecting at any moment to see the lookout
+approaching.
+
+It was almost dark when at last he came running, and his thin voice
+piped: "Misser Houten he come, Tuuan. Come quick see!"
+
+Barry leaped into his own boat, and she shot out of the creek into the
+river just as a big, seaworthy, fast launch hauled abreast. She was
+manned by half a dozen natives; but there was no mistaking that great,
+ungainly, shapeless figure in the stern, nor that immense, round,
+benevolent face that surmounted it. Barry sent his boat out to meet the
+launch, and Houten waved to his man to stop her. Then he suddenly
+recognized the skipper and stood up with incredible alertness.
+
+"Hullo, Captain Barry," he rumbled, sticking out a hand like a ham.
+Barry slipped his message into it at the same instant as he grasped it,
+and swiftly followed his greeting with a statement of the _Barang's_
+situation. Meanwhile Houten read his message by the light of the setting
+sun.
+
+"So!" he chuckled at length. "It is goot, Captain. I have a goot report
+about you, mine friendt. Come. We shall soon arrive at the big game,
+yes? Take you the wheel and guide us to your ship. It is long since we
+ate dinner. I am starved."
+
+In this cool, matter-of-fact way did Cornelius Houten, the mammoth,
+benevolent human spider we saw for an instant in Batavia, accept a
+situation to which it had taken Jack Barry weeks to reconcile himself.
+
+The launch slid alongside the brigantine, towing the rowboat, and Houten
+was landed on deck with much pulling and hauling that only evoked
+silent, shaky chuckles from his huge frame. Little met him and presented
+Gordon, then choked down a curse of self-censure for his thoughtlessness
+as he caught Barry's angry look. In the moment of greeting he had
+forgotten his own errand to the river; forgotten that it was a
+discredited Gordon he had been sent to find. But Cornelius Houten seemed
+to be of a kind with Vandersee in his uncanny knowledge of things. He
+simply gripped Gordon's reluctant hand and rumbled deeply, yet with a
+laugh running through the rumble: "Goot, Mister Gordon. I am glad to see
+you loog so well. I have heard aboudt you. It is goot. Now gif me some
+food in my hand and we shall see what dose leedle native mans will do
+mit us."
+
+The darkness became black, and still the jungle gave out no sounds
+beyond its own. Houten walked the deck with Barry, his great paws full
+of cold food, chuckling and rumbling incessantly. His beady eyes roved
+keenly around the wall of darkness, his nose sniffed the air as if he
+could scent the presence of foes.
+
+Yet nothing occurred for an hour after the light failed. The sentries
+around the rails kept trying all the lines to the shore, in hope of
+surprising some such method of attack. Barry and Little listened
+intently in expectation of hearing some signal from the lookout in the
+tree at the creek mouth. No sight, no sound. Then, swift as darting
+serpents, rivulets of flame ran over the water, and the entire creek
+soon blazed into hellish radiance. Shrieks and howls resounded on the
+shores, and a shower of arrows flew over the brightly illumined decks.
+
+"Ach! I am a fool!" grunted Houten. An arrow stuck in his fat arm,
+pinching up an inch of his plenteous flesh. Coolly as he might pare his
+nails, he broke off the slender shaft, pulled out the head where it
+emerged from his skin, and held out his arm and handkerchief to Gordon,
+who expertly bound up the profusely bleeding but harmless flesh wound.
+Houten grumbled on: "All the time I schmell him--schmell dot stuff--und
+I know not enough to say it is oil! My own oil, I will bet, by der Great
+Horn Spoon! Me, I t'ink dot schmell was joongle, by Gott!"
+
+"Haul in all lines!" roared Barry. "Rolfe, hustle up all the spare junk
+and sand. Lads, keep under cover until I call you out."
+
+All around the ship the water glared with Satanic fires. The blazing oil
+roared and leaped hungrily at the _Barang's_ tarred sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY
+
+
+The order to take cover was given barely in time, for from every tree
+and bush along the creek flew showers of small arrows and throwing
+spears that whizzed and whirred over the crouching crew. And ever the
+flames leaped higher. From a source unseen, but cunningly selected to
+utilize wind and stream, fresh oil was poured on the water; the sides of
+the brigantine crackled and blistered with an overpowering stench of tar
+and oakum.
+
+Seek as they might, their enemies remained invisible, and still the
+shower of missiles kept up its intensity until the decks rang and
+pattered with their falling, and left no space of a yard in area where a
+man might stand safely. Barry watched through a scupper port, trying to
+detect any one place from which arrows came thicker than elsewhere; and
+at last, when one after another his white companions had called to him
+about the precarious situation of launch and boat, he decided he had
+found it.
+
+"Here, all hands," he ordered, and shoved his rifle out of the scupper.
+"Get an ax, Rolfe, and burst out a plank of the bulwarks." The ax was
+swung, and a plank crashed into splinters, leaving a narrow loophole, a
+foot wide and twelve feet long, through which the roaring flames darted
+viciously. "When I give the word, all aim at that tree--" he pointed out
+a round-headed, dwarfed clump of foliage that seemed to hiss with
+twanging bowstrings--"then fire all together. That's the next best thing
+to a riot gun I can think of." The crew crouched along the broken plank,
+every muzzle converged on to a patch of leafy concealment a fathom
+square, and the skipper barked:
+
+"Fire!"
+
+Twenty rifles crashed in one tremendous discharge, and the tree ceased
+to vomit arrows as if suddenly capped with a vast extinguisher. But at
+the same moment the flames roared in through the broken bulwarks and
+drove every man away, scorched and singed. Houten handled his rifle
+expertly and unhurriedly, though his fat face and immense body streamed
+sweat at every pore, and his clothes were steaming with the fierce heat.
+Blood dripped from his injured arm, but gave him not the slightest
+concern. He said nothing, did not attempt to advise Barry, simply kept
+up his end as one man of the crew, as if the last thing on earth he
+worried about was the imminent destruction of thousands of guilders in
+property. And Barry gave him silent thanks, untrammelled in his command
+of the unequal fight. His own keen eyes told him the _Barang_ was
+doomed; and any chance remaining for the crew hinged on that big launch
+alongside. He peered over the rail. The launch was smoking. Her line was
+almost burned through.
+
+"Gordon and Little, follow me quickly," he cried, swiftly making his
+decision. "Rolfe, Blunt, haul in on that line--easy now, or you'll break
+it--and Mr. Houten, here's my cabin key. Take some men and get your gold
+dust out of the safe."
+
+Houten's streaming face lighted in a fat smile, and he beamed his
+appreciation of Barry's thoughtfulness for his employer's interests
+under the terrible circumstances. The mate and Bill Blunt hauled
+cautiously on the launch painter until the big boat bumped alongside,
+her white paint blistered and blackened, her white canvas awning a
+tattered torch of smoldering rags. Then Barry sprang up, threw himself
+over the rail, and Little and Gordon followed in silence. A small brown
+man jumped after them and went directly to the launch's engine.
+
+"Good man!" breathed Little, suddenly realizing that none of the others
+knew anything about a steam engine. He gasped and gazed in awe at a
+tongue of fire that snaked up the brigantine's side, twisted about the
+fore rigging and roared about the tall masts of pine.
+
+The fires were banked. The native engineer opened them up and applied a
+small patent blower, while Barry and his companions crouched behind the
+engine casing and kept their guns popping until steam began to hiss. On
+board the ship the mates leaped from line to line, cutting adrift those
+that had withstood the fire, and soon the current took hold and moved
+her towards the entrance. Now that the creek was ablaze with light, it
+was seen that the entrance cut through Vandersee's agency was simply a
+channel scythed through the matted weeds and grasses, big enough to
+admit the vessel if the way remained unobstructed. But the creek's
+usually sluggish current was trebled in velocity by the outside siphon
+effect of the rapid river rushing past the narrow entrance. The matted
+grasses could be seen waving and writhing under the swift flow with a
+terrible suggestion of remorseless power in their stems should any
+unfortunate chance to be plunged among them.
+
+Houten staggered on deck, followed by the men laden with the small,
+heavy canvas bags taken by Little from the post. He stood a moment,
+gazing abroad at the fiery expanse. He noted Barry's intention of towing
+the brigantine out, and now he asserted his authority as owner.
+
+"Don't bodder for the ship, Captain Barry," he shouted. "Take eferybotty
+in dot launch to the odder side ouf the riffer. Neffer mind why. I
+schall tell you in goot time. Let the ship drift by herself where she
+will."
