Page 156 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES

'Twixt the devil behind and the deep sea in front,
he had no in which
difficulty determining way lay
safety ; but he also realised that it could not be an
hour, it might be only a few minutes before his ruse
would be and with his crew he could
discovered,
not hope to reach the sea without being overtaken.
The rowers needed little exhortation to strain
every
nerve, and after a few miles had been travelled, the
boat was forced through heavy overhanging branches
into an all but imperceptible creek, so narrow the
entrance and so thoroughly concealed that no one
would dream of its existence. The boat could
only
be got a few yards up this ditch, and the party,
leaving it entirely hidden, ensconced themselves in
a tangled mass of jungle foliage from which they
commanded a view of the river.
Here the all and watched the
fugitives lay day,
boats of their enemies pass by intent on the fruitless
search.
It was not a pleasant place nor did they spend an
altogether happy day, for they were not yet out of
the wood, indeed the chances of were still
escape
decidedly against them, but for the moment they
were safe, and whatever was to come could not be
worse than the situation from which their leader
had already extricated them.
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