g round so as to sweep the bows should
the Malays try to board them from the shore; the engines were reversed;
the men tramped from side to side of the deck; everything possible was
done: but the steamer remained fixed in the mud without a possibility
apparently of getting her off.

The jungle was of the densest all around, and the men approached the
bows with caution, for the head of the steamer was right in amidst dense
foliage, and it was quite probable that any number of the enemy might be
concealed and ready to hurl spears at the slightest chance.

Neither seeing nor hearing signs of the enemy, the lieutenant at last
ordered Roberts to try and land and see if the Malays were near. "It's
a risky job, Roberts," he said kindly, "but you must take it. I cannot
leave the steamer."

"Oh, I'll take it," said Bob, coolly, and examining his revolver, he
drew his sword, and telling the men to follow, ran forward, scrambled
over the bows, and leaped ashore, the men imitating his example, for the
bank was only some six or eight feet below the bulwarks.

But though they were landed, there was little more to be done, unless
they had been provided with billhooks to clear the way. The undergrowth
was nearly as dense as a hedge, and after trying in half-a-dozen
different ways, and only penetrating some twenty or thirty yards, they
were obliged to give up, drenched with perspiration, their flesh full of
thorns.

"I've got something biting my legs horribly," cried Bob, turning up his
trousers, and then giving a shudder of disgust, for half-a-dozen leeches
were busy at work making a meal upon him, and several of the sailors
were in the same predicament.

"There, my lads, we may as well get on board," said Bob, grimly, "I
don't like shedding my blood in the service of my country after this
fashion. We can do nothing here, and it would puzzle a cat--let alone a
Malay--to get through."

So they returned on board, satisfied that there was no fear of an attack
from that quarter, and the rest of the day was devoted to trying to get
the steamer out of her unpleasant predicament.

Night fell with the men utterly wearied out, and, in despair, Lieutenant
Johnson was taking himself to task for his bad management, as he termed
it, when Bob Roberts suddenly seized him by the arm.

"What is it, Roberts?"

"A shot off yonder in the jungle," he exclaimed.

"I did not hear it," was the reply; and they stood listening; but there
was n