verstork was much too late.
after the scene in the hut near the djoerang pringapoes, he ought at once to have jumped into the saddle and there and [258]then have galloped off to santjoemeh; thus he might possibly have succeeded in warding off the storm that was gathering over his head. as it was, he had allowed another to forestall him. it was not long before he found that out.
“so!—that is your report of what has taken place!” said van gulpendam, in the most offensive and sneering tone imaginable, when the controller at length, after having long been kept waiting and after having times out of number paced up and down the front-gallery, had been admitted into the presence of his chief.
“so—that is your report is it? it seems to me you have taken your time about it! yesterday, before noon, the information had already reached me. a pleasant dinner time for me when such things are occurring in my residency. but the gentlemen, it seems, were amusing themselves with hunting. oh, yes! anything may be going on in their district, then they see nothing, they hear nothing!”
“but, resident—” verstork ventured to say.
“hold your tongue, sir,” cried van gulpendam, savagely, “i have asked you no question, when i do it will be time enough to answer, and then, i suspect, you will have no reply to make.”
verstork was standing there, in the office of his superior officer, pale as death and unnerved and biting his lips with suppressed rage.
“i cannot say, mr. verstork, that you have clapped on too much sail—you have been somewhat slow in making me acquainted with these painful events.”
“resident, i—”
“i did not put any question,” again roared van gulpendam, with a look of scorn and contempt upon his subordinate, “please hold your tongue!”
“it appeared to me, resident, that—”
“be silent, i say! i only have a right to speak—”
verstork, however, took no heed of this rude interruption, and quietly went on: “—that you made some remarks about the time of my presenting my report. if that be so, i feel it my duty, nay my right, to exculpate myself.”
“if you will not keep silence,” shouted van gulpendam, “i will call—” he was on the point of making a mistake, he was just going to say the boatswain’s mate; but he checked himself and said, “i will call my chief constable and have you removed out of my presence.”
“hark you, mr. van gulpendam,” said verstork drawing [259]himself up to his full height, and speaking with much dignity, “hark you, i am neither your corporal nor your boatswain of the watch. and, further, let me tell you that if you continue to address me in such terms i will lodge a complaint against you with the secretary for the home department, or better still, with the governor general!”
it was now van gulpendam’s turn to change colour, he saw that he had gone a little too far. he had so long been accustomed to see every one bowing down before him and putting up with all his whims and fits of bad temper, that he never thought of checking himself in the presence of verstork, whom he had always looked upon as an easy-going and good-tempered fellow. he now, however, at once drew in his horns and said in a very different tone:
“pardon me, mr. verstork, you know i am of a sanguine temperament. i am, moreover, very much vexed at not receiving this news from one of my officers in the first instance. come, take a seat, i should like to run my eye over this report.”
the controller sat down, while the resident at his desk turned his back to the light and began reading the document. outside the office, a couple of police oppassers were pacing up and down, attracted, no doubt, to the spot by the high tone of voice in which the conversation had been carried on. in a moment or two van gulpendam again broke out—“i thought as much—i had been warned of this—” but, checking himself, he said no more, and went on reading.
“resident,” said verstork, “may i beg leave to inquire against what you have been warned?”
van gulpendam looked up over the sheet of paper he held in his hand, and fixing his eye on the controller’s face which was turned to the light, he said, with an assumed air of dignity:
“mr. verstork, you really ought to try and cure yourself of the bad habit you seem to have contracted of interrogating your superiors. believe me that kind of thing makes a very bad impression. i do not mind telling you what warning i have received, not, mind you, because you demand the information; but because i consider it only fair that you should know. it will probably bring you to the conclusion that you had better take back this report and modify it altogether.”
“modify my report, resident?” exclaimed verstork; but, without noticing the interruption, van gulpendam continued:
“i have been informed that you intend to represent matters [260]in such a light as to make it appear that a successful attempt has been made on the honour of this javanese girl.
“but, resident,” said verstork, very gravely, “this question concerns a person who is in your service, who is the baboe—i may almost say—the companion, of your own daughter.”
