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The Rajah of Dah, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 16. Prisoners |
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_ CHAPTER SIXTEEN. PRISONERS Everything looked dark as the Resident and Murray reached the Tumongong's handsome residence--handsome, though merely erected of bamboo and palm--but as they approached the steps, sounds were heard within, and very shortly after being summoned, the rajah's officer appeared fully dressed. "Can I speak to you without being overheard?" said Mr Braine in English. The Malay replied in his own tongue that he was prepared to hear anything the Resident had to say. "But will what I say be overheard, I asked you?" cried Mr Braine, impatiently, still speaking in English, so that Murray might hear his words, knowing as he did that the Malay perfectly understood everything. "I am quite ready to hear you," replied the Tumongong. "And will what I say be carried to the rajah? Look here, Tumongong. I have always been on good terms with you since I came here, though I do consider you acted unfairly by me in not warning me in Malacca as to what my position would be." "I am the servant of his highness," replied the officer, "and I have my duty to do toward him. When I have done that, I am your friend." "Then tell me this: those two boys, my son and his young companion-- where are they?" Dark as it was, Murray saw the Malay start, but he was perfectly calm the next moment. "I do not know," he said. "Is this the truth?" "I do not know where they are," replied the Malay. "Have they been seized by the rajah's orders?" "I do not know. The rajah, our master, is king, and does what seems good to him." Mr Braine made an impatient gesture, but masking his anger, he said appealingly: "Tumongong, you have always been my friend, and the friend of my boy. I am in agony about his fate. He and his young friend have disappeared since we left the rajah's to-night. Tell me where he is." "I do not know." "Is he safe?" "I do not know." "You do know, and you will not speak," cried Mr Braine passionately. "The rajah has had them seized." "The rajah is my master, and does what is good in his own eyes. If he has done this thing, it is wise and good. I do not know." "Then I will go to the rajah himself, and he shall tell me.--Ah!" Murray had been standing listening impatiently to this conversation, a portion of which was translated to him, but he had now suddenly grasped his companion's arm, and drawn his attention to the open place or veranda at the top of the steps, and upon Mr Braine looking up, he dimly saw that there was a figure standing there with a group of others behind, and in spite of the gloom he had no difficulty in seeing who the foremost figure was, and comprehending why the Tumongong had been so guarded in his replies to them. Mr Braine addressed himself to the dimly-seen figure at once, speaking now in the Malay tongue. "Your highness has heard all I have said," he cried. "Tell me, has some accident befallen those two boys, or have they been taken away by your orders?" It seemed to be a different man entirely who was now speaking, and though Murray could not comprehend a word, he grasped the rajah's meaning plainly enough, as he uttered what was evidently a command, to which Mr Braine spoke again sharply now. The rajah uttered a low guttural word, and Murray now cried: "What does he say?" "Go!" "But I insist," cried Murray. The rajah spoke again, and a dozen armed men ran from behind and leaped actively to the ground. Murray's hand darted to his breast, but Mr Braine caught his wrist. "Madness!" he said. "Wait." "But--" "Do you want to throw away two lives that are valuable to our friends?" whispered the Resident. "Do as I do. It is folly to resist now." That moment the rajah spoke again, the men formed up around Murray and Mr Braine, and their leader said something to the latter. "Come, Murray," he said, bitterly. "I have drilled these men to some purpose. We are prisoners, I suppose." He took his companion's arm, and they were marched off through the darkness. "Where will they take us?" said Murray, who was raging with pain and indignation at his inability to struggle against such force. "To a boat, I suppose, and then put us on board one of the prahus," replied Mr Braine. "I might have known what would come of all these years of service." They marched on in silence for a minute or two, and then Mr Braine uttered an ejaculation full of surprise; for their guards faced round to the left, and marched the prisoners into the Resident's own garden, where the leader said a few words and pointed up. "Prisoner in my own place?" said Mr Braine to the officer. "His highness commands that neither you nor the bird man leaves the house till he gives orders." "It might have been worse, Murray," said Mr Braine, as they ascended the steps, and dimly made out that the leader of the little party of guards was posting his men here and there. "Been worse!" said Murray, angrily, as he threw himself upon a divan, "impossible!" "Possible," said Mr Braine, quietly. "We are not quite prisoners, and are at liberty to plot and plan. They are very cunning, these people; but we English have some brains. It must be getting on toward morning. Let's have some coffee, and a quiet smoke." "Oh, how can you take things so quietly!" cried Murray. "Because I am more at ease. Those boys are alive. He would not kill them. He felt that they were in the way of his plans. They must have done something to make him act as he has done." "If I could only be sure of that," said Murray, "it would be one trouble the less." Mr Braine clapped his hands. A quiet-looking Malay entered the room, trimmed the lamp, and went out again, to return with water-pipes and a pan of charcoal; after which he retired as silently as he came, and once more entered bearing a tray with coffee. "Smoke, drink your coffee, my dear fellow," said Mr Braine, quietly. "I cannot." "You must, man; you want your brain clear and your body rested." "How can you speak so coolly, with those poor people in such agony?" "Because I am helping them--or preparing to," said Mr Braine, cheerfully. "Then the game is not lost; be guided by me, and you shall marry Amy, and some day we will talk and chat over these troubles, which time will soften, and they will not be so horrible then." "But if it comes to the worst," cried Murray. "If this wretched despot, presuming on his power, insists upon that poor girl becoming his wife-- Wife? No; it is an insult to the name." "He will not succeed," said Mr Braine, sternly; "even monarchs are not all-powerful. The night before the marriage, if everything else has been tried, that man will die." "What! be murdered?" cried Murray, in horrified tones. "No; the cup of his iniquities will be full; he will be adjudged worthy of death; he will die, and a new rajah will reign." "A new rajah! Who will it be?" "Hush! these places are very thin; our words might be heard." "But tell me. You can trust me." "Hist! some one." There was a foot upon the steps, and the Tumongong entered and saluted both gravely. "His highness bids me tell you," said the officer, "that he does not forget the many good services you have done for him. He desires now that you content yourselves by staying here, where you will have everything you desire." "Except liberty," said Mr Braine, bitterly. "Except liberty," replied the Tumongong. "Good-night. Sleep. Be obedient, and your lives are safe." He bowed and left them, and as soon as he was out of hearing, Mr Braine told Murray what had passed. "Then our lives are safe?" "If we are obedient." "I shall be obedient till I see an opportunity to strike, sir. But go on; tell me who will reign in his stead." "That man," said Mr Braine, quietly puffing at his pipe. "The Tumongong?" "Yes. Still waters run deep." "But--" "Hush, man! Keep that in your breast. I know, and I am certain. He is our friend, but is compelled to act as he does. You saw just now--you heard his words--so did the Malays by the door, and every sentence will be reported to the rajah," said Mr Braine. "Yes." "If the tyrant dreamed that his officer was friendly toward us to the extent of trying to give us help, he would be marched to the river-bank at sunrise; there would be another execution, and the world would hold one honest man the less. Now, drink your coffee, and lie back and sleep." "I cannot." "You must. We can do nothing but wait the turn of affairs, and the more coolly we take these matters, the better able we shall be to act. Now try and rest." Murray shook his head, and sat wondering how a man whose son had been suddenly snatched from him could drop into a calm and restful sleep. Then he wondered how Amy and the ladies were, and then he ceased wondering, for when the sun rose above the river mist and the tops of the jungle trees, it shone in between the mats hanging over the doorway, lighting up the Resident's room, and the divan where Murray lay back utterly exhausted, and now fast asleep. _ |
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