+
+"Then get a move on, all hands!" shouted Barry. "This launch will be
+ablaze too in five minutes."
+
+Gordon left their task of pouring water over the straining towline they
+had fastened around the red-hot brass bits and tore down the scraps of
+fiery canvas from overhead. From the brigantine men leaped into the
+smaller craft, kept in order and saved from panic by sturdy old Blunt's
+cool advice, backed up by his never-failing good humor. And when Rolfe
+and Houten and the old seaman alone remained, the launch was loaded to
+her utmost capacity and was on fire in a dozen places.
+
+"Come on down with you!" roared Barry angrily, for the three men left
+were playing dignity, each seeking to be the last man to quit. "Blunt,
+Rolfe, take told of Mr. Houten and dump him in if he won't move."
+
+"Here ye go then, sir, excusin' me," said Bill, seizing the huge
+Dutchman by an arm. Rolfe took the other one, the injured one, and
+Houten laughed shakily and shook loose rather than suffer from the
+mate's determined grip.
+
+"Yoomp, with you den," he rumbled and mounted the rail. The others were
+with him, and as all three poised to jump, the foremast fell with a
+terrific smash, erupting sparks and flame, covering the decks and the
+water around with fragments of fiery splinters, charred blocks, and
+smoking serpents of rope.
+
+"Oh, jump together!" Barry screamed, dancing on his own hot place and
+blowing on his hands which were in agony from contact with the metal
+wheel. The three leaped; and the launch's stern dipped perilously under
+the tremendous influx of weight; the flaming oil alongside licked
+ravenously at their smaller and nearer prey.
+
+"Now keep your guns shooting!" was the skipper's final order, and he
+sent the launch straight for the entrance, while the unseen foes on the
+banks transferred their aim from the brigantine and made the forest ring
+with their howls of rage.
+
+In the narrowed entrance, forced to scrape the matted grass by the
+eddying current, the launch soon resounded with the cries of wounded
+seamen. Barry kept his hands on the wheel by sheer force of will, for
+the little circle of brass scorched to the touch. The rifles burned the
+hands of the men who used them; native riflemen began to look piteously
+at their white leaders, afraid to slip fresh cartridges into smoking
+breeches. And the arrows fell thicker than ever, the smoke from the
+launch's furnace streamed away full of flame, the boat itself roared and
+crackled from the water line to the gunwale. But the oil thinned out as
+they sped; those rifles that kept shooting took heavier toll as the
+range closed, and Barry prayed that his hands would hold out. His white
+companions stood grimly to their guns, uttering no sound save to
+encourage and soothe the natives. Then a cartridge exploded in a man's
+hand, and the rifle was flung overboard with a howl of terror. Still
+another shell burst with the fierce heat, and panic threatened. Bill
+Blunt stopped it.
+
+"Here ye go, then, Bullies!" he roared, flinging down his own gun. "Put
+'em down, me sons, and git busy like me. Here's th' river close aboard,
+lads, an' in a minit ye'll all be freezin'."
+
+Tearing off his jacket he dragged it in the river when he came to a spot
+bare of oil, then fell heartily to work beating down the fire along the
+gunwale. The seamen gained heart, once safely quit of their dangerous
+rifles, and followed the old fellow's lead, until the business of
+fire-fighting drove from their minds the fear of flying missiles from
+shoreward.
+
+"Here iss the riffer, mine friendts," Houten rumbled at last, and the
+launch shot into the main stream, drawing thin threads of fire into her
+eddying wake, leaving behind her the flying death and the devouring
+blaze. Barry guided his craft straight over the river to the farther
+bank, seeking for relief to his burning eyes in the cool blackness of
+night. His hair and eyebrows were singed off close, his skin was a
+scorched torment; but a glance at his companions proved that others had
+suffered too, and he held on to his fast-cooling steering wheel while
+old Bill Blunt led a final attack on the clinging fire about the launch.
+
+They shot into the shadow of the bank and looked back on a scene of
+terrific grandeur. As their faces cooled, and the air revived their
+dulled vitality, a deeper significance in the picture came home to them.
+For some minutes their brains could only grasp the fact that they had
+escaped the fire as well as their enemies' range; but a shaft of fire
+roared up through the trees, and the howl that responded hinted at the
+truth.
+
+"Gee! They're getting roasted in their own fire!" gasped Little.
+
+So it was. The jungle on all sides of the creek began to blaze, and the
+roar filled the river channel. At first only small patches of dead wood
+and leaves burned, but when great hanging masses of moss caught fire,
+the jungle drew the flames like a huge furnace, and in some of the trees
+a score of men were trapped.
+
+"Poor devils! Dose mans are murdered by Leyden," growled Houten. "He
+shall pay, jah! It iss on his bill."
+
+But despite the awful peril facing them, the little brown men over on
+the creek worked on as if with a definite aim beyond the mere
+destruction of a ship and the dispersing of her crew. Figures dancing in
+the firelight were feverishly busy about the creek entrance, towards
+which the blazing _Barang_ was drifting, gathering speed with every
+fathom by which she drew nearer to the tremendously faster river stream
+outside. Gradually the surface oil about the vessel thinned out and
+died, as if the supply had been suddenly cut off. And the moment the
+water ceased to blaze, canoes shot out from the shore, and frantic
+little savages pushed and hauled at the bigger craft in obvious anxiety
+that she should not reach out beyond the entrance. They succeeded in
+pushing her on to the edge of the cleared channel, then the swift
+current gripped her, swung her broadside in the entrance against the
+matted grasses, and there she lay, heeling over slowly, burning away
+merrily above water, but safe to stay there in the opposing elements of
+fire and water whose contest must come to a climax when fire reached
+water line.
+
+"There goes the old _Barang_, sir," groaned Barry, his thoughts on his
+ship as a good shipmaster's should be. "I could have saved her by towing
+her out and sinking her. No trouble at all to raise her again. Did it
+before, you know. Now she's gone."
+
+"It iss better so," replied Houten. The amazing man was scanning the
+nearby shore and gave no glance to his ruined ship. The skipper stared
+at him blankly, meanwhile swabbing at his burns with oiled waste. "Yat,
+it iss better so, mine friendt. It wass not arranged like this, but it
+iss much better so, now ve haf lost no mans, after all. Schall ve put
+into dot schmall cove dere, captain? It vill hide us from the riffer,
+unt pretty soon our friendts vill be dere. The boat iss too full; unt
+dese mans need cool grass."
+
+Barry picked out the cove indicated, immediately opposite the flaming
+creek, hidden from riverwards by an outflung, bush-capped hummock of
+earth. There the launch was moored, and the last trace of fire danger
+was beaten out with wet grasses and leafy branches. Of the entire party
+but five men had escaped unhurt, but none of the hurts were more
+serious than Houten's flesh wound unless the arrow that Gordon still
+carried neatly spiked between two ribs proved serious. But Bill Blunt
+thought not, and Houten produced his medical and surgical kit from the
+launch in order that Bill's assertion might be tested. The seamen
+soothed each other's burns, and those of them who had received arrow or
+spear wounds waited in fear for the result of Blunt's attentions to
+Gordon.
+
+"Try an' laugh out loud, sir," muttered old Bill, as he snapped off the
+arrow stem and Gordon winced involuntarily. "I knows it pinches, but we
+got to fix up them natives too, an' them ain't werry brave, sir. Grin,
+won't ye?"
+
+Gordon laughed, but his lip ran blood. The arrowhead was pulled through
+and out, and the cut bound together, and after that the seamen submitted
+to the same surgery like sheep. Blunt kept them quiet by subtle blarney,
+telling them they couldn't let white folks beat them out for stoicism.
+
+In this manner the camp settled into quiet rest, food and water, spirits
+and fresh clothes coming from the fully equipped launch. Then came a cry
+from their lookout on the hummock crest, and they climbed up beside him.
+The man pointed silently back over the flat country beyond the tangle of
+the river margin, but nothing could be distinguished in the darkness.
+
+"No look--lissen, sar!" chattered the sailor.
+
+There was no sound save the rustling of grasses and the lapping of
+waters. Then, after a moment of hush, far away in the black void a shot
+rang out, followed by others in swift succession. Silence again, and
+more shots, nearer than before, and a solitary cry. The ensuing period
+of quiet was longer than the last; but when again rifle shots crashed
+out, they were so near that the watchers on the hummock could see and
+count the flashes.
+
+"Seven, I counted," said Little. "What is it?"
+
+"Cap'n, there's men right beside us, along th' bank," Bill Blunt
+reported. "They ain't natives, neither. More like them navy chaps."
