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‘A mixed crowd of men and children were seen running away,

—p. 152

said Palmer.

s the orang outang,”

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“ That

pursued
THE

Wild Man of the Woods

A STORY

OF

THE ISLAND OF SUMATRA

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

OF

ELIE BERTHET

NEW EDITION

LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED
ESSEX STREET, STRAND

1891
THE

WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

CHAPTER I
THE COLONY

THE scene of our story is laid in Sumatra, the great Malaysian
island, which is separated by the Straits of Malacca from the
most southerly point of India beyond the Ganges.

Even in the present day Sumatra, for whose commerce
the English and Dutch so long disputed, is little known to
Europeans. Except certain ports at which vessels that coast
along the shores of the Archipelago touch, it is rarely visited by
travellers. The interior of the country, besides being protected
by high volcanic mountains and impenetrable forests, is in-
habited by savage, warlike nations, jealous of their indepen-
dence, and who, though not much addicted to cannibalism,
most assuredly would not have the least scruple in devouring
any tourists who might be desirous of studying their manners
and customs. Therefore, except a few intrepid Englishmen
who were not to be daunted by such a risk, no one has suc-
ceeded in penetrating into the central regions of the island, and
they will remain unexplored till the Dutch, who proceed in this
part of the world, as they do everywhere else, with the prudence
and gravity of their national character, have contrived to render
these people, who now resist every advance of civilization, a
little more tractable.

Yet Sumatra would seem, at first sight, to offer the attraction
of grand and picturesque scenery, and to possess natural riches
6 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

which might excite the wonder of the traveller or the avidity of
the trader. It is nearly 1050 miles long and 165 miles broad.
In this immense territory almost all the productions of the most
favoured countries in the world may be met with. The sea
that surrounds it is beautiful and calm during the greater part
of the’ year, and numerous rivers, flowing down from the
interior, form excellent harbours at many different points.
Although the equinoctial line divides Sumatra almost in half,
the climate is temperate on the mountains in the centre of the
island. These mountains, several of which are active volcanoes,
contain precious metals, principally gold, which is worked in a
very imperfect way by the Malays. Large lakes supply in-
exhaustible streams of fresh and pure water.

In the forests the most valuable trees for dyeing and cabinet-
work abound. Around the houses fine rice plantations produce
the best rice in the world; in every direction there are fields of
indigo, pepper, and sugar, and luxuriant plantations, where the
clove-tree, the cinnamon, the camphor-tree, the benzoin, seem
to rival the cocoanut, the guava, the banana, the orange, and
the shaddock, in productiveness and beauty. During six
months of the year not a drop of rain falls, the sun shines con-
stantly in an azure sky. Thus, at first sight, life appears pleasant
and agreeable in this fruitful land, with its thick, shady foliage
and sweet-smelling trees and flowers.

Unfortunately there is a dark side to every picture; in
Sumatra, as is often the case, each apparent advantage conceals
a deadly danger. The sea, usually so calm and alluring, is
subject to typhoons, which agitate it to its very depths. Even
in calm weather the European navigator is liable to be surprised
at night by Malay pirates, who attack him in their long, narrow,
one-decked boats, called flying proas, and murder the'crew and
take possession of the cargo. And, when there are no pirates,
there are formidable bands of no less audacious sharks wander-
ing incessantly around the vessel. The island itself pays very
dearly for its picturesque beauty and fertility. The volcanoes
frequently cause terrible earthquakes, which overturn the most
substantial buildings. The pleasant rivers are haunted by mon-
THE COLONY 7

strous crocodiles, ready to snap up the unwary traveller. The
virgin forests abound with wild buffaloes, elephants, tigers, and
other monsters more terrible still. A thousand dangerous
reptiles—among others, the python and the venomous cobra—
glide along in the plantations, while the very dwellings are
invaded by clouds of insects, which, in tropical climates, seem
created expressly to torment the human race. Moreover, the
immense masses of decaying vegetation in the marshes and
woods emit miasmas, which, in spite of the perfume of the
flowers and spice-trees, poison the atmosphere. The length of
human life therefore at Sumatra seldom exceeds sixty years, and
the western coast of the island is particularly dreaded by vessels
in port, and has received from the sailors the illomened name
of the plague-coast, from its deadly ravages among the crews.

It is, however, on this western coast that Bencoolen and
Padang, the two principal settlements of Europeans in Sumatra,
are situated; and here too lies the little station where the
events of this story occurred.

The place of which we speak was, at the commencement of
this century, a little Dutch colony of slight importance. New
Drontheim, as this colony was called, was only a trading settle-
ment, to which a few Batavian ships came at certain seasons to
seek the productions of the country. It consisted of a harbour,
small, but deep and very safe, formed by a river, and sheltered
from the waves of the open sea by a little island of coral.

At the mouth of the river there was a fort, armed with certain
rusty cannon. Some fifty men, half Dutch, half natives of
Java, sufficed for the defence of this post.

Under the shelter of this semblance of a fort, which crowns
the summit of the cliff, stretches the village of New Drontheim.
The word village, however, must not lead us to picture to our-
selves oné of our own villages, with houses standing in groups
and lying thickly around the parish-church. The houses of
this village were detached, according to the custom of the
country, and so carefully sheltered by large trees that they were
not visible from a distance. Some, of brick, were built in the
Chinese fashion; others, apparently only huts of bamboo or
8 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

cane, were raised from the ground on wooden posts. All the
rooms were on the ground-floor, as the earthquakes would over-
throw higher and more solid buildings in a minute.

The population of this village, thus scattered over a large
space, was composed of almost as many different races as there
were houses.

In the first place, a pretty house, half-wood, half-brick, situated
in the midst of an evergreen wood, at a little distance from the
shore, bore the grand name of the Governor’s Palace ; it was
there, in fact, that the Dutch officer in command of the garrison
usually resided, rather than at an unhealthy and uncomfortable
dwelling provided for him in the fort at the top of the cliff.
The soldiers, following the example of their chief, installed
themselves in the village, and lived there when they were not on
duty, as was frequently the case ; for, except five or six of them
who mounted guard by turns in the battery, they had little to
do at New Drontheim.

After the Dutch came the Batavians from Java, a set of half-
civilized people, who united the vices of the European to those
of the savage ; then the industrious Chinese, engaged in culti-
vating the surrounding land ; and, lastly, the Malays of different
tribes, who lived by hunting and fishing.

The white colonists were less numerous ; they consisted of a
few English, French, and Portuguese sailors, deserters for the
most part, who had provided themselves with families by marry-
ing the yellow, copper-coloured, or black women of the country.
In spite of the great variety of races, manners, and languages,
the inhabitants of New Drontheim lived very peaceably, and
these very different nationalities blended well together; although
now and then a few blows with a 4rzs, or knife, were bestowed
in private quarrels, nobody taking much notice of the matter.

At the furthest extremity of the colony, that is to say, two or
three miles from the fort, was a solitary dwelling, larger and
more splendid than the rest, the wonder of the country. It was
built on a kind of terrace, half-way up an eminence, forming
part of the chain of volcanic mountains which extend over the
island. Thanks to this situation, it had little to fear from the
THE COLONY 9

pestilential mist which rises every morning near the sea in
Sumatra—a mist which for hours resists the powerful action of
the sun, and seems to be the principal cause of the unhealthi-
ness of the island. The whole of the terrace was taken up with
the buildings, courts, and gardens of the farm. Where it was
not protected by inaccessiblé rocks, it was surrounded by strong
palings of iron-wood, rendered impenetrable by hedges of aloes
and other prickly shrubs.

The path up to it lay through an avenue of tamarinds, whose
thick and majestic foliage furnished the shade so necessary
under that fiery sky. At the foot of the hill lay extensive rice-
grounds, well-cultivated fields, and magnificent plantations,
which apparently belonged to the house. Facing the avenue
was the master’s dwelling, an elegant Chinese building. Con-
trary to the usual custom, this house had one story above the
ground-floor; but as it was of wood, covered only with that
wonderful stucco in imitation of marble of which the Chinese
have the secret, it had not much to fear from subterranean con-
vulsions. Beautiful cocoanut-trees raised their leafy fans over
its roof, and a veranda or outside gallery, adorned with flowers
and climbing plants, stretched along the front. From the top
of this veranda, not only the servants and the work-people in
the court and in the neighbouring fields might be watched, but
an extensive view enjoyed of the valley, bounded by a virgin
forest, of the river, of the mountains of the interior, the village
of New Drontheim, the fort, the anchorage, and of the vast
tracts of the ocean, whose blue waters blended with the sky in
the distance.

The head of the family then in possession of this domain
was a European, still young, tall, well made, and robust, with
a mind apparently as cultivated as his countenance was fine
and prepossessing. His name was Richard Palmer ; he was
of French extraction, and had left Pondicherry and settled in
the colony to repair his fortune, which had suffered through
the capture of that town by the English.

His wife, Elizabeth, was English. She had fair hair, a pink
complexion, and the slender form of the daughters of Albion ;
Io THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

and to these decided indications of a Saxon origin she added
the languishing sweetness of the Creole. She was hardly
eight-and-twenty, and in all the brilliancy of her beauty.
From the dignity of her bearing, and the refinement of her
conversation, anyone might see that she had been born for
society; she still preserved an air of distinction—a drawing-
room queen exiled to a savage desert. But if the homage of
refined society was no longer hers, Elizabeth did not seem
to regret it, and was completely absorbed in her duties as a
wife and mother.

Her son Edward, a fine boy of eight, and her husband,
whom she adored, took the place of all she had lost. She
never complained of the change in her lot; far otherwise, her
dear ones always found her ready to welcome them with a smile.

Two other persons, Mrs. Surrey, Palmer’s sister, and Anna
Surrey, her daughter, completed the settler’s family. Mrs.
Surrey, it was said, was the widow of an English officer of
high rank, who had been killed in a skirmish with the Hindoos.
Left alone in the world, with a child of tender years, she had
sought the protection of her brother’s roof, and both mother
and daughter had found in him all the affection they deserved.
In the house Mrs. Surrey took upon herself the duties of a
good housewife; it was she who directed all the household
arrangements, prevented waste, and watched over the general
comfort of the family. Heer sister-in-law, the graceful and
indolent Creole, had long ceased to dispute her position in
the family, the duties of which Mrs. Surrey discharged with
so much ability.

In return, Elizabeth reserved to herself the care of Edward’s
and Anna’s education. While her husband was directing the
work-people out of doors, she, with the help of the few books
which formed their library, gave her son and niece the instruc-
tion necessary to fit them for civilised life. Anna, two years
older than Edward, was gentle, very intelligent, and profited
greatly by the instructions of her kind aunt. Edward, on the
contrary, made little progress, and greatly vexed his indulgent
teacher. He did not like study, and cared for nothing except
THE COLONY II

running about the country, exposed to a thousand dangers, or
climbing the rocks, or shooting with a bow and arrows, or
following the Chinese or Malay servants about the plantations.
It was in vain that Anna, of whom he was very fond, and
who had acquired a great influence over him, came to the
help of his mother’s authority, and tried to make the idle
scholar amend his ways; he was always promising to behave
better, but it was never long before all his promises were
forgotten, and he was indulging again in one of his favourite
amusements.

It was now the month of September, near the end of the
dry monsoon in Sumatra. And on the day that this story
begins, the sky, usually so serene, had been disturbed by
thick clouds, and when the sun was setting, dark mists hung
over its dazzling disk, though as yet they did not seem to
threaten a storm. For all that, the heat was still oppressive,
and the inhabitants of our more northern climates would have
been overwhelmed by the temperature of a Sumatran autumn.

Mr. Palmer, in a planter’s dress, with a large straw hat,
jacket, and trousers of nankeen, was standing on the veranda
of his house with a telescope in his hand, and observing care-
fully a little black speck that was just visible on the sea in the
distance. At his side, in a large cane chair, was Elizabeth,
looking weak and languid. Dressed entirely in white, she was
covered with a large gauze veil to keep off the mosquitoes ; but
this was so transparent that it did not conceal her graceful
form, her delicate features, or her eyes so full of love and
tenderness when she fixed them on her husband. The tempera-
ture was not the only cause of the paleness which marked the
beautiful Creole. Mrs. Palmer, like the rest of her family,
had been born in India, and had been accustomed to the heat
of a tropical country from her birth. But at last the hurtful
influence of the climate of the island had affected her frail
constitution. Elizabeth frequently suffered from a nervous
fever, and the Dutch doctor of New Drontheim had in vain
exhausted all the resources of his science in the attempt to
subdue it; and at that very time she had hardly recovered
12 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

from a violent attack that she had had the previous night,
although she tried hard to hide her weakness and weariness
from her husband.

At the other end of the veranda little Anna Surrey, seated
on an easy chair, was holding a lesson-book in her hand.
She was dressed in white, like her aunt, and, like her aunt, she
wore a gauze veil on account of the mosquitoes. But, throwing
aside the troublesome thing, the pretty child left her sunburnt
face and neck uncovered, while a light sea-breeze that began
to blow played in the silky ringlets of her hair. She was
bending over her book, and her lips moved in silence as if
she were learning a lesson. Still she seemed in an absent
mood, and some secret reason seemed to prevent her from
studying with her usual application. From time to time she
looked at her aunt, and tried to anticipate every wish of the
invalid; but still oftener she looked intently down the avenue
which stretched away in front of the house. Evidently she
expected someone who did not come, and her uneasiness
increased every minute, although she did not dare to express it.

