166 IN MALAY FORESTS. 



capital fun, and there had been enough fish for every- 

 body. " A pity, though," said one of them, " that rain 

 on Wednesday and Thursday." 



But it was far otherwise that old Alang Abdullah 

 thought of the rain on those two days. He thought 

 of the successes and huge catches of bygone years, and 

 thought of the fish that he might have caught on 

 this occasion; he thought of Batara Kala and Hana 

 Taskun, and the assistance vouchsafed by them in 

 former drives and denied this year: and he turned 

 away from the river with tired back and weary steps. 

 He saw the gathered rain-clouds settling lower on the 

 mountains, and deep in his heart he murmured, " It 

 was not right! It was not right at all!" 