+
+"Better line out in case they're like those fellows who put you on the
+ant hills, Barry," said Gordon anxiously. "Of course, they may be right,
+but--"
+
+"Haf no fears, mine friendts," rumbled. Houten, looming up like a hill
+in the blackness. "All dis iss planned. Dose mans beside us are real
+navy mans. I toldt you all iss vell. It iss mooch better dis vay."
+
+"Then it must be Vandersee's big drive," exclaimed Barry, suddenly
+enlightened. "How about a little light to help him, hey, Houten?"
+
+"Goot. Jah, make a fire, Captain."
+
+Rolfe and some hands hastily built a huge bonfire of dry brushwood on
+the damp grass behind the hummock, and beaters were set to prevent the
+fire spreading out of hand. Then, as a match was set to it and little
+tongues of flame began to take hold, Barry lined out his men and waited
+for a clear sight of events. Shots now crashed out so near that the men
+firing could be seen in the intensifying light of the crackling fire;
+still no shot came back in answer. The steady, relentless pursuit drew
+near, and the fugitives began to whimper and howl in panic. They broke
+and drove blindly for the river, to meet the colossal bulk of Houten,
+silent, impassive, standing out like a mountain to bar their flight; and
+the _Barang's_ men, lined beside him, joined the first of a line of
+cool, steady naval seamen whose end numbers were still beyond the
+lighted area.
+
+"Throw down your guns, or we'll drop you!" cried Barry, and the flying
+fugitives halted in dismay while two white men, the leaders, cursed them
+venomously and bade them fight.
+
+"Stop, Barry, don't fire!" came back the level, placid voice of
+Vandersee, and then the completeness of the spider's web could be
+distinguished. For from up river and down, the silent line of naval
+seamen drew near, herding the trapped fugitives into a circle that
+always narrowed in diameter. Then, as the cordon seemed complete beyond
+escape, the two white men broke into a desperate dash and plunged for
+the river.
+
+With one impulse Little and Barry sprang out to intercept them; and even
+in his heat the skipper wondered why, now that the time had come,
+neither Gordon nor Vandersee was anxious to get his hands on Leyden. For
+that Leyden was one of those two plunging whites neither doubted.
+
+But Rolfe's bonfire blazed higher, and every face and form stood
+clearly revealed. The skipper and Tom Little hurled themselves headlong
+at their quarry's legs and brought them down in a smashing football
+tackle, then, from their position on the ground, astride of their
+captives, they took in the surprising circle about them. Vandersee's
+red, smooth face shone in a beatific smile as he directed the seizing
+and securing of the trapped men. He had no apparent interest in the two
+whites,--and an interchange of scrutiny satisfied Barry and Little that
+neither of their men was Leyden. Instead of giving thought to the white
+captives, Vandersee merely left them in their captors' hands until their
+turn came to be tied up, and gave Barry still another amazing shock by
+stepping over to Houten and embracing him in full view of all hands. And
+big, emotionless Houten, with no change of demeanor, returned the
+embrace in kind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
+
+
+Mysteriously the naval seamen and their captives disappeared down the
+river, yet leaving a vague impression of a line of keen-eyed sentries
+somewhere behind the mists of night. That was the impression always left
+upon Jack Barry by Vandersee of late: the feeling of eternal
+wakefulness, incessant vigil, sure and inevitable success. The old,
+original feeling came back, in short,--of a velvet-covered steel trap,
+yet there was now no fear of the trap in Barry's mind.
+
+"Come, we have six hours to wait for the next arrival at our party,"
+Vandersee smiled, now coming forward and greeting Gordon with special
+warmth. In spite of his determination to accept every situation without
+question since realizing how big a part Vandersee played, how small his
+own, Barry could not conceal his irritation at this fresh indication of
+his own inconsequence in the great game. Though always expecting it now,
+there was something that irked the skipper in this continual hint of
+events in motion in which he might or might not figure without having
+the slightest bearing on the inevitable result. And Houten saw and
+understood. He made room for Barry on his own blanket, and his deep
+rumbling voice droned in the skipper's ear, gradually soothing that
+harassed shipmaster until he subsided to the influence of the beneficent
+Goliath.
+
+"Soon I shall tell you, Captain," said Houten. "Yoost now I say all iss
+vell, ja. Yoost now I am glad my _Barang_ iss lost, mine friendt;
+eferything iss goot, unt dere iss to be no more accidents."
+
+Barry settled down to rest, gazing thoughtfully across the silent river.
+The more distant reaches of the stream were still tinged redly with the
+fierce jungle fire that grew and spread back to the flat lands. There
+was some unfathomable influence that persuaded the skipper of the
+superfluity of keeping watch now Vandersee was there, but the influence
+could not tranquilize minds so utterly awakened as were those of the
+destroyed ship's company. Gordon was restless and edged ever nearer to
+the recumbent Vandersee; Little had fallen asleep but was obviously
+dreaming what the others were wakefully thinking. Beyond the circle of
+resting men Bill Blunt groaned away at an endless, tuneless ditty
+concerning "A sailorman as fell overboard in a gale, an' fell wi' a gal
+wi' a tail, an' got marri-e-d to a little marmaid an' wuz changed into a
+marman, an' never arterwards could he see th' use o' the seaboots he
+wore when he fell overboard, 'cos how could ye tell which boot 'ud fit a
+bloomin' flapper as wuz naither right, ner left, but 'twartships?"
+
+One by one the seamen slept, until only the white men around the
+smoldering fire remained awake. Gordon peered continually into
+Vandersee's smiling face, and when he dropped his gaze for a moment and
+met Barry's bent full upon him, the two men saw in each other a fear
+that was emphatically not for themselves, but nevertheless would not
+quiet. It became too intense for concealment; the two big Hollanders
+detected it, and a nod passed from Houten to Vandersee.
+
+"You two gentlemen are anxious," smiled Vandersee. "Perhaps we can
+dispense with a little of the mystery now, though even at this stage a
+small slip will ruin all. I can tell you this, however, that the fire
+over there that destroyed your ship, Captain, was unforeseen. My sentry,
+who gave you my messages, was killed by an arrow from over the creek; my
+men at the river saw his body floating down. Otherwise you would not
+have been in that peril from fire." Barry met his eye with a wry smile,
+as if to question whether it might not have been well to warn the
+shipmaster, instead of keeping him and his ship in the safe keeping of a
+little brown man in a tree. Vandersee explained: "I had lookouts from
+end to end of the river, Barry, on both sides, and above and below here.
+That is the strength of my net. But the killing of that one watchman was
+about the last thing to be expected. It was a slip of mine, of course;
+but to me that one man in particular was invisible and undetectable. But
+that is past, and all of you are here yet. You are worrying about the
+personal welfare of two ladies, I know."
+
+Gordon's face darkened, and his lip was drawn between his teeth. The big
+Hollander regarded him very softly and went on: "Both are now on board
+the _Padang_--" Gordon choked down a curse, and apologized, and
+Vandersee ignored the interruption--"Aboard the _Padang_, both safe and
+well, and in no danger whatever. The schooner is due abreast here just
+after dawn; her master is due about the same time, in his own steam
+launch. He knows that Miss Sheldon is there; in fact she is practically
+in charge of his vessel, so infatuated is he at his imagined triumph in
+spite of you, Barry; but Mrs. Goring is there unknown to anybody except
+Miss Sheldon and ourselves, and solely to give Natalie the support of
+her presence and advice in what is going to be a very difficult
+situation for a young girl."
+
+Barry kicked at Little, to awake him to listen, and asked:
+
+"Say, Vandersee, that sort of thing's a habit with Mrs. Goring, isn't
+it?"
+
+"Habit? Reassuring people, do you mean, Captain?"
+
+"I mean sailing aboard of ships unknown to owners or skippers."
+
+"Yes," put in Little, awake at last, "if she didn't arrive here in our
+ship, I'll eat what's left of her--the ship, I mean."
+
+"She certainly didn't leave Java before us, and she was undoubtedly in
+this river as soon as we, and besides, there's a matter of a photo--"
+Barry was rattling on, and Vandersee stopped him.
+
+"I see you smell the rat, Captain." Houten was shaking like a vast jelly
+with silent amusement. "I may as well tell you now that Mrs. Goring did
+come in your ship. It was vital that she get here to the station before
+Leyden, and unknown to him. I took care of her on the passage, and saw
+that she got ashore safely while we were docking. Yes, she is rather
+noted for doing unusual things, I think." The speaker glanced meaningly
+at Gordon, who flushed and turned away with glistening eyes.
