At the Point of the Bayonet

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There was no doubt that the order was a satisfactory one. The men
raised their krises and spears, and shouted with joy. In their
present mood, nothing could please them more than the thought of an
attack upon their assailants.

All remained quiet, on both sides, until darkness fell; then the
crash of falling huts showed that the enemy intended to use fire,
and were about to begin the work of making faggots.

"They will attack an hour before daybreak," the rajah said; "or
may, perhaps, wait till the sun is up for, in the daylight, those
who carried the torches would not be so conspicuous, but would
advance in the midst of their whole force."

"At what time are they likely to sleep?"

"Many will sleep early," he said, "in readiness for the fight.
Others will sit up and talk, all night; but those who intend to
sleep will probably do so, in a couple of hours."

"Do you think that they are likely to place guards?"

"No; they will not dream that we should have the boldness to attack
them."

"Let us give them three hours," Harry said, "the sea wind will be
blowing strongly, then."

The greater portion of the men who were to remain behind were to be
stationed on the side on which the sortie was to be made, so as to
cover the retreat of the others, by showers of arrows. The rajah's
principal officer was placed in command here. His orders were that,
if the enemy came on too strongly, he was to issue out with a
hundred men, and aid the party to beat back their assailants.
However, Harry did not think it likely that this would be the case.
The Malays would be scattered all over the town--some, perhaps,
even beyond the outer palisades--and before they could assemble in
force, the party ought to be safe within the palisade again.

Just before ten, the two hundred men who were to make the attack
sallied out. They were led by the rajah, while Harry was to lead
the firing party. He chose this part, because he would not be able
to crawl across the open space as noiselessly as the Malays could
do.

During the day, a number of hides had been hung on the palisades,
so that the enemy should not notice that a gathering of men, with
torches, was assembled there; and in order that the light might not
be conspicuous at this spot, fires had been lighted at other
points, in order to give the impression that the defenders were
holding themselves in readiness to repel another attack. The
bamboos had been removed, ten minutes before the party issued out.
So noiseless was their tread that Harry, though close to the
entrance, could not hear it; and when he looked out, as soon as the
last man had passed, he could neither see nor hear anything. The
men had all thrown themselves on the ground, as soon as they had
passed out, and were crawling forward without a sound being
audible.

Harry and Abdool had both armed themselves with a kris and spear.
Behind them were the torch bearers, arranged four abreast.

It seemed an age before the sound of a horn rose in the air.
Instantly they dashed through the opening, followed by the men and,
at full speed, crossed the cleared ground. Already the sound of
shouts, violent yells, and the clashing of blades showed that the
rajah's men were at work.

Scattering as they reached the houses, the torch bearers ran from
hut to hut; pausing for a few seconds, at each, till the flame had
gained a fair hold. In less than a minute, sixty or seventy houses
were in flames. Harry had the man with the horn with him and, as
soon as he saw that the work was fairly done, he ordered the signal
to be blown. The torches were thrown down, and their bearers ran
back at full speed and, half a minute later, the rajah's men poured
out from the town. There was no pursuit, and the whole band
re-entered the stockade before, with yells of fury, numbers of the
enemy ran forward.

As soon as they did so, arrows began to fly fast from the stockade
and, knowing that they could effect nothing, without means of
breaking through, the Malays retired as rapidly as they had
advanced.

Short as was the interval that had elapsed since the first signal
was given, the town was, at the point where the attack was made, a
sheet of flame, which was spreading rapidly on either hand. The
hubbub among the enemy was tremendous. Upwards of a hundred had
been killed, by the rajah's party--for the most part before they
could offer any resistance--and not more than five or six of their
assailants had received severe wounds.

Loud rose the shouts of exultation from the defenders, as the fire
spread with ever-increasing rapidity; flakes of fire, driven by a
strong wind, started the flames in a score of places, far ahead of
the main conflagration and, in half an hour, only red embers and
flickering timbers showed where Johore had stood. Beyond, however,
there were sheets of flame, where the crops had been dry and ready
for cutting; and the garrison felt that their assailants would have
to go a long distance, to gather materials for endeavouring to burn
them out.

