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Updated: May 10, 2025
"Velly nice beautiful place; ought to come here last night." "Yes, capital. We can hide here; and once inside, if we had arms, we could keep the wretches at a distance." "Don'tee want fight now," said Ching, quietly. "No swold, no shoot gun, no jolly sailor boy. Wantee eat and dlink." "Yes; let's get poor Jecks here at once." "You go fetch him; tly to walkee now: Ching go fetch eat, dlink."
"Perfect silence, my lads," he said. "Perhaps the lives of all here depend upon it. Now, the sail half up; Jecks, hold the sheet; the others sit in the bottom of the boat. Every man to have his arms ready for instant use." There was a quick movement, a faint rattle, and then all still. "Good; very prompt, my lads.
But he was too much alarmed for the moment to listen to my words, expecting every moment as he was that some one would make a snatch at his tail, to obviate which accident he was now holding the canister tightly beneath his arm, and looking wildly round for a way to escape. "Hadn't we better have it took off, sir?" said Tom Jecks, and there was a roar of laughter.
Poor fellow, interpreter though he was, he misinterpreted my intentions. He tore away from my grasp and made a rush forward, but several men were coming in that direction, and he dashed back to find himself faced by Tom Jecks again.
The men sat chewing their tobacco, lolling in the sun, and I lay back watching the crowd at the edge of the water, wondering how long the captain and his escort would be, and whether the prisoners would be given up. "Hope none o' them pigtailed varmint won't shy mud at the skipper," said one of the men, yawning. "I hope they will," said Tom Jecks. "Why, mate?"
Dick had no end of a job, as you know, to get him undone." "Yes," I said thoughtfully, "I know that; but a man couldn't hang by his hair." Tom Jecks laughed softly. "Oh yes, he could, sir. There's no knowing how little a man can hang by when he's obliged. Why, ain't you heard how we men hangs on to the yards when we're aloft?" "Oh yes, I've heard," I said; "by your eyelids."
Just then Mr Brooke shook out the little Union Jack which we had brought from our sinking boat, and held it ready to signal the coming junk, which was now only about a mile away, and came swiftly along, till our leader stood right forward, holding on by a stay, and waved the little flag. "Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!" muttered Tom Jecks. "Look at that now.
"That's done it!" shouted Tom Jecks, giving the stock of his rifle a heavy slap. "You've hit him?" cried Mr Brooke. "Yes, sir; I caught him as he stood by watching the cannon fired."
It did, after the exercise of a fair amount of pressure; and then, by the help of Tom Jecks, who was wonderfully penitent now, and eager to help with a tool he brought to wit, a marlinespike the star-like points of tin were one by one forced out, and the tail withdrawn uninjured, except that the silk ribbon at the end was a good deal frayed. "Ha!" ejaculated Tom. "We've made an end of it at last.
I went forward again to where Tom Jecks sat on the port gunwale, which was formed of one bamboo carefully lashed on with strips of the same material, and as there was nothing else to do, I shaded my eyes from the nearly level rays of sunlight, and had a good look at the distant junks. "Yes, sir, that's them, sure enough," said the coxswain.
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