+
+"Then she did steal Miss Sheldon's picture from my room, hey?"
+
+"Yes, she took it, and I believe she told you why, Captain, although she
+did not admit taking it at that time. Among our other necessities was
+that you arrive here deeply interested in Miss Sheldon, and that was
+considered the easiest way of keeping you piqued at Leyden. It was
+necessary that my own presence here remain unknown to Leyden, too, and
+right to this minute he doesn't know who is responsible for certain
+little mishaps that have befallen him. That was one reason why I shipped
+with you." Vandersee paused, gazed out at the silent, swift river, and
+said more seriously: "But why not let the event answer all questions,
+Barry? In a few hours the whole thing comes to a head, and there is not
+a chance on earth now for my plans to fail. Miss Sheldon will tell you
+what you want to know when you see her, and tell it far, far better than
+I can. If it will aid you to patience, though, I will assure you that
+Miss Sheldon is absolutely beyond Leyden's influence; free as the air,
+she knows everything now; Mrs. Goring is with her, and they know they
+are surrounded by friends too strong for Leyden to combat. Leyden is now
+making his way by a roundabout track to the stream where he left his
+steam launch, believing he has escaped my line. He intends to overtake
+the schooner here, lift the gold dust out of the _Barang_, and board his
+own schooner, which cleared direct from Surabaya for Europe."
+
+"Europe!" Barry gasped at the slender margin standing between Natalie's
+safety and utter catastrophe. Here was a piece of cunning not expected
+even from Leyden. To clear for Europe meant, with Natalie on
+board--Barry could not think clearly. He stared at Vandersee like one
+fascinated.
+
+"Snatch a little sleep, Captain. You too, Gordon," Vandersee advised.
+"We all need fresh heads and cool nerves in the morning. With all his
+crimes, Leyden is a clever rascal, and he must be taken alive!"
+
+"Seems to me you'd better shoot him from as far off as your gun will
+carry," retorted Barry, still thinking of the extremely tiny slip
+necessary for the _Padang_ to pick up her master and sail out into the
+vast ocean clear of pursuit. "Suppose he doesn't wait to loot the
+_Barang_?" he said. "Maybe he's heard that we have taken the dust out
+of her. He must be well posted on her situation since he's got as many
+men about him as you have, apparently."
+
+"No, Captain," returned Vandersee, very softly. "He doesn't know that
+the dust is taken out. He doesn't know, yet, that your ship is burned.
+He simply expected his people to bottle her up in that creek and kill or
+drive you off. That was what he was assured would be the case by the
+chief of the savages he hired. Their own discovery of the oil may well
+upset all his schemes, although they were upset whether the oil was
+found or not."
+
+"Oh, well, I won't think about it any more. Next thing you'll tell me
+that Houten knew all about this attack, and that he came up just in time
+to save us on a prearranged plan."
+
+"Not exactly, but nearer right than you imagine," chuckled Houten. "I
+haf been in communication with Hendrik unt his mans effer since t'ree
+days ago, mine friendt. I pring opp mine launch as a part ouf a plan,
+unt it vas goot, ja? I toldt you it vas goot. Now schleep. I am heavy
+for schleep."
+
+Barry dozed, and his last waking thought was of a spider-web of gigantic
+size, with two great, fat, laughing spiders in the midst. As his brain
+lost its power to register, the spiders changed into smiling, red, fat
+faces, and all about the web hung white men and brown who smiled back at
+the spiders and watched intently while flies were drawn by some power,
+unseen but irresistible, into the web. And the greatest fly, the fly
+that struggled, the fly that broke the web over and over, yet never once
+forced the fat red smiles from the fat red spiders, was Leyden.
+
+
+Gray dawn was creeping up in the east when a soft shake awakened Barry,
+and he sat up to find the camp astir. During the last hour or two
+Vandersee had mustered his far-flung sentries, and now, besides the crew
+of the _Barang_ and Houten's men, twenty sturdy naval seamen stood by,
+armed and alert.
+
+"The schooner is in sight," Gordon told him. The Englishman was cool and
+emotionless now, in face of the approaching crisis in his affairs.
+Peering over the hummock, the _Padang_ was dimly seen emerging out of
+the river mists, and as she drew near the devastated creek, sharp voices
+could be heard on her forecastle head directing the preparing of an
+anchor. But, leaving nothing to chance, Vandersee had manned Houten's
+big launch and she was ready, held by a single line; and as the schooner
+swung around the last bend and let her canvas shake, the big Hollander
+called Barry and Gordon.
+
+"Come, friends," he said, "here is work for us all, and in particular
+for you."
+
+They boarded the launch, and she swung out of the cove and headed out
+across the schooner's course. As they shot into sight, a cry of alarm
+pealed out from the _Padang's_ quarterdeck, and an order halted work on
+the anchor. Vandersee replied with a sharper order that was punctuated
+by a rifle shot, and on the bank abreast appeared a file of sailors
+with rifles aimed at the schooner. The anchor was let go in a hurry, and
+the launch stormed alongside a hurriedly flung ladder, Vandersee
+starting to climb the moment his foot could reach a rung.
+
+"Come up, Barry," he called, and the skipper followed, with Gordon and
+eight naval seamen after him. The schooner's crew, but a half of her
+full complement, stood in attitudes of bewilderment. They had expected a
+very simple, cut-and-dried halt, getaway, and reward; instead, here were
+intruders who forced obedience by mysteriously produced riflemen on the
+river shores. The Dutch sailors were businesslike in their acts now, and
+before the alarm had subsided, the schooner's men were lightly hand-tied
+and passed down to the launch. In their places remained the eight naval
+seamen, and Vandersee said, as he prepared to leave with his new
+prisoners:
+
+"You are in command, Captain Barry. I shall remain alongside until you
+can get the anchor off the ground again, in order to give you a shove
+over near the creek. Then all I expect you to do is to make sure that
+once Leyden comes into our trap he does not get out by way of this
+schooner. Apart from that, you have little to do beyond comforting and
+reassuring two ladies whom I see aft."
+
+Barry looked up from the waist, where they stood, and saw Miss Sheldon
+at the quarterdeck rail; and as he looked, Mrs. Goring joined her,
+winking with the sudden transition from the cabins into the vivid
+morning light. The seamen were already taking up the slack cable, and
+Barry stared at the big Hollander and Gordon, helpless for the moment
+from the shock they gave him. It was shock after shock for Barry. Here
+was Vandersee, smiling cherubically, taking Mrs. Goring into his great
+arms. He gently pressed her head back and kissed her warmly full on the
+lips, and she responded to his caress with glad submission. And there
+stood Gordon, looking on with no trace of jealousy; smiling rather, as
+if he enjoyed the spectacle of another man embracing the lady.
+
+Barry looked helplessly at Miss Sheldon. Her face wore a smile which
+plainly said she approved the whole business. So Barry once more
+repressed his curiosity and gave the lady good morning.
+
+"I'm so glad to see you again, Captain Barry," she responded, her cheeks
+very pink and her eyes sparkling, notwithstanding the impending crisis
+in her life. "This morning, at least, I can express my true sentiments."
+
+"Which are?" Barry would have let all go to hear her reply to that
+query.
+
+"A sincere hope for the eventual success of your expedition."
+
+"Is that all?" Barry persisted, holding her hand and watching with a
+thrill the rich color that flooded her cheeks under his gaze.
+
+"Pardon me, Captain," Vandersee interrupted, bringing relief to Natalie.
+"Pardon, but time is short. I am ready to give you a push over. Then
+anchor again, right across the creek mouth. If Leyden smells the trap,
+he will try to board the ship. If so, you will welcome him and make him
+secure." The big Hollander checked himself, then added, with an awful
+change of expression: "On your life, Barry, don't you dare to kill him.
+I want that man alive and sound!"
+
+The big man had gone livid. He violently regained control of himself,
+stepped to the ladder to reenter the launch, and as he went he smiled
+softly at the women and said in adieu:
+
+"Juliana, you will keep out of sight, of course, for a while. Miss
+Sheldon, we are depending on you to play an important little part. Don't
+forget, now. And if your heart fails you now, please let me know before
+I go. Upon you depends all."
+
+"Have no fear for me," replied Natalie, paling slightly, but with a firm
+set of her round, dimpled chin. "I am fear-proof now I have such able
+protectors around me," and she smiled at Gordon and Barry.
