248 RAJA DONAN. 



asked for water and sirih, saying that the battle had made him 

 thirsty. 



" Are you mad, boy," said the Princess, "to come and ask 

 me to supply you with refreshment, after you have killed my 

 brother and all his warriors ? Take my life too that your 

 fame may be complete." 



The young Prince answered modestly, " It was not I who 

 sought to do thy brother harm. It was he who began ; I did 

 but retaliate." 



" Be that how it may/' replied the Princess, " slay me now 

 and put an end to a life which can only be a misery if pro- 

 longed." 



" However unhappy you may be," said Raja DONAN, " my 

 lot is a much more wretched one, for on the very day of my 

 birth my parents cast me forth to be the sport of the winds 

 and the waves." 



The Prince's account of his misfortunes so softened the 

 heart .of the Princess, that she opened her cabin and let him in 

 and fed him with all sorts of dainties. They agreed to be 

 brother and sister, and, at Raja Donan's request, the Princess 

 agreed to accompany him to his own vessel. He would let 

 her take nothing with her but her betel-box and work-basket. 

 All this being settled, he went forward and hailed the Bunga 

 Rampei, waving his turban, and instantly the prahu came up 

 swiftly alongside. Having transferred the Princess to her, 

 RAJA DONAN sunk the Biduri in mid-ocean. 



Then they recommenced the voyage, the BANDAHARA and 

 the two children, of whom the Princess, of course, was much 

 the elder. They sailed about for some time, and Che Ambong 

 began to get tired of having nothing to do but eat and drink, 

 and she tried to pursuade RAJA DONAN to return to his own 

 country. But he said sadly that he was not travelling for 

 amusement or profit, but in pursuance of his own evil destiny. 

 The tender heart of the girl was deeply touched when she 

 heard him speak thus, and when she looked on him, for in 

 truth he was of an age when he should have been looked after 

 and cared for by nurses and attendants rather than left to sail 

 the world alone. Then she told him of the cause that had 

 made her quit her own country — Mundam Batu, — how a pow- 