At last Palmer shut up his glass, and said:

‘The ship carries the Dutch flag, and has just doubled the
point. . . . No doubt this vessel is one of those that generally
come here from Batavia, at this time of the year, to take ina
cargo of spices. In less than an hour it will come to anchor,
and we shall get some news.’

Elizabeth answered with a forced smile:

‘Ah, my dear! what do news matter to us now ?—we have
long ago broken with the rest of the world! Do not think of
anything, Richard, but of selling your crops to the captain of
the ship just entering the harbour, and do not, worry yourself
about what may be passing at the other end of the world.’

Richard took out his glass again, and began to look out
into the distance.

But little Anna could not control her uneasiness; the book
she held in her hand was quite forgotten. Thinking the
opportunity a favourable one for venturing a question, she
glided to Mrs. Palmer, and asked her timidly :
THE COLONY 13

‘Dear aunt, where is Cousin Edward ?”

‘He is gone with the black woman to see the betel gathered,’
answered Elizabeth absently.

‘ And are not the betel-fields near the forest ?”

‘ Certainly—but what do you mean ?

‘TI mean that it will soon be dark, and then——’

A sign from Elizabeth silenced the young girl, as Palmer
approached them.

‘ There, the ship is entering the roads,’ he said thoughtfully ;

‘and Major Grudmann is sending out his pinnace first, un-
doubtedly to hail her. . . . Really, my dear, I shall go down
to New Drontheim to find out what is happening ; I will go
first to the doctor to ask him to come and see you, for you
do not seem at all well.’
' Elizabeth did not try to detain him any longer, but con-
tented herself with begging him to return quickly. Richard
Palmer was leaving the veranda to start on his walk, when a
new incident attracted his attention.

CHAPTER II

THE CHINAMAN YAW

Two heavy waggons were entering the court at this moment.
These waggons, drawn by black buffaloes, with enormous
horns and fierce eyes, were loaded with betel leaf,* which had
just been gathered. Several men were guiding the intractable
team ; and at the head of the procession walked, or rather
waddled, the Chinaman Yaw, the manager of the plantations
of Mr. Palmer.

Yaw, with his yellow, bloated face, his little slits of eyes,
his hanging moustache, his shaven head, and his immensely
long tail, which escaped from beneath a hat of rough straw,
was exactly like one of those odd figures that everybody has

* Betel is a climbing plant of the pepper tribe ; mixed with arrack and
quick-lime it makes szrz, a pernicious drug in very general use in the islands
of Malaysia, and which is chewed like tobacco.
14 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

noticed on Chinese porcelain. ‘The only clothes he wore were
a pair of drawers and a blue shirt ; but the constant grin on
his wide face helped not a little to make him look ridiculous
in the eyes of Europeans. The character of Yaw was not
more attractive than his personal appearance. Like the greater
number of his countrymen, the manager of the plantations was
a coward, a liar, and a cheat; he was grossly avaricious, and
would have been rather too fond of opium had it not been
so dear.

On the other hand, Yaw was an excellent agriculturist, sober,
industrious, always the first at work and the last to leave off;
and these qualities, added to his constant gaiety, made his
master treat his national failings with indulgence.

Anna no sooner saw him than she called to him, and the
Chinaman came, waddling and grinning as usual. Then Miss
Surrey, leaning over the railing of the gallery, and using a kind
of patois in use among the people of the colony, and composed
of all kinds of languages, asked him if he had not seen Edward
and the black woman Maria in the plantations.

The fellow nodded his head.

“Yes, yes,’ he answered ; ‘Yaw has seen Edward and Maria.’

‘Where were they? where were they going? asked Anna
anxiously.

‘By the forest. Maria not want to go, Edward did want.
Edward is small boy, but he be master, and they are gone.’

‘Into the forest !’ cried Anna, clasping her hands; ‘but has
not a tiger been seen prowlihg about there ”

‘Ah, yes! the tiger go about indeed,’ said the Chinaman,
still smiling ; ‘this day, while we worked in the fields, the buffa-
loes started every minute, as they do when they smell the tiger,
and they roared and they looked towards the wood. . . . Yaw
much afraid, but many buffaloes stronger than one tiger.’

The poor child could not control her terror.

‘Uncle Palmer! aunt !’ she cried; ‘do you hear? Edward
—the tiger !

But the planter and his wife had not lost a word of this con-
versation. Richard started up quickly ; and Elizabeth, so weak
THE CHINAMAN YAW 15

a minute before, sprang trembling from her seat. ‘My boy!
my Edward ! she cried.

* Hush, Elizabeth! hush, Anna!’ said Palmer, with authority,
although his voice was not so steady as usual; ‘there’s some
mistake, no doubt. Let me question the man.’

And, addressing himself to the Chinaman in the strange
jargon that serves for a common language to the inhabitants of
New Drontheim, he asked him some peremptory questions.
Yaw replied, still smiling and rocking himself, that about an °
hour before he had seen Edward and Maria going towards the
forest, where signs of a tiger’s presence had been noticed during
the day.

‘Stupid woman ! muttered the planter ; ‘ if anything happens
to my:son, she shall die under the rod.’

‘Maria did not want to go,’ answered Yaw; ‘Edward ran
off, and the black woman went after him.’

‘But you, Yaw—why did you not warn them that it was
dangerous just then to go near the forest ”

‘Yaw was far off, and he was busy getting in the betel.
Work is gold, as the wise man says, and then little Edward is
self-willed: he would not have listened to Yaw.’

‘You should have made them come back. Why did you not
go into the wood after him

‘Oh! oh! oh! the tiger would have eaten Yaw !’

‘You stupid coward! cried Palmer indignantly; ‘you
deserve :

But casting a look at the foolish countenance of the China-
man, he remembered whom he was speaking to; and, turning
away with an air of disgust, he quitted the veranda.

He went into a room filled with all kinds of weapons, picked
out a double-barrelled gun, and slipped a pair of horse-pistols
into his belt. As he turned to go out, he perceived that his
wife and Anna had followed him.

‘Richard, where are you going? asked Elizabeth.

‘To look for this unlucky child; but most: likely it is only
some fresh frolic of Edward’s :. don’t be frightened.’

‘Richard, I will go with you!’

 
16 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘And I will go, too!’ cried little Anna. ‘I must go and help
Edward.’

Palmer could not repress a smile.

‘What fine helpers you would be! he said, shrugging his
shoulders. ‘Come, Elizabeth, don’t be foolish,’ he added, in a
tone of authority ; ‘I still hope that it will all end with a good
scolding to this naughty boy and his rash nurse.’

‘At least, Richard, have the servants armed, and take them
with you.’

‘Bah! that would be time lost, and then they are such
cowards ! only one would really be of any use to me, the Malay,
Elephant-Slayer. Is he at home now ?’

‘No, uncle,’ said Anna, crying; ‘I saw him go down to the
village just now to a cock-fight. And the other Malay, Opium-
Smoker, has taken his flock of goats to the mountains.’

‘Well, then, I shall go alone.’

‘My dear, dear Richard

‘My dear uncle !’

Anna and Elizabeth threw their arms round him. He was
trying to escape from their embraces, when an innér door
opened, and Mrs. Surrey entered hastily. Anna’s mother was
a lady of about forty, very kind, but as calm and sensible as
Elizabeth was nervous and timid.

Palmer said to her quickly:

“You know what has happened, sister; take care of these
poor things, and don’t let them do anything imprudent ; I
promise you I will soon bring back the giddy boy who has
been the cause of all this commotion. Now, don’t let any one
go, I desire.’

He darted out of the house, and was soon seen running
down the avenue.

Palmer was hardy, expert, and courageous; besides, emer-
gencies of this kind were not very uncommon in his adventurous
life. So that, had it not been for his anxiety about Edward,
the possibility of having to fight single-handed with a formidable
royal tiger would not have troubled him very much. But, even
before he reached the end of the avenue, Providence sent him
THE CHINAMAN YAW 17

a powerful helper in the person of the Malay, Elephant-Slayer—
the very one of all his servants who could render him the
greatest assistance. As he was just entering the plantations,
he suddenly perceived the Malay returning home, accompanied
by his daughter.

Elephant-Slayer belonged to the Batta race, a savage and
warlike nation who inhabit the interior of the island, and are
even now thought to be cannibals. He was entrusted by
Palmer with the care and management of a herd of tame buffa-
loes ; and his daughter superintended the milking. They both
lived in a Sumatran hut in the farmyard. However, the duties
assigned to Elephant-Slayer by Mr. Palmer were little more
than nominal; for the greater part of the time the buffalges,
yoked to waggons or ploughs, were working in the fields, and
when -they came back in the evening they were taken care of
by the other Malay, Opium-Smoker, to whom was also intrusted
the care of the goats.

The real employment of Elephant-Slayer was that of hunter
for his master’s benefit. Armed with a long, heavy gun, he
was in the habit of wandering about the surrounding moun-
tains, and sometimes he even penetrated into the neighbouring
forest and knocked down wild turkeys, pheasants, and deer,
for food for the family. It had thus happened that he had
killed several elephants, and, according to the custom of his
country, he had added to his Malay name the surname by
which he was known.

But he had even killed more tigers than elephants, and these
victories had gained him an extraordinary reputation among
his countrymen.

Among the Malays of Sumatra the grossest superstitions
exist, and one of these superstitions consists in believing that
the souls of their deceased ancestors pass into the bodies of
tigers; and this is why they call these terrible animals zznzs,
or grandfathers. With such a belief, they can have little taste
for tiger-hunting, since they may always imagine they see a
paternal or maternal ancestor in the ferocious beast they are

about to strike. So these men, so brave and ferocious them-
, . 2
18 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

selves, are rarely disposed to attack the minis. Notwithstanding
the ravages committed by these animals, superstition carries the
day and they make no resistance. When a tiger enters a village,
the inhabitants are even foolish enough to put rice and fruit
before their doors, in the hope that these offerings may touch
the feelings of their pitiless destroyer.

No Malay would therefore think of hunting a tiger, except
in one particular case in which his religion allows it, namely,
when a near relation of the hunter has been devoured by a
tiger. Now Elephant-Slayer was precisely in this case ; his
own mother had been devoured by one of these monsters
when she had been quietly resting one day before’ her door.
The fact having been well attested, he might now with a quiet
conscience send a ball or a poisoned arrow at all the ‘ grand-
papas’ that came in his way. Elephant-Slayer was gloomy
and unsociable. He was taciturn, false, cruel, and vindictive ;
he had never been seen to smile, he had never addressed a
‘single affectionate word to any one. His daughter even did
not seem to inspire him with any feeling of love; he treated
her rather as a slave than as a beloved child vib he was
bound to protect. He found no pleasure in anything but
hunting wild beasts, in quarrels and battles, or else in games of
hazard or betting. His great delight was in the cock-fights so
dear to all Malays. He trained cocks himself whose:sanguinary
tempers he was constantly exciting, and he was seldom seen
without his champion under his arm. Elephant-Slayer had
never any pity for his fighting cock except when he gained the
victory ; then he dressed his wounds and bestowed the most
assiduous care upon him. But, often, if the creature had been
cowardly, or had been vanquished, the Malay did not hesitate
to strike it with his £7és, or to torture it with his own hands.

In outward appearance Elephant-Slayer, although full of
vigour, was only of middle height and ill-formed. His com-
plexion was copper-coloured, his forehead low and narrow, he
had prominent cheek-bones, deeply set yellowish twinkling
eyes. His nose was flattened, and from his wide mouth, which
displayed teeth blackened and filed to a point, dropped con-
THE CHINAMAN YAW 19

tinually that thick, red saliva, caused by the use of the betel-
nut. His dress consisted of a pair of striped pantaloons, reach-
ing to his knees, and a vest with short sleeves which left his
tattooed arms bare. A kind of scarf called a cayan sarong, and
worn like a Scotch plaid, covered one of his shoulders. Fora
head-dress he had a coloured handkerchief rolled round his
forehead, above which appeared some locks of rough, ragged
hair. His legs and feet were naked. Two évises with jagged
blades hung from his girdle, and completed his rude attire.

His daughter, who walked unnoticed at his side, was slender
and well made, and, although her facé showed the indelible
signs of her race, tolerably pretty. Her dress was not wanting
in grace; it consisted of a kind of vest of striped cotton
reaching to her hips, and a dajoos, or petticoat, fastened round
her waist by an embroidered girdle ; a piece of thin muslin,
called salindag, served her for a scarf or veil. Her magnificent -
black hair was fastened in a mass at the back of her head
with long tortoise-shell pins, after the Chinese fashion. She
wore rings of silver on her legs and arms. She excelled in
the Echarpe dance, the prettiest dance in her country, and,
as a token of her triumphs, they had given her the name of
Légétre, a name by which she was called both at home and in
the colony. The betel-nut, which the Malay women chew as
much as the men, had ruined her mouth ; but her discoloured,
ill-shaped teeth were considered a beauty by her country-
women ; for they are greatly afraid of having white, regular
teeth, which they call contemptuously ‘dog’s teeth.’

