to return that night to banjoe pahit was clearly impossible. verstork had to hold a preliminary inquiry into the terrible event which had so suddenly disturbed the dessa, and about this investigation, he was determined to set at once, and [162]to conduct it in the thorough and conscientious manner in which he was wont to discharge all his duties. these were the facts which this inquiry brought to light.
at about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, singomengolo, the opium farmer’s trusty spy, and a chinese bandoelan had made their appearance in the dessa kaligaweh. they had proceeded straight to the opium-den, where they had to obtain some necessary information from the men in charge of that establishment. when they had learned what they wanted to know, they went to the loerah’s house; but that functionary was not at home, having been called away, as we know, to make the necessary arrangements for the next day’s hunting. so the two worthies had betaken themselves to one of the other members of the dessa government, who granted them the assistance of the local police. accompanied by a couple of policemen, the chinese bandoelan went to the dwelling of setrosmito, the father of baboe dalima, and when he got there, he signified his intention of searching the premises.
said he to setrosmito: “you never visit the store kept by babah than kik sioe, you never smoke any opium there, nor even purchase any from him. the opium-farmer has, therefore, come to the conclusion that you manage somehow to get hold of smuggled opium. anyhow, my orders are to search your house, thoroughly.”
“i never go to the den to smoke,” was the honest old peasant’s straightforward reply, “nor do i smoke opium at home; you will find nothing of the kind under my roof. but do as you like!”
thereupon, the chinaman and his two policemen were about to enter, when setrosmito stopped them.
“no, no,” said he, very calmly, “wait a bit. before you begin, i shall have you fellows searched.”
and, turning to some of his friends whom the appearance of the bandoelan had brought about the hut, he said: “sidin and sariman, just lend a hand to overhaul these fellows.”
the opium-hunters were too well used to such treatment to make any serious resistance, and they submitted to the scrutiny—a scrutiny which was conducted most minutely, but which did not result in producing the least trace of opium. when they had been examined thoroughly, setrosmito allowed the men to enter his dwelling, and to proceed with their visitation of the premises.
the hunt which ensued was merely a repetition of the scene [163]which had, a short time ago, taken place in the wretched cabin of poor pak ardjan; but if no opium had been found upon the persons of the searchers, neither did the chinese bandoelan, nor his men succeed in discovering the slightest trace of contraband goods in any corner of the house. just as in pak ardjan’s case, here again they turned over everything, and ransacked every hole and corner; but not the slightest vestige of opium was found in the place.
at length the chinaman despairing of success, and very angry at his failure, cried out in a rage: “where are your children?”
setrosmito quietly answered, “the children are on the common minding the oxen.”
an evil smile played upon the yellow features of the bandoelan, when he heard this man actually was the possessor of a pair of oxen.
in the once thriving dessa kaligaweh, there were, alas! at present very few of the inhabitants who could boast of owning so much as that. he did not, however, speak a single word; but he left the hut taking his two policemen with him, and went to report to singomengolo that all their trouble had been fruitless.
when singo had heard his subordinate’s statement, he looked with a contemptuous and pitying smile upon him, as he scornfully said to the chinaman:
“much use you are to lim ho and lim yang bing! you a bandoelan! you will never find smuggled opium,” he continued, in a jeering tone, “you are too clumsy.”
“no,” was the man’s indignant reply, “nor you either, where there is no opium to be found!”
“come, keh,” said singo. “will you bet me a rix-dollar that i don’t manage to find some?”
“quite impossible,” cried the chinaman, “i have turned the house inside out. i have searched the bamboo laths of the walls and roof, and there is nothing—absolutely nothing anywhere.”
“have you looked under the hearth?” asked singomengolo.
“yes.”
“and in the ashes under the hearth?”
“yes,” was the reply again.
“and have you grubbed up the floor?”
“yes.”
“and have you turned over the baleh-baleh and the cushions?” [164]
“yes, yes, yes!” cried the man, impatiently. “i am no child, i suppose.”
