At the moment that Jack was dragged into the bushes by the Buddhist monk, who was not really a monk at all, but one of Saya Chone's followers in disguise, and the dancing girl, who was Saya Chone himself, Buck was within a dozen yards of them, looking all about for Jack. But he saw nothing of his young master, because a group of people, also in Saya Chone's pay, covered the movements by which Jack was drugged and carried off by his enemies.

"Thunder and mud," growled Buck. "Where's Jack got to? I left him here not five minutes ago, laughing over this picture."

At this moment Dent came up.

"Where's Jack?" said he quickly.

"I don't know, and that's the square-toed truth," replied Buck.

"P'raps he's rambled off in a different direction."

The two comrades began to move swiftly about in search of their young leader. They kept together, for, with their knowledge of the country, they felt uneasy at once, and were not willing to separate, lest each might not find the other again. They found Me Dain, and set him to hunt in every direction. They found the headman, and he seemed bewildered at the idea that Jack had disappeared. He gave, or seemed to give, them every a.s.sistance possible in their search, but within an hour the two comrades were looking at each other very blankly. Jack had gone. There was no sign of him from end to end of the village, but how or where he had gone was a completely impenetrable mystery.

Buck and Jim and the Burman gathered in the hut which had been a.s.signed to them, and held a council of war.

"Say," muttered Buck uneasily, "this beats the band. What's come to Jack?"

Jim Dent shook his head, and made no reply for a moment.

"Well, Buck," he said at last, "there's one thing quite certain; he hasn't gone on his own account."

"Sure thing," replied Buck.

"And if he's been nabbed in some mysterious fashion or another, we're pretty certain who's got hold of him," pursued Jim, and Buck nodded with a blank face.

At the next instant Jim's suspicions were confirmed by the Burman.

"Well," grunted Me Dain, "U Saw got both now, for sure, both young master and old master."

"What makes you think that, Me Dain?" cried Buck. "Have you seen or heard anything?"

"Nothing, nothing," replied the Burman, waving his hand. "But what else can be? They catch him and take him off. Oh yes, sure to be."

"After all, it would only be in line with plenty of things we've heard of, Buck," remarked Jim Dent, and again Buck had to give a sorrowful nod.

"Well," said Buck, in a decided voice, "s'pose we put it at that. In some fashion or other he's been kidnapped by the people who kidnapped his father. Let it go at that. Then, next thing is, what are we going to do?"

"I'll bet I know what you're going to do, Buck, my son," said Jim Dent, with a dry chuckle. "You'll follow on a bit and see what's happened to father and son, or I'm making a big mistake."

"You're quite right, Jim," said Buck Risley. "I don't hold with backin' down on a pardner, and I'm goin' along to see what's happened to the Professor and Jack just as far as I can crawl."

"And I'm with you, old man," said Jim quietly. "I owe Jack my life, too. One good turn deserves another."

"And me, sahibs, and me," said Me Dain quickly. "The young sahib save my life also when the dacoit thought to chop off my head. I go with you everywhere to help the two sahibs."

"Bully for you, Me Dain, you're a good sort," cried Buck, and he thrust his hand out to the Burman. Me Dain, highly delighted to receive the white man's sign of friendship, shook hands very solemnly with both Buck and Jim, and they formed at once a confraternity of three to hunt up U Saw's quarters, and see where he held the prisoners, whom they now firmly believed to be in his grasp.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE FIGHT IN THE TUNNEL.

We must now return to Jack, whom we left crouching at the end of the tunnel which led to the outer cave, and awaiting the onslaught of three powerful Kachins.

As the natives drew step by step along the tunnel towards Jack, he balanced the great broadsword he held by both hands, and poised it ready to strike at the foremost. Though he was greatly out-numbered, yet he held one advantage. The forms of his enemies were clear against the sunlight which poured into the mouth of the outer cave. He could see every movement they made, but they could not see him. The inner cave was very dimly lighted, and, coming from the bright light without, his enemies could not mark that Jack was waiting for them.

A second advantage he enjoyed was that they did not know that he was armed. They knew that they had stripped him of every weapon when he was first seized, and now they did not dream that he had secured a _dah_ for himself, and was thoroughly resolved to make the deadliest use of it before he would submit to capture.

On crept the Kachins in the boldest fashion, urged forward not merely by their native bravery, but convinced that they had before them the simplest of tasks, the seizing of an unarmed lad who would surrender at sight of their weapons.

At the next moment they were terribly undeceived. Fetching a sweeping blow, Jack cut down the leading Kachin with a terrific stroke. The edge of the keen, heavy blade fell at the point where neck and shoulder meet, and the doomed man was nearly cut in two. He dropped with a single groan, and the two men behind caught him by the feet and dragged him swiftly back.

Jack drew a deep breath, regained his heavy weapon, and poised it anew. But for the moment he was left in peace. The group in the outer cave had gathered about the fallen man. They uttered loud cries of surprise when they saw the deep and dreadful wound he had received with such terrible force from the dah. "_Dah! dah!_" Jack heard the name of the native sword pa.s.s from lip to lip, and knew that they had recognised by what weapon that frightful slicing blow was delivered.