When Palmer met the father and daughter they were re-
turning, as we have said, from a cock-fight, and Elephant-
Slayer was carrying his cock all bleeding, and with ruffled and
torn feathers, under his arm, but it was doubtless the conqueror,
to judge by the caresses that its master was bestowing on it.
The violent emotions that had been awakened in him at the
different stages of the struggle had left their traces on his face,
for the slightest thing will arouse a storm in men of these fiery
natures, At times his eye sparkled with ferocity at the remem-
brance of some episode in the fight, and a light foam still

: 2—2
20 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

lingered round the corners of his mouth. However, these
impressions were now giving place to an expression of triumph
and satisfied eagerness. His daughter went along singing a
dance air of a singular character, but not devoid of melody.

At the sight of Palmer the Malay stopped suddenly, not
that he intended to show any mark of respect to his master,
for that would be contrary to his habits of independence, but
he guessed from the planter’s look and the weapons he carried
that something extraordinary had happened, and he was seized
with the violent curiosity peculiar to the savage. Palmer told
him in a few words the dangers to which Edward and the
black woman were exposed.

This news touched Elephant-Slayer more than could have
been expected.

‘ Edward !—the tiger’ he answered in a hollow voice; ‘I
must get my gun.’ And he wanted to run home, but Palmer
stopped him.

‘Your gun?’ said the planter; ‘no, take mine, there is no
time to lose ; my pistols will do for me.’

Elephant-Slayer did not hesitate; he gave the cock to his
daughter, bidding her take care of the brave creature; then
he seized the gun offered him by Mr. Palmer, and they set off
quickly towards the plantations.

As to Légére, after having wrapt the precious bird in the
folds of her sarong, she pursued her way home still singing.
She had, however, understood very well that her father and
her master were going to attack a tiger that had already
perhaps devoured Edward and the black woman; but this
seermeéd to her such a trifling matter that she did not think it
at all necessary to check the expression of her gaiety.

CHAPTER III

THE NEGRESS

PaLMeR and the hunter started off through fields of pepper
and indigo, and plantations of bread-fruit and cocoanut-trees,
striking straight before them that they might reach the forest
THE NEGRESS 2r

as quickly as possible. They did not speak, for they were
both equally impatient to get there. It was not only a love
of fighting and danger that awakened the ardour of Elephant-
Slayer; for little as anyone could believe it who knew that
iron-hearted man, such a stranger to all tender and natural
feelings, he really loved Edward, as much at least as he was
capable of loving anyone. It was not the good qualities of
the child, his vivacity, his love for his parents and relations,
that had touched the heart of the cannibal Batta; such things
did not produce the least effect upon him ; he would have seen
gentle Mrs. Palmer, kind Mrs. Surrey, or the timid little Anna,
torn to pieces without being in the least disturbed. What
pleased him in his master’s son was his faults.

We have said that Edward, though really a good boy at the
bottom, was restless, unruly, giddy ; that he was fond of any
kind of bodily exercise, playing with bows and arrows and
other weapons, and he delighted in dangerous adventures.
All this charmed Elephant-Slayer ; he discovered qualities in
this noisy, frolicsome child that he considered likely to make
a brave warrior. Besides, Edward, with that natural taste for
cruelty that most children possess, and which was encouraged
by his manner of life in this wild country, shared his passion
for cock-fights, and tried every means in his power to get
leave to witness the desperate battles which took place occa-
sionally, when sometimes both of the feathered champions
were left dead on the ground. Only a few months before
he had made Elephant-Slayer a present of a young cock of a
rare kind, which Major Grudmann, the governor of the island,
had given him, and this cock had died very bravely on the
field of battle. Such a gift had charmed the gloomy Batta
more than a handful of Portuguese piastres or Indian rupees,
and his affection for his young master had increased in pro-
pertion to the bravery of the deceased cock.

Without waiting to stand still, Palmer gave a shout every
now and then, but no one answered. It was growing dark,
and the silence of night began to prevail. The men were
going home from their work, and no doubt the news of the
22 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

arrival of a ship hastened their return to New Drontheim.
They were now approaching the forest, and its vicinity always
seemed particularly dangerous at this time in the evening.

Palmer and the Malay continued to shout at intervals, but
they were only answered by the echo; at last, however, as
they approached the wood, they had the satisfaction of hearing
voices answer theirs.

‘ There they are,’ said the planter, gasping for breath; ‘God
be praised, we are in time!’

But this hope was premature; Palmer had not finished
speaking when the distant cries assumed a different character,
and then they were drowned by a frightful roaring that seemed
to make everything around tremble instinctively. Richard and
his companion seized their weapons ; the planter turned pale,
for, above his son’s piercing cry for help, he heard the growl
of a tiger.

‘Let us run,’ he said.

They rushed forward at their utmost speeds but as they
entered the forest they saw the black woman, Maria, running
towards them in haste, leading little Edward. Both were
shrieking with terror as if they were pursued by an invisible
enemy.

At the sight of her master the young and nimble negress,
with her clothes all in disorder and her eyes starting out of
her head with fright, rushed forward, holding out the child
towards Palmer, saying with a broken voice :

‘Take him, save him! Little massa no hurt.’ And, yielding
to the violence of her emotions, she fell almost fainting to the
ground.

The planter’s first idea was to throw himself between his
son thus miraculously saved and the part of the wood whence
the roaring of the tiger had proceeded ; but Elephant-Slayer
had already taken this post, and was gazing into the gloomy
openings of the forest, where the silence of death now reigned.

Edward, the most charming little rogue you can “imagine,
was supple, muscular, and tall for his age. Exercise had
strengthened his limbs, and the heat of the climate had’ made

s
THE NEGRESS 23

him precocious. His open, regular countenance was sun-
burnt, his eyes were black and his eyebrows strongly marked ;
had it not been for his fair hair he might have been taken for
a beautiful child of the copper-coloured race. His dress was
very simple, and consisted of trousers, a short frock of white
calico, and a broad-brimmed hat of plaited rushes fastened on
his head by a string. Several little arrows with blunt points
were stuck in his blue silk belt. Generally his movements
were sudden and impetuous, and his way of speaking quick
and lively; but now the mischievous child seemed quite
scared: either the speed of his flight had made him giddy, or
he had really been aware of his danger.

However, the poor father, on finding him again safe and
sound, could not contain his joy; he lifted him up in his
arms, pressed him to his heart, and kissed him passionately,
saying half-reproachfully :

‘You cruel child, what a fright you have given us! Have
you no pity for your mother or me?’

Edward’s only answer was a kiss.

But Elephant-Slayer, who had shown so much zeal in coming
to the help of his master’s son, had turned away from the forest,
and, leaning on his gun, was quietly observing this touching
scene, though he had not a word, not an affectionate look for
this little favourite whom a moment before he had considered
lost. He only spat out an enormous piece of betel, and,
drawing out his box of sév7, he took a fresh dose, which he
chewed very complacently. Perhaps this was his way of
showing his satisfaction, and of congratulating his patrons on
the happy result of the adventure.

Palmer, after the first burst of affection, put the child down ;
and then, looking sternly at the woman seated on the grass,
who was hardly beginning to recover her senses,—‘ Maria,’ he
said, ‘do you know that you deserve a very severe punishment
for this careless conduct ?”

‘Oh, massa, good massa, not me!—Him—little massa
Edward.’

And the child hastened to take his nurse’s part.
24 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Papa,’ he said, very soberly, ‘do not scold poor Maria, she
was not disobedient; scold me, only me. Listen. Mamma
said we might go to see the betel gathered; and I went with
Maria. I took my bow and arrows to shoot the birds in the
rice-fields. But what has become of it? where is my bow?’
added the little boy, looking about him uneasily ; ‘I must have
let it fall in the wood.’

‘Never mind,’ said Palmer impatiently ; ‘we will find it, or
you shall have another.’

‘Oh, but I have never had such a splendid, large bow —
Well, then,’ he added, continuing his tale, ‘we got to the
plantations, Maria and I, and I was looking for birds in the
rice-fields when we met the negro Darius—you know Darius,
your valet—and he said to me, “‘ Massa Edward, have you seen
the great flower, down in the wood, at the foot of the old
bombax? It is so very big that you might easily lie down
inside it.” Then I thought I should like to see the great
flower, and I told Maria; but Maria did not want to go, and I
ran away. She called me, and I ran away all the faster. I
knew where the bombax was, and was determined I would see
the great flower. Maria began to run, but I could run faster
than she could; I met some of the Chinamen who were going
home with the waggons, and then I ran away into the forest.’

‘And did none of those rascals tell you that a tiger had been
seen in that part of the wood ?’

‘Oh! did they know there was a tiger there? I did not
know it, and Maria did not. Darius wanted to follow; but
Maria was angry, and sent him away. She went into the wood
after me, but I hid.myself. I was determined to see the great
flower, and I was hoping that Maria would get tired of looking
for me, and would go away; but she would not go, and kept
looking for me and calling me. When she had gone a little
way off, I got up and ran to the bombax, and at last I found
the great flower. And then I answered Maria, who was crying
~—she was crying. ... O Maria, come and let me kiss you!’
added the pretty boy, throwing his arms round her neck; ‘I
am so sorry I vexed you.’

i
THE NEGRESS 25

Palmer listened attentively to this little tale, and seeing that
the nurse had not been at all to blame, asked her in a milder
tone;

‘Maria, is all this quite true?

The poor negress, who was looking quite delighted with
Edward’s eloquence, and was listening to him with her mouth
wide open, answered, half-laughing, half-crying :

‘Massa Edward talk better than Maria, and it all be quite
true. But little massa no say anything of tiger yet !

‘Yes, yes,’ answered the planter, shuddering at the remem-
brance; ‘did not a tiger run after you? I heard him roaring:
how did you get away from him ?’

‘Oh, yes, we did see a tiger,’ continued Edward carelessly.
‘We were looking at the beautiful big flower, and all at once
we saw a tiger in the brushwood a few steps from us, and he
did frighten me, though he was such a pretty creature. Then
Maria began to scream, and I cried too, but the tiger cried
louder still. He was just going to spring upon us, when a big
hairy man, such an ugly fellow, darted forward at the foot of
the bombax and hit the tiger with a great stick that he had in
his hand. But I did not see the fight, for Maria seized hold
of me and dragged me away, running as fast as she could. I
dare say I lost my bow there; but I'll find it again.’

Palmer looked much astonished.

‘What does he say?’ he asked Maria, ‘a man bold enough
to strike a tiger with a stick! The poor fellow must have been
eaten up!’

‘No, no, massa; me think the tiger be dead.’

‘A tiger killed with a stick! it’s an absurdity, my poor
Maria; and who would be rash enough to.do such a mad
thing? Did you know him?

“No, master; but he be very big, very strong. He be one
of those men ‘who do not talk.”’

Palmer did not understand what she meant, and asked her
many more questions ; but all he could get from her was that
her deliverer was one of those men who cannot or will not speak.

‘ And he was hideous!’ added Edward, by way of commentary.
26 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

The planter thought over the story again and again, trying in
vain to understand this strange adventure. At length he turned
to Elephant-Slayer, who had remained unmoved chewing his
betel, and asked him if he were inclined to continue the chase.

‘The znz’s dead,’ replied the Malay coolly.

‘Dead! How do you know that?’

Then Elephant Slayer explained that the prolonged roaring
that they had heard a few moments before had suddenly
ceased, which proved that his strength had failed the ferocious
beast all at once.

Although Palmer had the greatest confidence in his com-
panion’s experience in such matters, he shook his head.

‘Well, we must be clear about it,’ he answered ; ‘for I can-
not leave such a brute alive near my house. Elephant-Slayer,
we are well armed, and we will go and see if the tiger be really
dead. You, Maria,’ he continued, addressing the woman, ‘go

“home quickly with Edward; do not let him get away from you
again. Do not stop on the way, for the ladies, particularly my
poor wife, must be half dead with fright.’

Maria, who adored her mistress, prepared to obey at once,
and took Edward’s hand to lead him away, but the self-willed
little man resisted energetically.

‘No, no! he answered, in a determined tone; ‘I am with
papa now, and there is nothing to be afraid of. I want to see
the big flower again, and the hairy man who beat the tiger with
his stick—and then I shall find my bow, too. Dear papa,
won't you, won’t you, dear good papa, let me go with you and
my friend Elephant-Slayer ?’

Palmer tried to make the wayward child listen to reason ;
but, as he could not succeed, he consented to keep him, and
send Maria home alone. He needed some one to show him
the way, and Edward could do that. Then, for fear of accident,
he took the little rebel, who would have much rather walked,
in his arms, while in his other hand he carried a pistol. Having
taken these precautions, he despatched Maria, bidding her tell
her mistress that he should be home soon, and then plunged
into the forest, followed by Elephant-Slayer.

“
THE TIGER 27

CHAPTER IV

THE TIGER

ALTHOUGH this part of the wood was not very thick, it began
to grow dark under the trees, and the most profound silence
prevailed.

The least noise, the breaking of a dry branch under the
hunters’ feet, the flapping of a bird’s wing in search of its
resting-place for the night, awakened a thousand confused and
plaintive echoes. The child pointed out the tree they were in
quest of. But he did not chatter as usual; the solemnity of
this solitary place seemed to affect even his lively and restless
nature.

