The valley of eyes unseen
On board the launch, a long clean-lined craft and, as I knew before
I'd been two minutes in her of great engine power, we found a native
on guard. The fellow challenged us sharply as our sampan drew near.
Philipson's answer was to order him to start up and cast off moorings;
we boarded the launch, paid the sampan man, and a moment later had
swung away down stream without lights. The engine purred gently and
musically, but a big arrowhead of foam that lay out at once from our
bow proved we were moving fast, if quietly.
'Luckily,' remarked Philipson, 'I had anticipated some such little
upset as this. The launch has been held ready day and night for the
past week, and I have no doubt Ah Sing at least is glad matters have
come to a head. Eh, Ah Sing?'
The native engineer looked back from his specklessly tended charge, and
we heard him take a long inbreath of gratification.
'Engine b'long all-same numbah-one plopah,' he said. 'Plenty
sparkum-juice hab got. Can go Canton if'm likee.'
'Perhaps so,' said Philipson, 'but I do not think we will, although it
is pleasant to reflect that we could if we chose.'
'It must be pretty pleasant altogether to own a plaything like this,' I
said, running an admiring eye along her beautifully stream-lined hull.
'No doubt,' assented Philipson. 'But the worst of a modern invention is
that unless you corner it, anybody else can use it too. That applies to
other things besides motor boats, such as----'
Philipson had taken the tiller and was steering with a coolness and
dash that reminded me forcibly of his driving. Also he seemed to be
gifted with the eyes of a cat. We shot in amongst barges, sampans,
junks, tugs, steamers--all the medley of eastern and western craft that
crowd the winding Whangpu River--some of them lighted, others a mere
blotch of deeper black against the dark stream; some of which we missed
by inches, others literally scraped with our streaks. As we rounded the
curve and headed eastward I noticed that Philipson had his eyes fixed
on the north bank in a long tense stare.
'Telephones,' he said, shortly.
'Eh? Oh, you mean----'
'That the gentlemen who were watching this launch have probably
telephoned to the headquarters of the gang, which are, I believe, not
far from that den where we had such an unpleasant experience to-night.
It is admirably up-to-date of such people to adopt western devices,
but it may prove awkward enough to us. Now it only remains to be seen
whether they have got the information through quick enough to be of
use.... H'm, I feared as much. You see what I mean, Mirlees, when I
say that launches are a game two sides can play at. They must have had
theirs waiting too.'
We had come to a pool where the stream broadens greatly and is deep
enough to float ocean-going ships close in shore. We saw several fast
at their wharves on the south side. The north bank was crusted thick
with native shipping, and between shore lights and lights afloat the
river here was thrown into a wan, treacherous illumination. I had
followed Philipson's stare with my eyes: now I saw what he was looking
at. Something swift and black had detached itself from the mass and was
shooting out across our course.
'Ah Sing--engine,' said Philipson quietly. 'Mirlees, take the tiller.
Bring us as near them as you dare, but for God's sake do not give us a
leak, or we are done. Here is a revolver. Remember, though, we must not
risk the noise of shots unless hard pressed.'
I did as I was bid, while Philipson himself took the boathook and
crawled forward, where he crouched low on our decked-in bow. Soon I
saw the wisdom of his plan. It was typical of the man. His mind always
seemed to be made up the instant a fresh problem presented itself, and
his policy was usually a sudden original move, bold to the point of
impudence. On this occasion it met with brilliant success. There were
at least five men on the other launch, against our three, and had we
merely tried to dodge them, it's likely we should have been grappled,
boarded, and overpowered, or at least forced to use firearms and thus
bring out the river police. As it was, the very unexpectedness of our
attack threw the enemy into confusion and enabled us to get clean away,
so that watchers on shore could hardly have been aware of the little
drama that was being played in midstream. What actually happened is
this.
I ran our boat straight at the other, then at the last moment put the
helm hard down. A figure had sprung up in the bows of the enemy craft,
clearly intending to leap aboard of us, but he had reckoned without
Philipson and his boathook. Philipson also sprang to his feet, caught
the opposing bow-man full in the stomach, and hurled him backwards
into the river. There were the odds evened by one at the very outset.
The boats came together with a loud scraping clatter, and I saw two
natives seize our gunwale while a third, erect behind them, drew back
for a leap. Ah Sing pluckily gripped one man by the throat and dragged
him on to our boat, where the pair tumbled into the well and rolled
over and over, fighting like terriers. I was holding revolver and
tiller in my right hand. With my left I struck out, caught the second
gunwale man between the eyes and had the satisfaction of seeing him
stagger back, half overturning the man behind him. The check was only
momentary, however, for the fellow was up and inboard of us before I
could strike again. I saw a short club raised above my head, and threw
up my left arm in defence, but I never felt the blow fall. The man was
suddenly snatched away from in front of me. Philipson, having finished
his business in the bows, had rushed aft and seized my attacker by
the waist and lifted him off his feet as if he had been a child. Then
for the second time that evening I witnessed an exhibition of this
man's superhuman strength. He gave the body a sudden swing and hurled
it back on to the other boat with such terrific force that the fellow
overshot the mark altogether, sweeping one of his comrades overboard
with him. Next, pretty much as if he had been playing skittles, Mr.
