Chapter 11. The White Hen

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_ CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE WHITE HEN

Meanwhile Ned and Frank had gone off eagerly to the attack upon the lurking water-dragon, terrible, in its way, as that which Saint George slew, and about half-way to the stockade they caught sight of Tim Driscol, seated under a tree, puffing away at a homemade pipe, composed of a short piece of bamboo with a reed stuck in the side. He had a neatly-made little basket by his knee, and as he saw the lads coming, he tapped the ashes out of his pipe, thrust it in his pocket, and rose to pick up his basket, in which there was evidently something alive.

"Bedad and I began to think ye didn't mane to come," he said, with his eyes twinkling.

"Oh, I should have come, Tim, if he hadn't," replied Frank.

"Av coorse ye would.--No offinse, Mr Murray, but why don't ye have a dress like the young master here? Don't he look fine? I hear you took him for a young rajah."

"You come along, and don't talk stuff!" cried Frank. "Is that the chicken?" and he nodded toward the basket. "Well sor, I'd like to tell the truth when I can."

"What do you mean? Haven't you got a chicken?" cried Frank, wrathfully. "No, sor."

"I gave you orders to get one for a bait, and if you haven't got one, it's no use for us to go on."

"I did go to get one, sor."

"Well?"

"And the baste at the farthest off house said he'd find one for me."

"Well? Why, you have got it," cried Frank; "I can hear it rustling in the basket."

"That isn't a chicken, sor."

"What is it, then?" cried Frank, impatiently.

"It's what he said was a chicken, sor."

"What is it, then?"

"I belave it's the ouldest hin about these parts, sor. He jabbered away in his haythen dialect, and swore it was a tinder young chicken; but it's an ould hin, that's laid eggs till she's tired, and won't lay any more, and he wants to sell her."

"But is it white?"

"Oh yes! it's white enough, sir."

"That will do, then. I don't suppose the croc can tell whether a bird's tender or tough. Come along."

Frank led on, leaving the palm houses behind, plunging among the trees, and winding in and out, till Ned recognised the spot where he had stopped to watch the river, and there he could see, lying about in the shade, eight or nine of the Malays, most of whom had spears, which stood leaning against the trunks of the trees.

"Now then, you two must talk English. I have got to speak in Malay, for I am going to do all the ordering this time. I say, Ned, you like fishing," he added, laughing. "You shall hold the line."

"But what are you going to do?"

"Wait a bit and you'll see," cried the lad; and he began to order the Malays about, the men hurrying here and there, and, evidently at his command, keeping right away from the banks of the river.

"Don't want to scare our fish," he said, hurriedly, to Ned. Then, as a man came up with a coil of rope, Frank undid a part of it, and showed that some feet of the end were not twisted, but all loose.

"Want to cutoff that bad bit?" said Ned, producing his knife.

"Bad, eh? Why, that's the beauty of it. I'm going to tie the hook on to it just there."

"But if you fish for a crocodile like that, he'll break away."

"Not he. They never do. If I fished with a hard piece of rope, he'd bite right through it."

"Then he must bite through that loose stuff. What is it--some kind of hemp?"

"No; fibre of the gamooti palm, and his teeth will only go through the loose stuff and bother him."

He asked for something in Malay, and one of the men handed him a curiously-shaped hook, which he attached to the loose fibrous rope, and then took a piece of stout twine from his pocket.

"Now, Tim," he cried, laughing, "give me the worm."

Tim opened the basket a little way, thrust in his hand, drew out the unfortunate hen, which was quite white, and began shrieking and flapping wildly till her wings were held down to her sides.

"Are you going to bait with that?" said Ned.

"Yes. Can't afford to bait with little boys and girls," replied Frank, merrily; "they come expensive, and the mothers don't like it."

"But you are going to kill it first?"

"Kill it? What for? We shouldn't get a bite if we did."

"But it's so horribly cruel."

"Is it? Well, I suppose it is, but if it wasn't killed this way, it would have been killed directly to make into a curry. This is a better end for it, for we shall save people's lives."

"If ye catch him, Masther Frank," said Tim.

"Oh, we shall catch him, Tim. You'll see. There, hold still."

As he spoke, Fred was busy tying the twine round the hen with ingenious knots, till the poor bird looked as if it had been put in harness; while, firmly secured in amongst the string bandages, and hidden by one of the wings, the hook lay ready for the reptile, if it did not prove to be too cunning to touch the bait.

"There!" cried Frank, at last; and he then said something to the Malays, from whom a murmur that was a chorus of approval, arose.

