William Dalton

“ And with his sarong—which he had taken off and bound tightly round his left arm—and creese in hand, he ran towards the animal; but when within a couple of yards of it, he suddenly came to a dead halt, and there stood as if terror-stricken. But so were we, for we saw rise from amongst the tall grass to the height of a man, a huge liboya (a species of boa-constrictor common to Java) ; and there for a moment it remained, putting forth its forked tongue, and glaring at pig and man, as if undecided upon which to spring. ”

“ I said, “that the Prince would like to exterminate the conquerors of his race, and, like his ancestors, establish barbaric rule over the island; but, then, it is not possible, and he is not mad enough to attempt impossibilities. It would be to resign the substance for the shadow.”
“True, Claud; but then, if there be truth in history, vanity, revenge, and ambition have caused many a man to give up his one bird in hand for a chance of catching the two in the bush.”
“But look you, brother Martin; it is no business of ours, and I vote we don’t bother ourselves about it.” ”

“ A chief rushes into the ring with a wild shriek and a ferocious look, with creese in one hand and spear in the other; he traverses the ground, leaping from one side of the ring to the other, and, in a menacing posture, bids defiance to some fancied enemy; then he stamps his feet upon the ground and shakes his head, distorts his features, and makes his teeth chatter again; then he throws his lance, and with his creese hacks and hews at the airy enemy, shrieking all the time. ”

“ Two torches were therefore at once lighted by Prabu and Kati, when a din assailed our ears that could be compared with nothing mortal. The little swallows in regiments, nay battalions, left their nests, loudly chirping their astonishment, and flapping their wings with indignation; while hundreds, perhaps thousands, of huge bats darted frantically to and fro, and, swooping down in their anger, literally smacked our faces and boxed our ears with their wings. ”

“ For this,” concluded Prabu, in a greatly excited state, “do I hate the Dutch; and for thousands of acts, still worse, do my countrymen abhor them!”
“And I do not wonder,” said I; “but why should the Chinese, foreigners like themselves, and equally as money-loving, share in that hatred?”
“For numberless deeds of cruelty and oppression, and not the least the great and cold-blooded massacre of their countrymen in 1740, when in Batavia alone, on that one occasion, more than ten thousand were slain.” ”

“ A mahout sometimes gets a scratch, but it is the noble elephant that bears the brunt of the battle, and everything depends on his sagacity, courage, and steadiness. If the elephant won’t stand, becomes frightened, and goes off, then, indeed, the sportsman’s life is in some jeopardy; but this seldom happens, and even then the number and arms of the party are out of all proportion to the strength of a tiger or two.’”
“Oh! bother, Claud, I wish you hadn’t such a good memory. But what has tiger-hunting in India to do with me—we are on the island of Bali?” ”

“ There was a chasm before us, the darkness of which was impenetrable.
“I wonder how deep it is,” said Martin, throwing a large stone into it. But, judging of the great depth by the lapse of time before we could hear the splashing of the stone in some water at the bottom, I began to tremble.
“I sha’n’t go any further,” said I.
“Never say die, old fellow; that hole may be very deep, but then we have to jump across—not down; so here goes.” ”

“ Martin had his cup at his very lips—there was no time for caution. In an instant I had snatched it from his hand, crying, “It is poisoned; we are betrayed!”
The Chief sprang up like a tiger-cat; but Prabu, as if by instinct seeing through the whole conspiracy, dashed his own scalding coffee in Mahomed’s face. Then, with one blow of his creese striking him to the earth, he cried, “Forward, forward, sahibs, to our [326] own men;” and so astonished at this sudden muck were the Chief’s people, that we had passed the cordon and reached our own men, ere one of the former could get to his feet. ”

“ I said it would,” said Martin, surlily, as the guards fastened the door after quitting us.
“What is written is written,” was Prabu’s answer.
“That’s true, but it doesn’t follow that it can’t be scratched out.”
“Shame, Martin!” I exclaimed, “we have long since accepted our position, it is cowardice to complain now.”
“Well, well,” he replied, good-humoredly, “perhaps it is, Claud; still, to find oneself suddenly converted into a traitor, from no cause of his own, and with a fair prospect of being hanged, drawn, and quartered, or some such agreeable ending, is enough to make a fellow grumble. ”