“no, you are no child,” jeered singo, “but you are one of the greatest fools in the world; as stupid as one of those oxen! now, just you come along with me,” he added, after having flung these amenities at the head of his pig-tailed countryman. “just you come along with me and you will see that my eyes are better than yours. you could see nothing; but i shall manage to ferret out something before long. those mangy dessa-dogs always have opium about them.”
the wretch seemed to forget that in that very dessa he had himself first seen the light; however—that is the way of the world!
so the four men set out once again to setrosmito’s house; and once again, as before, did the javanese attempt to insist upon searching the persons of his unwelcome visitors before allowing them to enter. but singomengolo would have nothing of the kind. he refused point-blank to submit to any search. said he, in his blustering way: “you lay your hands on me and i will thrash you like a mangy cur!” setrosmito tried to protest; but it was in vain. “aye, aye,” said he, “if that be the case then i have but little doubt that they will find anything they want. i know all about those tricks. kabajan,” he continued, as he turned to one of the chief men of the dessa, who stood looking on among the crowd which was rapidly assembling. “kabajan, i call upon you to witness what is about to happen here.”
but the latter, who had the greatest horror of coming into collision with the wretches of the opium monopoly, made no reply whatever to the old man’s appeal, and quietly slipped away.
singomengolo, with a brutal and defiant laugh, entered the hut with his followers. it so happened that at the moment, setrosmito’s little children also came in. the two boys and their sister had just returned from the common, and opened their eyes wide at seeing so many people assembled round their father’s house. the two boys were eight and nine years of age. like most of the young javanese children, they had pretty little faces, with the funniest expression in their twinkling and roguish dark-brown eyes; but their appearance was, to a european eye, wholly spoilt by the manner in which their heads had been treated. they were clean shaven except one single tuft of hair of about a hand’s breadth, which the razor [165]had spared and which one of the boys wore on the top of his head, and the other over his left ear. they had the well-formed and supple limbs which are characteristic of their race, and were exceedingly slender in the waist. these natural advantages were seen to the greatest advantage since, in accordance with the primitive customs of the island, they ran about completely naked, with nothing on at all except a silver ring round each ankle. the little girl, a child of seven, was remarkably pretty, her well-formed childish face peeping out charmingly under a profusion of jet-black glossy hair. her arms were bare, and the only clothing she wore was a bright-coloured patchwork apron which was secured round the hips by a slender chain of silver, from which dangled a small ornamental plate of the same metal. when they ran into the hut they found singomengolo very busy indeed turning over the contents of boxes and prying into pots and pans, while their father was most carefully watching every gesture he made, and was not allowing a single motion of his nimble hands to pass unnoticed. this close attention vexed the wretched spy beyond measure, who thus saw his wicked plan frustrated, because, while those keen eyes were upon his fingers, he could not even attempt to exercise his sleight of hand without being instantly detected. in the hope therefore of distracting the father’s attention, singo made a sign to the chinaman, who, with his slanting eyes, sat looking at the children and leering most offensively at pretty little kembang. the man understood the signal and at once seized one of the boys, and, under the pretence of searching for concealed opium, he felt all over their little bodies, under the armpits, in fact, anywhere wherever a little mandat-ball could by any possibility lie hidden. the boys kicked and fought under this disgusting treatment and did all they could to bite and scratch the dirty scoundrel; but not a single cry did they utter which might draw away their father’s eyes from the manipulations of singomengolo. but when the bandoelan laid hold of the girl and strove to tear off her apron, the poor child could not repress a loud cry of terror, she tore herself away from his rude grasp, and flying to her mother, tried to hide herself on her breast, while the poor woman clasped her child in her arms as if to protect it from further insult. it was, however, in vain; the chinaman with his sickly yellow face came up to the mother and, with the help of his two assistants, wrenched the poor girl from the woman’s arms, who was wholly unable to resist their violence. [166]
“your turn next,” cried the chinaman to the mother, “that young cat has had plenty of time to pass the stuff to you. keep your seat!”
then the disgusting scene through which the two boys had passed was re-enacted on this helpless child—a proceeding infinitely more loathsome, inasmuch as its victim was a little creature of the tender sex towards whom the wretch thought he might with impunity act as he pleased.
“alla tobat!” screamed the poor woman who was compelled to see her daughter thus outraged wantonly before her eyes.
that bitter cry of distress had the desired effect. for a single instant it caused setrosmito to turn his watchful eyes to his wife; but that single instant was sufficient. quick as lightning singomengolo took advantage of it, and slipped his closed hand under the little pandan mat which was spread out over the baleh-baleh and which, during the search, had already three or four times been lifted and shaken without result. then, in triumph, he produced from under it a little copper box, and, as he held it up with a theatrical gesture he exclaimed:
“you see that; after all, there was smuggled opium in the house; i knew i should find it!”
setrosmito turned deadly pale at the sight; he well knew what the dutch law-courts had in store for him, and the thought of the ruin which thus stared him in the face filled him with rage and fury.
