Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 4, 1922 — page 112: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

422 was in charge, either from Borneo or brought from Manila as part of T’ang Seng’s well-engineered plan to secure the ruby. Borneo rests upon a submarine plateau, and shallows prevail off most its coast line. It was going to be a ticklish job to take the Little Dragon over a route that had proven disastrous to the Zuleika, but we had a man aboard who had once served as quartermaster aboard the ships of a Ger- man firm that used to ply between Singa- pore and Sandakan, by way of Labuan and Kudat, another detail that Li Yuen had not overlooked. This man, named Taku, knew all the navigable channels, and as we neared the entrance to Balabac Strait he went on the bridge with Li Yuen and took charge. Ammunition was served out to all the deck crew as they came on their watches, and the crews of the rapid-firers got ready for business. I had already selected a rifle for my share in any excitement that might be going forward. There was no especial token of excitement beyond the getting ready of the cartridges and shells, yet a certain air of expectancy permeated the ship. “Just what are you expecting from Shang Wa?” I asked En Sue. ‘¢ Well,” he answered, ‘“‘ of course we do not know that Shang Wa is certain where we are bound, but the inference would be natural to any one as eager as he is. He not only figures we have the ruby with us, and hopes to get hold of it in some way, but I fancy he may imagine we have inside information of other loot hidden on the Zuleika that was so well tucked away as to escape the search of the wreckers. Or, he may guess the real reason for our search. He is not an accredited agent of T’ang Seng, but if he procured the ruby or put us out of existence he would secure, at once, . a powerful patron and a rich reward. “He did not cable to Mampakul for nothing. There are a lot of Dyak and Malay pirates along the Sarawak coast who, to use your Americanism, would rather fight than eat. Also, there are a lot of Chinese miners on the west coast who come originally from the boundaries of Kwang- Tung arid Kwang-Si provinces, and they are ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. a turbulent lot. The Malays call them Kehs. Without doubt Shang Wa has affili- ations with these. “Some of them he may have worked with before; the rest could be hired easily enough. You saw some of them in the prahu that attacked the lighthouse. Those were not well armed, save for native weap- ons, fortunately for you, but there are plenty of rifles tucked away in the thatched roofs of the native houses. “There is telegraphic communication between Mampakul and Sandakan. We don’t want to forget that, nor that the Lanun pirates of the Sulu Sea have always been the worst kind of marauders. They used to go on piratical cruises that lasted two or three years. They are kept fairly well in hand by the fear of British gun- boats, and they never do anything spectac- ular any more, but I should not be sur- prised to find a fleet of prafus hanging around, waiting for us, or appearing from either east or west. T’ang Seng may have a hand in this also, though he is sick of a malarial fever in Sze-Chuen, according to the latest reports. “ T have a distinct hunch, Ned, that there will be ‘something doing’ before we get away. My father thinks, if Dean was not one of the men in your boat, or was not killed outright, that he may have been taken captive into the interior. We shall get an angle on that as soon as we start to cross-examine the tribe nearest to where the Zuleika lies.” We were holding well up to the north - and soon saw the extreme tip of northern Borneo, the western horn of Marudu Bay, standing up out of the sea to the southward, with bold, reddish headlands, sparsely clad with greenery. Back of them, hills covered — with rank grasses led up to the main range, the shoulders covered with tropical vegeta- tion, the great peak of Kinabalu towering above all. In the recesses dwelled the jun- gle-man—to literally translate the Malay word orang-utan—gibbons and other pfi- mates, the honey-bear, wild swine, elephants and rhinoceroses, with alligators in every river and boa-constrictors everywhere. A wild land, but beautiful and fruitful. Bala- bangan Isle showed like a sleeping turtle, COmiclbooks.Gom