While the position had been surrounded by a zone of fire, the rajah
had, at Harry's suggestion, sent the whole of the men and women to
cast earth over the dead; piled, at four or five points, so thickly
in the ditch.

"If the matter is delayed another day," he said, "the air will be
so poisoned that it will be well-nigh impossible to exist here."

The rajah admitted this; but urged that his men would want to cut
off the heads of their fallen enemies, this being the general
custom among the Malays.

"It may be so, Rajah, but it could not be carried out, here,
without great danger. Our own lives depend upon getting them
quickly buried. We have no such custom of cutting off heads, in our
country, but that is no affair of mine. But the bodies now lie in
what is, in fact, a grave; and a few hours' labour would be the
means of saving the town from a pestilence, later on.

"When the enemy depart, I should advise you to build a great mound
of earth over the trench. It will be a record of your grand defence
and, by placing a strong stockade along the top, you would
strengthen your position greatly. I should recommend you, in that
case, to clear the space within it, as far as the wall, of all
houses; and to build the town entirely outside it."

There was great dissatisfaction, among the natives, at being
prevented from taking what seemed to them their natural trophies.
But when the rajah informed them that the order was given in
consequence of the white officer's advice, they set about the work
readily and, before morning, the dead were all hidden from sight by
a deep layer of earth.

The next day passed without incident. At nightfall a sharp lookout
was kept, not only on the palisade but from the top of the rajah's
house. It was thought that the enemy, of whom considerable numbers
had been seen going into the forest, would bring up the faggots as
closely as possible, before lighting them. Still, it would be
necessary to carry brands for that purpose and, now that the ground
was cleared of huts, some at least of these brands could be seen,
even if carefully hidden.

With the exception of the guards, all slept during the day; as it
was necessary that they should be vigilant at night, for the enemy
might, on this occasion, approach at an earlier hour, hoping to
find the garrison unprepared. Harry and Abdool paced round and
round on the platform of the wall but, although a few fires burned
among the fields, no glimmer of light could be seen where the town
had stood.

"I wish I knew what they were up to, Abdool," Harry said, about
midnight. "I don't like this silence."

"Perhaps they have gone away, sahib."

"No, I can hardly think that. I believe we shall have another
attack, before morning. They may bring ladders with them, for
climbing the palisade; they may try fire; but I am convinced that
they will do something.

"The position is not so strong as it was. If we had had more
bamboos, I should have set our men to dig another ditch, and defend
it like the first; but they are all used up, now. I wish we had
some rockets; so that we could send up one, from time to time, and
see what they are doing."

Another hour passed, and some of the Malays declared that they
could hear a sound as of many men moving. Harry listened in vain,
but he knew that the Malays' senses were much keener than his own.

He went at once to the rajah. The chief had been up till midnight,
and then retired; leaving orders that he was to be called, directly
an alarm of any sort was given. He was seated with two or three of
his councillors, talking, when Harry, with the interpreter,
entered.

"Your people say they hear sounds, Rajah. I can hear nothing,
myself, but I know their hearing is keener than mine. I am uneasy,
for even they cannot see the faintest glow that would tell that a
fire is being brought up. In my opinion, we had better leave only
two hundred men at the palisade, and bring the rest in here. We can
lead them out, at once, if any point is hotly attacked; and it
would prevent confusion, if the stockade were suddenly forced. The
enemy may be bringing up hundreds of ladders and, in the darkness,
may get up close before they are noticed."

"Do as you think best," the rajah said and, at once, went out and
sent officers to bring in three hundred of the men; and also, at
Harry's suggestion, to tell the others that, when the rajah's horn
sounded, all were to leave the stockade and make at once for the
entrance through the wall.

Another half hour passed. Even Harry was conscious, now, that there
was a low dull sound in the air.

"I cannot think what they are doing," the rajah, who was now
standing on the wall, close to the gate, said to Harry. "However
numerous they may be, they should have moved as noiselessly as we
did, when we went out to attack them."

"I don't think that it will be long before we know, now, Rajah."

He had scarcely spoken, when there was a loud shout from the
palisade in front of them. It was on this side that the men had
been posted so thickly, as it was of all things necessary to defend
this to the last, in order to enable those at other points to make
their way to the gate. The shout of alarm was followed, almost
instantly, by the sound of a horn and, immediately, a tremendous
yell resounded on all sides.