+
+The schooner was brought over near to the creek mouth, and when her
+anchor was again let go she swung to the stream almost parallel to the
+wreck of the _Barang_, and within a short biscuit-toss. The steam launch
+shot back to the cove and took up the men left there in Houten's charge;
+then she steamed over to the creek, landed Rolfe, Blunt, Little, and
+three seamen on the down-river bank of the creek, and swung back
+alongside the blackened hulk of the brigantine.
+
+Barry intently watched the maneuvers of that launch, for, with Natalie
+beside him, and Gordon on deck by the companionway door talking quietly
+to Mrs. Goring concealed inside, the air seemed suddenly charged with
+portent. The wrecked _Barang_ lay close by like a stranded, decayed
+monster on a desolate shore. She was black and jagged with burned stumps
+of timbers down to the water line; on her upper part, where decks had
+been, and houses, half-consumed beams supported planks that were
+charcoal rather than wood; part of the poop remained, with one side of
+the deckhouse-companion, and down under them, where they had fallen
+under their own weight through the burned planks, lay two great iron
+tanks that had contained the spare fresh-water supply, and it was their
+contents, discharged when they fell, that had quenched that part of the
+fire. Besides these trifles of salvage, the vessel was swept bare of all
+semblance to a ship, and the black, pointed stumps of masts and
+stanchions stuck up in awful desolation.
+
+Into this black horror Vandersee waved six seamen, armed with rifles. He
+then gave some instructions to Houten, and the launch shoved off and
+entered the head of the creek, taking cover behind a great mass of
+charred weed and moss, whose dampness had prevented their utter
+incineration. Vandersee himself stood for a moment gazing down the river
+from the top of the remaining part of the deckhouse, then he turned to
+the _Padang_, waved a hand cheerily, and vanished inside the blackened
+shell of debris. Barry stared in surprise for an instant, for
+Vandersee's disappearance reminded him that six men were also there,
+hidden somewhere. All had vanished as utterly as if the ship were
+complete and built for purposes of concealment.
+
+But looking in the direction in which Vandersee had waved, Barry saw
+farther down the main river yet another big steam pinnace, full of
+uniformed seamen. He just caught sight of her as she swept alongside the
+near bank, and a party of men poured out of her and started to double
+towards the creek. They too dipped out of sight the moment they left the
+bank, and the steamer backed off, turned, and followed the general
+example of concealment.
+
+"Why, a rat couldn't get through this net!" exclaimed the skipper,
+addressing Natalie, who appeared not in the least surprised. And Gordon
+replied for her and for himself.
+
+"That's the right word, Barry. Rat he is. We know all his evil cunning,
+and most of us have seen the rattish, yellow streak that runs clear
+through him. But you know what a rat will do? Well, you can expect this
+rat to try his best to run; but let him once see the ring completely
+around him, and he'll fight as a rat will fight."
+
+Barry covertly watched Natalie while Leyden's rattish characteristics
+were under discussion. She showed no agitation; no sign of personal
+shame at having ever fallen to such a spell; but at that instant a
+shrill whistle sounded upstream, quite near, and she paled, then flushed
+hotly, and at last recovered her balance but with a trembling lip.
+
+Then the sound of engines was heard, and on the still river brooded an
+atmosphere of imminent Fate. In the devastated creek no sound or sigh
+broke the barren stillness. The waters swirled and eddied around the
+entrance; the matted grasses and weed-stems writhed and twisted in the
+grip of the current like slimy, clutching fingers waiting for prey to
+clutch and hold to strangled death. For just one second a man's head
+appeared above a clump of blackened roots where Rolfe's party had
+landed. Barry saw it was the irrepressible Little bent on seeing the
+sights; then a great, gnarled hand shoved the head down, and all was
+barren again.
+
+Now the oncoming launch came in sight; the same launch that had carried
+Leyden up the river, which Barry had lost track of on that dark night
+before he was taken and given to the ants; and she foamed straight down
+between the schooner and the creek with creaming bow-wave and flying
+funnel-sparks. Leyden was in the bows, jaunty and triumphant; but as he
+came near the schooner and saw nobody on her decks, his face clouded,
+and he waved to his engineer to stop. Then Barry, from his hastily taken
+hiding place, watched Natalie, curious about her part in this crisis.
+
+Stepping over to the rail, she turned her smiling, morning-fresh face
+upon the launch and waved her hand airily at Leyden. All Barry's doubts
+resurged upon him. He felt choky, and red spots danced before his eyes.
+Then in a God-given instant of clarity he saw it all: saw Leyden's own
+doubts vanish, and the launch move on to the wreck; and he saw, too,
+that Natalie tottered and panted, still fighting bravely to maintain her
+attitude in sight of Leyden, yet in dire need of comfort the moment her
+friend could render it.
+
+Leyden called back a clear, exultant greeting to the girl, and the next
+moment his launch ran alongside the _Barang_ and her bowman made his
+boathook fast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
+
+
+Natalie swayed and would have fallen had not Mrs. Goring run from her
+hiding place to catch and support her. Barry recalled Vandersee's
+express order that Mrs. Goring should not show herself prematurely, and
+he mentioned it softly. The elder woman smiled at him and replied:
+
+"It matters nothing now, Captain. The trap is sprung."
+
+Barry and Gordon looked again at the wreck, and the force of those quiet
+words was made apparent, for in that hushed, breathless moment Leyden
+sprang up and stood on the ruined deck of the _Barang_. His face was
+alight with greed, and as he turned and the sunlight played upon him,
+triumph flashed in his eyes. He stayed to signal another message of
+self-praise to Natalie, and then for the first time he saw Mrs. Goring
+on board his own vessel. The swift change in his aspect was terrible.
+Fury replaced the smooth satisfaction of a few seconds before, and he
+seemed on the point of springing into his launch again to visit his fury
+on the woman. But cupidity proved too strong. He turned again to enter
+the wrecked companionway, for somewhere beneath those shattered timbers
+lay, to his belief, fifteen bags of the gold dust that he had
+jeopardized his immortal soul to get.
+
+His men alongside evinced lively signs of uneasiness in the silent,
+gruesome creek, and they held the launch off at the length of a boathook
+as if afraid of closer contact. Their eyes were raised to follow their
+master, and then it was that the watchers on the schooner saw Houten's
+launch slide out from her nook and, gathering speed, shoot swiftly over
+and run aboard the other launch. Leyden's men uttered one chorused,
+uncertain growl of alarm, then they found themselves under the rifles
+and bayonets of twice their number of capable, stolid Dutch sailors.
+
+They were silenced; but the one sound they had made recalled Leyden in
+haste from the shattered companionway, startled and increasingly
+suspicious. He glared at the strange launch, almost on a level with
+himself, owing to the listing over of the brigantine and the burning
+down of her bulwarks; and he turned white with fear and passion at sight
+of Houten, big, imperturbable, motionless, gazing up at him with beady
+eyes glittering from out of his placid, fat face.
+
+With the instinct and movements of the rat he had been compared to,
+Leyden flashed around as if to seek an outlet that need not be won over
+such a barrier as Houten. He sprang across the deck, and a cry of
+jubilation burst from his lips. There was no boat there; no foes to bar
+his way except the river. But at the next step he stopped in new fear;
+for from behind a burned stanchion, to which clung pieces of charred
+planking, peeped six inches of a rifle muzzle, and the cold round hole
+in the end was aimed at his heart.
+
+Still no human being came into sight on that creepily weird wreck.
+Leyden took fright now with no pretence at concealing it; for at his
+ensuing move he came up to one of the great water tanks, and out of the
+manhole peered another cold blue tube, held unwaveringly at his head. He
+turned again, darting towards the stern; and here he was met full front
+by the cool, smiling, unarmed person of Vandersee, stepping out of the
+companionway and barring the way.
+
+Then it was that Leyden realized to the full the strength and
+completeness of the trap that had snared him in the moment of his
+highest hopes. He screamed his rage at the unimpressed being before him
+and pulled a pistol from his pocket.