"Are you going to throw it into the river close by where I saw the monster!" whispered Ned.

"Throw it in? Why, it would drown the bird."

"Of course."

"Oh, I see you don't understand croc fishing," continued Frank, securing a piece of the fibre twine to one of the legs of the hen, and another to a stout peg of wood, leaving about five feet clear for the bird to move about.

These preparations made, Frank took the bird under his arm, twisted the rope twice about the hand which held the peg, and then, sticking a short stout staff in his belt, he stooped down, and, keeping the tree in which Ned had seen the monkey, between him and the water, he crept silently forward, dragging the rope after him, till he was close up. Then, taking the peg to which the hen was tethered, he drove it quickly and firmly down into the ground, as near to the edge of the bank as he could reach.

Ned watched him excitedly, and as he recalled his own adventure, he was in dread lest the reptile should make a rush at the gaily-clad figure, so occupied in his task that he would have been quite at the monster's mercy.

Similar thoughts evidently troubled the Malays, for five of the men took their spears from where they leaned, and stood some thirty feet behind the lad, ready to rush forward to his help. But there was no need. Frank worked quickly and well, driving the peg down into the ground with the club, sufficiently tightly to keep the hen from getting free, but not hard enough to prevent its being drawn by the reptile, supposing that the twine did not break.

It was only a minute's work before the club was thrust back into his waistband, and a quantity of the rope hauled down to the bank. Then the lad trotted rapidly back, leaving the hen walking disconsolately up and down with the hook beneath its wing, and dragging the loose rope here and there; while, so little was the poor thing troubled, that it began to scratch and peck about beneath the tree by the time Frank was talking eagerly to the Malays, who now lay down again with their spears ready.

"Shall I howld the rope, sor?" said Tim.

"No. Mr Murray likes fishing," replied the lad, with a grin; "and he shall hold the line till there's a bite. Better tie that other end, though, to that little tree."

Tim obeyed, and then seated himself in the shadiest place he could find, and took out his pipe again.

"Now, Ned, lay hold; and when the fish bites, give him plenty of line. Don't strike."

Ned took the rope offered to him eagerly, and yet with a feeling of reluctance, for the game was formidable.

"Let him go back into the river, and swallow the bait; then we'll talk to him. Now all lie down and be quiet."

The Malays were already as silent and motionless as a group in bronze, and Tim and the lads followed their example, every one watching the white hen, which, in happy ignorance of its perilous position, still pecked about quite close to the edge of the bank.

"Think it will come?" said Ned, after they had crouched there in silence for quite an hour.

"Can't say," whispered back the other. "More likely perhaps to bite of a night or early in the morning. Most likely to bite if we were not here. Fish always do if I leave my rod for a bit. Getting tired of waiting?"

"No; it's too exciting."

"No need to hold the rope without you like."

"But I do like. Will he pull very hard?"

"When he's hooked, but you must not let him pull hard when he first takes the hen. It's just like some kinds of fishing; you don't want to strike till the fish has swallowed the bait."

Another hour in that hot silence, and no signs of a crocodile. The Malays were all watchful, their dark eyes fixed on the white bird, and their spears ready; but Tim Driscol had fallen asleep with his pipe in his mouth, and the sight of the Irishman with his eyes closed, and his breath coming regularly, had a drowsy effect upon Ned, who half lay there on his side watching the glaring river, with the water looking every here and there like damascened metal. Then all at once, as Tim Driscol's breath came thickly, the hen was not there, the rope was running out fast, there was a sudden jerk, and Ned's eyes opened with a start.

"Don't go to sleep," whispered Frank. "He may come at any time."

"Don't go to sleep!" Then he had been asleep and dreaming, for there was the hen scratching about on the bank, and the rope lying just as it was before.

"I had only just closed my eyes, had I?"

"About five minutes, and your head was wagging about like a big fruit on a stalk. You don't want the croc to drag you into the river too."

These last words effectually drove away the drowsy sensation brought on by the silence and heat there beneath the trees; and, after a glance round to see that the Malays were all as watchful as ever, Ned settled down again to think about the white hen; about his own narrow escape, and then about the horrible mishap that morning, and of the poor girl's feelings as she felt herself seized by the great reptile.

"They ought to kill them all, Frank," he whispered.

"Kill whom?"

"The crocodiles. It is horrible to let these creatures be about the place."

"Very well; let's kill 'em all, then. There'll be plenty of sport. We're beginning with this one."

"But he does not come."