The ground was uneven and encumbered with the stumps of
great trees, which had thrown out vigorous shoots, with cacti
and gigantic ferns. Palmer walked slowly, looking carefully at
each tuft of grass, and keeping firm hold on his son.

The Malay himself seemed to have comprehended the neces-
sity of being on his guard ; he drew the handle of his Ads from
the folds of his dress, and loaded his double-barrelled gun ;
but, instead of looking carefully on the ground as his master
did, he examined the tops of the trees, as if he suspected that
some danger might come from them.

They soon found themselves at the foot of the old bombax,
where the still unexplained deliverance of the child and the
nurse had happened. This tree was one of those gigantic
specimens of vegetation, of which nothing that grows in our
northerly regions can give us the least idea.

Under its shade grew a plant no less extraordinary, and
which might, though for different reasons, have claimed equal
attention with it. This was the colossal flower which had
excited Edward’s curiosity. The Malays call it Aroudoul. It
had neither leaves nor stem, and rested on the ground itself;
its colour was a reddish white ; each of its petals was more than
a foot long, and the whole flower was more than ten feet in
circumference. It was a giant among flowers, as the bombax
28 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

was a giant among trees. Unfortunately, this splendid corolla
had a very disagreeable odour ; God, while He gave it grandeur
and beauty, seems to have kept sweet perfumes for less favoured
plants.

Edward, at the sight of this botanical phenomenon, found
his tongue again, and tried to free himself from his father's
hold, to roll himself, perhaps, on the white petals of the krou-
boul, as on a bed of satin. Palmer, on his part, would not
have failed, under any other circumstances, to admire this
splendid specimen of the Sumatran flora; but he knew that
they were in real danger; and, after casting one absent look on
the flower, continued to examine the inequalities of the ground
near. As to Elephant-Slayer, he did not appear to be uneasy
about what he might find at his feet, and scrutinized the
branches of the old bombax with minute care, as it rose like a
pyramid of verdure above his head.

All at once Palmer uttered a cry of alarm. In a hollow
place, between two projecting roots, he perceived an enormous
tiger, crouching as if he were about to spring upon them. He
pressed his son to his heart, and was on the point of pulling
the trigger of his pistol, when the Malay said to him coolly:
‘Do not take the trouble—I was right. The zzz is dead

He walked up to the tiger, which, certainly, did not stir, and
turned it over contemptuously with his foot. It was a monstrous
animal, very little resembling the lean, wasted tigers of our
menageries ; his powerful head, his still glittering eyes, his huge
paws and terrible talons, were indeed calculated to inspire
terror. His beautiful striped skin, and his gracefully curving
tail, stood out well against the rugged surface of the roots; and
Edward, whom his father, being now reassured, had set free,
was very well pleased to stroke the silky fur with his little
hands. The body was still warm, but it did not stir; and, in
spite of the tenacious vitality peculiar to the feline race, the
animal seemed to have been killed in an instant.

While Palmer was trying to account for this sudden death,
the Malay made him place his hand on the tiger’s back. They
could feel through the skin that the back-bone was completely
THE TIGER 29

smashed. "Then Elephant-Slayer made him touch the animal’s
head ; the skull-cap, although it was as thick and hard as a slab
of marble, had been crushed in such a way that the bone and
the brain seemed reduced to mere bloody pulp. Lastly, in
order to complete his demonstration, he pointed out to the
planter a thick branch, that had been left by the side of the
tiger, and must have been the instrument of death. It was a
formidable club, broken off from a casuarvina or iron-wood tree,
and yet it had been broken by the violence of the blow.

Palmer, greatly astonished, and quite unable to reject the
evidence, said :

‘I shall never believe that a man can have given such blows ;
no human power could have killed a royal tiger in this way.’

‘Orang-outang ! answered the Malay laconically.

This word was like a flash of light to the planter. Then
he remembered the marvellous tales that were told of the in-
credible power, agility, and intelligence of the great apes called
orang-outangs by the Malays. He understood at last what
Maria had meant by declaring that the tiger had been killed
by ‘one of the men who do not talk ; for, with the negroes, as
well as with the Malays, the chimpanzees of Senegal and the
orangs of Borneo and Sumatra are only idle men, who have run

‘ away into the woods that they may not be made to work. Al-
though Palmer had often heard that there were orangs in the
country, it was the first time that any of them had been seen
so near New Drontheim.

‘What !’ exclaimed Palmer, astounded ; ‘I owe my son’s life
to an orang-outang ?”

‘An orang-outang !’ cried Edward, in his turn. ‘How I
should like to see it! JI had no time to look at it, Maria
dragged me away so quickly. He is ugly, but he is not wicked,
for he killed the tiger that was just going to eat us. I must
see the orang-outang.’

But Palmer now understood why the Malay had looked at
the trees so constantly, and there was reason to think that the
conqueror of the tiger was not far away. Night was coming
on, the wood was already dark, and the orang is never moxe
30 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

formidable than when he is invisible ; at the most unexpected
moment the hunter drops with a broken head, without having
even suspected that the sturdy enemy that has struck him was
near. Palmer remembered all this, and his anxiety for his
child was again aroused. Taking him up in his arms again, he
said, in a stifled voice:

‘Poor child! you do not know what you ask. If the stories
they tell are true, you need never want to see the horrid creature
near.’

‘What, papa! is it really an animal?’ asked the child inno-
cently. ‘Maria is always talking about these orangs, and she
says——’

‘Humph ? said the Malay, behind them.

Palmer turned round quickly. Elephant-Slayer pointed with
his finger to an object at a considerable height on the old
bombax.

‘There! there!’ he said, in a low voice; ‘do you see it ?

But neither father nor son had sufficiently practised sight to
be able to distinguish anything at that height. The perfect
labyrinth of leaves and branches on the colossal tree be-
wildered them, and they could not follow the line pointed out
by the Malay. At length, however, there was a sudden move-
ment in the leaves, and a kind of dull sound, issuing from the
same spot, served as a guide to them.

-At the point where two great branches separated appeared
a savage, bearded face with piercing eyes, for there was still
light enough in the sky to render it distinctly visible. Its body
was concealed ; nothing but that broad, impassive countenance
could be seen, following with its eyes every movement of the
persons below, and seeming to threaten or defy them. Elephant-
Slayer raised his gun to his shoulder; but Palmer instantly
struck it down, saying authoritatively :

‘Don’t shoot; I forbid you. However dangerous the orang
may be, it has saved my son’s life and Maria’s : I will not allow
the least harm to be done to him.’

‘And I too, and I too? cried Edward, clapping his hands ;
“I will not hear of anybody hurting my orang-outang !’
THE TIGER 31

Perhaps the orders of father and son would have availed little
had the indomitable Malay quite made up his mind for the attack.
At first he did feel angry and inclined to rebel when his master
turned aside his gun; but he restrained himself and answered :

‘I did not mean to shoot, but only to frighten the orang.
He is too high up, and this gun is too small. I shall fetch my
own gun, and my lance, and poisoned arrows.’

‘I forbid you,’ said Palmer vehemently. ‘Remember,
Elephant-Slayer, if you do any harm now or by-and-bye to this
ape that has rendered me so great a service, I shall know how
to punish you.’

The Malay was incapable of appreciating the generous senti-
ments of his master; but he made no reply.

In a few minutes Palmer added :

‘There is nothing more to be done here ; let us go home as
fast as we can. I shall not be easy till Edward is out of reach
of the orang. Mind, Slayer, listen to me; do not provoke him;
it would be dangerous to attack him.’

Possibly the hunter shared this opinion, though the danger
of the enterprise was its great attraction in his eyes. Palmer
continued :

‘The tiger belongs to you; you can come and fetch it to-
morrow morning with one of your comrades; and I dare say
Doctor Van Stetten, who is interested in natural history, will
give you more than one gold rupee for the skin.’

The thought of this present had a great effect on the Malay,
and changed the course of his ideas. Slayer tried to lift the
enormous creature on to his shoulders; but he could not
succeed. He left it in the place where it was, intending to
return for it another time, and then they set off towards home.

Edward, self-willed as usual, tried to resist; he persisted in
looking for the bow that he had lost; but already the twilight,
always so short in tropical countries, was over, and the stars
had begun to shine. Not to mention the proximity of the for-
midable orang-outang, there was too much danger in such a
place to make it prudent to remain longer there, and they gave
no heed to the spoilt child.
32 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

The creature was still showing his hideous face at the top of
the bombax, and, as they walked away, he watched them with
fierce curiosity. They had hardly gone twenty paces when they
heard a great noise among the leaves, and at the same time a
hoarse, guttural, very peculiar cry. They turned round once
more: the orang had just raised himself up, and his grotesque
form, hanging by one of his long arms from a branch, stood
out in black outline against the sky.

A few minutes later and Edward was receiving the caresses
of his mother, aunt, and cousin ; and, with the artless prattling
of a child, was relating to them at great length all that he had
seen, done, and said during this eventful evening.

CHAPTER V
THE DOCTOR

PALMER had had too much cause for anxiety to think of the
vessel that must have anchored by this time in the river of New
Drontheim. But the next morning he remembered his wish to
learn the news, and determined to go down to the village, and
see what he could hear.

Légétre, Elephant-Slayer’s daughter, was busy milking the
buffalo cows under the posts on which her cabin was built, and
she was filling several pans with a rich, sweet milk said to be
delicious. The Chinese, under the direction of Yaw, were pro-
ceeding in silence towards the rice-fields; while the noisy,
chattering negroes were bustling about the sugar and indigo
magazines. But the cheerful aspect presented by a farm in
Normandy on a fresh autumn morning, when the labourers are
starting for their daily work, was wanting.

Neither the yellow, black, or brown men, naked or clothed
in strange fashion, nor the barbarous jargon, the strange build-
ings, the leaden sky, the burning mist hanging over the country,
in fact, nothing served to remind a European of the happy
scenes of his far distant native land—nothing but the crowing
of a few cocks, belonging to Elephant-Slayer, that were cele-
 

LEGERE’S DAIRY
THE DOCTOR 35

brating in their fashion the return of a day as stifling as the one
before.

After having given orders to some of the servants, and re-
proved the idleness of others, Palmer was just setting out for
the village, when an exclamation in Dutch and a sound of
some one panting for breath were heard through the mist, even
before the planter could see who was coming. At length the
mist cleared away a little, and Palmer found himself face to face
with a short, thick man, dressed after the European fashion,
who, though it was still so early, seemed to be going to the house.

This individual, a placid, benevolent-looking person, was just
then in a great heat, all red and puffy, and panting like a buffalo
at bay. He wore a cocked hat, and a faded uniform much
too tight for him, while knee-breeches of cloth and coarse
woollen stockings completed his dress, which, it must be con-
fessed, was one little suited to the exigencies of a climate like
tHat of Sumatra. The visitor had taken the precaution of
carrying his wig, which was powdered with rice-flour, at the end
of his umbrella, and yet it was evidently quite time he reached
the end of his journey, for he was almost stifled. To add to
his misfortunes, the mist, by clinging to the glasses of his great
green spectacles, prevented him from seeing where he was, and
when he did reach the court-yard, he turned round and round
two or three times as if seized with giddiness.

This unlucky visitor was Mynheer Avenarius Van Stetten,
Surgeon of the University of Leyden, member of several
learned societies, and appointed to superintend the health of
the Dutch troops in garrison at New Drontheim.

‘Ah! my good doctor,’ said Palmer, taking Van Stetten’s
hand to help him; ‘is it you braving this horrible cadout?
Don’t speak just now, but take my arm. We will go home,
and you shall have a glass of French brandy to set you up
again.’

The doctor tried to answer, but his voice failed, and he
allowed himself to be led into a low and, comparatively speak-
ing, cool room. He dropped into a chair, which creaked
beneath his enormous weight. However, when Palmer had

3-2
36 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

made him swallow a couple of glasses of excellent cognac,
one after another, he began to recover ; he drew a long breath,
put his wig on his bald head, and having coughed once or twice
to clear his throat, said :

‘A thousand thanks, Mr. Palmer; you have a famous fog-
expeller. Upon my word, I like it as well as our Hollands,
which I used to taste now and then at the tavern of the ‘“‘ Three
Kings” when I was a student at Leyden, and we were obliged
to work in the anatomical theatre in a cold of ten degrees
below freezing point. Ah, who would have thought that I
should have missed the ice and snow so much ?’

The planter pressed him to take some more; but Van Stetten
stopped him.

‘No, no,’ he answered ; ‘have a pity on my poor head. I
am not so strong as our old Professor Pomponius, who would
toss off a dozen glasses while the clock of St. Peter struck
twelve.’

Doubtless the remembrance of his own country and his
young days revived the good doctor, for he did not seem
inclined to leave the subject when Palmer asked him :

‘You are come to see your patient, are you not, my dear
Van Stetten? She is not so well as I could wish ; just notice
how weak and languid she is, please. As it is still so early,
I do not suppose she is up; but I will have her told that you
are here i

He was going to ring the bell, but Van Stetten stopped him.