+
+"So it's you, is it?" he shrieked. "The devil reward you for dogging me,
+you Dutch fool!" He brought up his pistol, aimed at Vandersee's body,
+and the onlookers on the schooner held their breath in fear. Barry
+tugged futilely at his own weapon; Mrs. Goring turned white; a gasp
+burst from all four. Then as if sent from the Gods of Justice a shot
+rang out, and Vandersee still stood. Those who had watched closely only
+saw Leyden's weapon fly from his hand simultaneously with a sharp jet
+of fire somewhere in the boat alongside; the report came a fraction of
+time later, and then, curling lazily up from Houten's great, ham-like
+hand, was a tiny wreath of smoke. The huge trader moved not an inch; his
+face altered not a bit; immovable as a statue, unruffled as the Sphinx,
+he still stared up at the wreck. Vandersee stood still, showing no
+surprise, nor apparently interested in the least in the little piece of
+clever gun-play that his big compatriot had accomplished. But Leyden now
+showed all the traits of the cornered rat. His pistol spun away from his
+numbed fingers, and dumbly he seemed to sense that it had been shot out
+of his grip by a snap bullet fired from Houten's hip. He saw no weapon,
+but Houten's hand could easily conceal such a trifle as a pistol. He
+wrung his tingling fingers once, then with a snarl that was more than a
+curse he sprang at Vandersee, snatching a hunting knife from his shirt
+as he sprang.
+
+Lookers-on could comprehend the scene in its entirety; and with Leyden's
+tigerish leap another element came in. Out from the blackened jungle
+pealed the cries of savages, and a flight of arrows directed against
+Houten's launch gave ample evidence of the side the bowmen favored.
+Barry touched Gordon's arm, and together they emptied their pistols into
+the trees, a useless expenditure of ammunition at that distance. But
+their efforts were unnecessary; the trap required no bolstering; for
+with the first cries from the jungle came an answering shout, and behind
+the ridge where Rolfe and Little and old Bill Blunt lay appeared these
+watchful guards with a dozen Dutch seamen alongside them; and the arrows
+had barely reached their mark, harmless, when a single, blasting volley
+of musketry drove the intruding natives shrieking to cover, never to
+risk another attack.
+
+The little incident had taken but a few seconds, yet when rifles ceased
+barking and silence again enveloped the gloomy creek, the deadly grapple
+on the wreck had reached its climax. Leyden was upon Vandersee's breast,
+one hand clutching desperately at his throat, the other gripping a
+murderous knife yet unable to use it, for the big Hollander had a grip
+on the wrist that could not be broken.
+
+"Like a rat!" muttered Gordon. "Lord lean to Justice!"
+
+Barry suddenly found Natalie in need of support, for her courage, once
+past the crisis, was not proof against the sort of soul-revolting
+conflict she was now forced to witness. Barry drew her to him with an
+arm about her shoulders, and she rested against him with a little sigh
+of relief. His own eyes refused to leave the scene on his old ship; but
+beside him he heard voices, and he knew that Mrs. Goring too had found
+the stress too great and had sought comfort in Gordon's arms. Yet those
+two people had reason, too strong to be downed, for witnessing Leyden's
+atonement; and while on that blasted and corpse-like wreck two men
+fought, one in awful, cold, remorseless silence, the other with broken
+screams of insane fury that availed him nothing, Mrs. Goring murmured
+between racking sobs:
+
+"Not vengeance for my pain, dear God! Only repayment for the golden
+years he stole from the man who loved me!"
+
+The sobs ceased, and the murmuring hushed, and the two women were spared
+the rest. With a terrific outburst of shrill railing against everything
+human or divine that could have any possible hand in his defeat, Leyden
+gathered superhuman strength out of his desperation and tore loose his
+knife hand. His other hand, at Vandersee's throat, had grown white and
+numb from its own efforts that had not changed the Hollander's
+expression one bit; but now, in a last swift up-stroke of the knife, the
+cornered rat saw victory beckoning to him.
+
+He drove in his thrust, and Barry went cold at sight of it. He wondered
+angrily at Houten's indifference. The great trader stood in his launch
+as unruffled as if in his office; his men, although they retained their
+rifles in hand, offered to use them for no other purpose than keeping
+their prisoners quiet. And just beside them, that murderous blade
+swished through the air fair aimed at Vandersee's breast. Then the big
+Hollander stepped back, and stumbled.
+
+"Gone!" Barry and Gordon cried hoarsely together. Yet they saw Houten in
+his old, apparently indifferent attitude, and could not force
+themselves to move. Men sprang into full sight where Rolfe and his
+party were, and they, too, remained in their places. The thing was
+uncanny: the colossal trader exercised a compelling influence over
+everybody about him, bordering upon the supernatural. Not a hand was
+raised in Vandersee's vital peril. Then the utter confidence of the man
+was revealed.
+
+With his stumble Vandersee drew back from his antagonist three feet, and
+Leyden plunged forward, tripped by his own balked impetus. The knife
+flashed upwards, missing its mark by a foot, and while yet the sun
+played on the steel in midair Vandersee recovered, smiling now with
+terrible assurance, and his great bulk leaned, his long, powerful arms
+enwrapped his foe in a hug that paralyzed every limb. The knife fell
+through Leyden's clutching fingers, and the point quivered for a moment
+in Vandersee's shoulder before it fell to disappear through the broken
+planks. The next breath brought both men heavily against a gaunt,
+charred stanchion, and Leyden's terrified cry pealed over the water.
+
+Alongside the wreck, on the schooner, ashore, wherever a man was
+stationed, faces looked on in fascination. Still Houten stood in his
+place, his placid visage regarding the conflict unmoved; no line of his
+immense figure revealing anything in him save a sort of bovine
+indifference in the result. In a flash everything was changed in him.
+The sudden impact of those two struggling bodies was the final strain
+the stanchion could bear; the blackened timber burst into splinters, and
+Vandersee and his foe crashed through and pitched headlong into the
+swirling current of the creek entrance.
+
+Then Houten's real interest was shown, and swiftly. His guttural voice
+barked a brief order in Dutch, the concealed men on the wreck sprang
+into sight and covered Leyden's men in the launch, and like the dart of
+a shark Houten drove his own craft out into the stream after the
+vanished combatants, his great red face gone ashy, his beady eyes
+gleaming anxiously.
+
+On board the schooner Barry drove his men to boat-falls in hasty
+endeavor to get a boat over; but the effort could have only proved
+fruitless, for the stream ran like a mill race around those writhing,
+twisting grasses that endlessly bent, straightened, and twined, and the
+undertow was appalling. Houten's launch rounded the _Barang's_ stern and
+the trader searched the waters with outthrust head that contrasted
+strongly with his previous attitude of nonchalance.
+
+Something rolled upwards on the surface at the very edge of the grasses
+and disappeared again. In a few seconds it appeared again, and now
+Vandersee's red, strangling face emerged from the water. The launch shot
+towards him and picked him up, twenty yards from the spot where he had
+plunged in grips with Leyden. When he regained his breath, he pointed
+inshore beside the wreck, and the launch put back. Still there came no
+sight of Leyden; and soon the boat headed for the schooner, Vandersee's
+men bringing Leyden's launch in response to an order. And the two burly
+Hollanders came on board the _Padang_ in quiet mood, mounted to the poop
+and met their friends with a subdued, almost sorrowful smile. Mrs.
+Goring and Gordon could not restrain their anxiety, however, and
+Vandersee answered their looks of inquiry.
+
+"It is finished," he said very seriously. "Not by my hand, but by the
+inevitable hand of Justice. We fell beside that weed bank, and separated
+as we struck the water. I came up outside the eddy; being the heavier
+the current had more action on me; but he plunged deep into the grass. I
+went down again to try to release him, but it was out of my hands then."
+Vandersee shuddered slightly, then his soft, placid smile returned, full
+of quiet reverence for the name he now used. "God had taken vengeance
+from me and had substituted his infallible Justice. Leyden lies down
+there under that bank, with a rope of weed about his neck that no
+strength of mine could break."
+
+"It iss better so!" grumbled Houten, after a silence that thrilled. He
+stepped over to Gordon, took his hand in a short, warm grip, then gently
+put him aside, and gathered Mrs. Goring into his tremendous arms,
+kissing her on the lips and soothing her with rough, kindly whispers.
+
+Barry felt the general stress and knew that it was not yet time for
+further questions. He knew that much remained a mystery; and much would
+doubtless be cleared up in the good time of these two inscrutable
+Dutchmen. He dully wondered just who or what Mrs. Goring could be, for
+he had seen three men successively take her in a warm embrace, with no
+sign of resentment in either. He simply left it with the rest to be
+explained, and felt a swift and grateful glow pervade him in the close
+and confident proximity of Natalie, who had relaxed with a little shiver
+into his arms, her fair face hiding its trouble on his breast, her sunny
+hair caressing his cheek.
+
+"Come, Captain, let me take her below," said Mrs. Goring at length,
+coming forward with her own brave face composed to calmness. "She will
+soon get over this experience now that it is finished."