"Well then, let's give it up now and go. He is too artful. I daresay he sees us, and will not come till we are gone. We'll go away and come back this evening. That's the way the Malays catch the wretches. They don't stop to watch, only let the rope be tied to a tree, and then come back, and they often find one on."

"How do they kill it, then?"

"Same as we're going to kill this one when he is hooked; but, oh murder, I'm getting so precious hungry; let's give up now. I'll tell them we're not going to stay."

He crawled to the men, whispered softly to them for a few minutes, and then came back, pausing to rouse up Tim, who looked very stupid.

"Ready?" said Ned, who was still holding the rope attached to the hen. "No. I don't think I should like to give up. He may come yet."

"I don't know," said Frank. "The brute isn't hungry perhaps. I am, and I daresay there's a white chicken waiting at home nicely curried, and with plenty of cocoa-nut cream in it, and the whitest of rice round, ready for me. I'm hungry, and can bite; so can you. Let's be off and-- eh? What?"

"Hist!" whispered Ned; "the water is moving. Look! look!"

They could only see a little of the water near the bank, where the lotus-leaves were, but they were evidently being moved by something passing through them, and the pale blue blossoms were nodding.

Then almost directly there was a splash, a hideous head appeared on the bank, the wretched hen uttered a cackling shriek and leaped up to the full extent of the tether, a loud snapping noise was heard. They had just a rapid view of a huge scaly, dripping body in the act of turning, a great undulating tail waved in the air--there was a loud splash; and, thrilling with excitement, Ned saw the slack coils of rope running out, and that the bait was gone.

"That's right," whispered Frank excitedly, as a suppressed murmur rose from the Malays; "give him plenty of line. He won't go very far. There's lots of length;" and he stood looking on as, excited as he, Ned dragged at the rope, and passed it rapidly through his hands as it kept on running toward the bank, and into the river more and more and more, till only about ten yards were left before the end was reached--the end tied to a young cocoa-nut tree.

One of the Malays sprang up, whipped out his kris, and was going to cut the rope, for a check might have made the crocodile leave the bait before he had swallowed it, and the intention was to run with the end over to the river's brim, thus giving another fifty feet of line to run; but, just as he raised his kris, the great reptile ceased drawing out the rope, and Frank gave his young companion a congratulatory slap on the shoulder.

"Hurrah!" he cried; "he will not go any farther. He has got a lurking-place down there, under those lilies, and he is busy swallowing it."

He turned and asked one of the men a question, and the answer confirmed his opinion.

"Yes; it's all right," said Frank.

"Shall I strike now?"

"Oh no; give him plenty of time to swallow his chicken curry. I say, wait a bit; won't he find it warm in a few minutes."

"But I must strike soon. Let me do it."

"Oh yes; you shall strike, and then we'll have a lot of the fellows ready to catch hold, for that fellow's seventeen or eighteen feet long. I know, and you don't know, how strong these things are."

Ned made no reply, for he was suffering from a strange feeling of emotion: his heart beat violently, there was a sensation of suffocation in his breast, and the hands which held the rope trembled and twitched.

"Feel frightened, sor?" whispered Tim, smiling in his face.

"No, I don't think I'm frightened, because I wouldn't let go on any account."

"I know. I felt just like that the first time I saw one caught, and the men let me howld the line."

"But it must be time to strike now."

"Why, you talk as if you had a rod in your hand, and a fish had taken your bait," cried Frank.

"Yes; it seems just the same."

"Only it isn't fishing: its reptiling. Give him plenty of time."

"But why?"

"Because perhaps he hasn't swallowed it, and is lying down there chewing it over in his jaws. If you pulled now, you might jerk it out of his mouth."

Ned uttered a sigh, as if he were getting rid of a great amount of pent-up emotion while he stood there grasping the rough rope with both hands, waiting and feeling more impatient than he ever had before.

"You'll see, when we pull him out, how useful the loose strands of rope are. They'll be stuck between his ugly teeth. My word, it will make a mess all about here. It will be wet and beaten down, and made into a regular puddle."

"Will he struggle much?"

"I should think he will. Mind his tail."

"You mean his head."

"No, I don't; I mean his tail. Of course he'll snap and bark, but he tries to sweep people over with his tail, just as if he were mowing you off the ground. Hullo! he's moving now. Ready? Give the rope a jerk, and hold tight."

Ned obeyed his instructions, for the rope was beginning to glide over the bank again, and, as it tightened, Ned gave it a sharp jerk, went down headlong directly, and as he still clung to the rope, began to glide rapidly toward the river.

"Oh murther!" roared Tim.