It was answered by the shouts of the garrison and, a moment later,
a score of balls composed of matting, dipped in oil or resinous
gum, were thrown flaming over the palisades. These had been
prepared the previous day, and the men charged with throwing them
had each an earthenware pot, containing glowing charcoal, beside
them. Their light showed groups of men, twenty or thirty strong,
advancing within twenty yards of the palisade.

"They are carrying trees, to batter down the stockade, Rajah!" said
Harry.

Behind the carrying parties was a dense crowd of Malays, who rushed
forward as soon as the fireballs fell, hurling their spears and
shooting their arrows, to which the defenders replied vigorously.

"The stockade will not stand a moment against those trees," he
continued. "'Tis best to call the men in, at once."

The rajah ordered the native beside him to sound his horn and, in
two or three minutes, the men poured in at the entrance. As soon as
the last had come in, the bamboos were put in the holes prepared
for them, with some rattans twined between them. Scores of men then
set to work, bringing up the earth and stones that had been piled
close at hand.

In the meantime, the three hundred men on the walls kept up a
shower of arrows on the enemy. The battering rams, which consisted
of trees stripped of their branches, and some forty feet long and
ten inches thick, did their work and, by the time the entrance was
secure, the Malays poured in with exultant shouts.

A large supply of the fireballs had been placed on the platforms
and, as these were lighted and thrown down, the assailants were
exposed to a deadly shower of arrows as they rushed forward. At
this moment the rajah's servant brought up four double-barrelled
guns.

"They are loaded," the chief said, as he handed one of these to
Harry.

"How long is it since they were fired?" the latter asked.

"It is three months since I last went out shooting," the rajah
replied.

Harry at once proceeded to draw the charges.

"I should advise you to do the same, Rajah. A gun that has not been
fired for three months is not likely to carry straight, and is more
dangerous to its owner than to an enemy."

The rajah called up two of his men, and one of these at once drew
the charges of the guns, and reloaded them from the powder horn and
bag of bullets the servants had brought.

The enemy did not press their attack, but retired behind the
palisades and, from this shelter, began to shoot their arrows fast,
while a few matchlock men also replied.

"It would be as well, Rajah, to order all your men to sit down.
There is no use in their exposing themselves to the arrows, and
they are only wasting their own. We must wait, now, to see what
their next move will be. Fire will be of no use to them, now; and
the wall will take some battering before it gives way and, brave as
the men may be, they could not work the battering rams under the
shower of spears and arrows that would be poured upon them.

"I should send the greater part of your men down to get off the
roofs of the huts. Those up here must place a man or two on watch,
at each side, and throw a fireball occasionally."

In a few moments the enemy ceased shooting their arrows, for the
light of the fireballs showed them that the garrison was in
shelter.

"There is no occasion for you to stay here, any longer, Rajah. I
will look after matters until morning, and will send to you, as
soon as there is any stir outside."

In half an hour, the huts were stripped of their most combustible
material. This was heaped up under the platforms, where it would be
safe from falling arrows. The women drew pots of water from the
well, and a hundred men were then left in the courtyard, with
orders to pull up or stamp out any flaming arrows that might fall.
But as the time went on, it was evident that the assailants had not
thought of providing themselves with the materials requisite, and
the greater part of the garrison lay down quietly and slept.

Harry had waited until he saw the work in the courtyard completed;
and then, with the interpreter, entered the rajah's house. The room
he generally used was empty. Some lamps were burning there, and he
laid himself down on a divan, while the Malay curled himself up on
the floor.

Harry had slept but a short time when he was awakened by a light
touch on his shoulder and, springing up, saw a woman, with a boy
some six years old, standing beside him. The woman placed her
finger on her lips, imploringly. Harry at once roused the
interpreter. Through him, the woman explained that she was the
widow of the late rajah, and that her son was the lawful heir to
the throne.

"I have come to you, brave white lord," she said, "to ask you if
your people will grant us protection."