+
+Barry helped Natalie inside the companionway, and as Mrs. Goring took
+her in charge, the girl lifted her face to Barry and gave him a wan
+smile that nevertheless carried its message to him. He, all unversed in
+such matters, suddenly found knowledge and stooped to kiss her lips;
+then as suddenly restrained himself, with all the past in his mind, and
+pressed his kiss on her hand instead. Mrs. Goring seemed to flash
+approval to him, then took her charge to her cabin, leaving the skipper
+to rejoin the men and gather up the remaining threads of the situation.
+
+Over on the creek shore Houten's launch was taking on board Rolfe and
+Little and their party, having returned for them after seeing Leyden's
+men secured. Farther along the bank a party of naval seamen were waiting
+for a big steam pinnace speeding up the river from its downstream
+concealment. Leyden's own steam launch had been commandeered into the
+service, and was taking up the scattered guards from the farther bank;
+somewhere in the blue and yellow haze of the sea beyond the river
+sounded the hoarse, prolonged blast of a steamship's siren; and Houten
+was giving expert first aid to the knife-cut in Vandersee's shoulder,
+while that stolid individual insisted in shame-tinged gutturals that it
+was nothing.
+
+"Here iss the captain now," rumbled Houten as Barry appeared. "In a
+leedle while we are reatty to leave, yes. If you can hoist oop Leyden's
+launch und make t'ings snug for sea, my boat und Hendrik's will be taken
+oop by der gunboat now oudside waiting for us."
+
+"Yes, Captain Barry," rejoined Vandersee, with his old suave smile, "and
+I owe you some explanation before we leave. If you will get the schooner
+ready, it will give the ladies time to recover a little, and when my
+sister is herself again, everything shall be made clear to you which
+appears puzzling now."
+
+"Your sister?" exclaimed Barry.
+
+"Yes, Captain, Mrs. Goring as you know her, or Miss Vandersee as she is,
+is my sister. Mr. Houten is our uncle, also. Perhaps you will connect
+things slightly now, by the time we are ready," replied Vandersee,
+while Cornelius Houten chuckled deep down in his cavernous chest and
+shot a twinkle from his beady eyes at the astonished skipper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
+
+
+Barry's thoughts kept him busy along with his duties for half an hour,
+by which time the schooner had taken up her boat, and a general transfer
+of men had been accomplished. The big pinnace, which belonged to the
+invisible gunboat, took on board the Dutch seamen and the survivors of
+Leyden's band, leaving the _Barang's_ crew under Rolfe and Blunt on
+board the schooner with Barry. Tom Little was in close conversation with
+Houten, and Gordon stood by as if quietly awaiting the outcome of it.
+Old Bill Blunt was forward, making the decks rattle with his lusty roar
+as he drove the little brown sailors to their jobs of preparing for sea.
+Outwardly the old fellow had managed to keep intact; it was only when he
+cut himself a quid of tobacco by jamming the plug into the sheave of a
+block and sawing at it with one hand that it could be noticed his left
+hand never left his belt and that his sleeve was dark and soggy.
+
+Mrs. Goring and Natalie Sheldon appeared on deck while Little and Houten
+were still talking, and they had regained their color and self-control,
+only revealing a slight shudder of recollection when their eyes fell
+upon the devastated creek. Houten noticed this and cut short his
+consultation.
+
+"So, dot iss settled, Mister Leedle," he said abruptly and met the
+ladies with a vast and paternal smile. "Captain Barry, when dot launch I
+had comes back from dot gunboat, we schall sail. Mister Leedle has
+agreed to go back to the station unt take charge until Mister Gordon
+returns, unt he takes dot launch unt some navy mans to stay mit him in
+case dose leedle brown mans ouf Leyden's make more bodder. So now mine
+boy Hendrik schall tell you somedings, yes?"
+
+Barry kept silent, merely nodding. Vandersee spoke in low tones to
+Gordon and Mrs. Goring for a moment, received their aquiescence to his
+question, then faced the skipper with an expression of resignation to a
+task not entirely to his liking.
+
+"Some of the story is not very pleasant, Barry, so I'll make it brief,"
+he said. "It's due to you and to Little, otherwise I'd ask you to let
+your doubts remain unanswered. Beginning with my uncle's engagement of
+Little and yourself, at that time everybody concerned believed that gold
+was to be found on this river,--everybody, that is, except Leyden and
+Gordon here. Gordon desires me to tell the entire story, so I am not
+going to waste time by repeated apologies. The chief thing in this gold
+business is that Houten believed it implicitly, and naturally he wanted
+to know where his property was going to. Hence your engagement.
+
+"Now to explain some of the mystery that has bothered you, Captain, it
+was discovered by my government some time back that Leyden was operating
+a tremendous opium smuggling business, and the entire interior of the
+island was in his grip. You'll see now how he could command such numbers
+of native fighters to drive you out or kill you. Eventually I was
+detailed to the duty of running him down. I am, as you perhaps have
+gathered, a lieutenant in the Dutch navy."
+
+"Yes, yes," interrupted Barry, interested, yet hotly impatient to arrive
+at matters more closely concerning him personally. "That is all right,
+Vandersee. I know that, and that Mrs. Goring is your sister, and that
+she came here in my ship and stole my picture and why," he ran on,
+giving the lady a reassuring grin as he mentioned the theft of the photo
+by the brutal name. "I know, too, the connection between the opium
+running and the gold-dust swindle; you told me that; but I can't see yet
+why there was any necessity to compel me to keep my hands off that
+fellow, since we were all out for him, though on different errands.
+Seems to me a lot of useless waste of energy when he could have been
+taken weeks ago if you had made me acquainted with the inside of the
+business."
+
+As he spoke, Mrs. Goring's face paled, and pain entered her eyes. Gordon
+patted her shoulder tenderly, and Natalie soothed her with soft speech.
+Vandersee waited for a moment until the pain had been banished by a
+brave smile and she nodded to him resolutely, then he resumed in reply
+to Barry:
+
+"That is the real story, Captain. Juliana and I have not been blessed
+with parents since childhood. Mr. Houten is the only parent my sister
+has known. While she lived in his house, she met Gordon, and they soon
+became engaged to each other. I think you'll spare her the details,
+Barry, when I tell you this: While Gordon was absent on a business trip
+Leyden entered Juliana's home, became very intimate with my uncle, and
+was soon trusted utterly. Then subtle tales began to trickle in to
+Juliana and Mr. Houten about Gordon; and after a while they forced
+belief. They grew worse, and as they got blacker, Leyden's influence
+with my uncle increased until Houten accepted him as a partner and as a
+suitor for my sister's hand." Mrs. Goring shuddered violently, and Barry
+sensed that the climax to her story was near. Vandersee went on: "Barry,
+my sister fell under the spell of that man, and--"
+
+Vandersee's calm was not equal to his task. It was Gordon who took up
+the story, and his voice vibrated with passion:
+
+"The beast took her away and then flung her adrift on the port of
+Singapore, Barry! There was a little truth and a lot of lies in those
+tales circulated about me. True, I had been using liquor rather more
+than was good for a white man out here; but when I heard of this last
+piece of villainy, I simply went a complete mucker. I got so low and
+vile that I gradually lost my resolve to find him and choke the foul
+life out of him. When, after years, he came to me in this river and made
+his proposition about using the post as an entry port for his drug under
+cover of the gold-dust myth, I was even so far gone down the track as to
+agree to everything, if only I could be kept supplied with liquor. I
+willingly robbed Houten, although everything I ever had, this post, the
+last chance anybody on earth would give me, I owe to him." Gordon
+paused, passed a caressing hand along Mrs. Goring's arm, and concluded:
+"I only came to my senses, and to a promise of life again, when this
+lady came here and found me. Barry, a noble woman is a wonderful work of
+God!"
+
+"I believe that," replied Barry quietly. "So that is why you stowed away
+in my ship, Mrs. Goring? If I had known, you should never have been
+refused a passage when you asked."
+
+"That was not all, Captain," smiled the woman, her face transfigured by
+her triumph. "I came chiefly to be at hand when this sweet girl needed a
+friend," she said, patting Natalie's hand. "We knew she was to have a
+terrible awakening. We, I particularly, knew the man who had fascinated
+her. Besides that, I came to help my brother; and, above all, Captain, I
+came to satisfy myself whether love could really die."
+
+Natalie had listened intently to a story she already had heard, and at
+Mrs. Goring's concluding words she shivered slightly and added: "And by
+God's grace, it cannot--if it is love."
