Part 2 (1/2)

”Captain Smidt is already at the town-hall,” he said. ”Go there and register your names, in order that he may know how many boats will be required, and will be able to make his arrangements accordingly. A cordon of troops has been placed round the town, and no one will be allowed to leave without a permit. Some of the natives might, if they knew the preparations that have been made, make off, and swim to the pirate s.h.i.+ps with the news.”

As he ceased speaking, the little crowd moved off towards the town-hall.

Mounted men were at once despatched to all plantations within fifteen miles, calling upon the planters to drive in instantly with their arms for the defence of the town, which was menaced by an attack from pirates.

At four o'clock in the afternoon the three vessels that had left there ten days before were seen sailing past the town. They should have been sighted some hours earlier, but shortly after daybreak the wind had fallen, and the calm had lasted till midday. All were flying the Dutch flag, which they hauled down in salute to those flying on the fort, but proceeded on their way without changing their course. Everything was apparently quiet in the fort, and the salutes were duly returned. Boats sufficient to carry the number of men available had by this time been drawn up close to the sh.o.r.e, each bearing its number painted on her bow.

At half-past six the townspeople began to gather. All were armed with muskets or rifles, pikes or swords, and quietly and without confusion they took their allotted places, some on the boats, some on the two s.h.i.+ps.

The troops had marched an hour before, joined by between forty and fifty men who came in from the plantations. Van Houten had gone with them.

They halted half a mile from the station. It was desirable that they should not come up until the native labourers were all asleep. Van Houten himself rode on, and it was nearly nine o'clock as he entered. He was greeted by a cry of joy and surprise from the planter's daughter.

”Why, Philip!” she exclaimed. ”How have you got here? We saw your three vessels come along just as it became dark, an hour ago. I suppose you must have landed as they pa.s.sed Batavia. But what is the matter? you look strangely ill. Have you been wounded in a fight with those pirates?”

”You do look strange,” her father added, ”and you are not in uniform.”

”Things have gone badly,” he replied. ”Our three vessels have all been captured, and I am the sole survivor of the crews. I have been a prisoner, and only escaped last night.”

”Then what are the three s.h.i.+ps we saw?” the planter said. ”I could have sworn to the man-of-war _Leyden_. I was not sure as to the other two s.h.i.+ps.”

”They were full of pirates, meinheer, and have probably been joined by two more s.h.i.+ps by this time. They are going to land at about eleven o'clock to burn this place down and carry your daughter off, and after that they will storm and sack Batavia.”

”Are you in earnest, Van Houten, or dreaming? If your news is true, there is not a moment to be lost. We must have the horses and trap round at once and drive inland or to Batavia. The town can successfully resist.”

”I should certainly advise Elise to retire at once to a station a mile or two away. There will be a battle fought here. Two hundred soldiers and forty or fifty planters, with six guns, halted a mile away. They will be here in an hour's time, and will give the Malays a reception that they do not dream of. As soon as the fight begins, their s.h.i.+ps will be attacked by two merchantmen and a flotilla of boats manned by every available man in Batavia, with the exception of the governor himself and a small garrison, who will remain in the fort to protect the town should the pirates change their plans. Captain Smidt is in command of the flotilla, Colonel Stern is with the troops.”

”This is startling news indeed,” the planter said after a moment's silence. ”You say they will not attack till eleven. I will have the horses put in at once. I will take Elise to my neighbour Rogen, whose house is three miles inland. I shall be back again in plenty of time to take my part in the affair. Or, no--you shall drive her there, Van Houten. I dare say that you would like to do so.”

”Thank you, sir!”

”But can I not stay here?”

”No, dear,” her father said decisively; ”you might be hit by a chance shot, and I don't want to be in a state of anxiety about you while I have other things to do.”

He rang the bell standing on the table. A servant entered. ”In the first place, go and tell Domingo to put the horses into the carriage at once and to bring it round to the door, then bring in gla.s.ses and a bottle of Rhine wine.”

Ten minutes later Van Houten started with Elise, the native driving. On the way he gave her a sketch of all that had happened since he went away, and told her of the plans of the ”Sea Tiger”. The girl shuddered.

”From what a fate have you saved me!” she murmured; ”but it would not have been so, for I would have killed myself.”

”I do not think that he would have given you much opportunity for doing that. He said that he would take good care that no weapon should be put in your way. However, thank G.o.d that his schemes have been thwarted by his own folly in torturing me by telling me of his intentions! You need have no fear of the results of this fight; taken wholly by surprise as they will be, and bewildered by the attack on their s.h.i.+ps, we are certain to defeat them on land, and I trust that we shall capture all their s.h.i.+ps; and the lesson will be so terrible that it will be a long time before any other is likely to follow the 'Sea Tiger's' example.”

On arriving at the planter's house he found that he and his son had ridden into Batavia at four o'clock in obedience to the governor's call.

His wife and daughter were glad to have Elise with them, and, leaving her to tell the story, Philip drove back to her father's.

The column arrived three minutes after his return, and the colonel went round the ground with Van Houten and the planter. The house stood some three hundred yards from the sh.o.r.e, the ground slanting gradually down from it; there were plantations on either side. Four of the guns were placed under the broad verandah, with the five-and-twenty men who were to work them. The rest were distributed among the shrubberies on either side of the open s.p.a.ce running down from the house towards the water, where they would take the pirates, as they advanced, in flank. Van Houten offered to take ten of the planters down to destroy the boats when the Malays had left them.

Ten of the colonists volunteered for the service, and were provided from the storehouse with axes for staving in the boards. They posted themselves in a clump of bushes close to the sh.o.r.e. A quarter of an hour pa.s.sed, and then they heard five loud splashes and a confused noise, and knew that the pirate's s.h.i.+ps had anch.o.r.ed. Then came a creaking of pulleys and grating sounds, and they knew that the boats had been lowered. The lights in the house had all been extinguished, and perfect silence reigned. Presently there was a sound of many oars and the beat of paddles, and five minutes later ten large boats crowded with men appeared, making for the sh.o.r.e, and in a few minutes the grating of the keels was heard on the sand, and dark figures could be seen making their way up the beach.