212 TWO TEAKS i:S" THE JIJXGLE. 



obliged me to accompany them. The Miilcers feared a day of reck- 

 oning would come, so they did not dare leave me in the lurch. 



At night, while my boy was preparing my supj^er, the men tim- 

 idly asked him for rice. We always ke^^t the rice in my tent, and 

 served it out eveiy night, with theu* salt, tobacco, and money. To 

 save trouble, I paid my men their wages every day. Their request 

 was brought to me, and putting on an a^^'ful look I said " No ! " 



Then the men were stricken with penitence and confessed their 

 sins, saying they had been veiy bad, their heads were all MTong, 

 and they would never be so lazy again. But they got neither rice 

 nor tobacco. As they were squatting around the door of my tent, 

 watching eveiy mouthful I took at supper-time, a happy thought 

 stnack me. I told my boy, and he went almost beside himself. 

 He told the Mulcers to "bring the arrack cup," and they said 

 " Oh ! the sahib is going to give us arrack ! " How they smiled, 

 and smacked their lips ! They brought the cup instantly, I took 

 out a bottle of arrack, uncorked it, and povu'ed out a good drink, 

 looked at the men and saw that they eagerly followed my move- 

 ments, then handed the cup to Doraysawmy. He drank it off, and 

 smacked his lips fervently several times, while I quickly corked the 

 bottle and put it back in the box. A murmur of mingled surprise, 

 disappointment, and remonstrance arose from the group outside, 

 and presently the men went slowly and sadly away to their own 

 fire. 



The next morning the Mulcers awoke hungry. They immedi- 

 ately came to me and announced that they would work if I would 

 give them something to eat. I replied, "How can I give you food 

 when you do not work ? You must work befoi-e you eat my rice ! " 



Seeing there was no help for it, they took the knives and fell to 

 work upon the half-cleaned elephant bones as though their souls 

 had yearned for that business. I sent Doray and Channa off to 

 Toony for fifty pounds of salt, and all day I stood over the remain- 

 ing men, scowHng fiercely but saying not a word, like a veritable 

 overseer of slave times, gi-inding their knives at inteiTals, and 

 watching their movements. 



I never saw men more devoted to their work. They could not 

 even spare time to talk to each other, except now and then to speak 

 in a low tone of "conjee " (rice soup), with the reverence accorded 

 to the name of a departed fi-iend. "NMien sunset came I told 

 them to stop work ; and after the knives had been cleaned and put 

 away, wood collected for my camp-fire, and water brought from the 