“and who, as such,” said van gulpendam, interrupting him, “ought to be a person of unblemished character. i quite agree with you there. unfortunately, she is nothing of the kind. only a few days ago she was roaming about outside the house for the whole night, and then came in with a long rigmarole about a forcible abduction of which she pretended to have been the victim. now again, for the second time, she is out at night, and this time she is found in the possession of opium. she is the daughter of a smuggler—you know that as well as i do, seeing that on saturday last there was a murder committed in her father’s house, of which, luckily, you sent me timely notice. she is engaged to be married to another opium smuggler; and now it has been proved that she is a smuggler herself. at present she is safe under lock and key, and i am glad of it, as it will spare me the trouble of driving the brazen-faced slut out of my premises.”
“but, resident,” resumed verstork, as soon as his chief paused for a moment to take breath, “when we came running up to her cries for help, she was naked, bleeding, her hair dishevelled. everything in fact pointed to—”
“a desperate resistance to the police,” broke in van gulpendam. “i know all about that. did you examine her?”
“no, i did not.”
“very well, that examination i have ordered the medical authorities to hold, and see there,” continued the resident, as he looked out of the window, “why, unless i am mistaken, that is the carriage of the chief medical officer now stopping at the gate! we shall soon get to the bottom of this business.”
almost immediately after this the chief constable came in to announce the arrival of the surgeon general. the latter advanced to the resident’s chair, shook hands very ceremoniously, and then went through the same process, but much more familiarly, with the controller.
“ha, verstork—you here?” he said.
before, however, the controller had time to reply, the resident, turning to the doctor, said:
“take a seat, doctor—well?—”
“no question of any such thing, resident!” [261]
“indeed—now did i not tell you so? but the girl was wounded they told me.”
“a few scratches of no importance whatever—mere trifling skin-wounds and a little blood!”
“there was therefore no stu—stu—what did you call it?”
“stuprum violentum—oh, no, no! nothing of the kind. here is the formal certificate properly filled in—that will be sufficient to satisfy all objections.”
“thank you, doctor—much obliged to you.”
“now, resident, i must beg you to excuse me. i must be off at once as i have a number of visits to pay. good-bye, sir—good-bye, verstork.”
“no excuse required, doctor,” said van gulpendam, “don’t let me detain you; good-morning!”
as soon as the medical officer had disappeared van gulpendam turned to verstork and said:
“you heard that—didn’t you, mr. verstork?”
“oh, yes, i heard it; but my conviction is not the least shaken.”
“it is not?”
“no, resident.”
“well, for all that,” said van gulpendam, airily, “i advise you to heave to.”
“to heave to? i don’t understand you,” said verstork, though all the time he understood perfectly.
“i will express my meaning in plainer terms,” returned van gulpendam, very deliberately, “i advise you, as i have done already, to take back this report and to modify it.”
“why should i do so, resident? why do you give me that advice?”
“because, in the first place, the facts mentioned in it are twisted, exaggerated, and represented from a prejudiced and partial point of view.”
“resident!” interrupted verstork.
but without heeding him van gulpendam went on:
“in fact that paper reads like a sensational report, which evidently is aimed at attaining some ultimate object. and then again there occur in it passages which most certainly will be highly displeasing to the government. here, for instance, is one of them:”
the resident turned over the leaves of the document, and seemed to be looking for a certain passage; having found it he read as follows: [262]
“allow me also to state that my official career of twelve years has taught me that the opium-monopoly is an imperium in imperio; that in order to promote the opium-trade everything the people loves and honours is trampled upon and trodden under foot. the opium-farmer does not trouble himself in the least about police regulations or about penal statutes, his satellites simply enter people’s houses and violate the right of domicile; his spies and his policemen—at all events the police which he has in his pay—have no scruples whatever, and pay no respect to anything. a european would make himself liable to severe punishment were he to treat the natives in the manner in which the refuse of mankind, if only they are in the opium-farmer’s employ, dares to treat them. these opium-agents have respect neither for the husband, the wife, nor the daughter. in the houses, aye even on the public roads, they strip them, they search them in the most disgusting manner, and never trouble themselves about any protest at all. these scoundrels, sheltering themselves under the impunity which the opium monopoly casts over them, inflict upon the natives the most horrible insults frequently to satisfy their own passions, sometimes merely for the purpose of revenge. a sad proof of this is the treatment to which the javanese girl, dalima, has been subjected.”
the resident paused here for an instant and fixed a penetrating glance upon his subordinate; but the latter as steadily returned his gaze.