“there was no opium concealed here,” he cried out; and in his despair not well knowing what he was doing, he put his hand out mechanically to the kris, an old heirloom which was stuck into the bamboo-wall above the baleh-baleh.
“you dirty dog,” he cried to singomengolo, “it was you yourself that slipped that box under the mat!”
the words had scarcely passed his lips before singomengolo answered the frantic accusation by a blow with his clenched fist which struck setrosmito right in the mouth. maddened with pain and rage the unhappy man plucked the kris from its sheath; but at that moment, suddenly, little kembang uttered a heartrending scream of pain and horror. that cry saved the life of the opium spy. the poor father looked round as if bewildered at the sound; but when he saw the disgusting leer upon the chinaman’s face and in what an outrageously indecent manner that wretch was treating his pretty little flower, the blood seemed to rush to his head and his rage was at once [167]turned into another direction. a red mist—red as blood—clouded his eyes.
“help, help, pain, pain!” cried poor little kembang.
utterly blinded and wholly beside himself with fury the father, kris in hand, flew towards the miscreant.
“amokh, amokh!” shouted one of the policemen, as he saw the flaming kris in the frenzied father’s hand.
“amokh, amokh!” cried the crowd outside taking up the shout without knowing what was going on inside the hut. women and children rushed away yelling and screaming in all directions. soon on all sides resounded the fatal words:
“amokh, amokh!”
the men flew home to fetch their lances and krisses, not in the least knowing what really was the matter, but at the mere terror of the sound.
“amokh, amokh!” repeated the watchmen as they rushed wildly to the guardhouse and began to make as much noise as they could upon the public gongs.
the policeman who had been the first to cry amokh, made a frantic effort to draw his sabre; but the blade was so firmly rusted into the sheath that no efforts he could make would draw the weapon. the other policeman who had no time to draw tried to lays hands upon the infuriated javanese; but as he attempted to seize him, he received a slash across the face and breast which was no doubt but a deep flesh wound; but though not mortal, occasioned so much pain and so much bleeding that the wounded man fell back moaning and was glad enough to save his life in headlong flight. the sight was quite enough for his comrade, and he also took to his heels at full speed.
then setrosmito found himself face to face with the ill-starred chinaman, who had not let go his hold on the little girl and concerning whose outrageous behaviour there could be not the slightest doubt.
“let her go! let her go, i say!” yelled the father, mad with rage and foaming at the mouth. whether the bandoelan was utterly bewildered in the presence of such imminent peril, or whether, in his excitement, he did not realise the full extent of the danger; suffice it to say that he did not obey that supreme command. his wan face now made more than usually hideous by passion, wore a vacant and unmeaning smile; still he did not release the girl; but only tried to get her in front of him, and to shield himself behind her. [168]
“amokh, amokh!” was still the cry all around.
“let go!” roared setrosmito, again; and again the wretched chinaman replied with a vacant laugh.
“amokh, amokh!” resounded the gong with threatening roar.
“let go!—you won’t!—well then, die like a dog!—” shrieked the wretched father, goaded to madness. and—with lightning speed, before the miserable chinaman had time to cower down behind the little girl whom he still held before him—setrosmito drew the well-tempered blade across the fellow’s throat.
“alas, i am dead!” yelled the chinaman, his eyes wildly rolling in his head. they were the last words he uttered. with convulsive clutch he tried to close the gaping wound in his neck; but it was no use, the blood violently came spurting in fine jets through his fingers, a dreadful fit of coughing seized him, and the torrent of blood which rushed from his mouth covered poor little kembang from head to foot. tottering like a drunken man, and still grasping the girl, the wretch, for a few moments, tried to steady himself, but then reeled and fell heavily to the ground in the agony of death.
“amokh, amokh!” was still the cry all round the hut.
“amokh, amokh!” still harshly roared the gongs.
for three or four seconds setrosmito, after his dreadful deed, stood gazing about him like a man utterly dazed or in a dream. he at length brought his left hand to his eyes and then slowly he seemed to recover his reason; then he began to realize his position. at his feet there lay the chinese bandoelan still convulsively twitching in the throes of death; but soon all was over.
all this had passed in an incredibly short space of time, almost with the swiftness of thought; but the room in which the father stood over the victim of his momentary frenzy was already quite deserted; for, with his men, singomengolo had also taken to his heels. even the two little boys, who at first had stared at the spectacle hardly knowing what was taking place, had taken to flight in alarm at their father’s threatening kris, and the wife had snatched up her little daughter and she also had rushed from the house.