‘Do not wake her,’ he said hastily; ‘a quarter of an hour’s
sleep will do more for our charming invalid than the prescrip-
tions of the whole Faculty. I will see Mrs. Palmer, my dear
sir, before I leave the house ; but to speak the truth, I should
not have been so unwise as to pay you a visit at such an hour
if considerations of a pressing nature ; oe

‘Something about natural history, I venture to say,’ said
the planter, smiling; ‘I could have guessed when I saw Doctor
Van Stetten braving the cadou¢ that there were plants, insects,
or rare quadrupeds in the question.’

The good man drew himself up and looked vexed. ‘That

 

 
THE DOCTOR 37

is ingratitude, Mr. Palmer,’ he replied, ‘yes, black ingratitude,
and you know it well. When I went through the sun, up the
mountain that day when you broke your leg in climbing a
ravine ; when I came here through a frightful monsoon to see
Edward when he had had a bad sun-stroke, it was nothing
to do with natural history, and I might have expected——’

‘I was wrong, Van Stetten, my good friend,’ interrupted
the planter, squeezing the doctor’s hand; ‘you are the best
fellow in the world. I was wrong, I say, and I beg your
pardon. Well, we will talk of flowers and animals as much
as you like; but, first of all, satisfy my curiosity about the ship
that anchored in the river yesterday evening. Do you know
what she is, and what she is going to do here?” .

Van Stetten answered without the slightest temper :

‘What! don’t you know, Palmer? It is the schooner
Gertrude, captain Van Roer, from Batavia; he has come here
for his cargo of spices. When he goes back I shall send my
specimens by him to Batavia, and from there they can be
sent to my dear native country. But you will soon see the
captain. He seems in a great hurry to lade his ship, and of
course he will come first to you, the richest planter in the
country, to buy the spices he wants. Now I have answered
your questions, let me ask a few in my turn about the escape
that my little friend Edward had yesterday.’

‘Ah, ah! you have heard of his adventure already, doctor,’
answered the planter ; ‘ the news has spread quickly.’

‘They were talking of nothing else last night in all the
huts of New Drontheim; one heard of nothing but tigers,
orang-outangs, and wonderful flowers, quite enough to put a
humble lover of science like myself on the alert.’

Palmer satisfied the doctor’s curiosity. When he spoke ot
the gigantic flower that had attracted the child into the forest,
and of the magnificent royal tiger found dead at the foot of
the old bombax, Van Stetten manifested his surprise and
delight by enthusiastic exclamations. But when Palmer told
how an orang-outang had killed the formidable tiger with blows
of his club, the savant could no longer contain himself. He
38 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

sprang from his seat, and, in spite of the heat which made
every movement an exertion, he began to stride up and down
the room, saying with great animation :

‘I have certainly heard of these monstrous apes of the order
of Jrimates doing extraordinary things, as if they were almost
possessed of reasoning powers; but I could never have
believed. And one of these singular creatures is in this
neighbourhood now? I must see it and study it. How lucky
it will be if I am able to discover some new scientific facts
about this strange creature and send its skin to Europe, where
it is almost unknown. I should present the skin to the museum
at Leyden, and it would figure there with this inscription in
large letters: Presented by Dr. Van Stetten, of Leyden. What
an honour and glory! It would immortalise my name. But
as you will not let anyone try to kill this orang, I reckon at
least on studying it closely ; I shall spend my time in that
part of the wood where it was seen.’

‘Take care, my good fellow, that you do not add to the
number of the martyrs of science. The forest is very little
frequented, as you know, and the animal you want to make
observation upon is not the most tractable in the world.
People say that an orang, armed with his club, is not afraid
of ten strong men, and I can well believe it now, after what
I have seen of his doings.’

This rematk seemed to cool Van Stetten’s ardour a little.
He sat down again, wiping his face with his handkerchief.

‘Really,’ he replied, ‘I have heard say that an orang could
defend himself even against an elephant. And what is more,
he gives such proofs of intelligence that the people of this
country look upon him as belonging to a particular race of
men who cannot talk. I will take care, as you say, not to add
to the number of the victims of science ; but I must not delay
any longer in going to look at the gigantic flower; as to the
tiger: :

‘You have no need to disturb yourself about the tiger,
doctor,’ said Palmer, pointing to the window, which was covered
with a transparent curtain ; ‘for here it is coming to you.’

 

 
MOOWV ONINNNG

 
THE DOCTOR 4L

In fact, Elephant-Slayer and another Malay called Opium-
Smoker were entering the court at that moment; they were
carrying, suspended from a wooden bar, the body. of the
ferocious beast, which they had fetched very early in the
morning from the forest.

They placed their burden under the shadow of a clump of
citron and banana trees ; the people of the house ran directly
to look at the monster, the hero of all their conversations since
the evening before.

A few Chinamen, negroes and negresses, and among others
Maria, did not dare to approach, although they knew that the
enemy was as dead as a door-nail. The Malays, on the
contrary, full of contempt for their cowardice, thrust their
naked feet into the tiger’s mouth, as if they would like to
arouse his ferocity again.

Opium-Smoker, who had been helping Elephant-Slayer, was
dressed almost exactly like his companion, except that instead
of a handkerchief rolled round his head he wore a queer-
shaped hat made of rushes; his face, naturally hideous and
ferocious, had that livid, leaden complexion, that besotted
stupid look which the habit of smoking opium produces. In
truth, all his earnings were spent in buying this fatal drug ; and
the little peculiar pipe, hanging from his belt near his 77s,
showed that he was always ready to give himself up to -his
favourite passion. Happily for him, opium was dear and his
purse very often empty. If it had not been for this he would
have fallen a victim to this wretched mania a long time before,
or else he would have had one of those fits of frenzy to which
opium-smokers are liable. During these fits they issue from
their houses, throw themselves, dagger in hand, on passers-by
and kill them, if they are not on their guard; on their part,
the passers-by are allowed to attack them and strike them
dead like wild beasts. Such was the fate that awaited Opium-
Smoker, and the certainty of this inspired the inhabitants of
New Drontheim with a horror of him, not unmixed with
disgust.

Although the tiger weighed more than three hundred pounds,
42 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

and the two friends had carried it for two good miles through
a hot mist, not a drop of perspiration stood on the bronzed
foreheads of these indefatigable men, and they waited quietly
in grave silence to be told what they were to do with their
prize.

Van Stetten, as you may believe, hastened out, protected
from the sun by his enormous umbrella; while Palmer, either
more robust or more used to the climate, contented himself
with the shade of his large hat made of the bark of a banana
tree. As they approached the group collected round the tiger,
Edward, still in his morning dress, came out of the house,
dragging by the hand his pretty cousin Anna, who tried to
resist and turned away her head frightened. The giddy boy
ended by leaving her, and after having kissed his father and
the doctor, began to play with the tiger’s long tail, and almost
won a smile from grave Elephant-Slayer. But Anna did not
seem reassured by his boldness, and it was only when she had
taken refuge behind the negress that she dared to watch the
bravery of her valorous cousin.

Van Stetten, sitting down on the ground beside the dead
animal, began to examine it with eager curiosity. Palmer took
advantage of this to ask the Malays if they had not seen the
orang-outang during their morning’s walk. Elephant-Slayer
indeed had seen it in the thick foliage of the old bombax ; but
his comrade and he had been too busy in moving the tiger to
dream of disturbing the wild man of the woods.

‘However,’ he added coolly, ‘he seems to have taken up his
abode in the neighbourhood of your plantations, and if he is
not dislodged pretty speedily he will kill some of your labourers,
you may depend upon it.’

‘Very well,’ answered Palmer, ‘we must manage to make
him decamp and return whence he came. We will go, a good
many together, into the part of the forest where he is and make
a great noise; that will be enough, I dare say, to frighten him
and make him run away. Meanwhile, I forbid my men to
shoot balls, arrows, or darts, at this orang,—you hear me, all of
you, don’t you ?”
THE DOCTOR 43

At this moment Doctor Van Stetten started up in great
consternation.

‘Mercy,’ he cried, ‘the tiger’s bones are smashed; it is
impossible to study his anatomy. The skin is all right, how-
ever, and a very splendid one; it will make a fine figure among
my specimens.’

‘It is only for you,’ said Palmer, ‘to buy it of its owners.’

‘With the greatest pleasure; what are their terms? Act as
our interpreter, Palmer, for I do not understand a word of
their abominable lingo.’

The planter asked the two Malays what price they put on
the tiger. Opium-Smoker’s reply was prompt and_ brief.
Elephant-Slayer, chewing his great lump of betel all the time,
set forth his claims at much greater length. At last Palmer
said in Dutch to the doctor, who was awaiting the result of the
negotiation with impatience :

*I knew beforehand what Opium-Smoker would demand.
You are a doctor, and your surgery is well furnished with drugs ;
he asks of you some doses of opium to intoxicate himself.’

‘ He shall have it ; but is not the poor fellow stupefied enough
already? Does not he know that opium is a poison?”

‘He will not listen to reason, any more than the drunkards
of other countries, and your sermons would be lost on him.
As to Elephant-Slayer, he will not only consent to cede you his
share in the tiger, but he will skin the animal very skilfully, on
condition ——’

He stopped, laughing.

‘Go on,’ said the savant.

‘The condition is so odd! You will be vexed, perhaps. In
fact, he demands that you should bestow your attention on one
-who is dangerously wounded.’

‘Dangerously wounded! Is it not my duty to help all who
are suffering ?”

‘Undoubtedly, but this is a peculiar case. In two words,
doctor, Elephant-Slayer wishes you to dress the wounds of his
favourite cock, a splendid fighting-cock, that received, it seems,
a bad wound in yesterday’s fight.’
44 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS.

Van Stetten gave such a jump, that his heavy green spectacles
tumbled over his nose, and his wig turned round on his bald
head, casting a cloud of rice-powder all around.

‘A plague take him and his cock! cried he; ‘does he think
that a graduate of the university of Leyden, a licentiate of
natural sciences, a doctor of medicine, a corresponding member
of the Linnean Society, of the Academy of Berlin, etc., is going
to degrade his art by doctoring a spiteful fowl ?

‘ As there is no university in the forests of Sumatra, I should
try in vain, my dear Van Stetten, to make this wretched Malay
understand your scruples. As for him, he much prefers his
cock to his daughter, and he may think you very much
honoured by such a task. Take care; if you refuse his request,
he will very likely refuse you his share of the tiger.’

‘Well, then, if I must give in, I must. I will dress the cock’s
wound.’

The bargain was then concluded, and while the two Malays
carried the tiger to a shed near, where they could skin it,
Légére, at a sign from her father, fetched the wounded cock.

The doctor was compelled to draw out his case and dress
the wounds of the warlike bird, which testified its gratitude by
giving him several sharp pecks with his beak.

Then the assembly dispersed ; for the sun had got the better
of the mist, and its rays, though less unwholesome than the fog
of the cabout, were really too hot to be borne. The workmen
returned to their work, while the members of Palmer’s family
met in the dining-room for the morning meal. But in vain the
master of the house pressed Van Stetten to partake of it; the
enthusiastic naturalist obstinately refused, and remained in the
shed where Elephant-Slayer, with the skill of a hunter, was
proceeding to skin the royal tiger.
THE BIMBANG 45

CHAPTER VI

THE BIMBANG

In the middle of the village of New Drontheim stood a large
shed, used as an assembly-room or dal/ey by the inhabitants.
Generally to these da//eys, which are found in all the little towns
of Sumatra, is added a building which serves as a temporary
dwelling-place for strangers; but as the colony is surrounded
by impenetrable forests and steep mountains, and is only
accessible from the sea, it has seemed useless to add this
hospitable appendage.

The balley of New Drontheim' then consisted simply, as we
have said, of a kind of shed, with a roof made of palm-leaves,
supported on pillars of carved wood. The furniture consisted
simply of a few benches.

Now it was usual, when a friendly vessel entered the port,
for the people of the place to give an entertainment or dzmbang
to the crew and passengers of this vessel. They were invited
to the balley in the evening, and there they found all the village
assembled to receive them with all due ceremony. Young
Malay girls, dressed in their finest attire, paid them compli-
ments, an old man, well skilled in the art of making fine
speeches, acting as their mouthpiece; then they presented
their boxes of szr7, or betel, to the travellers, who were bound
to take the sir, and leave in its place little presents, differing
in value according to their generosity. These presents generally
consisted of fans, looking-glasses, and other nicknacks from
Europe or China. This ceremony performed, the rest of the

“evening was spent in amusements of various kinds.

It was a féte of this kind that the inhabitants of New Dront-
heim gave to the crew of the Gertrude two days after the
arrival of that vessel; and at the hour appointed for the
meeting, the balley presented a most animated appearance.

Out-of-doors it was one of those warm, clear nights which
46 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

only occur in the tropics. And the sky was spangled all over
with stars. A thousand different kinds of fire-flies darted about
in the sky, leaving brilliant lines of light behind them, while,
every now and then, the wind brought the sweet perfumes of
the clove and cinnamon-trees. A profound quiet reigned
around, so that you could even hear the faint, distant murmurs
of the forest.