Saunders Philipson stooped into the well, where Ah Sing had finally
got a strangle hold on _his_ antagonist, detached the two men, picked
our enemy up and threw him far out into the stream, where his sudden
yell was cut short in a great splash. The whole thing was over in a few
seconds, most of the enemy in the water, and the one native left aboard
of their boat unable to do more than throttle his engine and back and
circle to pick up the men overboard. We had broken away, and shot down
stream with a good start. Our leader put back the boat hook in the
rack under our gunwale and briefly inquired if anybody was hurt.
Ah Sing rubbed his ear with a hand that came away blood-stained from it.
'Dat piecee men,' he observed judicially, 'plenty stlong toosum-box hab
got. Him muchee bitum!'
'I will dress that for you in a minute, Ah Sing,' said Philipson
gravely. 'Give me the tiller, Mirlees. We are by no means out of the
wood. Those fellows may go ashore and telephone Wusung to have a police
boat waiting for us. Or they may--yes, by Jove, they are!'
I peered out astern, straining my ears. It was true. The other launch
was coming swiftly down stream in our wake.
'You think they can catch us?' I said.
'You saw for yourself the speed of that boat when she came out from the
bank. I know her of old. The one thing on the river that can beat her
is our own, and that not by a great deal. With the twist of the river I
question if we shall have the advantage at all.'
He dived forward through the cabin and returned with a stout square
board, which, with the help of Ah Sing, he wedged firmly athwart-ship
behind our engine.
'Bullets,' he explained. 'It may take the sting off them, at least, and
save us from getting winged. They will not dare to fire on this part
of the river, for fear of bringing the police about their ears--it is
obvious they do not want that any more than we do. But when we come to
the empty reaches lower down they may not be so squeamish. You know
the river, Mirlees?'
'Pretty fair.'
'Right. It is half ebb now. We draw barely two feet. Do not be afraid
to go inside the beacons if there is a good cut-off to be effected. I
had better dress Ah Sing's ear while I have the chance. Come along, my
faithful fellow.'
I sat well down to the steering that boat out of Whangpu River. It was
the reverse of a pleasure. We were soon come to the deserted reaches
Philipson had spoken about, and I wondered how long it would be before
the boat behind began to shoot. I could hear the hum of their engine
above ours--they were clearly gaining on us. The frequent bends were
robbing us of our advantage of superior speed, and steer straight as I
might I couldn't prevent it. Many times have I cursed the snakiness of
Whangpu River when crawling up it in steamers and impatient to be at
the end of a voyage, but never had I cursed it as I did that night.
Philipson's head appeared through the low doorway as he crept aft. At
the same instant a sharp crack rang out behind, and a long white streak
flashed on to the inside of our gunwale. Philipson bobbed back: for one
fearful moment I thought he was hit. But it wasn't that. He reappeared
with a Winchester rifle.
'This must be kept down, Mirlees,' he said, 'or at least replied to.
Crouch when I fire--the flash will give them a good aiming point.'
He laid the barrel across our gunwale, which, so smoothly were the
engines running made a fair rest, and fired. There was no result beyond
that two shots came from the other boat and we heard a bullet sing over
our heads.
'They too, it seems,' said Mr. Saunders Philipson deliberatively, 'have
fallen into the error of aiming high. Now the great thing in life,' he
observed as he reloaded, 'is to ... be wise ... from our failures ...
so!'
As a vindication of Philipson's philosophy it was immense, though I
was a good deal too scared to appreciate philosophy at the time. It
isn't pleasant to be pot-shotted, even in the vague light of night,
particularly when, apart from the risk to our own skins, one unlucky
bullet might have ruined our engine or our hull and left us at the
mercy of a shipload of bloodthirsty pirates. There was a shriek of pain
from behind us, followed by furious yells, and the firing held off.
'That has balanced the account for the time being,' said Philipson,
resuming the tiller himself. 'But I have a horror of bloodshed. If I
can possibly get away without firing another shot you may trust me to
do so.'
He was equal to his word. He handled that superb boat in a way that
made my best efforts look childish, and though after a while our
pursuers loosed off at us again, we were drawing too far ahead for the
gunning to be deadly. The stream continues to wind until it meets the
sea, but under Philipson's hand our course couldn't have been far short
of a straight line; curve after curve he sheared away with consummate
skill, as if he could not only see in the dark but sense the depth of
water under us; and though once we did plough mud with our keel, the
check was no more than momentary, and we had forged over into deep
water again. Once, too, we burst clean through a string of lighters
dropping down on the tide blind as ourselves, and I heard their towrope
rattle sharply along the roof of our cabin as we shot under it.
At last we came abreast of the junk fleet you can generally count on
finding anchored at the mouth of the river. Beyond that, open sea
and safety. Thanks to Philipson's brilliant boatcraft we had drawn
so far ahead of the other launch that the noise of her engine was
indistinguishable from ours, and I should have reckoned that with one