Soon after leaving the seaplane, Hoole pointed out why it had come down in this part of the forest. The stream widened into a small lake, on which, when their engine failed, the Germans had tried to alight.
Unable to reach it, they had been forced to come down on the bank of the stream.
Flanso scouted ahead, every now and then stopping to listen for signs of the Germans. Once, when they were rounding a spur where the vegetation was thin, Trentham clapped his hand over the mouth of one of the Germans just as he was about to shout.
"We "ll have to gag this fellow, Hoole," he said.
"Sure. Another rag from my coat. And look you here, you officers, if you make a sound, barring a natural grunt, we "ll leave you to our friend Flanso. See?"
"The native yonder," explained Trentham. "You had him on your ledge, you know."
The threat was enough. For the rest of the march the Germans were docility itself.
CHAPTER XIV
AN INTERLUDE
At the entrance to the village the returning party found Grinson alone, standing in the middle of the path, his knife in his right hand, a spear in his left, and a dozen other spears on the ground beside him. Neither Meek nor any of the natives was to be seen.
"What"s the meaning of this, Grinson?" asked Trentham.
"Ignorance, sir--just ignorance, poor heathens!" replied the boatswain, c.o.c.king his thumb towards the village. "That there airy plane sailed over a while ago, and the savages all did a bunk, screeching like one o"clock, though I roared myself black in the face telling "em "twas only a sort o" bird. "Twas no good; like as I "ve seed cows and sheep bolt with their tails up from a railway train. They was scared stiff, there "s no mistake; and I "spect they "re hiding their heads somewhere."
"And Meek?"
"I sent Ephraim straight into our hut, sir, and seeing as how the whole place was left undefended, like, I took up my station here. Germans, sir?" he added in a whisper, winking towards the prisoners.
"Yes; their machine came down. We "ll leave them in your charge, as we want to take a gang back to bring in the machine. You had no trouble on the way home?"
"Not a bit, sir, except that they "ve no notion whatever of the proper way of marching--more like a lot of colts they was; but there, I hadn"t the heart to correct "em, they was so uncommon pleased to be free again."
The party had not interrupted their march. Grinson had picked up his spears and fallen in step beside Trentham. As they pa.s.sed along the path, from behind the huts and the midst of the plantations native heads appeared one by one, and when the timorous people recognised their young chief they came bounding out with yells of delight, until by the time the inner enclosure was reached the whole population had joined the procession. At the gate the patricians were a.s.sembled, headed by the temporary chief. They welcomed Flanso with some show of dignity, and conducted him to the chief"s house, bowing low as he entered the doorway. The two prisoners were placed under guard in an empty hut, and then Trentham hurried after Flanso, and with the aid of the interpreter explained the course of action which had been arranged between himself and Hoole during the homeward march.
Trentham found himself contending with the natives" absolute incomprehension of the value of time. Flanso was already occupied in discussing with his elders the details of his approaching installation.
No western monarch could have been more deeply absorbed in the ceremonies that were to inaugurate his reign. The hardships from which he had been rescued, the dangers that still threatened him and his people, seemed to have vanished from his mind, and it was only by dint of patience and pertinacity that Trentham succeeded in capturing his attention.
He pointed out that the Germans, enraged at the loss of their prisoners, would certainly seek to regain them, and also to wreak vengeance upon the community; nor would their animus be lessened when they discovered that their airmen had fallen into the enemy"s hands.
"Chief say Toitsche fella no belongina find out that," said the interpreter, after an interruption from Flanso. "Black fella belongina eat white fella chop-chop."
"Tell chief what he say all belongina gammon," cried Trentham, and proceeded to explain as well as he could from the slender resources of pidgin English that the Germans might be valuable at least as hostages.
It took some time to get this theory understood and accepted; then it was an equally long and difficult task to persuade him that the seaplane would be of any value to him. What was the good of it? It only frightened his people. To fetch it involved the risk of falling into the power of the Germans. Trentham managed to make him understand that the loss of the machine would greatly cripple the enemy"s operations; and further, that if Hoole succeeded in repairing it, it might be used to bring help from friendly white men, who would eat up the Germans, and deliver the natives for ever from them. Flanso was rather impressed by these statements, though he said that his people would probably prefer to eat up all the Germans themselves; and Trentham realised the danger of employing metaphorical language. Ultimately he brought Flanso to concede his request--to despatch a party of able-bodied men to transport the seaplane from its present position to the village.
"I feel utterly done up," he said, mopping his brow, when he returned to the others. "Jabbering pidgin English for an hour is worse than penal servitude. And it"s such frightful loss of time; the Germans may have discovered the machine by now."
"Don"t worry," said Hoole. "It was flying so low that I guess they couldn"t have seen it come down, and when they miss it they may hunt for it for a day or two in the forest and not find it, except by a fluke. I don"t figure out that they "ll have all the luck. Anyway, choose your men, and I "ll take "em out; you "ve done your share of the business. I "ll take Grinson, he "s a hefty man, and may have a notion or two."
Fortunately the chief"s obstinacy had no counterpart among the Papuans outside the enclosure. The released prisoners had done nothing since their return except relate over and over again the details of their sufferings and the manner of their escape. Their friends listened awestruck to the tale, and gasped as they heard of the dangling rope, the lightning which had gleamed upon the cliff, the crackling thunder, the strange stones that flew singing through the air; and they looked with wondering admiration upon the white men who had saved their fellows, not only from the tyrants who had enslaved them, but even from the powers of nature which those tyrants had at command. Trentham and Hoole thus found themselves to be regarded with veneration, and when the interpreter, prompted by Trentham, explained that the white men required the services of twenty strong men to bring in the great sea-bird which was another part of the enemy"s magic, there was no lack of volunteers eager to undertake the work. Another score were selected as scouts, and when these understood that the object to be carried was bulky, and could not easily be conveyed through thick forest, they announced that they knew a way less obstructed by vegetation, which would be more convenient, though less direct.