Within, the room was lighted by a great number of Chinese
lanterns of coloured paper, such as are now becoming popular
in Europe. Hung in festoons, between the pillars which sup-
ported the leafy roof, they looked very pretty, and strange
insects might be seen darting about around them, splendid
moths, attracted by the unusual light. The AaZinfangs, a kind
of musical instrument, formed of little gongs, that were struck
with a little stick, mingled their sweet and melodious sounds
with the voices, male and female, of zmprovvisatori, who were
holding among themselves one of the musical contests called
pantouns. In the middle of the room the young Malay girls,
in their dresses of embroidered silk, and with rings of gold and
silver round their legs and arms, executed graceful dances,
waving their scarfs at the same time, while the mothers and
duennas, seated, or rather squatted, round the dancers, played
the part of wallflowers, as in civilized countries. The rest of.
the assembly was divided into distinct groups, according to
nationalities, colours, costumes, and characters. In the first
place, we must mention the Dutch soldiers, proud of their dirty,
patched, and scanty uniforms, the original colour of which it
was difficult to guess. Gathered together in a corner, they
talked phlegmatically of their Dutch canals, on which they used
to skate in the winter time, and of their cool little gardens with
earthenware statues. Then came the copper-coloured Malays,
their heads enveloped in bandannas, who, seated on the ground,
were exciting two cocks, whose spurs were armed with steel
points, to fight desperately. Behind them were numerous
spectators who had bets on one or other of the champions ;
and at the conclusion of each fight savage cries, curses, and
threats. were heard, ferocious beyond description. Further in
47

THE BIMBANG

 

were the opium-smokers, Chinese and Malay, who were giving
themselves up much more quietly to their dangerous and irre-

MAJOR GRUDMANN
The negroes and negresses met together to

sistible passion.

laugh and sing, or dance the chika and the bamboula; but all
48 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

these merry blacks took care to keep out of the way of the
Malays, who, on all occasions, showed a profound contempt
for them, on account of the whiteness of their teeth. Then
there were other motley groups of Hindoos, dressed in calico,
Javanese with pointed hats, and some sailors from the Gertrude,
smeared with tar, and chewing tobacco or betel according to
their tastes.

In this numerous, but rather mixed assembly were several
persons of our acquaintance. In the first place there was the
Governor, honest Major Grudmann, enthroned in a cane chair
at the upper end of the room. As a popular sovereign, who
wished to show respect to his subjects, he had put on his newest
uniform, and his hat with the best gold lace ; and he sat smoking
his pipe with a dignity more imposing than ever. Behind him
stood several persons who formed his suite; namely, three or
four inferior officers, and among them Dr. Van Stetten, in his
large green spectacles, making observations on the varieties of
the human race. Palmer was there, too, as well as Captain
Van Roer, and Mr. Smith. The great lions of the evening
were Smith and the captain, who had displayed great generosity
towards the ladies and girls of the place; never had szrz boxes
received prettier fans, more magnificent ribbons, or more
splendid boxes. This munificence tended to increase the
noisy gaiety of the dancers.

Among them Légére, the daughter of Elephant-Slayer, was
most admired. Her father remained squatted on the ground
among the spectators of the cock-fight. His own cock was
wounded, as we know; and, notwithstanding the attention of
Van Stetten, the valiant bird was not yet in a state to resume
its brilliant career ; but Elephant-Slayer betted on other people’s
cocks, and watched the varying chances of the struggle with
extraordinary interest.

At the other end of the balley, in the opium-smokers’ corner,
was a very different scene.

Among the number of these maniacs it was not surprising to
see the comrade of Elephant-Slayer, the taciturn Malay, called
Opium-Smoker, par excellence. He was able to enjoy himself
THE BIMBANG 49

greatly at this feast, after his fashion, thanks to the rather ex-
cessive liberality of the doctor, who had enriched him that
morning with a considerable provision of his favourite drug.
So he took advantage of the opportunity of getting intoxicated
in good company. Stretched on the bare ground, his head
resting on a log of wood, he held in his hand the instrument
by which he inhaled the vapours of the dangerous narcotic.
Seated at his side, Yaw, the head of Palmer’s Chinese, helped
him with a zeal that could hardly be disinterested, and took
good care that the fire in his friend’s pipe should never go out.

It may be remembered that Yaw, like the majority of the
subjects of the Celestial Empire, had a great passion for opium,
and never neglected any opportunity of indulging in this ex-
pensive pleasure, gratis. He had the habit, too, when the
Malay gave way to a fit of smoking, of coming and sitting down
beside him, overwhelming him with caresses, and paying him a
thousand little attentions. As a reward for his obsequiousness he
was allowed to finish the pipe when the Malay had had enough ;
not unfrequently, too, profiting by the state of unconsciousness
into which his companion fell after a time, he managed to rob him
of some grains of opium, which he enjoyed at his leisure.

It was the hope, then, of some such windfall that made him
so eager and so attentive. It was a sight worth seeing to watch
him, rolling about like a child’s tumbler, and grimacing like an
idiot, while his long tail wriggled about behind him like an
angry snake. As loquacious, insinuating, intriguing, as the other
was brutish and cruel, he would say to him in a caressing way :

‘Yaw is your friend; friendship is golden. Yaw will watch
over you like a mother over her sleeping child. Give yourself
up to the delights of this divine gum, and may heaven send you
*vermilion coloured” dreams, dreams full of golden pagodas
and sweet-scented tea! Indulge yourself in the ecstasy that makes
the poor man equal to the powerful mandarin, that calms the pain
of the sufferer, and makes life expand like a flower in the sun !”

These grand speeches, pronounced half in Chinese, half in
the favois of the country, were lost, no doubt, on the infatuated
man, who was becoming already intoxicated ; but they lulled

4
So THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

him to sleep, as the song of a nurse lulls the infant who cannot
understand it. Yaw was not impatient; still smiling and at-
tentive, he kept the pipe alight, taking care that one dose of
opium succeeded another, and repeating, as he rocked himself
to-and-fro like a figure on springs :

‘The man that has a friend isa happy man.’ While waiting,
he gathered up carefully the little bits of the darling drug that
were only partly burnt, and watched ‘his friend’ out of the
corner of his slanting eye, that he might know the moment the
Malay lost his consciousness; but Opium-Smoker had been
long used to opium, and it required a strong dose to intoxicate
him. Besides, this nauseous vapour did not produce upon him
the quiet ecstasy that the Chinaman reckoned it would; on the
contrary, the more he took of the soporific drug, the more his
brown face twitched convulsively, the more fixed, and hard, and
bloodshot his eyes became.

Still Yaw thought he should soon see sure symptoms that the
smoker was completely intoxicated. Then, without interrupt-
ing his flatteries, he looked in the Malay’s sarong for the box
of bark that contained the supply of opium, opened it and filled
the pipe again. As his comrade was certainly no longer able
to inhale the opium, he stuffed the box into his own dress, and
put the pipe to his lips. He did not leave off rocking himself
to-and-fro and grinning, and while his long tail swung backwards
and forwards with each movement of his shaven head, he re-
peated, with a well-satisfied air :

‘Friendship is golden. It is my turn now! A friend ought
to share all he possesses with his friend. I learned that saying
from my second cousin, the mandarin of the crystal button,
who owns several gardens near Canton.’

- He began to smoke busily that he might as soon as possible
find himself in the same state as his dear friend, and he did
not notice another Chinese at his side, one of those under him,
who was watching him that he might play him the same trick -
when the time came. Neither did Yaw notice that, while he
was falling into the much-desired ecstasy without having spent
a penny, Opium-Smoker was watching him with a steady,
THE BIMBANG 51

menacing eye, and that the Malay’s trembling hand was fumbling
for his 47s in his belt; the pleasure of gratifying his ruling
passion having made him forget his usual prudence and coward-
ice, All at once Smoker uttered a hoarse cry, something like
the roaring of a tiger in the forest; and with a frantic effort
managed to sit up; his only partial intoxication had allowed
him to perceive the abominable breach of confidence of which
he was the victim, and a fit of fury overcame the numbness that
was creeping over his limbs. He threw himself on Yaw, is
in hand ; and well was it for the Chinaman that he had not
lost his presence of mind and power of motion, or he would
never have deceived any one again. Quick as lightning he
sprang on one side, while Opium-Smoker, missing his blow, fell
full length on the ground, and buried the blade of his terrible
dagger deep in the ground.

All the assembly were alarmed.

‘He is amokspower’ (raving), said one.

“Yes, yes, he is amokspower /’ was repeated on all sides.

And the women fled instantly; the timid party, that is to say,
the negroes and Chinese, prepared to follow their example,
while the Dutch soldiers, on the contrary, drew their swords
and stood on the defensive.

To understand the full import of the expression, ‘he is amoks-
power,’ it must be remembered that the opium-smokers among
the Malays are subject to attacks of frenzy, during which they
attack and kill all who approach them, and no one doubted
that such was the case with Smoker then. He had attacked
Yaw suddenly, and the rascally Chinese uttered such wild cries
as he rolled about on the earth, that everybody thought he had
received a mortal wound, ‘They now expected that the maniac
would spring up and attack the rest of the unoffending people.
And this was why the Dutch soldiers, accustomed to such scenes,
drew their swords, while the greater part of the assembly fled in
disorder. A ring of naked blades was rapidly formed round
the fallen Malay. The Governor had not stirred from his
throne, and continued to smoke his pipe with true Dutch com-
posure. When the soldiers turned to him for orders :

4—2
52 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Kill him,’ he said quietly.

Major Grudmann was, however, an excellent man ; but,
hardened by the exercise of absolute power in these savage coun-
tries, heregarded a Malay intoxicated with opium in the same light
as he would a buffalo that had got free, or a venomous serpent.

The soldiers, with the same sang-froid, were going to execute
their commander’s order, when a man, dashing into the circle,
scattered the swords with an incredible disregard of danger. It
was Elephant-Slayer who came to the help of his countryman,
far less, perhaps, out of affection for him, than out of hatred
to the Europeans who were about to strike a Malay.

‘Smoker is not amokspower,’ he cried; ‘but he has been
insulted, robbed by that vile Chinese. He was avenging him-
self, and quite right too. Do not touch him.’

He pointed to Yaw, who rose from the ground without any
wounds,and ran off as fast as his legs would carry him. Opium-
Smoker, unable to follow his example, tossed about on the
ground, uttering dismal roarings.

The soldiers looked again to Grudmann.

‘Well, if he is not dangerous, let him alone,’ said the Major,
shrugging his shoulders.

The Dutchmen retired unmoved. Elephant-Slayer sat down
by his comrade, took away his 277s by way of precaution, then
folding the cloth of his sevong round him to make it impossible
for him to hurt anybody, he carried him out of the balley.

Five minutes after, the people, finding there was no cause for
alarm, resumed the songs, dances, and conversations that had
been interrupted.

Thisincident produceda certain sensation among the Europeans
grouped round the Governor., Smith said aloud, with a smile:

‘This is a good specirtien of the manners of the country!
Really, Major, I do not congratulate you on the exquisite civili-
zation of your subjects !

‘Bah, that’s nothing! said the Governor; ‘things much
more serious often happen here, and I require some firmness
to maintain order. However, I should have got rid of these
two unmanageable Malays long ago; but they belong to Mr.
     
  
 

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THE MALAY AND THE ENGLISH SAILOR
THE BIMBANG 55

Palmer, and out of consideration for him I have been easy
with them and not driven them out of the colony.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ replied Palmer; ‘as for me, I have not
yet had sufficient cause to send them away. Generally, Opium-
Smoker is only an inoffensive animal, and he does very well
to lead the buffaloes to pasture. Elephant-Slayer is considered
the best hunter in the colony.’

Palmer was anxious to get back to his wife, who was not
very well when he left her, and quitted the balley ; the Governor
went away a little time after, but was soon obliged to return
to restore order again. A sailorand a Malay, having quarrelled,
had come to blows, and the Malay had drawn his &vis. The
Governor sent him to prison, and peace was restored.

As to Palmer, he went on his way towards home.

The houses in the colony were shaded by large trees, in
clusters, forming an unbroken line of foliage to the forest.
Under these trees, at this hour of the night, it was perfectly
dark, and the darkness was hardly broken at all by the feeble,
distant light which proceeded from the dancing-room. However,
the planter was advancing without hesitation towards the avenue
of tamarind-trees, when a frightful howling, quickly followed by
a heavy blow, like that of a hatchet striking the trunk of a tree,
was heard at a little distance. Richard stopped instantly.

‘ What is the matter? who’s there ?’ he asked, in the language
common to the inhabitants of the colony.

No one answered ; but in a place where the trees were not
quite so thick he perceived a man of great stature, standing
still with a stick in his hand.

‘Who is there?’ repeated Richard loudly.

A kind of growl, of a singular character, answered him this
time ; but the man with the stick disappeared, and all was
quiet again.

‘Bah! said Palmer, after waiting a moment; ‘it is some
Chinese, probably in rather a lively state of mind, or some
negro intoxicated with cava.’

He walked on, and heard nothing more till he reached his
house except, now and then, the distant sounds of the Malay
flutes and a/intangs borne upon the wind.
56 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

CHAPTER VII
THE CHINESE GARDEN

Tue garden of Palmer’s house was considered one of the
curiosities of the colony of New Drontheim.