But in another moment he recognised how grim and fell were these people who were his foes. As coolly as though it were but a dog that Jack had slain with that tremendous blow, the Strangler lifted the dead Kachin and tossed him carelessly aside. Saya Chone said a sharp word, and a fresh man stepped forward, drawing his _dah_ with a grin as he was ordered to join his companions in a fresh a.s.sault. Jack knew these little men in blue kilts to be brave to desperation, utterly careless of life, either their own or another's, and he braced himself once more for the struggle.

But this time the Kachins came on in different order, and in a different fashion. A sudden flare of yellow light filled the tunnel, and Jack saw that two men marched ahead, each with his _dah_ ready to strike, and that behind them the third man held a flaming torch. He saw at once how cunning was the trick. The glare would flash over the a.s.sailant's shoulders straight into his eyes, confusing him, while they would be lighted perfectly to the attack.

In a second Jack had devised a plan of meeting this danger. He dropped his _dah_ over his left arm, bent and seized a huge pebble from the floor. He poised the stone for an instant, then flung it with great power. At this short range he struck the mark to a hair, and his mark was the grinning face of the Kachin who carried the torch, and rejoiced that his friends would now make short work of the fierce young Feringhee who had hidden in the cave.

The dark face of the native was wrinkled with a savage smile, and all his gums were on view when the heavy stone struck into his open mouth with a crash of splintering teeth. The first pebble was followed by a second, which took him between the eyes. Stunned and blinded, he reeled back and dropped the torch. His comrades, bereft of their guiding light, upon which they had counted so much, hesitated for a moment and hung upon the next step. There was no hesitation with Jack.

Things stood at too desperate a pa.s.s with him that he should let things hang in the wind. No sooner did he see the Kachin with the torch reel back and drop the firebrand, than he swung his weapon on high and darted at the two men who had halted in the tunnel. As he did so he let out a mighty shout. Shout and blow fell together on the hesitating Kachins. Both thrust their _dahs_ forward to parry the unseen a.s.sault.

Jack's weapon fell with a ringing clash of steel across the _dah_ of the leading man, beat it down, went on, and bit deeply into the Kachin's skull. The latter reeled against his companion and clutched him. For a second they swayed, then both men fell heavily together to the ground.

Lying helpless as they were at his feet, it was a mere matter of a couple of blows for him to utterly destroy both, and so lessen the number of his enemies. But Jack could not strike fallen men. He returned to his own end of the tunnel, and allowed them to creep back to the outer cave, the wounded man crawling slowly after his friends.

This second repulse seemed to put Saya Chone and the Strangler beside themselves with fury. They screamed invective and insult against Jack, and threatened him with the most frightful penalties when he should fall into their hands. Both had a perfect command of some of the worst language in English that Jack had ever heard, but he took it all for what it was worth, clutched his faithful broadsword tighter still, and waited to see what their next attempt would be. He still cherished a hope of escape. He had crippled pretty well half of the attacking force, and if he could but hold them off till darkness came, there might be an opportunity of escape in the moonless night.

"There were only four Kachins with them," thought Jack, "and the natives they have picked up from the neighbouring village may be dismissed as fighting men, if they are anything like the chaps who are somewhere behind me here. The half-caste and the Malay seem to keep out of the scrimmages. If I only have a bit more luck, I can chew them up enough perhaps to make them sheer off and leave me alone."

As far as appearances went, they were leaving him alone now. But Jack knew that appearances are too often deceitful. The outer cave looked perfectly empty. Neither sign nor sound of human presence was given.

Saya Chone and the Strangler had gone away, leaping down from the mouth of the outer cave to the ravine. But Jack was certain that the unwounded Kachins were still lurking in the cave out of his sight, and he had no intention whatever of creeping out and engaging in a hand-to-hand struggle with the iron-limbed little mountaineers. Fully half an hour pa.s.sed in this profound silence. Jack kept the sharpest look-out, but could catch no sign to show that his lair was still watched.

"If they can wait," thought Jack, "so can I. I'll not stir an inch from my cover, however silent they may be."

At that instant he caught a sharp, low cry of surprise behind him. He whirled round swiftly, for in his intentness he had actually forgotten the two Panthays, his fellow-prisoners. With a gasp of relief, Jack found that it was the elder Panthay who had called out. The two men had been crouching in a corner of the inner cave, and had given no sign of their presence while Jack struggled with his foes. Now one was calling out, and both were pointing upwards.

Jack took a step back from the mouth of the tunnel and looked aloft.

The rift in the rock forty feet above, which lighted the cave, was obscured and darkened. In a moment he saw that the gap was filled with a human body, and that a Panthay was peering down upon them.

"What's this game?" thought Jack. "They've climbed up to that hole, but unless I obligingly stand under it, and let them drop a stone on my head, I don't see what they get by it."

Little did the heroic lad dream of the fearful use to which his enemies meant to put the rift in the rock high above him.