“you see,” he continued, “when i read such rant as that, then i am forced to suspect”—and here the high functionary significantly tapped his forehead with his finger—“that there is something wrong with you here!”
“resident! exclaimed verstork, “you are forgetting yourself!”
“not at all, my dear sir, for by writing thus, what do you in fact tell me, in so many words? what but this: that in your districts these domiciliary visits and these searches on the high roads are necessary to prevent the illegal sale of opium. you know, even better than i do, that quite lately there have in your districts been several very ugly revelations. i have only to call to your mind the capture at moeara tjatjing, the capture at kaligaweh in the house of pak ardjan, and now again smuggled opium is found with setrosmito and with his daughter dalima. suspicions may perhaps have arisen in my mind that banjoe pahit is a hot-bed of smuggling; but [263]now your most intemperate language confirms my worst fears.”
“resident!” cried verstork no longer able to contain himself, “however great is the respect which i am bound to feel for your mature judgment, yet i cannot allow these words of yours to pass without protesting against them. for, in the first place, you insinuate that i have been guilty of neglect of duty with regard to the opium-traffic, and, in the next, you suggest that this neglect of duty on my part has made banjoe pahit a hot-bed of the smuggling-trade. i am, however, perfectly well acquainted with the duties which the order of 1867 imposes upon me, and, allow me to assure you, i am too conscientious to neglect those duties.”
“my dear mr. verstork, i did not intend——” interrupted van gulpendam.
“give me leave to continue,” resumed verstork; “i have been attacked, i now defend myself against your imputations, it is my duty to do so, and i claim it as my right. i positively and utterly deny that banjoe pahit is a hot-bed of smuggling.”
“do you intend to tell me then,” cried van gulpendam, “that no smuggling is carried on there?”
“i do nothing of the kind, resident,” replied verstork, “were i to do so that would be saying what i know to be untrue. my district lies right along the open and everywhere accessible coast of the java sea. the laws which control the illegal traffic in opium are, as you are aware, wholly insufficient; and, even such as they are, we have not the power to carry out the laws effectually. no wonder then that the smugglers—and, as you know, the opium-farmers themselves are the chief offenders—no wonder, i say, that the smugglers make the most of this lax state of things. it stands to reason that it should be so; but if you compare the illegal trade which goes on at banjoe pahit with the smuggling in the adjoining districts which lie along the same sea-coast, then i maintain that you will find that my district, far from being as you would have it, a hot-bed of smuggling, contrasts, in that respect, very favourably with the others. now, as regards the cases to which you have twice alluded, i, as controller of the district, have very carefully investigated them; and i now give it you as my deliberate opinion that the opium discovered at moeara tjatjing was put on shore by the boats of the schooner brig kiem ping hin, a vessel which, you know, does not stand in the odour of sanctity; whilst the other two concern but very [264]minute quantities of the drug which assuredly would never have been found at all, had the bandoelans been previously themselves well searched.”
“that is all very fine, mr. verstork,” replied van gulpendam, “but for the present it carries us too much into detail. to come to the point, however, i now again repeat my friendly advice, go about, go about, and take back this report.”
william verstork sat there pale as death. for a moment he covered his eyes with his hands as if he would exclude some painful vision, and he reflected. the thought of his mother, of his sisters and brothers, came up vividly before him, and ran like a red-hot iron through his brain. he fully grasped the purport of the advice he had heard. he knew perfectly well that it was not only a counsel, but also a threat, a threat moreover from an all-powerful superior to a helpless subordinate. for one moment—to his honour be it said, it was but for one moment—he hesitated; then his strong natural sense of duty resumed its sway.
“resident,” said he in a gentle and low, but yet in a perfectly steady voice, “what would be your opinion of me if i were to give way and follow your counsel? what would you think of me if i were to take back my report? i say nothing now of the violence which i thus would be doing to my sense of common honesty.”
“sirrr!” roared van gulpendam in a passion.
