Part 17 (2/2)

But Jim had other matters to attend to, for he realized that any instant it might be necessary to set the launch in motion. He crawled along into the engine well, and with the light now to help him, had his motor running within the s.p.a.ce of a few seconds.

”One of you boys get that anchor lifted,” commanded the Major, his eyes fixed upon the spot from which the shot had come. ”Tomkins, just fix your sights 'way over at that corner, and if there's another shot, send 'em a bullet. You needn't be careless either; this time they're asking for a lesson.”

The words had hardly left his lips when another shot rang out from the bank, the smoke blowing up again into the cool morning air. It was followed by another and another, till from some twenty places smoke obscured the bank and the forest. As to the missiles, they flew, hummed, and screamed overhead, some dropping into the water beyond, others thudding against the far bank, while a few, just a few only, struck the launch, making her wooden sides rumble. Not a man aboard was. .h.i.t, though many escaped narrowly.

”Precious near every time,” cried Jim, reddening under the excitement, and finding it extremely difficult to refrain from bobbing. ”Gee! I declare that one of those bullets went within an inch of my arm while another struck the top of the cylinder here, and--hi! look at this!” he shouted.

That last bullet had, in fact, done real damage; for it happened to be a big one, discharged from a huge muzzle-loader, sold to the man who had fired the weapon by men who palmed it off as of the latest construction.

Almost as big as a pigeon's egg, the ma.s.s of lead had struck the cylinder heavily, and with disasterous results. A column of water was spurting upward from the rent made in the copper cooling jacket.

”Done any damage? Not harmed the engine, I hope?” said the Major, looking across at Jim, and then at Tom, who meanwhile was tugging at the anchor chain. ”I hear her running; that sounds hopeful.”

Jim did not answer for the moment. At the first hasty inspection he imagined that the missile must have made a rent in the copper jacket and also cracked the cylinder casting itself. But a close survey of the damage showed him that the worst had not happened. The motor was heavily built, and no doubt the casting had been strong enough and thick enough to stand up to the blow. As to the water jacket, the damage was serious, but could be remedied. He could make a temporary repair inside half an hour, if given the opportunity, some sheet copper, and a soldering lamp.

But for the present the rent must remain; the water must continue to pump up into the air.

”We'll get along in spite of the damage, Major,” he sang out cheerily.

”But I shall want a man along here to bail. Ching, jest you hop in here with me and bring some sort of a pannikin.”

”Got um! By de poker, but I tink dat anchor fixed down below beneath a rock,” shouted Tom at this instant, lurching back on the for'ard deck and just saving a fall into the well. ”Dat ting stick like wax, and Tom not move um at fust. Hi, by lummy, you ober dere, yo do dat again and Tom say someting to yo. He skin yo alibe. He roast de flesh on yo bones and eat you.”

Jim grinned; even in the midst of such excitement the huge negro amused him, so that he was forced to laugh. Indeed the antics Tom indulged in were enough to cause a shout of merriment. It seemed that a bullet, fired at him a second earlier, just as he was hauling up the anchor, had struck him on the back of the hand; and though it had done nothing more than break the skin, it had caused a great deal of pain. It was that, and the suddenness of it all, which had roused the ire of the negro.

”You black son ob gun yo!” he bellowed, shaking a huge fist towards the bank from which the shot had come. ”Me break yo into little pieces, smash yo into fine jelly.”

”Hop right down off that deck, and see that you've placed the anchor out of harm's way,” commanded the Major sharply. ”Bullets are bad enough, but when they ricochet from an anchor they give very nasty wounds. Ah!”

He had hardly finished speaking when there came another rolling discharge from the bank, followed by the rush of the bullets, and then by a dull thud. The officer commanding the expedition fell forward in the cab, struck his forehead against the edge, and subsided in a heap on the floor. Instantly one of his men bent over him.

”Knocked silly, sir,” he said, addressing Jim. ”What's to be done?”

He looked at his two companions and awaited their answer. But one of them was busily engaged. Tomkins crouched in the well, his rifle to his shoulder and a perfect stream of fire issuing from the muzzle. Indeed, no one could have handled a magazine rifle better. But he came to the end of his supply of cartridges within a minute, and faced round quickly.

”What's that?” he demanded anxiously. ”The Major hit? Say, this is bad!”

”Knocked silly; not killed,” explained his comrade, shooting a cartridge into his own barrel. ”What's to be done?”

Tomkins cast a sympathetic glance at the Major, and then across at the river bank. A second later his eyes strayed to Jim's figure, and for a few moments he watched the young fellow as he tended to his engine, and with Ching's help placed a board padded with oiled cotton waste over the rent in the cooling jacket.

”See here,” he cried abruptly. ”The Major's down. Guess that young fellow had best take his place. He knows how to work this concern, and he ain't no fool by a long way. Get to at it.”

He took it for granted that Jim would accept the post of commander, and promptly turned towards the bank again, his magazine already replenished.

Meanwhile it may be wondered who had caused the whole commotion, who were the miscreants who had so suddenly and treacherously fired into the launch.

Five minutes almost had pa.s.sed since the first shot came, when the banks were hardly visible. But the dawn comes quickly in the tropics. The day was full upon them now, and, looking up, Jim could perceive the ma.s.s of tangled undergrowth beneath the forest trees, while right by the edge of the water were a number of dusky figures. If he could have had any reasonable doubt that they were natives Tomkins speedily helped him to a decision. For the man was a first-cla.s.s marksman, and now that the light was strong enough he began to make good use of his rifle. As Jim stared at the bank, one of the dusky figures turned and scrambled towards the jungle. But it seemed that the man had already been hit; for suddenly he swerved and almost tumbled. Then he faced round again, and stood unsteadily leaning on his weapon. The next instant a terrible shout escaped him; the native, for a dusky individual it was without question, dropped his weapon and thrust both arms high into the air. Then he seemed to crumple up entirely, and, falling forward, rolled with a loud splash into the river. Within a second a comrade had followed him to the same destination, dispatched thither by the policeman's unerring rifle.

Bang! Bang! From a long length of the bank splashes of smoke came, and once more bullets sped towards the launch. Jim heard their thudding, and even noted the various queer sounds they made, the dull blow of one striking her broadside, the cheep of another which merely grazed her rail, and then the nasty screaming of a missile which hit the anchor chain, and, being deflected in its course, rose almost vertically, and later on brought a shower of leaves from the trees beyond. But that was not all. Two bullets at least pa.s.sed with a peculiar whizz, and went on into the jungle on the other bank, as if they had been driven with greater force than all the rest.

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