Under the Waves - Robert Michael Ballantyne (red queen ebook .TXT) 📗

this is a world of robbers; the only difference among us is that some are sneaking robbers, others are open. Every man to his taste. I have been doing a little of the world's work openly of late, and I come here with part of the result to give you a chance of robbing me in the other way."

"Nay, nay, you are altogether too hard," returned the Jew, with a deprecating smile; "but come to my little office. We shall have more privacy there. How comes it, Pungarin, that you are so far from your own waters? It is a longish way from Ceylon to Borneo."

"How comes it," replied the Malay, "that the sea-mew flies far from home? There is no limit to the flight of a sea-rover, save the sea-shore."

"True, true," returned the Jew, with a nod of intelligence; "but here is my place of business. Enter my humble abode, and pray be seated."

Pungarin stooped to pass the low doorway, and seated himself beside a small deal table which, although destitute of a cloth, was thickly covered with ink-stains. The Malay rover was clad in a thin loose red jacket, a short petticoat or kilt, and yellow trousers. A red fez, with a kerchief wound round it turban fashion, covered his head. He was a well-made stalwart man, with a handsome but fierce-looking countenance.

From beneath the loose jacket Pungarin drew forth a small, richly chased, metal casket. Placing it on the table he opened it, and, turning it upside down, poured from it a little cataract of glittering jewellery.

"Ha! My friend," exclaimed his companion, "you have got a prize. Where did you find it?"

"I might answer, `What is that to you?' but I won't, for I wish to keep you in good humour till our business is concluded. Here, then, are the facts connected with the case. Not long ago some Englishmen came out to Hong-Kong to dive to a vessel which had been wrecked on an island off the coast. My worthy agent there, Dwarro, cast his eyes on them and soon found out all about their plans. Dwarro is a very intelligent fellow. Like yourself, he has a good deal of the sneaking robber about him. He ascertained that the wreck had much gold coin in it, and so managed that they hired his boat to go off to it with their diving apparatus. Somewhat against their will he accompanied them. They were very successful. The first time they went on shore, they took with them gold to the value of about twenty thousand pounds. Dwarro cleverly managed to have this secured a few hours after it was landed. He also made arrangements to have a fleet of my fellows ready, so that when more gold had been recovered from the wreck they might surround them on the spot and secure it. But the young Englishman at the head of the party was more than a match for us. He cowed Dwarro, and cleverly escaped to land. There, however, another of my agents had the good fortune to discover the Englishmen while they were landing their gold. He was too late, indeed, to secure the gold, which had been sent on inland in charge of two Chinamen, but he was lucky enough to discover this casket in the stern-sheets of their boat. The Englishmen fought hard for it, especially the young fellow in command, who was more like a tiger than a man, and knocked down half a dozen of our men before he was overpowered. We would have cut his throat then and there, but a party of inhabitants, guided by one of the Chinamen, came to the rescue, and we were glad to push off with what we had got. Now, Moses, this casket is worth a good round sum. Dwarro wisely took the trouble to make inquiries about it through one of the Chinamen, who happened to be an honest man and fortunately also very stupid. From this man, Chok-foo, who is easily imposed on, he learned that the casket belongs to a very rich English merchant, who would give anything to recover it, because it belonged to his wife, who is dead--"

"A rich English merchant?" interrupted Moses, "we Jews are acquainted pretty well with all the _rich_ English merchants. Do you know his name?"

"Yes; Charles Hazlit," answered the Malay.

"Indeed! Well--go on."

"Well," said Pungarin, abruptly, "I have nothing more to say, except, what will you give for these things?"

"One thousand pounds would be a large sum to offer," said the Jew, slowly.

"And a very small one to accept," returned Pungarin, as he slowly gathered the gems together and put them back into the casket.

"Nay, my friend, be not so hasty," said Moses; "what do you ask for them?"

"I shall ask nothing," replied the Malay; "the fact is, I think it probable that I may be able to screw _more_ than their value out of Mr Hazlit."

"I am sorry to disappoint your expectations," returned the Jew, with something approaching to a sneer, as he rose; and, selecting one from a pile of English newspapers, slowly read out to his companion the announcement of the failure of the firm of Hazlit and Company. "You see, my good friend, we Jews are very knowing as well as sharp. It were better for you to transact your little business with me."

Knowing and sharp as he was, the Jew was not sufficiently so to foresee the result of his line of conduct with the Malay rover. Instead of giving in and making the best of circumstances, that freebooter, with characteristic impetuosity, shut the steel box with a loud snap, put it under his arm, rose, and walked out of the place without uttering a word. He went down to the beach and rowed away, leaving Moses to moralise on the uncertainty of all human affairs.