“amokh, amokh!” that shout outside sounded in the ears of the unhappy man as his death-knell. he knew but too well of what terrible significance was the fatal word. he knew [169]well that wherever that word is heard, the entire population rushes at once to arms, and that, without stopping to make any inquiry, without even knowing who the man-slayer is, it cuts him down without the smallest mercy, though perhaps he may in reality be guilty of nothing worse than merely defending his own life or protecting the honour of wife or children.
already a few armed men came charging into the hut with their lance-points levelled at his breast.
“stand back!” shouted setrosmito whose rage had not yet had time to cool down. “stand back! whoever comes nearer i will serve as i have served that wretch!”
the man was evidently in deadly earnest and the kris was waved in so threatening a manner at the words that his assailants turned and fled in alarm and formed up in a close ring around the hut. in that circle there was a great deal of talking, of consulting, of screaming and gesticulating; but there seemed not to be a single man who felt the smallest desire of again crossing the threshold.
it was at this juncture that controller verstork came galloping up with the gentlemen who accompanied him and, as we have heard, put an end to the murderous scene by taking the ill-fated man prisoner.
in the course of the inquiry which followed singomengolo produced the opium which he declared he had found in setrosmito’s house and which, in the interest of the opium-farmer, he had confiscated.
in the small copper-box there was but a very small quantity of the poppy-juice which, when weighed at the opium store, was found to be but fifty matas, that is about eighteen milligrams. it was a brownish sticky mass enclosed in a tiny box which could be easily concealed in the closed palm of a man’s hand. the controller took possession of the box and in the presence of the opium-hunter he sealed it up according to the law.
“did anyone witness the finding of this box under the mat on the baleh-baleh?” asked verstork.
“oh yes, certainly,” was the reply, “the chinese bandoelan saw me find it.”
“the man who is dead? anyone else?” continued the controller.
“yes, the two policemen,” said singo.
“indeed!” remarked verstork. “these were the men, i think, who, a few moments before could discover nothing?” [170]
“no matter,” said the opium spy with great effrontery. “i, kandjeng toean,” he continued, “am a sworn bandoelan—i found it there and my word suffices. the testimony of the policemen is altogether superfluous.”
the look of utter contempt and loathing which verstork cast upon him as he spoke seemed to have but little effect upon the shameless spy; for he merely made the usual obsequious salute and as he turned to go, he muttered:
“i shall go and make my report to babah lim yang bing and to the inspector of police.”
then he mounted his horse and rode away seemingly along the high-road to santjoemeh. seemingly; for presently it will appear whither he actually did go and what business he had on hand.
as soon as he was out of sight of the dessa he took a pathway to the right which ran through the rice-fields and along that bridle-path he rode across the hilly country and thus took a more direct way to the capital than that which the highway offered. his horse seemed to know the country well and made good progress, so that it was hardly midnight when he reached a lonely little cabin. there he dismounted, knocked up its inmate and sent the man on with a message to santjoemeh.
when verstork reached the house of the loerah who with the wedono had actively assisted him in his troublesome inquiry, it was about nine o’clock in the evening.
he found his friends assembled there and impatiently awaiting his arrival.
“i say,” muttered august van beneden, “how long you have kept us!”
the young barrister was not in the best of tempers just then for he had been very anxiously looking forward to the promised expedition and now he began to fear that it might not come off at all. moreover he had, in the loerah’s house, been frightfully bored as he waited for his friend’s return.
“i say, how long you have kept us!”
“it was no fault of mine,” replied verstork. “i have had my hands pretty full to-night.”
“besides,” he continued, “it makes no great difference; for the more i can get through to-night the less i shall have to do in the morning.”
“in the morning?” said another of the company in no agreeable surprise. [171]
“yes, of course,” said verstork. “supposing for a moment that in order to keep you company, i had not held that inquiry this evening; but had ridden back with you to banjoe pahit as we proposed to do, why—then i must have gone through it all to-morrow morning and then we must have said good-bye to our hunting party.”
