Stan Lynn Part 52

"Yes, I'm afraid so," was the reply. "Not for some days, of course; but they have been disappointed of the plunder, and knowing it is here, they'll come again to try and get it and to pay us out for the number we have killed and wounded. There! don't talk about it now. Let's see about a meal being got ready.--You, Wing, I think you could leave Mr Blunt as he is. He can't do better than sleep."

"No do betteh," said the Chinaman. "You say, go get dinneh leady? Wing glad. Do evelybody muchee good."

"See about it, then," said Stan, "while we go and say a few words to the coolies--eh? Don't you think they ought to be praised for what they have done?"

"Yes," was the lieutenant's reply; "come and say a few words to them-- not many--and tell them you are pleased with the way they fought. But tell them, too, that you'll have a good supper got ready for them by-and-by. That'll please them better than any amount of words."

Stan led the way to where the Chinamen were chatting together about the fight and the way in which the enemy had been driven off; but they were eager enough to turn and listen to the lad's words. Their round faces brightened upon hearing the announcement about the feast they were to have, and they indulged in a hoa.r.s.e cheer when their visitors left to join their companions. Then, after one of the doors had been opened, the little party stepped out into the bloodstained alley between the building and the impromptu wall, which, besides being splashed with molten pitch and charred here and there, was horribly blotched in places by the gore of some wretched pirate who had been wounded or met his end.

"After what has been said, then," said Stan sadly, "it will not be safe to pull down these chests?"

"Well, I don't know yet. I think I'd leave them up till Mr Blunt has had a word or two to say to-morrow. I hope he'll be well enough to take a little interest in matters by then. There's no hurry. We'll have them put straight here and there to repair damages, but they may very well wait afterwards, as there's not likely to be any rain. But I say, Mr Lynn, what do you think about that bit of treachery? I was of opinion that it was Wing."

"So was I at first, but he seems so calm and innocent."

"Ah, yes! But you mustn't think a Chinaman innocent because he looks so. He's a mystery, you know. But still I have my doubts, and it worries me lest it should be one of the coolies. It would be so much worse then."

"Why?" said Stan, looking wonderingly at his companion.

"Because they all belong to the same gang--are all members of one club-- and if one of them proves to be a traitor, the bad sheep corrupts the whole flock."

"What is to be done?" said Stan after a short, thoughtful pause.

"Nothing now, sir. We know there is a traitor amongst our men, but there is nothing to fear from that until the enemy come again. On further thought, however, I don't think it was Wing."

"I'm very glad," said Stan, "for I believed in him, and I'm sure my father and uncle did. It must be one of the coolies, then. How are we to find out?"

"By going on quietly and not appearing to suspect. As I say, there is no immediate danger, and we have other things to think about. What do you propose doing first?"

"Asking your advice about Mr Blunt. I want to send for a doctor at once."

"Ah, yes! But you ask my advice. Well, it is that you wait till the morning."

"Wait till the morning? I want to send a boat with a messenger down the river to the port to bring back a doctor."

"He could only bring a native one, and he has one now."

"What! Wing? He is not a surgeon."

"No; but he knows a great deal of that sort of thing. He has helped Mr Blunt to doctor the men often enough here, and I'd as soon trust him if I were wounded as I would an ordinary native surgeon. You see how well he has treated the governor already."

"Roughly bandaged him up," said Stan impatiently; "but he may bleed to death in the night."

"Not likely, sir. Wing plugged his wounds, and I looked to see that the bleeding had stopped."

"But he may be bleeding internally."

"No; I'm sure of that."

"How can you tell without a proper examination?"

"By the state he is in."

"Then you are a hit of a doctor?" said Stan rather dubiously.

"More of a surgeon, sir. We're obliged to be in these out-of-the-way places," said his lieutenant, smiling.

"I know nothing, but I'm horribly anxious. How can you tell?"

"Simply enough, sir," said the other. "Where is his wound?"

"Right through the shoulder."

"Very well; where would he bleed if it was not outside?"

"Why, inside, of course," said Stan.

"Certainly; but where?"

"As I said--inside."

"Inside is rather a vague term, sir. Well, look here; the wounds are quite high up?"

"Yes, very."

"Then if he bled anywhere, it would be into the cavity of the chest."

"I don't know anything about cavities, but of course it must be into the chest."

"Exactly. Well, we know his heart isn't touched."

"How?" said Stan.

"Because if it had been he would be a dead man."

"I see."

"Then no big arteries or veins are wounded. If they had been he would have been suffocated by the blood long enough ago."

"Would he?"

"Of course. His lungs would have been choked with blood, so we know that they are not injured."

"I see," said Stan; "but it's very horrible, isn't it?"

"I think not. Any one who learns things like this may find them very useful in an emergency. I do; and it gives a man confidence. I don't think Mr Blunt's wound is dangerous at all."

"I do," said Stan shortly. "See how delirious he seems to have been."