Favouring gales carried the Malay pirate-junk swiftly to the east. The same gales checked, baffled, and retarded the schooner _Fairy Queen_ on her voyage to the west.

"Darling Aileen," said Miss Pritty, recovering from a paroxysm, "did you ever hear of any one dying of sea-sickness?"

"I never did," answered Aileen, with a languid smile.

Both ladies lay in their berths, their pale cheeks resting on the woodwork thereof, and their eyes resting pitifully on each other.

"It is awful--horrible!" sighed Miss Pritty at at the end of another paroxysm.

Aileen, who was not so ill as her friend, smiled but said nothing. Miss Pritty was past smiling, but not quite past speaking.

"What dreadful noises occur on board ships," she said, after a long pause; "such rattling, and thumping, and creaking, and stamping. Perhaps the sailors get their feet wet and are so cold that they require to stamp constantly to warm them!"

Aileen displayed all her teeth and said, "Perhaps."

At that moment the stamping became so great, and was accompanied by so much shouting, that both ladies became attentive.

A few moments later their door opened violently, and Mr Hazlit appeared with a very pale face. He was obviously in a state of great perturbation.

"My dears," he said, hurriedly, "excuse my intruding--we are--attacked-- pirates--get up; put on your things!"

His retreat and the closing of the door was followed by a crash overhead and a yell. Immediately after the schooner quivered from stem to stern, under the shock of her only carronade, which was fired at the moment; the shot being accompanied by a loud cheer.

"Oh horror!" exclaimed Miss Pritty, "my worst fears are realised!"

Poor Miss Pritty was wrong. Like many people whose "worst fears" have been engendered at a civilised fireside, she was only _beginning_ to realise a few of her fears. She lived to learn that _her_ "worst fears" were mere child's play to the world's dread realities.

Her sea-sickness, however, vanished as if by magic, and in a few minutes she and her companion were dressed.

During those few minutes the noise on deck had increased, and the shouts, yells, and curses told them too plainly that men were engaged in doing what we might well believe is the work only of devils. Then shrieks of despair followed.

Presently all was silent. In a few minutes the cabin door opened, and Pungarin entered.

"Go on deck," he said, in a quiet tone.

The poor ladies obeyed. On reaching the deck the first sight that met them was Mr Hazlit standing by the binnacle. A Malay pirate with a drawn sword stood beside him, but he was otherwise unfettered. They evidently thought him harmless. Near to him stood the skipper of the _Fairy Queen_ with the stern resolution of a true Briton on his countenance, yet with the sad thoughtful glance of one trained under Christian influences in his eye. His hands were bound, and a Malay pirate stood on either side of him. He was obviously _not_ deemed harmless!

The decks were everywhere covered with blood, but not a man of the crew was to be seen.

"You are the captain of this schooner?" asked Pungarin.

"Yes," replied the prisoner, firmly.

"Have you treasure on board?"

"No."

"We shall soon find out the truth as to that. Meanwhile, who is this?" (pointing to Mr Hazlit.)

The captain was silent and thoughtful for a few moments. He was well aware of the nature of the men with whom he had to do. He had seen his crew murdered in cold blood. He knew that his own end drew near.

"This gentleman," he said, slowly, "is a wealthy British merchant-- well-known and respected in England. He has rich friends. It may be worth your while to spare him."

"And this," added the pirate captain, pointing to Aileen.

"Is his only child," answered the other.

"Your name?" asked Pungarin.

"Charles Hazlit," said the hapless merchant.

A sudden flash of intelligence lit up for a moment the swarthy features of the pirate. It passed quickly. Then he spoke in an undertone to one of his men, who, with the assistance of another, led the captain of the schooner to the forward part of the ship. A stifled groan, followed by a plunge, was heard by the horrified survivors. That was all they ever knew of the fate of their late captain. But for what some would term a mere accident, even that and their own fate would have remained unknown to the world--at least during the revolution of Time. The romances of life are often enacted by commonplace people. Many good ships with ordinary people on board, (like you and me, reader), leave port, and are "never again heard of." Who can tell what tales may be revealed in regard to such, in Eternity?

The _Fairy Queen_ was one of those vessels whose fate it was to have her "fate" revealed in Time.

We cannot state with certainty what were the motives which induced Pungarin to spare the lives of Mr Hazlit and his family; all we know is, that he transferred them to his junk. After taking everything of value out of the schooner, he scuttled her.

Not many days after, he attacked a small hamlet on the coast of Borneo, massacred most