"That would be impossible," Harry replied; "my people are busy with
their own wars in India and, even were they not so occupied, they
could not interfere in a domestic quarrel between the Malay
chiefs."

"Why are you fighting here, then?"

"I am fighting in my own quarrel. I was attacked, and my followers
killed, by the rajah now assailing this place. I, myself, should
have been murdered, had I not made my escape; and should certainly
be killed by him, if he were victorious.

"I think it likely that, before very long, there may be an English
trading station at Singapore and, if you and your son were to go
there, you would certainly be well received. I shall, of course,
relate your story, which I have already heard, on my return to
Calcutta; and on my explaining that your son is entitled to the
throne of Johore, it may be that some sum would be granted for your
maintenance; for it may well be that, in time, the throne may again
become vacant, and that the people, tired of these constant wars,
will unite to accept your son as rajah. I may tell you that I am
sure the tumangong will grant us a trading station, and possibly
the whole island; but as he is not the Rajah of Johore, although at
present independent of him, we should like to have his assent to
the cession. It is for this purpose I have come here although, up
to the present time, I have not said anything about it to the
rajah, as we have both been much too busy to talk of such matters.

"It may be years before the English come to Singapore; but my
report will certainly be noted and, assuredly, an asylum would be
granted you, and you would be kindly received. I can say no more
than that."

"Thanks, my lord, I could have hoped for no more. Forgive me for
having thus disturbed you but, as all in the house save ourselves
are asleep, I thought that it was an opportunity that would not
occur again. I will teach my son that the English are his friends
and, should aught happen to me, and should he ever become rajah
here, he will act as their friend, also."

When this had been interpreted to Harry, she and the boy left the
room, as noiselessly as they had entered. Harry was well pleased
with the interview. Probably the present man would, when the result
of this struggle became known, regain much of the power he had
lost. Assuredly, as long as he remained rajah, he would now be
ready to grant anything asked for and, as Singapore was virtually
lost to him, his assent would be given without hesitation. If, on
the other hand, he were dethroned, or died, it was likely that this
boy would in time become rajah and, in view of this possibility,
doubtless the Governor would order that if, at any time, he and his
mother arrived at Singapore, they should be well received.

Chapter 13: The Break Up Of The Monsoon.

The night and early morning passed quietly. The chatter of many
voices showed that a portion, at any rate, of the assailants were
beyond the stockade; but it was not until nine o'clock that
numerous parties were seen coming from the forest.

"I suppose they have been making ladders all night," Harry said to
Abdool, who was with him on the wall; from which, owing to the fact
that the house stood on a rising knoll of ground, which commanded a
good view over the stockade, the assailants could be seen.

"Well, I have no doubt we shall be able to beat them off. We have
as many men as we want for the circuit of the walls and, while we
shall be partly sheltered, they will have to advance in the open."

The Malays had, indeed, been busy since daybreak in manufacturing
arrows from thin reeds and bamboos, used in the construction of the
huts demolished on the previous evening; tipping them with chips of
stone and winging them with feathers, of which plenty were found in
the houses and scattered about the yard. All felt that this would
be the decisive attack; and that the enemy, after one more repulse,
would draw off. That the repulse would be given, all felt
confident. Already the slaughter of their assailants had been very
great, while very few of their own number had fallen.

An hour later, large parties of the enemy advanced to the stockade.
This they did unmolested, as the distance was too great for
anything like certainty of aim. The rajah again took his place by
Harry's side. Presently, at the sound of a horn, a great flight of
arrows rose high in the air from behind the stockade.

"They are fire arrows!" the rajah exclaimed. "I will send a hundred
men down, to help the women to extinguish them;" and he himself
descended, an officer following, with the men.

The women were all seated close to the platforms and, as the arrows
came raining down, they ran out; being joined by the rajah and his
men. Had the leafy roofs remained in their place, the whole would
have been in a blaze in two or three minutes. As it was, the vast
proportion of the arrows stuck in the earth, and burnt themselves
out; while the few that fell among the debris that had not been
cleared away were extinguished, immediately. For two or three
minutes the showers of arrows continued; and then ceased as, to the
surprise of the assailants, there were no indications of the palace
being on fire.