“would you not, in that case, consider me wholly unfit for the position which i at present occupy; would you not feel the deepest contempt for my character, and would not your sense of duty urge you at once to request me to retire from my country’s service? at any rate, i know that you could never again, from that moment, place the slightest confidence in me. is not that true? and yet the position i occupy imperatively demands that i should enjoy the fullest confidence of my superior officer.”
mr. van gulpendam had by this time recovered his temper, he could not help feeling the force of verstork’s words.
“you take the whole business,” said he in his most conciliatory manner, “much too seriously. now, just see how i look upon it. yesterday you gentlemen had a most fatiguing day’s hunting. i make no doubt that now and then the pocket-flask was appealed to—of course it was, and very naturally too. after the hunt was over, a jolly sociable dinner, at which strong, heady haantjes beer and heavy baour wine—[265]perhaps even generous champagne circulated pretty freely. no harm in that, all that is the most natural thing in the world. amongst young people one could expect nothing else. well—in that happy frame of mind you sat down to write your report—that is how i look upon it.”
“indeed, resident,” replied verstork, “that report of mine then seems to have made no impression upon you, than that either i was not right in the head, or that i wrote it under the influence of liquor?”
“mr. verstork, my dear sir, you have such a queer way of blurting out things. believe me, i have but one object in view, and that is to prevent you—in your own interest mind you—to commit an act of folly. it is for you to say whether you are prepared to withdraw this report—yes or no. to this i have but a single word to add, and that is: that your entire career depends upon your present decision.”
verstork heaved a deep sigh. he saw only too clearly that, in whatever way he might decide to act, his position was an exceedingly difficult one. but for all that he would not retrace one step on the straight path upon which he had entered, which he knew was the path of truth and honour, and very quietly, but very firmly he said:
“resident, my decision is taken. come what will, i refuse to take back my report.”
“is that your final decision?”
“it is, resident.”
“now think it well over—is that your last word?”
“resident, it is.”
“be it so,” said van gulpendam with apparent resignation, “you will have no one but yourself to blame for the consequences.”
“i am prepared to meet the consequences, resident.”
“very well, in that case i shall have to send up the paper in its present state to the governor general—the matter will then be in his hands.”
verstork was preparing to rise and take his leave, thinking that the painful interview was at an end.
“one moment please, mr. verstork,” said the resident. “just sit down for another few minutes—i have another account to settle with you.”
“what is that, resident?” asked the controller.
“yesterday morning a highly respected inhabitant of the island was publicly insulted and even suffered personal violence, [266]merely because, at your bidding, he bore testimony to the truth. that abuse and that ill-treatment he suffered in your presence and you did not, so far as i am aware, exercise your authority either to prevent it or to put a stop to it.”
“it was all the work of an instant,” replied verstork; “the words were uttered and the blows were dealt so suddenly and so unexpectedly, that no one—not even you—had you been present—could have interposed. i can assure you that had there been the slightest fear of the offence being repeated, i would have stepped in to prevent it.”
“i know nothing about all that,” said van gulpendam coldly. “i only know that abusive words were uttered and blows were dealt, while you, the superior officer, stood by. that is how the matter stands. now if i could only have suggested to the authorities that our young hunters were in a state of excitement and that the action was merely one of youthful indiscretion.”
“no, resident, not so,” exclaimed verstork, “not at all—not at least under the influence of that particular kind of excitement which you were kind enough to suggest just now.”
“it was done therefore in cold blood! i am obliged, mr. verstork, to take notice of that fact; you see even if i were disposed to be lenient, your own words deprive me of the power of hushing the matter up. all this, i fear, is not much in your favour, sir, and your friend, who seems so ready with his fists, will thank you no doubt for your testimony to his sobriety.”
“my friend!” cried verstork, “what has he got to do with all this?”
“what has he got to do with it? why he will find that out soon enough i fear. i have here lying before me a formal accusation, which i hoped i might be able quietly to shelve and say no more about; but now, i must forward it to the authorities. you see, mr. verstork, you might have avoided all this unpleasantness.”