+
+Barry glanced inquiringly at the girl, and she blushed rosily. He said
+softly: "You have something to say in this, I'm sure, for you made a
+remark about the success of my expedition that was quite at variance
+with some of your earlier remarks to me."
+
+"Why--I have scarcely anything to say," Natalie hesitated with
+heightened color. "I ought to tell you why I seemed to doubt you,
+though. That is due to you, after you have lost your ship and everything
+in my behalf. I am ashamed to tell it, but I was completely fascinated
+by that man. I believed in him utterly, and so did the Mission folks.
+You can believe that when I gave up the Mission work at his word and
+placed myself under his protection from your crew of pirates, as he
+called you."
+
+"Go on," urged Barry, as she paused.
+
+"That is all, I think, Captain. While I believed him, of course I
+doubted you, whom I had met but once or twice. Then after Mr. Gordon
+recovered and I heard a dispute one day between him and Leyden, when
+Gordon and I had been left alone for an hour, I saw a light and demanded
+to know the truth of Mrs. Goring, whom I had grown to love. The story
+she told was duplicated by Mr. Gordon, and again by Lieutenant
+Vandersee, backed up by a stolen glimpse at the _Padang's_ papers,
+showing she had cleared for Europe, and not for Batavia, as I had been
+led to believe. I was forced to see the horrible situation I had placed
+myself in; for if this schooner ever got out to sea--" She stopped in
+distress, and Barry pressed her hand gently. He asked quietly:
+
+"And you believe in me now, Natalie?"
+
+"I have never doubted you since that horrible day I saw you on the ant
+hill. But since that day I, too, have played a part. Mrs. Goring's
+proved wrongs and my own narrow escape steeled me to help Vandersee, as
+he asked me. I did my poor best, Captain; but I am so glad it's all
+over."
+
+Barry realized that the tale was told. His first impulse was to give
+Gordon a hard hand-grip of friendship; his second to tell Mrs. Goring
+his high opinion of her courage and loyalty. He followed both impulses,
+but felt a little embarrassment in addressing the lady of various names.
+He took Mrs. Goring's hand in his and remarked with a smile:
+
+"I scarcely know how to address you now. Is it Mrs. Goring? or have I
+got it wrong? Should it be Mrs. Gordon? Pardon me if I'm floundering."
+
+"Not Gordon, yet, Captain," she replied, and again the hint of pain in
+her eyes was banished by a resolute smile. "I am still Miss Vandersee. I
+have never been married. I took a married name after--after--well, there
+was a little one, you know," she murmured softly, "a tiny life to be
+guarded from the poison of tongues. So I stole a name for its sake. It
+is dead now. I am Miss Vandersee."
+
+A deep silence was marked by the men walking away and leaving the two
+women to their own thoughts; and the relief was welcomed when Vandersee
+reported the steam launch in sight. In five minutes it was alongside,
+and the men in her held the ladder for Little. The ex-typewriter
+salesman travelled light enough now, for all his worldly belongings
+reposed somewhere among the drenched and shattered interior of the
+brigantine.
+
+"Well, so long, Jack Barry, old scout!" he shouted, after he had made
+his _adieux_ to the rest. "We've had a lot o' sport since I dug you out
+o' the dumps in Batavia. I'm staying here until Mr. and Mrs. Gordon come
+to relieve me; then I'll see you again, either in Java, or at the post,
+if you decide to try Celebes again. Stick to Cornelius, Jack. He's
+tickled silly with you; never mind about the ship you lost. So-long,
+all!"
+
+The cheery fellow dropped into the launch and waved her on her way up
+the river with a lordly air of command that brought a grin of
+reminiscence to Barry's face. Then Houten's rumbling voice boomed in his
+ear, and he heard his destiny and that of all hands.
+
+"Captain Barry, you have done well. Noddings dot I expected you to do
+vas undone. I am satisfied. Friendt Leedle iss to be mine superintendent
+in Java ven Gordon unt the niece he iss stealing from me are retty to
+return to the post. Yah, Captain, dot iss deir choice. Gordon iss to be
+mine partner, anyvay. As for Captain Barry, I dond't know," he chuckled,
+regarding the skipper with eyes that twinkled and shot between Barry's
+face and Natalie just behind him. The girl colored like a peony, as if
+some unsuspected instinct within her told her whither his words were
+driving. "I haf better ships as the old _Barang_, Captain, unt in my
+launch alongside I haf some pags ouf goldt dust dot iss to be a wedding
+present for a leedle lady I know ouf py der name ouf Natalie. Yes? No?
+How iss it, mine childrens?"
+
+Natalie ran below, overcome with confusion. The old trader turned to
+Barry, his whimsical humor giving place to cold business. "For now,
+Barry, I haf to say take this schooner to Surabaya. It iss at the orders
+ouf dot navy mans. Hendrik has to rejoin his ship, unt it will take a
+week or so to clean oop all dose leedle things left py dose opium
+runners, I come mit you, too, unt if you are short ouf a mate, I can
+stand a watch yet. Now schall we start? Hendrik joins his ship outside."
+
+"Man the windlass, Rolfe, and heave away!" shouted Barry, alight with
+excitement at what he had surprised on Natalie's face as she ran below.
+The mention of wedding presents might be a little premature; but Jack
+Barry knew enough to seize his chance and at least do his best to make
+it mature. He saw the mate take his men to the windlass, and cast a look
+at the boom-sails, all ready to hoist, since they had simply been let go
+when the schooner anchored and not made fast.
+
+"Blunt!" he hailed.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!"
+
+"Can you handle a watch with that crippled fin?"
+
+"Crippled? Bless ye, Cap'n, I ain't crippled!"
+
+"That arm, man."
+
+"Huh! Ain't I got one left? Come on, Bullies! Clap on to them
+halliards!"
+
+"All right," cried Barry. "Hoist away. Mains'l first."
+
+Barry ran below to look out charts and rulers and the other navigating
+implements necessary for simple point-to-point navigation. He found
+Natalie sitting in the main saloon with her chin in her cupped hand,
+gazing into the future. Her eyes grew dusky and her face flooded with
+color as he stopped by her chair and placed a hand on her shoulder.
+
+"Well, lady mine," he said, finding sudden boldness in her confusion.
+"Are you thinking of what old Cornelius said?"
+
+"Not entirely," she replied, meeting his gaze with eyes that swiftly
+changed to disconcerting clearness. "Why should it be necessary for Mr.
+Houten to say anything?"
+
+Barry had graduated from the awkward class, though perhaps not long ago.
+He swept her up in his arms, triumphantly aware that she struggled and
+submitted, and his lips sought hers in a first kiss. But suddenly, when
+her submission seemed absolute, Natalie revealed a strength that amazed
+and puzzled him. She writhed free from his grasp and said with a low
+little laugh:
+
+"I was not thinking about what Cornelius said--but of what you once
+said to Juliana--Jack!"
+
+He was staggered for a second, then he remembered, and would have
+followed her. But she ran into her own cabin and shut the door upon him.
+His duties compelled him to hurry, for the cable was coming in fast, and
+overhead the heavy canvas began to rattle and flap in the wind as the
+schooner swung. He entered the cabin that had been used as a chart room
+and rummaged the desk for parallel rulers and dividers; but a soft step
+behind him brought him to a stand quickly. Natalie stood beside him, a
+soft glow on her face, her eyes shining like stars now, and in her hand
+she held out a photograph to him.
+
+"You said that when next you took this, it would be when I placed it in
+your cabin," she said, meeting his eyes with a blushing challenge.
+
+Their souls met, spoke, and understood. She did not refuse him her lips
+now but surrendered with glad abandon. The hoarse roar of Rolfe,
+reporting the anchor apeak, and the bellowing bass of old Bill Blunt
+giving the word to belay the peak halliards, failed to disturb them. A
+second shout from the mate was answered by Barry's:
+
+"Avast heaving a bit! I'm not ready yet."
+
+But Natalie shyly looked up into his face and gave him her first order:
+
+"No, Jack, tell them to heave away--that's how you say it, isn't it? Let
+us hurry home, before I tire of my terrible pirate."
+
+"Pirate gladly, girl of mine. Am I not taking gold out of Celebes?"
+
+"Sordid creature!" she pouted, averting her lips in mock displeasure.
+But in her face was a light that shone from her heart, and that heart
+knew quite well what gold Jack Barry was carrying away from Celebes.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Gold Out of Celebes, by Aylward Edward Dingle
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOLD OUT OF CELEBES ***
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