“ The new-comer then, throwing to the Chinese the amount of silver for which Kati had staked and lost his creese, took up the weapon, and, giving it to the sailor, said—
“Now, get thee at once to the prahu, and as you value your life, and, more, my friendship, leave it not till I come on board; for, lion as thou art at sea and in the caves, among thieves and gamesters thou art but a silly mouse.”
In an instant the sailor proceeded towards the harbor, and his master turned towards us. We had recognized the voice: it was Prabu.
“Allah is great! My young masters here, and by themselves!” ”

“ Going ashore, the natives, who were of more savage aspect and manner than I had expected to see in Bali, flourished their creeses and spears in our faces, demanding who and what we were; but when Prabu told them he was an envoy from the Pangeran of Pugar to the Rajah of Bali, and desired to pass through that territory, they became suddenly as submissive as slaves, and begged he would follow them to their chief—a request with which he gladly complied, Martin and I following. ”

“ He has outlived Javan honor and patriotism. But,” he added, fiercely, “the day may and will come when the hated Hollanders shall be driven into the sea. It might have been now—the time was ripe—but for that dog!” Then, his anger lashed to fury, he cried, “Would that he were alive again to fall by my creese!”
“Better,” said I, “that he is no more;” for I knew that he alluded to Ebberfeld.
“The sahib is right—it is,” he replied, in subdued tones; “for had the dog lived another month, he would have betrayed his Highness the Pangeran into the hands of the vile Dutch.” ”

“ Let them now follow him into the house, for there they can unbosom themselves without fear.”
“But,” said I, shrinking backwards, as I caught a view of the interior, “I do not like to enter this vile place; it is an opium-house.”
“It is not the house that is bad, but the people who frequent it, and with them my master need have no association. Let them enter fearlessly, for it is here only we can converse without fear of seeing any of the Dutch merchants.”
“Oh, bother! Don’t be so particular, Claud. Come along; Prabu knows best. We are not to be bad, because others are, surely,” said Martin. ”

“ Have faith in Prabu still—he would never betray us so cruelly.”
“Give me, then, thou Javan dog!—give me, I say, my cousin or this hunchback!”
[317] “Javan dog in thy teeth!” exclaimed the descendant of Surapati, savagely; then, with a smile, he added: “But the poor young sahib Martin is mad with grief, and forgets that, for his uncle’s sake, the Javan dog is to him the most faithful of animals.”
“Well,” hotly replied Martin, “the words were wrong—I retract them; I believe in you, Prabu; but—but I insist upon knowing where our cousin is hidden.” ”

“ Thus, if thou disclosest the whereabouts of this girl, and we find her unhurt, unharmed, thou shalt be free to come and to go: if not, his Highness the Rajah shall take thee in his keeping.”
“The noble Prabu hath commanded—the miserable Huc-cuk will obey; but the words must be spoken in his ears alone, for so have the demons willed it.”
“Let us parley with the rogue no longer,” cried Martin.
“Nay,” replied Prabu, “if the sahibs would learn that which they so much desire to know, they must be patient; let them therefore withdraw for a time from the pandapa.” ”

“ As for Martin, he spoke plainly:
“Thank you, no; I don’t like the nasty mess; but I just should like to go upon one expedition with this Prabu and his brother nest-hunters, wouldn’t you, Claud?”
“All in good time, young gentlemen, you will grow to idolize this rare dish,” said Ebberfeld; adding in his oily tones, “As for nest-hunting, for which you express such a desire, with your worthy parent’s permission, I will undertake to find you an opportunity; for a love of enterprise is a good sign in the young.” ”

“ For some time I stood, pondering what course to take, and upon the probable consequences of the burglary, and I must admit that I was unkind enough to care but very little about any loss Ebberfeld might sustain.
But Marie! the rogues might slay her, or worse—for such had happened before—kidnap, and sell her into slavery in one of the other islands. The fear of so terrible a fate determined me to awaken Martin at all risks. But how? Well, I remembered that I had a pistol bullet in my pocket. ”