Under their guidance the party reached the stream some distance above the spot where the seaplane lay. Feeling their way cautiously along the bank, they came at length in sight of the machine, which to all appearance remained exactly as it had been left. Hoole took the precaution to post a screen of scouts around the position to give warning if the enemy should approach, then he sent Grinson to detach the wings. A handy man, like all British seamen, Grinson soon accomplished his task, with the aid of tools discovered among the airmen"s outfit.
Within a shorter s.p.a.ce of time than Hoole had deemed possible the work was finished. The wings were entrusted to two men apiece; the body of the machine was hoisted on the shoulders of the rest of the party; and although they met with considerable difficulties at rough and steep places on the return journey, once being saved from catastrophe only by the succour of Grinson"s st.u.r.dy muscles, they bore their burden without mishap to the village, and carried it up the central path amid the joyous shouts of the populace. Some of the men, now that the strange bird was evidently helpless, showed their bravery by casting their spears at it, and their dexterity by failing to hit any of the bearers.
At this Hoole fairly lost his temper, and rushed among the throng, smiting them right and left with his fists. This unusual mode of correction was effectual. The men who were sent spinning picked themselves up with an air of surprise, while their comrades shouted with laughter, in which the culprits themselves by and by joined. For safety"s sake Hoole had the machine carried into the inner enclosure, where it was inspected with more decorum and shyness by the patricians, and with contempt by the medicine-man, who demonstrated his a.s.surance by stroking the petrol tank and afterwards licking his greasy fingers. The grimaces he made were so much like those he was accustomed to display for professional purposes that his discomfort pa.s.sed unnoticed except by the white men.
Trentham came out of his hut rubbing his eyes.
"Yes, I "ve been asleep," he said, in answer to Hoole"s inquiring look.
"A pretty warden of the camp I should make. But the fact is, these people are hopeless. I tried to make them understand that the Germans might be upon us at any minute--no good! They appear to be entirely taken up with some sort of mumbo-jumbo, and can"t attend to anything else. So I simply gave in, trusting that if the Germans did appear the people would be scared into reasonableness. The wall, of course, is proof against anything less than a four-pounder."
"Well, I guess you did right," said Hoole, "and after thirty odd hours without it, a little sleep would comfort me some. As to the Germans, I "m pretty sure they "ll do a bit of reconnoitring before they attack.
The surprise of those two airmen wasn"t put on; it"s clear that Hahn said nothing about us, and they "ll be wondering how many there are of us. And so, my son, we must persuade Flanso to keep some scouts out with their eyes lifting. With proper notice we could put up some sort of defence. But I hope we "ll get away before it comes to that."
"You can repair the machine, then?"
"I reckon I can, if I can get hold of a forge. But I "m dead tired, so I "ll turn in, if you "ll keep your eyes open a while. So long!"
That evening, as the four men sat together once more in their hut, the two younger drew from Meek the story which he had already related to Grinson on the way home. It was a very colourless narrative--a recital of the cold facts in the fewest possible words, without a touch of pa.s.sion or indignation. Grinson, however, was not the man to leave his mate"s story unadorned.
"He "s an "ero, gentlemen, that"s what Ephraim is!" he declared. "If ever he gets back to the old country, I lay the name of Ephraim Meek--ay, and his picter too--will be in all the newspapers. I "ll see to that. And the cinemas too; by gosh, I hear "em now, the cheers of the little kiddies and the sobs of the women and gals when they see Ephraim tied up, like that chap as defied the lightning, bidding of them German ruffians to do their worst; he "d never dig coal for them, not him!
P"r"aps one of you young gentlemen will make a pome out of it, like that one about "the boy stood on the burning deck," you remember, or one I used to know years ago when I went to school, about a British Tommy. I don"t rightly recollect it, but "twas a Tommy in some heathen land as wouldn"t bob his head to an idol, or thing of the sort, though they killed him for it. "Twud be a shame if Ephraim wasn"t put into some pome too--an "ero like him!"
"I ain"t got the figger of an "ero, Mr. Grinson," said Meek. "Now if it was you--a-going off singing to be eat--that "ud made a picter. I couldn"t sing if "twas me--I "m sure I couldn"t."
"Why, that was only like a sheep bleating on the way to the slaughter-house--"eroes don"t baa. Ain"t I right, gentlemen?"
"What do you say, Hoole?" said Trentham, feeling somewhat at a loss.
"Well," drawled Hoole, "I guess heroes ain"t _cheap_, anyway, and I "m proud to know two, that"s sure."
CHAPTER XV
DUK-DUK
Trentham took turns with Hoole and Grinson to keep watch through the night, leaving Meek to the recuperative force of sleep. No untoward incident disturbed the hours of darkness, but there was a good deal of noise in the village, the men chattering incessantly.
"Reminds me of the meetings of our old Urban District Council," remarked Grinson once, when Hoole relieved him. "Fust one, then another, then all together--and nothing settled after all."
"I guess they "re fixing something," replied Hoole. "In my country there "s a good deal of clack when we elect a new president. It"s a new chief here, you know."
"Which it means a coronation, p"r"aps, or a beano of some sort, sir.
Well, we "ll see, if we live long enough. Good night, sir."