For a full minute after Bryant ceased speaking Pa' Mahmud remained silent. His dark eyes were malevolent; but Scott sensed his fear of the cannon, and now he was glad there had been the clash with Suran. It was something for the rajah to weigh carefully.
Finally the Malay spoke briefly.
"He says you'll get the pepper promised," Bryant translated.
"Then we'll go."
Turning on his heel, Scott started for the door through which they had entered. A knot of Malays barred the way, weapons poised, but he made himself walk boldly and they parted sullenly to let him and Bryant pass.
Once outside and headed for the water, the New Englander expelled his breath with a hissing sound. "I was sweating blood. Still am."
"That makes two of us, Bryant. Your ship mounts two guns, doesn't she?"
Bryant nodded. "Nine-pounders."
They walked in silence the rest of the way to where the boats were beached.
"How'd you make out?" Peary asked.
Scott told him briefly and the first officer of the Caroline nodded approval. "That's the way to talk to him, Scott."
"I'm sorry we made him lose face, though," Bryant said thoughtfully. "He won't forget or forgive it."
"It was his face or mine," Scott said. "Now I've got to see that we get delivery."
"And if we don't?"
"I'll do what I said. I've finished talking."
16
PA' MAHMUD resumed delivery with promptness surprising to Scott, who had halfway anticipated delay until the guns of the Caroline and the Sally Culbreath actually were trained on the town. Moreover, the Malays lugging bulging sacks and and heaped-up baskets to the weighing station behaved in a cheerful, friendly fashion; while Khidzir, the ruler's agent, displayed almost unctuous civility toward the whites. By dusk almost three thousand dollars had been paid out for prime pepper.
Peary returned to the ship with the day's last boatload in an exultant mood. "I reckon the old buzzard decided we meant business, Scott. I had an idea he'd knuckle under if we threatened to blow him and his stinking little town to hell-and-gone."
The captain of the Caroline nodded, vaguely troubled by the very speediness with which the rajah was complying. He knew that in Pa' Mahmud's place he would have been unyielding; and he was apprehensive that the man might yet turn on them.
"I'm glad we didn't have to make good on the threat," he said finally. "My guess is that Pa' Mahmud wants us to clear out as soon as possible."
His brother-in-law wiped sweat from his dark face. "We haven't got half the pepper stored in Stallapoo, and won't have when we get five hundred piculs. Too bad we're having to split with Bryant."
"He's acted decently, Clay. He could have made things awkward for us."
"You're right, although I personally think he's a lot happier to have us lying offshore than we are to have him. I doubt if he could force Pa' Mahmud's hand by himself."
Scott shrugged. "Be that as it may. The way things are, it's easier for both of us. Have you seen Mr. Fox?"
"Not since he came ashore and made a beeline for the palace. I thought you were keeping everybody aboard except the working party."
Scott didn't answer the implied question. He had been hesitant about making an exception of Fox, even though the man was an officer; and he had justified the action on the grounds that Fox had proven himself reliable.
"I wonder what Fox and Pa' Mahmud find to talk about," the first officer continued querulously.
Again Scott shrugged, wondering as much himself. He knew he was leaning over backward to be fair to the man.
Hosea Fox could appreciate Pa' Mahmud's hostility toward the two ship captains, the aggressive Scott in particular. They had forced him to bow to their will in a manner that could not be concealed from his own people. The rajah was smoldering dangerously when he received the second officer of the Caroline and for the moment Fox himself was conscious of gratitude for the fact Pa' Mahmud had been cowed.
"What do you want?" the rajah demanded ungraciously.
"Nothing that won't be beneficial to us both," Fox responded.
Pa' Mahmud raised his brows questioningly.
"You hate Captain Rogers, don't you?" Fox demanded.
The rajah's face became impassive. He spoke warily. "He is not a man I could love, but I respect his strength."
"To hell with respect for his strength," Fox said almost angrily. "I am your friend, I alone among all the white men in those two ships, and I ask you if you don't hate Captain Rogers for having made you lose face in your own palace."
The Malay chief's eyes narrowed slightly. "And if I do?"
"Then I will prove my friendship for you ... by allying myself with you."
"Speak, then."
Fox hesitated, then plunged boldly. As he talked, Pa' Mahmud's face became more and more intent. Toward the end, even before the rajah spoke, Fox knew he had played his hand well. The ruler's eyes glittered with avarice and the hope of vengeance.
"You speak convincingly, Fox," he said.
"Do as I say, my friend, and we both will profit," Fox said. "Let me promise more pepper Lo Rogers and Bryant. Let them have what they want and take their money for it. In time we will have pepper, money and ships, in time—who knows?—we may control the pepper trade of Sumatra."
"Insha Allah" Pa' Mahmud added cautiously. "God willing. In the meantime things will be as you wish."
Torn between elation and apprehension. Fox remained long at the palace, talking at length with the rajah and dreaming dreams kept to himself until this day. In the brief twilight he returned to the Caroline in a native proa. The faint light edged darkness by the time he neared the ship's side.
"Who the devil are you?" Peary demanded harshly from the ship.
"Me, sir—Fox."
"Come aboard, then, but leave your friends in their boat. I don't want them spitting betel-nut juice on the deck."
Fox clambered aboard quickly and the native craft turned back to Stallapoo.
"Well," Peary said sarcastically, "that was a long tea session."
The second officer ignored him and turned to Scott. "Sir, I've just talked Pa' Mahmud into letting us have additional pepper at the same price."
"The devil you have! How much more?"
"Maybe all he's got. Five hundred piculs, anyway."
"Well, damnation! I'm glad I let you go ashore, Mr. Fox. How'd you do it, man?"
Fox smirked knowingly. "I sort of implied we'd had word from the rajahs at Soo Soo and Quallah Battoo to the effect they had pepper in plenty and were anxious to sell... You'll buy, won't you?"
"Of course," Scott assured him. "And depend on it, the owners will be grateful to you."
"Do we have to cut Bryant in on this, too?" Peary demanded.
"We do. You'd better discharge more ballast in the morning, Mr. Fox. Meanwhile come into the cabin and we'll drink, the three of us, to your profitable friendship with Pa' Mahmud."
Things began to go swimmingly. The rajah not only kept up a steady flow of pepper to the ships, but he visited both captains arriving under a huge yellow umbrella to drink tea with them. In return, they called at the palace, presenting him with a sword and a new musket. Their reception was gracious.
"Fox sure worked wonders with the old boy," Bryant commented wonderingly afterward. "I'm beginning to believe the Salem folks were mistaken about him."
"He's a good officer, and he's been a lot of help," Scott agreed.
Bryant spoke slowly. "It's hard for me to give him his due, Scott. He's doing his best to charm Miss Dorcas, you know."