"Let go!" shouted Frank. But in his excitement Ned held on, and he was dragged within a yard of the river before there was a tremendous check put on the rope by the Malays, who stopped its progress, and enabled Ned to struggle up, Frank joining him, and the fight now began.

At first there was nothing but a steady strain on the line, as if the end were tied to a dead tree at the bottom of the river, and this kept on for some minutes, neither side stirring.

"Oh, he's a beauty!" said Tim, who was hauling hard.

"I told you he was a big one," said Frank; but Ned made no answer. The interest was too deep, and he held on to the rope with all his strength. Then, all at once, a peculiar vibration ran through it, as if the crocodile had rapidly shaken its head, and the next moment there was a tremendous jerk, and right out in the river, a violent movement in the stilly flowing water, as if the monstrous brute had suddenly wallowed and twisted itself round, the water rising in eddies and then becoming discoloured with clouds of mud which flowed slowly by them, the direction the reptile had taken being somewhat up the river.

The plunge was tremendous, and the rope was nearly jerked out of the men's hands, but they held on, threw themselves back, and once more the dull steady strain was there, the reptile lying like a log at the bottom.

"Look at that now!" cried Tim. "I belave he's tired, and gone to slape."

"He's a coward, and won't fight," cried Frank. "Let's have him out at once," he shouted in Malay to the men, but their leader gave a decided negative.

"Says he'll begin to fight directly," continued Frank; and hardly were the words out of his mouth when there was another fierce shaking of the rope, a furious plunge, and the brute began to make the line rush through the water here and there. The lotus-leaves were cut and torn off and floated down the river, till, where the beautiful bed of flowers lay, all was muddy water churned up by the savage efforts of the beast, which tugged and dragged and sometimes drew the Malays a little nearer the brim; but just as Ned was wondering whether they had not better let go, the men recovered their lost ground again, and the water eddied and bubbled as the mud rose to the surface.

"He's trying to burrow down," said Frank; "wait a bit, and he'll show himself. It's precious deep just there."

The fight went on, and Ned was beginning to think that their captive ought now to grow tired, when the strain suddenly ceased, and the whole party went down backward with their heels in the air.

"The hook's broken out. Oh!" cried Ned, struggling to his knees, his voice showing his disappointment. "Ah!" he yelled, "mind! run!" for he suddenly caught sight of a fearful pair of open jaws thrust out of the water not half a dozen yards away, the monster making a savage charge right up to the bank, before its head sank down.

"Look at that now!" shouted Tim.

"Gone!" cried Ned; "and a good job too."

"Not he," said Frank, laughing. "Look!"

For the rope was running out again, showing that the hook was fast; and, as the boys seized the line once more, the men let it go a little, and then gradually tightened it, with the result that the crocodile turned itself over and over, thrusting its loathsome head out, curving over and diving down again, its tail appearing above the surface, waving, and giving the water a tremendous slap, which sent the spray flying right out over the bank.

It charged again right to the bank, but did not attempt to throw itself out; always turning and plunging down again into deep water, the violent efforts testing the strength of the rope and the hold of the hook, but nothing gave way, for the strands were nearly new, and the toughest of the tough.

And so the fight went on, minute after minute, the men perspiring and the boys' hands beginning to grow sore. How long the violent plunging and churning up of the water lasted they never attempted to guess, for the interest in the fight was too engrossing as the monster now made a rush to escape down the river, now up again, and at last made so desperate a rush straight out as if to go across, that the party were taken unawares, and were jerked right forward, losing their footing and falling. Ned and Frank had to let go, to save themselves from being dragged into the river, and as they lay close to the edge, the rope passed over them, and Ned shouted, "Gone!" while Tim threw himself down in despair.

And so it seemed, for half the men had also let go, and the others had so bad a hold that they followed their companions' example, so that all the labour seemed to have been thrown away.

It was all the work of a few moments, and the reptile was now well out, and apparently escaping, when there was again a tightening, and the young cocoa-nut palm shivered and bent as the knots were tested where the end was secured.

The next moment, with a low cry of excitement, the men had seized the line again, and eased the strain on the young tree; then steadily dragging the reptile's head round, and drawing it back toward the bank till half the rope was recovered.

The struggle recommenced, for the monster seemed to be as strong as ever, but it was now allowed to have no rest, and at last it was drawn to within some twenty feet of the bank, and four of the men let go and went back.

"Here, hi! don't run away!" cried Tim.

"What are they going to do?" said Ned, panting with his efforts.

"Gone to get their spears. We're going to have him out now."

"And we're nearest!" cried Ned.

"Yes. Afraid? Shall we go back?"

