'I hope I shall give satisfaction, whether the time be long or short!' said Shaw, accentuating the meaning of his words by the distinctness of his utterance. 'A man who has spent thirty-two years of his life on saltwater can say no more. If being an officer of home ships for the last fifteen years I don't understand the heathen ways of them there savages, in matters of seamanship and duty, you will find me all there, Captain Lingard.'
'Except, judging from what you said a little while ago—except in the matter of fighting,' said Lingard, with a short laugh.
'Fighting! I am not aware that anybody wants to fight me. I am a peaceable man, Captain Lingard, but when put to it, I could fight as well as any of them flat-nosed chaps we have to make shift with, instead of a proper crew of decent Christians. Fighting!' he went on with unexpected pugnacity of tone, 'Fighting! If anybody comes to fight me, he will find me all there, I swear!'
'That's all right. That's all right,' said Lingard, stretching his arms above his head and wriggling his shoulders. 'My word! I do wish a breeze would come to let us get away from here. I am rather in a hurry, Shaw.'
'Indeed, sir! Well, I never yet met a thorough seafaring man who was not in a hurry when a con-demned spell of calm had him by the heels. When a breeze comes . . . just listen to this, sir!'
'I hear it,' said Lingard. 'Tide-rip, Shaw.'
'So I presume, sir. But what a fuss it makes. Seldom heard such a—'
On the sea, upon the furthest limits of vision, appeared an advancing streak of seething foam, resembling a narrow white ribbon, drawn rapidly along the level surface of the water by its two ends, which were lost in the darkness. It reached the brig, passed under, stretching out on each side; and on each side the water became noisy, breaking into numerous and tiny wavelets, a mimicry of an immense agitation. Yet the vessel in the midst of this sudden and loud disturbance remained as motionless and steady as if she had been securely moored between the stone walls of a safe dock. In a few moments the line of foam and ripple running swiftly north passed at once beyond sight and earshot, leaving no trace on the unconquerable calm.
'Now this is very curious—' began Shaw.
Lingard made a gesture to command silence. He seemed to listen yet, as if the wash of the ripple could have had an echo which he expected to hear. And a man's voice that was heard forward had something of the impersonal ring of voices thrown back from hard and lofty cliffs upon the empty distances of the sea. It spoke in Malay—faintly.
'What?' hailed Shaw. 'What is it?'
Lingard put a restraining hand for a moment on his chief officer's shoulder, and moved forward smartly. Shaw followed, puzzled. The rapid exchange of incomprehensible words thrown backward and forward through the shadows of the brig's main deck from his captain to the lookout man and back again, made him feel sadly out of it, somehow.
Lingard had called out sharply—'What do you see?' The answer direct and quick was—'I hear, Tuan. I hear oars.'
'Whereabouts?'
'The night is all around us. I hear them near.'
'Port or starboard?'
There was a short delay in answer this time. On the quarter-deck, under the poop, bare feet shuffled. Somebody coughed. At last the voice forward said doubtfully:
'Kanan.'
'Call the serang, Mr. Shaw,' said Lingard, calmly, 'and have the hands turned up. They are all lying about the decks. Look sharp now. There's something near us. It's annoying to be caught like this,' he added in a vexed tone.
He crossed over to the starboard side, and stood listening, one hand grasping the royal back-stay, his ear turned to the sea, but he could hear nothing from there. The quarter-deck was filled with subdued sounds. Suddenly, a long, shrill whistle soared, reverberated loudly amongst the flat surfaces of motionless sails, and gradually grew faint as if the sound had escaped and gone away, running upon the water. Haji Wasub was on deck and ready to carry out the white man's commands. Then silence fell again on the brig, until Shaw spoke quietly.
'I am going forward now, sir, with the tindal. We're all at stations.'
'Aye, Mr. Shaw. Very good. Mind they don't board you—but I can hear nothing. Not a sound. It can't be much.'
'The fellow has been dreaming, no doubt. I have good ears, too, and—'
He went forward and the end of his sentence was lost in an indistinct growl. Lingard stood attentive. One by one the three seacannies off duty appeared on the poop and busied themselves around a big chest that stood by the side of the cabin companion. A rattle and clink of steel weapons turned out on the deck was heard, but the men did not even whisper. Lingard peered steadily into the night, then shook his head.
'Serang!' he called, half aloud.
The spare old man ran up the ladder so smartly that his bony feet did not seem to touch the steps. He stood by his commander, his hands behind his back; a figure indistinct but straight as an arrow.
'Who was looking out?' asked Lingard.
'Badroon, the Bugis,' said Wasub, in his crisp, jerky manner.
'I can hear nothing. Badroon heard the noise in his mind.'
'The night hides the boat.'
'Have you seen it?'
'Yes, Tuan. Small boat. Before sunset. By the land. Now coming here—near. Badroon heard him.'