This garden, as well as the house, was situated, as we have
said, at the foot of the great red rocks which enclose that end
of the valley. A constant stream of fresh, limpid water flowed
down from the mountains. This stream. entered the garden
close to the orchard, through a double grating in the wall
constructed to prevent certain dangerous guests from entering
with it. Then, after having filled a pretty basin in which some
gold-fish sported, and after winding gracefully among the
flower-beds, it left the enclosure at the opposite end, and having
watered the rice-fields, flowed into the neighbouring river.

The strange ornaments which the rich Chinaman, who had
been the first proprietor, and in fact the maker of the garden,
had delighted in scattering about with a profuse hand, were
still preserved by its European owner. Winding paths of
coloured sand formed a kind of labyrinth, the points of which
were marked by little towers hung round with bells, by
bamboo bridges, hideous idols, grotesque kiosks, and pagodas.
Rare and curious plants grew beneath the shade of magnifi-
cent fruit-trees, such as bananas, mango-trees, orange-trees,
and shaddocks; and the same odd taste displayed in the
general arrangement of the garden was also visible in the
details. Thus a graceful shrub was growing on the back of a
porcelain elephant, a charming flower was blooming on the head
of a bird, or on the tip of a dog’s tail, of the same material.

All the strange figures that we see on lacquered furniture,
on Chinese screens and fans, were there in reality. Palmer
had not taken the trouble to remove them, and the greater
number had fallen into decay. But at suitable places he had
made belvederes, which rose above the hedge of prickly shrubs
forming a fence round the garden, and from each of these a
THE CHINESE GARDEN 57

different, but equally fine view of the plantations, the village,
the river, and even of the blue sea bordered by the horizon,
could be obtained. The most important of the otnamental
buildings with which the garden was adorned, was a pagoda
situated near the spot where the stream formed a little water-
fall over some rocks; and on account of this situation, it
was always cool there in all seasons, which was a great blessing
in that hot climate. The way to it from the house was by a
path of very thick dwarf ‘trees, through which not a single ray
of the sun could penetrate. The pagoda, built half of wood,
half of brick, had several pointed roofs, placed one above
another, such as one sees on the beautiful porcelain ware of
the Celestial Empire. It was painted in brilliant colours, and
the front still showed some traces of gilding. The interior
consisted of one room, which was rather gloomy, and only
furnished with a few cane chairs, a little table, and some mats.

It was here that the morning after the féte Edward and his
cousin Anne had their early breakfast while waiting for the
regular family meal. The two children were in the habit of
going to the pagoda as soon as they were up, and Mrs. Surrey
generally gave them their breakfast. But this morning Mrs.
Surrey had been called early into Elizabeth’s room, where
Richard related to his wife and his sister the events of the
evening before. So the negress Maria was told to wait upon
the two cousins and to take the entire charge of them; but, tired
with having spent nearly the whole night in dancing, she yawned
to such a degree that she showed every one of her thirty-two white
teeth, the abomination of the Malays in the neighbourhood.

The breakfast consisted of a large bowl of the yellow, sweet-
smelling, creamy milk that the buffalo yields, of bread-fruit
and bananas, and cocoanuts freshly opened. The two children,
dressed almost alike in white frocks, did justice to the repast
with the appetite which is a sure sign of health. They were
merry and gay; but Edward was more noisy than usual, because
his aunt was away, while little Anna, on the contrary, assumed
a dignified and almost maternal air to awe her turbulent com-
panion.
58 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

Edward was still on his favourite subject ; that is to say, his
late adventure with the tiger and’ orang-outang, and he was
declaring proudly that he should go back to the forest soon to
see the big-flower again, and to look for his bow, a splendid
bow that would send long arrows more than a hundred feet.
On hearing this boasting, Maria, who had been almost asleep
on a chair, started up quickly.

‘You not do that, Massa Edward,’ she said, in a frightened
tone ; ‘you not go into the forest, never, never! The man
who does not talk would run away with you.’

‘Run away with me! answered the child contemptuously.
‘T should like to see him !’

‘God preserve you, Massa Edward,’ replied the good negress,
much agitated; ‘you too young, not understand. In my country,
in Africa, there be these men who do not talk too; but they be
black, because there everybody be black, the men that talk as
well as the men who do not. Ah, when I was little, they run
away with poor negro woman and poor negro boy, and they
keep them with them for long time in the woods.’

Poor Anna trembled in every limb, but the exploits of the
gorillas and chimpanzees of Senegal, which are really said to
carry off women and children, made no impression on the self-
confident Edward.

‘Nonsense! we are not in your country, Maria,’ he said in
his boastful way.

‘But the men who do not talk be as wicked in this country
as in mine, though they be different colour. Me beg you, dear
little massa, not go into the forest.’

‘T tell you I am not afraid; but tell me, when these wild
men of the woods run away with negresses and negro children,.
do they kill them ?’

‘No, no, Massa Edward; they give them to eat and to drink,
they build them huts; they do them no harm. Black women
and black boys come back again some day ; but they no more
talk; they be savage like them !”

‘Oh, you see, they don’t do any harm. Besides, this orang
is very fond of me; he defended us from the tiger when he
THE CHINESE GARDEN 59

was just going to eat us up, so I will go into the forest and
fetch my bow.’

‘Oh, no, no, do not think of it, Edward, dear Edward!’ said
Anna, in tears, throwing her arms round his neck; ‘I do beg
you——’

The gallant Edward was very much inclined to cry himself ;
nevertheless, he answered with rather forced stoicism :

‘You are a girl, Cousin Anna; but I, 1 am a man, and I am
not frightened like you.’

‘Well, yes, I am frightened,’ cried the poor child, almost
devouring him with kisses; ‘do not go—promise me not to go!’

And as the little boy hesitated about giving the. desired
promise, his cousin, changing her tone, said coquettishly :

‘Come, Edward! I see you do not love me!’

‘Yes, but I do love you.’

‘Then you don’t want me to love you ?’

‘I do want you to love me, Are you going to take it into
your head not to love me?”

‘Do you think I can make myself love you? The next time
you bring me flowers I will throw them to the goats, and when
you want to kiss me I'll run away——’

For once, the valiant knight was conquered, and began to
cry, too; however, he tried one more artifice.

‘We shall see then,’ he replied, in a tone half sad-and half
threatening ; ‘if you throw my nosegays to the goats, and if you
won’t kiss me—I am stronger than you, and I'll beat you.’

‘Very well! I shall cry and let you beat me.’

Edward could bear no more.

‘No, I won’t beat you; no, I don’t want you to cry! he
burst out. ‘Cousin Anna, do forgive me, I have been naughty
—only forgive me, and I’ll do anything you like.’

‘Then you will not try to go back into the forest, where the
horrid big monkey might kill you, or run away with you?”

‘No.’

‘You won’t think any more about your bow and the great
flower and all the rest ?”

‘No, no, ‘I promise you.’
60 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Then, kiss me; you shall bring me a nosegay this evening,
which I will put in my room to remind me of you, and I will
love you always.’

So peace was signed and sealed, to the great satisfaction of
the negress, who was listening with admiration to the artless
prattle of the pretty children. When she saw them kiss, she
clapped her fat black hands, and burst out laughing.

‘Well done, well done!’ she repeated. ‘Ah, little miss know
how to manage; she will be a clever woman !’

The meal was ended by this time, and Maria set to work to
clear it away. The two cousins so lately reconciled seemed to
be on the most excellent terms ; they vied with each other in
trying to efface the remembrance of the quarrel. Anna was not
slow in putting Edward’s submission to the proof.

‘Now, you are a good boy again,’ she said, timidly and yet
coaxingly ; ‘you must not forget that it is time to do your
geography lesson. Mamma and Aunt Elizabeth are busy just
now, but they will be very vexed if you have not learnt your
lesson before siesta.’ -

So saying, the little witch drew out a tattered book which she
had hidden in the folds of her white dress, At the sight of this
odious old book Edward frowned and began to rebel again.

‘Oh, we did not agree to that!’ he said gloomily.

But Anna gently persisted; she tried to persuade Edward
that he could learn his lesson so beautifully in the pagoda, that
nobody would come to disturb him; that a few minutes would
be enough for him to do his daily task, and then he would be
able to play with a good conscience. At last she succeeded in
carrying her point ; and, looking very glum, he took up the
horrid book.

‘If you would only stay with me while I am doing my lesson!’
said the pupil in a piteous tone.

‘Oh! I dare say; if I were here you would not look at your
book ; you would do nothing but laugh and chatter. Now, be
brave! If you learn your geography quickly, you will see what
T have for you.’

What could the secret be? The pretty child did not know
THE ORANG-OUTANG 61

herself ; she simply employed a little trick she knew would
succeed with her cousin. Once more Edward caught the bait,
and opened his book with feverish impatience.

Anna, quite content, gave him a sign of encouragement with
her pretty little finger, and went out with the negress, who
muttered, smiling :

‘Ah, she will be a clever woman !’

CHAPTER VIII
THE ORANG-OUTANG

Lert alone, Edward’s good resolution carried him through at
least half his lesson; but as soon as the sound of Anna’s foot-.
steps died away, his ardour slackened. He put down his book,
then he took it up again, and then he went and lolled on his
elbows at a narrow window that looked out upon the garden on
the side opposite the house. Without thinking of it he began
to watch the beautiful insects that were playing about all around
him and humming drowsily, and he became silent and still, as
the most noisy children often do when they are left alone.

At this time the fog had not entirely disappeared, but the sun
began already to pierce through the’ yellow mist which settled
like gauze round the distant objects, and softened their outlines.
Edward had fallen into a very dreamy state, when a certain
rustling in a neighbouring ebony-tree suddenly attracted his
attention.

The garden, we have said, was surrounded by prickly shrubs,
forming an impenetrable wall; but beyond this enclosure was
a line of tall trees intended to protect the plantations from the
sun; the ebony of which we speak was one of these. Edward
could see nothing at first through the dark, thick foliage ; but ,
having fixed his attention on one spot with the perseverance
of a curious and idle child, he perceived at last an indistinct
form in the thickest part. This forrn did not move, and at first
seemed almost a part of the large branch which partly concealed
it; but as the mist cleared off, the child distinguished a bearded
62 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

head, whose sparkling eyes were turned towards him. He
could not be mistaken ; it was the orang-outang.

On finding himself thus face-to-face with this formidable
animal, of which he had heard such extraordinary tales, Edward’s
first feeling was one of terror, and he withdrew from the window
in great haste; but his curiosity soon led him to return to it.

 

There was too great a distance between the ebony-tree and the
trees inside the garden for a jump; .so that there was no fear
of an attack, especially as the window of the pagoda was too
narrow to admit the orang. Besides, it must be remembered
that Edward felt very grateful to his deliverer, and if he had
only that moment promised his cousin not to venture near the
THE ORANG-OUTANG 63

forest, it was out of pure condescension. So he soon regained
his courage, and examined the terrible visitor with the eagerness
of a school-boy who finds an excuse for leaving his lessons for
a few moments.

The orang was still partly hidden by the leaves of the tree ;
but his size was that of a tall man, that is to say, about six feet.
His arms and legs were long and thin, though immensely strong ;
his stomach was large, and his chest square. His whole body
was covered with reddish hair; but his face was bare, of a
greyish colour, surrounded by a yellowish beard and whiskers.
His mouth was wide, and his nose sunken ; his little eyes looked
gentle enough when he was not angry.

The orang seemed to find as much pleasure in examining
Edward as Edward did in examining the orang. Stretched out
on his branch, he did not stir, for fear, perhaps, of frightening the
little boy away. His countenance was grave and melancholy ;
he looked in a caressing way at the child.

It did not need much to make Edward believe that he ought
to improve his acquaintance with his new friend. He took
from the table a bunch of bananas that the negress had left in
case he wished to console himself during the fatigues of study
by sucking one of these sweet-smelling fruits: he carried it to
the window; then, having eaten one banana himself, he threw
another to the orang.

The fruit, though thrown with a pretty good aim, would have
passed at some distance from the creature, when suddenly a
long arm furnished with an enormous hand started out like a
steel spring ; the banana was dexterously caught in the air, and
disappeared immediately into a wide mouth, armed with formid-
able teeth.

This time the child could hardly restrain a burst of delight ;
he pulled off the bananas one after another, threw them to his
neighbour in the ebony-tree, and had the pleasure of seeing
him catch the fruit with the same dexterity. Several of them,
however, having been badly aimed, the orang did not try to
catch, and did not at all seem to mind losing the delicious
prize ; one would have thought that he cared less for satisfying
64 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

his own appetite than for showing goodwill to a weak and pretty
creature whom he could have crushed with ease.

This game pleased Edward very much, and, as you may
imagine, he quite forgot his lesson. Unhappily, the bananas
were coming to an end, and he was thinking how he could get
a fresh supply without awakening the suspicions of the people
at home, when some loud voices were heard on the other side
of the house. The orang became uneasy and crouched down
more carefully among the leaves, leaving nothing visible but his
eyes, and their expression was gloomy and ferocious. In vain
Edward threw him his last banana; the orang no longer showed
any wish to catch it; he had decidedly taken alarm, and perhaps
from his elevated position he saw something that hindered him
from taking any notice of these enticements.

Edward, in his turn, began to listen without further delay.
The noise continued to increase, and among the shrill voices
of the Chinese and negroes, he recognised his father’s deep
tones. Judging the opportunity favourable for escaping his
geography lesson, he took leave very cavalierly of his friend,
quitted the pagoda, and went straight through the house into
the court, where a very unexpected sight met his eyes.