“ As for the chief’s sons, had I told them the truth, depend upon it, I should have had a creese in my side before the morning.”
“Ah! I see,” he replied, thoughtfully. “It is, then, as I imagined; they are the nest-robbers you saw in the cave. I knew that a fellow who had never been guilty of a falsehood in his life could not fabricate such a tarradiddle without some great motive.”
“You are right, Martin; they are the selfsame men, as you might easily have guessed from Prabu’s behavior.” ”

“ One of the gamblers—and who, from the satisfactory smile upon his countenance, seemed to be the winner—was a Chinese; the other a powerful-chested, strong-limbed man, whose deep-brown skin, round face, square chin, and long, lank, harsh, dark hair, bespoke him a native of Bali. I watched him narrowly [74] for some few minutes, and from his vociferation at every reverse fall of the dice, and his exclamations in bad Dutch and Javanese, I judged him to be a sailor, belonging to one of the merchant ships in the harbor. ”

“ But Mynheer spoke no more—he had died; and let us hope in such a thorough heartfelt repentance that his soul passed into the keeping of his Creator. But enough of this sorry scene and sad ending to that day’s sport for which Martin had so long wished; such an ending, however, is not an uncommon one in the East, but then hunters are more prone to describe their victories than their defeats. But there were two other sufferers by the day’s hunting—the poor mahout who had been slain by the tiger, and the noble elephant. ”

“ Well, it was in a spacious residence belonging to the Bopartis, in the Karaton, that we found ourselves comfortably lodged and awaiting the promised audience. Upon the morning of the third day, as Prabu, my brother and I were squatting upon our mats partaking the morning meal, we were aroused by the most terrible discord—howling of women and men. Martin and I ran to the veranda: the open space before the house was filled with people—not a stationary crowd, but a moving throng, all groaning, shrieking, and screaming as they passed along. ”

“ About noon, on the day appointed for the funeral, the procession started from the palace. First came the twenty doomed girls, in the order according to their rank in the deceased’s household, each in an elegantly-constructed badi or litter, bedecked with flowers, and followed by an aged woman, who would, from time to time, endeavor to fan the perhaps now dying flames of enthusiasm;—then, priests, bearing roasted viands, rice, and betelnut, as offerings to the gods, followed by musicians, playing triumphant tunes. ”

“ But for Prabu himself another reward, in addition to that already issued, had been offered for his capture or death.
“True,” said Martin, thoughtfully, “if we have ever been counted among the rebels, this includes our pardon; but,” he added, “now more than ever, my brave friend, am I inclined to remain by thy side.”
“Sahib Martin,” replied Prabu, kindly, but firmly, “you must not, shall not remain with one who may be hunted through the length and breadth of Java. You have youth, health, and hope. It may be written that your life shall be long, happy, and prosperous. ”

“ Among the Javanese, the most interesting animal-fight is that between the tiger and the buffalo. The buffalo of the Indian islands is an animal of great size and strength, and of no contemptible courage; for he is an overmatch for the royal tiger, hardly ever failing to come off victorious in the fight with him. It must be confessed that there is no small satisfaction in seeing this peaceful and docile animal destroy his ferocious and savage enemy. Neither is possessed of much active courage; the tiger, indeed, is a coward, and fights only perfidiously, or through necessity. ”

“ But, alas! the parents are far from taking such a burdensome task upon themselves. As soon as the child is born, they abandon it to the care of a female slave, by whom it is reared, till it attains the age of nine or ten years. These nurses, being most frequently but one remove above brutes in intellect, instil into the minds of their charges prejudices and superstitions, which, increasing as they grow to maturity, seem to stamp them rather as the progeny of half-witted, mischievous slaves, than of civilized beings. ”

“ I cried.
“Wait till its snout gets a little higher above water, and then send a bullet into him,” said Martin.
“No, no, sahib—not good; man-eater not care for that—his scales like one wall.”
“Well, what then, Kati? I will not sit here and see a human being quietly fall into the jaws of a brute like that, if I can help it.”
“Me help it, sahib; me kill man-eater almost before grow to one man.”
But now our attention became fixed with terrible interest upon the scene before us: the boatman, panting, exerted himself to his utmost, the reptile still following, and evidently gaining upon the boat. ”