“ah, resident,” replied verstork very bitterly, “i begin to see that mr. mokesuep has not allowed the grass to grow under his feet. be all that, however, as it may. if you think that this trifling occurrence must be followed up—very well then, let the law have its course! i shall be the very first to appear as a witness.”
the resident uttered a strange short laugh; but made no reply.
verstork rose from his seat.
“have you any further orders, sir?” he said with a formal bow. [267]
“none at present, mr. verstork.”
“then i beg to wish you a very good morning.”
a slight nod from the resident, who still kept his seat at his desk, was the only reply to his greeting.
the next moment verstork was walking down the steps of the mansion muttering to himself as he went, “poor mother, poor sisters!”
“stupid ass,” said van gulpendam to himself. “yes, an arrant fool indeed! now that that booby won’t come to terms the business will require a little more piloting. never mind, i have friends in batavia who know how to get such questions safe into harbour; men who knew how to make general van der heijden disappear, and who will not think much of this little job. forward! is the word—at the end of it all there is the ‘virtus nobilitat.’?”
a short time after, verstork sat down to dinner with his friend van nerekool. the latter was the only one at home since van rheijn had sent word that pressing business would keep him at the office and that he could therefore not be in to dinner. the two friends were discussing the events of the former day and the result also of the morning’s interview with the resident. the controller was so utterly downcast and disheartened, that van nerekool, who himself was not in the best of spirits, yet felt that he must try and cheer him up and put some courage into him.
“come, william, old fellow,” he said, “don’t hang your head so sadly. you would almost make me think that you repent of the course of action you have taken.”
“repent, charles,” cried the other, very sadly and yet without a sign of hesitation. “repent? no never, if it were all to do again i would, in every respect, act as i have done. but, my poor mother, my poor sisters!”
“don’t look at things so darkly,” said van nerekool.
“so darkly did you say? why—the very best thing that can happen is that i shall be transferred to some other place—that i shall be torn out of the sphere of work to which here i have become accustomed.”
“well,” said charles, “and suppose that should happen?”
“why, that in itself is already a grave misfortune; you know how expensive moving is in india. then comes the question, where shall i be sent to? you do not suppose that they will give me a lucrative place. for years and years i shall have to face very serious pecuniary difficulties and, meanwhile, [268]it will be impossible for me to do for my dear family that which it has now so long been my pleasure to do.”
“come, come,” replied charles van nerekool, “cheer up! even if it comes to the worst, some remedy will be found for that at least—i can promise you so much at least.”
“but, my dear charles—that is the smallest misfortune that can happen to me. every other possibility is simply terrible. just think—what if they dismissed me from the service altogether?”
“now,” said charles, “you are exaggerating. what in the world have you done to deserve dismissal! on the contrary, you have secured for yourself the esteem and admiration of every honest man.”
“honest man!” said verstork bitterly, “oh you don’t know with whom i have to deal!”
van nerekool’s face twitched painfully—he had learned to know something of the man with whom his friend had come into collision.
“but,” continued he as cheerfully as he could, “but can we not think of some means of warding off the blow? can we not manage to avoid even the least of these misfortunes?”
“aye,” cried verstork, “that is the very thing i have been cudgelling my brains about?”
“have you any friends at batavia,” asked van nerekool, “do you know any one there?”
“friends? yes, i know one man, a certain mr. reijnaals.”
“what? reijnaals—the son-in-law of the member of the indian council?”
“yes, that is the man.”
“why then he is your man. come cheer up and let us now together sit down and draw up an accurate account of all that has taken place. that account you will send to reijnaals. and i also have friends in batavia who, i think, have some influence. i will write to them. come let us set to work and begin our battle fearlessly—it is no good moping.” so the two friends sat down to their task and when, very late in the afternoon, edward van rheijn came home from his office, two letters almost as bulky as parcels, had been sent off by the mail. van rheijn looked weary and care-worn.
“you are very late,” said van nerekool—“have you been very busy?”
“yes, very busy,” was the brief reply. “i am tired out and am going to lie down a bit.” [269]
“anything particular?”
“no, nothing very particular; but plenty of work.”
“what about?” asked van nerekool.
“excuse me,” replied van rheijn putting his fingers to his lips, “they are office-secrets which i am not at liberty to reveal.”
with these words he involuntarily cast a pitying look on william verstork.
