22 
LAND & WATER 
April 6, 1916 
listening to the wind in the trees and the night soun;ls of 
the forest. 
In thit vague green hght, sht- seem? 1 unutterably 
sinister and old, and Saji, his naked body glowing in the vague 
light, seemed -the incarnation of the spirit of tiie Punan 
stabbling spear he carried. 
It was Hkc a conference between Age and Destru.tion. 
Then she said : 
" You must follow them, even if they l"ad you to the 
Black Waters, and you must deal witli the one you know at 
the very moment when you find him alone. .Should you fail 
to get him alone you must deal with him in the presence of the 
others, even though you die. Do you promise ? " 
" I swear." 
Chaya came out from amidst the trees. She had been 
with the old woman and had left her before the meeting with 
Saji ; then, looking back, she had seen the meeting and had 
returned to listen. Saji had been watching her all the time 
as she listened, and the fer\'our of his words seemed derived 
from her presence. The old woman did not seem to notice 
her, nor to care whether she was listening or not." 
" At what time do they leave ? " she asked. 
" I do not know," said Saji. "But leave when they may, 
I will be with them unseen." 
Without a single word more the old woman turned and 
made for the village. 
Saji and Chaya found themselves alone. These two. 
•despite the fact that Chaya was indifferent to him as though he 
were a dog, had long been companions in the forest. It was 
Saji who had taught her to use a blow-pipe so that she could kill 
a tree kangaroo or a bird at ten yards' distance ; he had taught 
her woodcraft from the time when they had been children 
together, and she had once gone in the fishing prahu with him 
and had seen the sea breaking on the reefs, and the trepang 
gatherers at their work, and the great gnlls fishing, the sailor 
brothers of the forest birds and as different from them as the 
foliage is from the waves. 
She had gone with him on his hunting expeditions in the 
forest. Saji was a great hunter of small game. He would 
have been equally great after big game had there been any to 
hunt, but here in these forests you might travel days without 
meeting anything more dangerous than the lizards and the 
climbing kangaroos. 
" You are going hunting then ? " said Chaya in the sing- 
song voice to which the Saribas' dialect inchnes. 
" To-morrow," said Saji, without raising his eyes, which 
he had lowered at her approach. 
" In the forest ? " 
" In the forest." 
" You have told me of the big black kangaroo that hunts 
in the thorn, but to-morrow you follow the little one, the one 
with the beard." 
" There are two bearded ones in that party," said Saji, 
falling into her vein. 
" But your game is the least," said Chaya. " I know. 
He was the slayer of the white man who was my father. He 
must surely die." 
" It has been said." 
" But the others," went on Chaya, " must not die." 
" Who knows ? " replied Saji. " The forest is very full 
of death, he will lead them to it. His purpose is set more 
straight than a spear shaft, than the flight of an arrow." 
" I will go with you and see this thing," said Chaya. 
It will be better to see than the kiUing of little birds 
with the blow pipe or the trapping of fish in the nets. I will 
be with you at daybreak and 1 will bring my spear." 
Saji for the first time looked up at her. His eyes burned 
in the gloaming, then he glanced swiftly down. 
" As you will," he said. 
Meanwhile the man in the tent and the man in the boat 
by the landing stage and the man in the frame house slept. 
The whole comj)licated and intricate conspiracy, now vaguely 
shadowed forth, lay in balance, watched only by Saji hiding 
near the tent and Houghton, who, to-night, had taken Till- 
man's place and was hiding near the boat. 
Macquart, whose able mind was engaged on whatever 
plans he had made against his fellow adventurers, had not the 
slightest fear of the past or suspicion that a hand was stretchirg 
out to feel for him. 
Macquart was in the position of a man who leaves a 
. illage, spends years of adventurous life in distant countries, 
and returns fancying himself forgotten, forgetting the fact 
that nv ;nory lives long in quiet places and amongst small 
< ommunities.Q 
With the exception of one or two of the fishing Dyaks, he 
had not seen a member of the tribe, and he slept now the 
sleep of the unjust, which is often more peaceful and profound 
than the sleep of the just. 
