{"product_id":"2940016096889","title":"Among Malay Pirates : a Tale of Adventure and Peril","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I wish most heartily that something would happen,\" Harry Parkhurst,\u003cbr\u003ea midshipman of some sixteen years of age, said to his chum, Dick\u003cbr\u003eBalderson, as they leaned on the rail of her majesty's gunboat Serpent,\u003cbr\u003eand looked gloomily at the turbid stream that rolled past the ship as\u003cbr\u003eshe lay at anchor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"One day is just like another--one is in a state of perspiration from\u003cbr\u003emorning till night, and from night till morning. There seems to be\u003cbr\u003ealways a mist upon the water; and if it were not that we get up steam\u003cbr\u003eevery three or four days and run out for twenty-four hours for a breath\u003cbr\u003eof fresh air, I believe that we should be all eaten up with fever in no\u003cbr\u003etime. Of course, they are always talking of Malay pirates up the river\u003cbr\u003ekicking up a row; but it never seems to come off.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There is one thing, Harry--there is always something to look at, for\u003cbr\u003ethere are canoes constantly going up and down, and there is plenty\u003cbr\u003eof variety among them--from the sluggish dhows, laden with up\u003cbr\u003ecountry produce, to the long canoes with a score of paddlers and some\u003cbr\u003epicturesque ruffian sitting in the stern. It adds to the interest when\u003cbr\u003eyou know that the crews are cutthroats to a man, and would make but the\u003cbr\u003eshortest possible work of you if they had got you in their power.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, Dick. Look at that canoe coming up stream; what a good looking\u003cbr\u003echap that is in the stern, though by the way he scowls at us I can quite\u003cbr\u003ebelieve he would, as you say, cut our throats if he had the chance. That\u003cbr\u003eis a pretty little child sitting by him, and what a gorgeous dress she\u003cbr\u003ehas! There, you see, he can look pleasant enough when he speaks to her.\u003cbr\u003eI fancy they must have come from a long way up the river, for they\u003cbr\u003elook wilder than most of the fellows who pass us. If that fool who is\u003cbr\u003esteering her does not mind what he is about, Dick, he will either run\u003cbr\u003einto that canoe coming down or else get across our chain. There, I told\u003cbr\u003eyou so.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man at the tiller was in fact, looking, with mingled curiosity and\u003cbr\u003ehostility, at the gunboat that he was passing but a few yards away, and\u003cbr\u003edid not notice a canoe, manned by six rowers, that was coming down with\u003cbr\u003ethe stream, taking an oblique course across the bows of the Serpent, and\u003cbr\u003ewas indeed hidden from his view by the hull of the vessel, until he had\u003cbr\u003epassed beyond her. Then there was a sudden shout and a yell from a dozen\u003cbr\u003ethroats, as the two canoes came into collision, the one proceeding up\u003cbr\u003ethe river being struck on the quarter with a force that almost cut her\u003cbr\u003ein two, and in an instant her occupants were in the water. As the\u003cbr\u003eMalays were to a man almost as much at home in the water as on land, the\u003cbr\u003eaccident would have had little effect beyond the loss of the boat and\u003cbr\u003eits contents, had it not been that the stern of the other craft struck\u003cbr\u003ethe Malay chief with such force as to completely disable him, and he\u003cbr\u003ewould have sunk at once had not two of the boatmen grasped him and kept\u003cbr\u003ehis head above water.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What has become of the child?\" Harry Parkhurst exclaimed, and he and\u003cbr\u003eDick Balderson both leaped on to the rail, throwing off their jackets\u003cbr\u003eas they shouted to the men to lower a boat. Nothing could be seen of\u003cbr\u003ethe child until, after half a minute's suspense, a little face suddenly\u003cbr\u003eappeared in the swirl of the muddy water some fifteen yards from the\u003cbr\u003evessel's side. It was gone again in an instant, but, as it disappeared,\u003cbr\u003eboth lads sprang from the side and with a few strokes reached the spot\u003cbr\u003ewhere they had seen the face disappear; then they dived under water and\u003cbr\u003esoon grasped her. As soon as they came to the surface a sailor, who had\u003cbr\u003eseized a coil of rope, flung it to them, and, grasping it, they were\u003cbr\u003equickly by the side of the gunboat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA minute later some sailors, who had at once tumbled into a boat on the\u003cbr\u003ealarm being given, came up. The child was first handed into it, then the\u003cbr\u003emidshipmen scrambled in, and, by their directions, two of the sailors,\u003cbr\u003estanding on the thwarts, lifted the child high above their heads to the\u003cbr\u003ehands of the men leaning over the bulwark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Take the little thing to the doctor,\" Dick said. \"Now, lads, row on;\u003cbr\u003elet's pick up some of those Malay fellows.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA babel of shouts and sounds rose from the water; the bow of the second\u003cbr\u003ecanoe had been stove in, and she also had sunk to the water level; a\u003cbr\u003efierce fight was going on between several of the Malays; the chief,\u003cbr\u003ewho was being supported by two of his crew, was shouting furiously; and\u003cbr\u003eothers of his men, in obedience to his orders, were diving under water.\u003cbr\u003eHarry turned to the gunboat, and called to the men to bring Soh Hay,\u003cbr\u003ethe interpreter, to the side. A minute later the man was hustled to the\u003cbr\u003erail.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146521854192,"sku":"2940016096889","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016096889","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}