"I know we are," cried Smith. "Confound you, Roddy, you"re always telling me I"m late. If you say anything like that again I"ll throw you out."
Rodier grinned.
"Mademoiselle wouldn"t like that," he shouted. "Tout va bien, mademoiselle?" he said, turning to the lady. "Vous n"avez pas peur?"
"It is terribly fast," said the girl breathlessly, and Rodier came to the conclusion that Captain Bunce"s opinion of his daughter"s linguistic ability was exaggerated.
The moon had set, and the flight was continued in almost total darkness. At length, shortly before four o"clock in the morning, Smith caught sight of lights ahead. He had touched at Penang some years before, when his first ship was on her way out to the Australian station, and he knew that the most suitable place for alighting was a large open s.p.a.ce, clear of vegetation and buildings, about a mile from the port. In a few minutes the aeroplane was flying over the sleeping town. He slackened speed, and circled around for some time, seeking the spot with the aid of his searchlight. He discovered it with more ease than he had dared to hope, and bidding Rodier look out for obstacles, descended to the ground.
"Here we are, Miss Bunce," he said cheerfully, as he stepped out. "I hope you feel none the worse for your ride."
"It is wonderful," said the girl. "I shall never forget it."
"The question is, what are we to do now? Your father mentioned a friend of his, but as I have little time to spare I think you had better come with me to my friend Mr. Daventry. He is in the administration here, and I am sure Mrs. Daventry will be glad to do anything she can for you. You see, I can find my way there in the dark, I think, whereas we should have to wait until daylight to find your father"s friend, and that would be a nuisance in every way."
"I will do whatever you think best."
Leaving Rodier with the aeroplane, the other two set off towards the town.
"You will try to send help to Father?" said the girl.
"As soon as it"s light. This is Sunday morning, by the way. _You_"re all right, but I"m afraid I look far from Sundayish. Still, no one can see me, and I shall be off before the people go to church."
"So soon as that? Aren"t you very tired?"
"Not so tired as I"ve been in the manoeuvres. We get a nap in turn, you know."
"How _can_ you sleep when you"re in such terrible danger?"
"Well, you see I"m used to it. We don"t think of the danger. Perhaps it"s because I"ve never had a bad accident. The want of a decent meal is the worst of it. We haven"t had one since Thursday night, but I daresay we can keep going on light fare for another three or four days."
"You know I"ve often wanted to go up in an aeroplane, though I suspect I should have backed out if I had really had the chance. I"m very glad Father insisted on my coming, but I wish it had been daylight; I could only hold on and try not to be afraid."
"I"m sorry we can"t take you with us--no, I don"t quite mean that, Miss Bunce; of course you couldn"t come careering about; what I mean is that I shall be very glad to take you a daylight trip one of these days if you care to come--when we get back home, of course. Captain Bunce was kind enough to give me an invitation; he said you would give me a cup of tea--"
"And sing to you! I know exactly what he said; but you mustn"t pay too much attention to Father. He"s a dear old man, but quite absurd over my little accomplishments."
"But I may have a cup of tea?"
"With or without sugar--if you really mean it."
"Of course I mean it. One of these days you will find my aeroplane at your door--"
"Good gracious! it will be in pieces, then, for our street isn"t wide enough to give it room."
"Well, you"ll find _me_ at the door then; and after I have had my cup of tea, with three lumps of sugar, and you have sung a little song--just to please your father, of course--we will walk to where my man is waiting with the aeroplane, two or three streets off, and we"ll take a jaunt to Greenwich Park, or Richmond, or wherever you like."
"That will be very nice," said Miss Bunce, and Smith wished it were not too dark to see her face, for the tone expressed utter disbelief.
He wanted to a.s.sure her that he meant what he said, but, reflecting that he had better not seem to suggest that she doubted it, he said--
"That"s settled, then. I suppose it will be three or four months before you get home, and I shan"t have another leave for I don"t know how long, so we won"t fix a date. Now Mr. Daventry"s bungalow is in this direction; I hope I shall be able to find it."
They walked about for some minutes before Smith was able to satisfy himself that he had discovered the bungalow. They pa.s.sed through the compound, looked with a smile at the native servant sleeping on a mat at the door, and laughed to see him jump when awakened by Smith"s vigorous rapping. At a word from Smith the man went into the dwelling, but a moment afterwards a window above the entrance was thrown open, and a loud voice demanded what was the matter.
"That you, Daventry?" Smith called.
"Yes. Who are you? What"s the matter?"
"It"s Charley Smith. Sorry to disturb you at this unearthly hour, old chap."
"What in the name of--! All right. I"ll come down."
They saw a light struck; in a minute they saw framed in the doorway a tall man in pyjamas, holding a candle.
"Come in, Smith," he cried. "Why, what the--! Here, I say, I won"t be a minute."
Setting down the candle on the doorstep, he hurriedly fled. Smith glanced at the girl. She was quite unembarra.s.sed, and when she caught his eye she frankly smiled. "She"s the right sort," he said to himself. Presently Mr. Daventry returned in trousers and a smoking jacket.
"Excuse my leaving you. I went to--to waken Mary," he said. "She"ll be down in a minute; come in. Didn"t know you were married, old boy," he whispered, taking Smith by the arm.
"Hush!" said Smith anxiously, hoping that Margaret Bunce had not caught the words.
Mr. Daventry led them into his dining-room, turned on the lights, and looked inquiringly at his visitors. The girl was already unpinning her low cloth hat.
"Why, what on earth--!" exclaimed Mr. Daventry; "what have you been doing to yourself, Smith?"
"I _am_ a bit of a sweep, no doubt, but you can give me a bath. The fact is--well, it"s plaguey difficult to tell it shortly--but the fact is I picked up this lady--no, hang it all! Miss Bunce, please help me out."
"Mr. Smith picked me up, as he says, from a burning ship in mid-ocean, and was kind enough to bring me here in his aeroplane."
"Sounds simple, don"t it?" said Smith, as Mr. Daventry looked from one to the other in amazement.
"But--I don"t understand--mid-ocean--an aeroplane? Mary," he added to a lady in a dressing-gown who had just entered, "come and listen to this. You know Charley Smith? Miss--Miss--"
"Margaret Bunce," said the girl, rising.
"My wife. Now, let us all sit down and see if we can make this out. If I understand aright Miss Bunce was in a burning ship in mid-ocean--"
"Oh, poor thing!" said Mrs. Daventry sympathetically, going to Margaret and taking her hand.
"And--correct me if I"m wrong--Smith descended out of the clouds, caught up Miss Bunce, and flew with her to the house of his nearest friend. Is your aeroplane outside, old man?"
"It"s a mile away, in charge of my chauffeur. I think I had better tell the whole story from the beginning."
"I think so, too; it"s rather cloudy at present. Have a cigar--if the ladies don"t mind."
"Well, two days ago I learnt that my father was shipwrecked along with the company of his survey vessel on one of the Solomons, practically unarmed, the report says. As the news was taken to Brisbane by some of the crew in an open boat, they must have been at the mercy of the savages for a week or more, and probably hard pushed.
Of course a gunboat was to be sent to relieve them, but as every hour was important I decided to try to get to them in my aeroplane and take them some ammunition. Last night, coming somewhere south of the Andamans, we saw a ship on fire; she was adrift, lost her masts and all boats but one. The captain asked me to send help as soon as I got here, and Miss Bunce was good enough to accept our escort, and here we are."