Then the signal was given for the attack and, exasperated by the
failure of the plan they had relied upon as being certain to cause
a panic, the Malays, with loud shouts, rushed forward. A large
number of them carried ladders and, in spite of the many who fell
under the arrows of the defenders, the ladders were soon planted
against the walls; and the Malays swarmed up on all sides.

A desperate struggle took place. Some of the ladders were high
enough to project above the wall. These, with the men upon them,
were thrown back. On others the Malays, as they climbed up, were
met by the spears of the defenders or, as their heads rose above
the walls, with the deadly kris. Their leaders moved about among
the throng below, urging the men forward; and Harry, seeing that
things were going on well, all round, took the guns from the hands
of the soldier who attended him, and directed his aim against
these.

Three fell to his first shots. As the soldier handed them to him,
reloaded, his eye caught a group of chiefs, behind whom stood what
was evidently a picked body of men. In the midst of the group was
the rajah to whom Harry had recently been a prisoner. With a
feeling of deep satisfaction, that his hand should avenge the
murder of his four troopers, Harry levelled his gun between two of
the defenders of the wall, took a steady aim, and fired.

[Illustration: Without a cry, the rajah fell back, shot through the]
head.

As the chief was but some twenty-five yards away, there was little
fear of his missing and, without a cry, the rajah fell back, shot
through the head. A yell of consternation rose from those around
him. Two more shots then rang out, and two more chiefs fell.

The others shouted to their men, and a furious rush forward was
made. Harry snatched up a spear, lying by the side of a native who
had fallen; shouted to the rajah's guard of twenty men--who were in
the yard below, as a reserve in case the enemy gained a footing at
any point of the wall--to come up, and then joined in the fight.

The assailants fought with such fury that, for a time, the issue
was doubtful. Several times, three or four succeeded in throwing
themselves over the wall; but only to be cut down, before they
could be joined by others. At last the Malays drew off, amid the
exultant shouts of the defenders.

In a short time, the attack became more feeble at all points. The
news of the death of their leader had doubtless spread, and its
effect was aided by several other chiefs falling under Harry's fire
and, ere long, not one of their followers remained inside the
palisade. Half an hour later, the lookout from the top of the
rajah's house shouted that the whole of the assailants were
retiring, in a body, towards the forest.

Excited by their victory, the rajah's troops would have sallied out
in pursuit; but Harry dissuaded him from permitting it.

"They must have lost, altogether, over a thousand of their men; but
they are still vastly more numerous than your people, and nothing
would suit them better than that you should follow them, and give
them a chance of avenging the loss they have suffered."

"But the rajah will come again. He will never remain quiet, under
the disgrace."

"He will trouble you no more," Harry said. "I shot him myself, and
six or seven of his principal chiefs."

"You are indeed my friend!" the rajah exclaimed, earnestly, when
the words were translated to him. "Then there is a hope that I may
have peace. The death of the rajah, and of so many of the chiefs
that have joined him, will lead to quarrels and disputes; and the
confederacy formed against me will break up and, while fighting
among themselves, they will not think of attacking, again, a place
that has proved so fatal to them."

The rajah had some difficulty in allaying the enthusiasm of his
men; but he repeated what Harry had said to him, and added that,
since it was entirely due to their white guest that they had
repulsed the attack, there could be no doubt that his advice must
now be attended to, since he had shown himself a master in war.

"Be content," he said. "Wherever our language is spoken, the Malays
will tell the story of how three thousand men were defeated by five
hundred; and it will be said that the men of Johore surpassed, in
bravery, everything that has been told of the deeds of their
fathers. There is no fear of the enemy returning here. The rajah
and many of his chiefs have fallen, by the hand of our white
friend. Henceforth, for many years, you will be able to rest in
peace.

"In a month you will have rebuilt the houses, and sown again the
fields that have been burnt. After that, we shall have leisure, and
a treble stockade shall be built, stronger and firmer than that
into which they forced an entry. Your first task must be to carry
the bodies of our enemies far out beyond the town, where their
skeletons will act as a warning as to what welcome Johore gives to
its foes. A present of money will be given to each man, this
afternoon, to help him to rebuild his house, and make good the
damages that he has suffered."

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