“to-morrow morning!” echoed edward van rheijn. “would not monday morning have done just as well?”
the controller gave the young man a look which evidently was full of displeasure. he had indeed a sharp answer on the tip of his tongue; but he refrained from uttering it, and very quietly replied:
“no, no, monday would have been too late in a matter of this kind. remember, we have to do with a case of man-slaughter which is moreover complicated by an opium scandal, and as matters stand even now we shall find this a sufficiently perplexing business.”
“and are you quite ready now?” asked van rheijn.
“yes,” replied the other.
“so that to-morrow morning there will be nothing to detain you?”
“all right, all right!” said verstork somewhat impatiently.
“and you will be able to take the lead in our expedition, i hope.”
“yes, yes, you need not trouble about that, i have only a couple of letters to write.”
“a couple of letters!” cried van rheijn but half reassured.
“a short report,” said the controller, “to the resident, and a request to the native prosecutor and to the doctor to come and view the body and to hold the inquest.”
“is not that right, van nerekool?” continued he, turning to his friend. “that is the proper course to take, is it not?”
“what did you say?” said the young lawyer starting up as from a dream, and passing his hand over his forehead;—lost in anxious thought he had hardly heard his friend’s question.
the question was repeated and received an affirmative answer.
“we have a good long ride before us to get back to banjoe pahit,” remarked theodoor grenits, “and to-morrow morning it will be light very early, eh?”
“certainly it will,” replied verstork; “but,” continued he as he looked at his watch, “we must not think of getting back to banjoe pahit to-night. it is now quite nine o’clock, and, [172]however brightly the moon may be shining we cannot possibly go faster than at a walk, so that we cannot expect to reach the controller’s quarters before midnight. no, i shall write my official letters here at the tjarik’s, they can then be at once sent off by the loerah. the wedono will ride back to banjoe pahit to get everything ready for to-morrow’s work. he has the command of all the beaters there, that has been all arranged and settled and we need not trouble about that, even though we change our quarters for the night.”
“that is all very well,” said august van beneden, “but where shall we find these quarters?”
“well,” rejoined verstork, “we must do the best we can, ‘à la guerre comme à la guerre.’ there is a small passangrahan here in the dessa which is furnished with a single baleh baleh and we must ask the loerah to fit it up for us somehow or other.”
“to fit it up?” cried grenits in surprise; “have you an outfitting store here in this out-of-the-way place?”
“no, no, my worthy disciple of mercury,” replied verstork with a laugh, “that kind of establishment would do but a very poor business here. if we can lay our hands upon a few pillows and a couple of mattresses we must think ourselves very lucky.”
“a couple of mattresses for the seven of us,” grumbled van beneden who was by no means unmindful of his bodily comforts, “that is but a poor allowance i fear.”
“for my part,” said verstork, “i am quite ready to give up my share. i prefer the baleh baleh. it will not be the first time i have slept on one; and slept very soundly too i can tell you. the others must draw lots. but—”
“but what?” asked van rheijn.
“someone just now spoke of seven,” replied verstork. “it seems to me we are but six—who is missing? the deuce! where is mokesuep?”
“yes,” cried a couple of others, “where has mokesuep got to?”
“he was off like a shot as soon as he heard the cry of amokh,” said van rheijn laughing. “i saw him when we turned for kaligaweh riding back full speed to banjoe pahit.”
“now, i call that prudence with a vengeance,” remarked grenits.
“prudence! is that the right word do you think?” asked one of the others. [173]
“i don’t care,” said van rheijn, “i am heartily glad we have got rid of the fellow, for the time, at all events. i say, verstork, how in the world did you manage to get hold of such a sneak as that?”
“oh,” replied verstork, “i often find the fellow useful. he is thoroughly up, you see, in all excise quibbles; and i think it best to keep in with him. you can all understand that—can you not?”
“well,” said van rheijn, “i wish he would be off altogether and go right on to santjoemeh.”
“no,” said verstork, “i don’t think he will do that.”
“wedono, will you see to it that mr. mokesuep is called early to-morrow morning?”
“yes, kandjeng toean,” replied the native.
“and now, gentlemen,” said verstork, “i must leave you for half an hour or so to the care of the loerah, he will make you as comfortable as he can—won’t you, loerah?”
“yes, kandjeng toean,” was the invariable reply.
a few minutes later the sportsmen had taken possession of the passangrahan, while the controller sat in the small verandah of the tjarik’s house busily writing his letters.