"Do you want to?"

"No."

"More don't I," said Ned, desperately.

"It's all right," said Frank. "We can run out of his way if he makes a jump at us. You'll easily know if he's going to. You'll see him hump up his back if he's going to rush at us. But what you've got to mind is his tail. He'll try, as I told you, to flip you into the water. He may break your legs. Now then, be ready for a good haul. Here they are with their spears."

The four men came back, two going on each side of the rope toward the bank, and standing ready with their weapons to try to plunge them into the reptile's throat. Then the principal Malay said a few words, uttered a shout, and the strain was increased a little, then a little more, as the creature began to be drawn nearer the bank; then they moved faster and faster, Ned wondering whether the rope and hook would stand; and as he ran on with the men, he looked back and saw the reptile's head with its jaws wide appear above the muddy bank, then its fore-paws were over, and the next moment it was gliding over the grass, striking right and left with head and tail; while, as it was dragged right away from the river, and the men paused, it raised itself up high on its feet, arching up its back like an angry toad of monstrous dimensions, and snapped its jaws.

"Pretty darlin'!" cried Tim. "Oh, how proud his mother must be. Look at his smile."

Frank uttered a triumphant shout, and Ned joined in, but only feebly, for he was too much excited and on the watch for a charge from their captive.

Two or three of these were made as the men attacked it with spears; but the strain of the rope on the reptile's head prevented it from doing any mischief, and though it laid about it, thrashing furiously with its tail, no harm was done, while the men contrived to give it thrust after thrust in the soft under-parts of the neck, weakening it so, that at last they managed to turn it over on its back, and one of the Malays leaped upon it, and with a great knife ripped it up nearly from end to end.

Ned turned away sickened as the men now unfastened the rope from the tree and retied it, so as to give the reptile a very short tether.

"There's no need for that now--is there?" said Ned, as he stood wiping his brow.

"No need to what?"

"Tie it up."

"Only, that if they did not, the brute would crawl back into the river."

"What, wounded like that?"

"Oh yes. They don't seem to mind much. They'll go back into the water even after the Malays have cut them open and taken out their inside. They always do that to see whether they are man-eaters. They're doing it now. Come and look."

"No," said Ned. "I'm satisfied. We've caught him. That's all too horrible."

By this time the report was being spread that the monster had been taken, and footsteps were heard approaching, quite a little crowd hiding the reptile from the boys, and out of which crowd rose directly after a low wailing sound.

"How horrid!" whispered Frank.

"What does it mean? Are they sorry we've killed it?"

"No, they have found something inside the beast which tells them that we have caught the right croc. I daresay it's the one that took the poor girl."

Frank was right, and after a time the lads returned, the crowd--a part of which had gone back in procession toward one of the houses--making way for them.

The men standing about the horrible reptile gave them a quiet but warm greeting, and there was a look of triumph in their eyes as one of them told Frank, what he afterwards interpreted to his companion, that this was undoubtedly the monster that had taken the poor girl; and they showed him too a silver ornament, blackened and strange looking, which must have been in the creature for perhaps months.

Ned turned shuddering away from this recital to examine the hideous mud-coloured brute, Frank eagerly showing him how the loose strands had opened out as the reptile bit at them, its great teeth passing through without damaging the strength of the rope; and it was interesting to see how the hook had taken too fast a hold to be dislodged. Then he examined the great bulky body with its crooked legs and claws, and the formidable tail, everything tending to show that it was a reptile just in the full vigour of its existence.

"They never get bigger than this, do they?" said Ned, after a careful measurement had proved the crocodile to be within an inch or two of eighteen feet, and bulky in proportion.

"Bigger? Yes, half as big again. My father saw one twenty-five feet long, but he says those very large ones are so heavy that they are slow and not so dangerous. It is those fellows from fifteen feet to eighteen that the men are most afraid of. They can quite dart through the water like a fish."

"What will they do with it?"

"They are going to leave it here till our people have seen it, and then throw it in the river again. And I hope," added Ned merrily, "it will be a lesson to all the others, and that they will behave better. Here, come along, and let's get something to eat. I say, what a horrid mess!"

"It's dishgusting, sor," said Tim. "Here, I must light a pipe to take the taste out of my mouth. But it's a puzzle--a reg'lar conundhrum, that's what it is."

"What's a conundrum?"

"Why sor, whatever crocodiles could have been made for. But I say, Masther Frank, he thought it was a chicken. He nivver knew it was a tough ould hin." _

Read next: Chapter 12. Through The Jungle

Read previous: Chapter 10. A Serious Complication

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