Saji, hiding near the tent, had not the slightest notion 
that Chaya, who was to accompany him on the morrow, had 
any interest in the expedition except the interest of the killing 
there might be to sse. Saji judged Chaya by himself, just as 
.\lacquart judged the memory of the tiny Dyak village by the 
memory of the great civilised cities. 
Hull, unconscious of everything and Tillm m suspicious 
but tired, slept so that the sound of their snormg might lui\e 
been heard by the two watchers, Saji by the tent and Houghton 
by the river. 
Then, as the colour of the sky, the voice of the forest 
changed with the breaking dawn, and the river that had held 
the stars in reflection showed to the increasing hgiit ghost 
spirals of mist that clung to the mangroves with wreathy 
fingers. 
Then, a golden glow came over the forest, and the sky 
above the green of the trees deepened in distance and where 
the stars were but a moment ago there was now the blueness 
unutterable of the tropic dawn. 
Hull came out of the tent and stretched himself. Hough- 
ton had released himself half an hour ago from his duties as 
sentry, and was engaged in shaving himself before a mirror 
fastened to the tent canvas, and now Jacky and Macquart 
showed themselves coming up from the river-side. 
Lastly, Tillman made his appearance. 
" We'd better get breakfast and then set to work to pack 
the provisions," said Hull. 
" We won't want to take too much," put in Macquart. 
" The expedition won't last long and we can always shoot as 
much as we want for food." 
" Maybe," replied the other, " but I ain't goin' to trust 
to no roast lizards for my grub. Here comes the sleepin' 
beauty." 
It was Wiart who had appeared on the verandah ot his 
house. 
Wiart had improved very much in appearance since they 
first met him. He had been then at the end of one of his 
periodical drinking bouts and he would be all right now till 
the next attack. His face looked more healthy and more 
human, despite the whiskers that gave such great offence to 
Hull, and he had a rifle under his arm and a bandoUer of 
cartridges slung across him. 
He came towards the party by the tent, for he was to 
breakfast with them. 
Hull stared at the coming figure with a frown on his 
face. 
" Hi," said he, " what's that ? What are you doin' with 
that gun and them ca'tridges ? " 
" Doing," said Wiart. " Nothing, carrying them." 
" Well, then," said Hull, " you'll just oblige mebycarryin' 
them back and leavin' them in the house ; this is a picnic, it 
ain't no huntin' party." 
, " But what are you talking about ? " cried Wiart. " I 
always go armed in the woods." 
" Not with me," said Hull. " I'm meanin' no offence, 
but I don't go walkin' with armed strangers in no woods. I'm 
as sure as certain you're an amiable man, but you're a stran- 
ger to me as the lacly on the 'Frisco tram said to the gentleman 
whose foot was on hers. Now do you take me or do you don't 
—my ultimatum is no armaments." 
" Then you can go without me," said Wiart, grounding 
the butt of the rifle and half-turning away. 
" One moment, son," said Hull, " I can not. You've 
contracted to lead tliis party, and it's up to you to finish the 
contrac'." 
Whether he received some sign from Macquart it is im- 
possible to say, but the Rubber Man gave in suddenly, and 
unconditionally on the point of arms, put the rifle and car- 
tridges back in the house and sat down to breakfast. 
" I don't blame you for being cautious," said he, 
" though this seems caution run mad, if you'll excuse me for 
saying so, 'specially as the whole lot of you are armed. How- 
ever, let it stand at that. I don't mind." 
He understated the case. Tliis was much more than 
caution run mad ; it was perhaps the most deadly insult that 
one white man could put on another in that place. Hufl 
did not care in the least. If Wiart had attempted to back out 
of leading them he would, as he said, have taken him along 
by a halter. Instinct had warned him against Wiart. He 
knew absolutely nothing of the suspicions that filled the more 
cultivated and sensitive minds of his companions, but he did 
know that not on any. account would he trust himself in 
lonely places with the Rubber Man if the latter were armed. 
There is no doubt that in his sub-conscious mind Hull had 
worked out the sinister possibilities of any collaboration be- 
tween Macquart and Wiart, but he was unconscious of the 
fact. 
When breakfast was over, they began to pack up the 
provisions, Hull supervising. 
" We don't want no tent," said he. " There ain't no 
(Cctrttiuiii-J on i-<ige iM) 