The house-servants were crowding thickly round a tree; they
were in a state of great agitation, and were making such a noise
that it could be heard at the end of the garden. But while the
Malays seemed to be giving vent to imprecations and threats,
the negroes were uttering lamentations, and the Chinese
appeared to be defending themselves with all sorts of gesticula-
tions and ridiculous demonstrations. In the middle of this
tumult, Palmer was endeavouring to interpose his authority to
obtain a little silence, and Doctor Van Stetten was carefully
examining a man stretched motionless on the ground. A few
steps behind, the presence of a sergeant and four soldiers in
uniform showed that the case was serious enough to require the
interference of public authority.

Edward was going to dash through the crowd, gues Anna,
who was in the veranda with her mother and aunt, called to
him in a frightened voice.:
THE ORANG-OUTANG 65

‘Stop, Cousin Edward; there is a dead man there!’

‘Who is it?’

‘The Malay Opium-Smoker.’

‘Yes, yes, come in, my dear,’ said the two ladies; ‘such a
sight is not fit for you.’

But Edward pretended not to hear them, and slipped into
the front row of the spectators.

It was indeed Opium-Smoker who was lying there on the
grass, with his skull fractured and bleeding. Two blacks going
to their work had discovered the lifeless body in the plantations
at a little distance from the balley. Their cries had attracted
the passers-by ; they had placed the corpse on a litter, and had
brought it to Palmer’s house, to which the deceased belonged.

The child, in spite of his boldness, turned away with horror
at the sight, and was perhaps on the point of retracing his steps,
when Dr. Van Stetten, who, kneeling with one knee on the
ground, had been making a minute examination of the body,
got up. ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘I have formed my opinion ;
this poor fellow has been killed by a frightful blow which has
fractured his skull, and he has been dead about eight or ten
hours.’

‘I believe you are right, doctor,’ replied Palmer. ‘ Indeed,
everybody could see yesterday at the balley that Smoker was
amokspower, or on the point of becoming so. No doubt when
his comrade carried him out and left him to himself, his head
being very much confused with the opium, he fell furiously
upon someone passing by, who knocked him down with a stick
in self-defence.’

‘That is what I deny altogether,’ replied Van Stetten; ‘in
the case you speak of, Palmer, the blow would have struck the
front of the head. Now Smoker has been struck from behind ;
his death is the result of a crime.’

The greater number of those present could not understand
what was said, as they spoke in Dutch; but one of the negroes
belonging to the house said in his jargon :

‘It is Yaw, the Chinese, that has killed Smoker, me think.
Yaw afraid of him, because Yaw had taken his opium, and

5
66 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

Smoker going to revenge himself. Then wicked Chinaman, to
_be sure, hide himself, and when Smoker went by, he kill him.’

‘Yes, yes, it is Yaw!’ said several voices in different languages.

‘The thing is not absolutely impossible,’ answered Richard ;
‘but how could this cowardly, faint-hearted Chinese dare to
commit such a crime at the risk of being discovered? Well!
we must question Yaw. Where is he now? In the sugar-cane
plantation, I suppose ?”

‘No, no, massa,’ replied the negro, who seemed to have a
grudge against the Chinaman for some old or recent injury.
‘Yaw not have been to the fields to-day ; he stay at home, not
dare to go out. You see very well that he be guilty

‘Send for him at once,’ said Palmer authoritatively ; ‘or,
stay rather, I will go myself to look for him.’

He went towards the frail little building that Yaw occupied
in the enclosure; lively discussions were still carried on round
the body while the doctor was explaining to Sergeant Muller a
point of medical jurisprudence.

Palmer found the Chinese in the greatest terror. Prostrated
before a little household god, Yaw was burning pieces of gold
paper in order to propitiate the divinity. A man so saving as
he was would think twice before offering such a costly sacrifice,
but no doubt the danger seemed to him pressing.

At the sight of his master, he got up quickly, and, without
waiting to be questioned, broke out with protestations of inno-
cence, accompanied with frantic gestures. He spoke with
marvellous volubility, using by turns the Chinese language, and
all the other languages of which he could remember a word.

‘Why are you not at your work?’ asked Palmer sternly ;
‘what are you doing here? Why are you frightened if you are
innocent ?”

‘Yaw has a conscience as white as a sheet of paper before
the learned man has written on it with his pencil. Yaw was
Opium-Smoker’s friend—two fingers of one hand. He will
give back the box that belonged to Smoker ; he never thought
of keeping it for himself; he only intended to take care of it
for him that he might not get amokspower——
l a

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YAW AT HIS DEVOTIONS
THE ORANG-OUTANG 69

‘That is not the question; I ask you what are you doing
here ? why do you seem to be hiding yourself when this poor
man’s death has upset the whole house ?”

‘Yes, yes! he is dead! answered Yaw, in grotesque despair.
‘I have lost the friend of my bosom, the flower of my garden ;
the lamp of my dwelling is put out. Yaw is afraid of the
Malays, who are always trying to plant their 277s in the breast
of a Chinese. Poor Chinaman! always persecuted because
misery has compelled him to leave the flowery Celestial
Empire !’

Palmer grew impatient with this talk.

‘Come,’ he said, ‘if you can prove yourself innocent, go and
do so before your comrades, and before the armed force that
will seize you if you are proved guilty.’

Yaw tried to resist; but Palmer seized him with a strong
hand, and dragged him into the court, where the supposed
murderer was received with cries of indignation and anger.
The Chinaman began to defend himself warmly, when all at
once his look was arrested, his voice died on his lips ; he per-
ceived Elephant-Slayer, the deceased’s particular friend, running
to the place with all haste. Légére, who was with her father,
was speaking to him in a low tone, and no doubt she was
relating the tragic event to him, for the Malay wore his most
threatening aspect.

However, he did not attack Yaw at once, but leant over the
corpse, as if he intended to form his own opinion of the case.
In a few minutes, to the great surprise of the spectators, he
drew himself up and said quietly : :

‘Yaw did not kill Smoker.’

Everybody exclaimed. ‘The Malay continued, with the con-
fidence of a man persuaded that he is right :

‘Yaw is a miserable Chinese, with no strength or courage ;
his arm could not have inflicted such a wound. You see, only
one blow has been struck, and the skull has been crushed like
the tiger's! It is the orang that has killed Smoker.’

The orang !’ repeated Edward, as he looked in a frightened
way at the trees in the garden.
7oO THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

This assertion was believed by all who were acquainted with
the great experience of the Malay hunter; but Palmer, Van
Stetten, and Sergeant Muller, who represented at the moment
both the civil and military authority, asked for further explana-
tions. Then Elephant-Slayer, with a kind of brutal impatience,
explained that the preceding evening, after the scene we have
described, he had carried his comrade to the place where his
corpse had been found; that no doubt Smoker, struggling against
the feeling of intoxication, had had sufficient strength to get up,
and that the orang-outang, perhaps attracted into the neighbour-
hood of the balley by the light and music, had struck hima
blow such as no human arm could have given.

This explanation reminded Richard of the cry he had heard
as he was returning home, and the gigantic figure, armed with
a club, he had seen retreating into the darkness.

‘ Elephant-Slayer is right,’ he answered; ‘what he has guessed,
I can almost say I have seen.’

He related his adventure in a few words, and everybody was
soon’ perfectly convinced of the way by which the herdsman of
the farm had come by his death.

Poor Yaw, entirely exculpated, was as extravagant in his ex-
pressions of joy as he had been in his grief; it would be in vain
for us to attempt to describe his twistings and turnings, his
absurd exclamations, his whimsical figures of speech. At last
he waddled back to his hut, and, in order to make up for all
the troubles of the morning, prepared for himself one of his
most delicious dishes—earth-worms cooked in a sauce made of
woodlice.

But the fact that Opium-Smoker had been struck dead in
the middle of the village made the inhabitants very uneasy, for
everybody had good reason to fear a like fate for himself. The
invisible enemy would be seizing new victims, no doubt, in the
avenues and orchards by day as well as by night, and it would
certainly be advisable to rid the colony of such a curse as quickly
as possible. -~

‘Me not dare leave my hut to go to the fields,’ said one of
the trembling negroes.
THE ORANG-OUTANG 71

‘The orang strikes like a thunderbolt, and his club is as big
as the mast of a junk,’ said one of the Chinamen.

‘Well! he does not frighten me !’ said Elephant-Slayer, ‘and
I will avenge Smoker’s death.’

‘I will not prevent you now, Elephant-Slayer,’ replied Palmer.
‘T intended at first to spare the orang on account of the service
he rendered my son, but this last deed of his removes all my
scruples. You may set out at once to hunt for this dangerous
animal ; and any of my men, who would like to go with you,
are free to do so, and I will supply arms and ammunition. I
should like to have gone myself, but I have.sent word to the
Governor that I intend to pay my respects to him to-day, and
he will be expecting me at the fort.’

And he looked at his young wife, who seemed to be waiting
for him impatiently in the veranda.

Dr. Van Stetten could not understand this conversation, for
it had been carried on in Malay; but Palmer told him the facts
of the case.

‘That’s right, Palmer,’ he said, very well pleased ; ‘that isa
determination that may do something for science. As for me,
I will give ten pagodas for the skin of the orang, and then I
shall be making a good bargain ; for, of all the creatures in the
world, there is not one so little known in Europe.’

‘I will tell our men of your promise, my good Van Stetten,
and no doubt it will work wonders. But yet would it not be
better to try and take the creature alive?”

‘Alive ? repeated Van Stetten ; ‘I would give one of my eyes
for a living orang; but who could take him alive, when he
springs from tree to tree as if he had wings? Not all the men
in the colony would be strong enough to hold him, and he
would break every rope like a thread if it were not as strong as
acable. So it would be best to rid the country of him as soon
as you can, and let me have his skin to send to the Museum at
Leyden as quickly as possible.’ —

The ten golden pagodas promised by Van Stetten to the
conqueror of the ape roused the avidity of the spectators, and
the hunt was arranged on the spot. Two blacks from the farm,
72 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

five or six Malays, among whom was Boa, a renowned hunter,
and several Dutch soldiers belonging to the garrison, and
Sergeant Muller himself, offered to beat the neighbourhood at
once under the guidance of Elephant-Slayer, who was appointed
leader of the hunt on account of his great experience; Dr. Van
Stetten proposing to accompany the expedition as a mere
observer.

These arrangements made, Richard ordered the Chinamen
to carry the body of Opium-Smoker to the cemetery of the
colony, and he sent to the house for arms and ammunition,
where a good supply was always kept. When all was ready,
someone asked in a determined tone:

‘Well, but where is this terrible monkey ?”

‘Over our heads, perhaps ! answered Elephant-Slayer, look-
ing up into the thick foliage of the trees beneath which they
were standing.

The band of hunters were seized with panic at the idea, and
more than one had some thought of running away, but seeing
their leader remain calm after a rapid examination of the trees,
they took courage again.

‘He is not there,’ said Elephant-Slayer ; ‘he must be in
some other high tree in the neighbourhood, and we must pay
a visit to them all, one after another. He generally lies down
on a large branch during the heat of the day. Be on the watch,
and on the least movement in the leaves, fire all at once. It
takes more than one ball to kill an orang.’

Palmer having again advised them to be careful, and to walk
close together, they set off, followed closely by the good doctor,
whose only weapon was his big umbrella or parasol, for the old
thing served both purposes. As for Palmer, after having ordered
the negroes who had been left behind to get a palanquin ready
to carry Elizabeth to the Fort, he hastened home. Edward
had gone to the house before him, and the child was not a little
alarmed at the danger which was threatening his friend the
orang-outang.

It was plain that the ape, in spite of his prodigious strength
and agility, would find himself. in a scrape. If he had not
THE ORANG-OUTANG 73

quitted his post in the ebony-tree, it would be easy to surround
him and cut off his retreat into the woods. However, Edward
never thought for a moment of betraying his deliverer’s hiding-
place; the bleeding form of the Malay inspired him with as
much pity as horror, but he resisted these feelings, and obsti-
nately repeated to himself, ‘Smoker was ugly and wicked—and
then the man who does not talk killed the tiger; and I will not
have him killed !

Not being able to resist the temptation of learning what had
become of the monkey, he slipped into the garden, and began
to watch the great ebony-tree. A slight movement in the leaves
showed that the orang was still there. In a little time he saw
him even raise his head cautiously, and turn his piercing eyes
on the band of hunters. He seemed to be aware of danger,
and moved most warily. At the same time he did not appear
to mistrust the child; he seemed rather to consider him as an
ally, ready to help him in time of need, than as one of his
enemy’s spies.

Fortunately the hunters, who were examining the trees in the
plain, had started in an opposite direction to that of the garden.
They were making a great noise, firing every now and then to
frighten the orang and make him come out of his retreat. A
crowd of colonists, chiefly children, had joined them and were
shouting with the same intention. However, it was not likely
that the noisy band would think of looking for the enemy so
near the houses ; they supposed that he would more likely have
retreated to the border of the forest, and it was in that direction
that they were pursuing their investigations.

Edward’s contemplation of the tree was disturbed by some-
one calling to him from the house. He must go, and though
the danger to his friend was not imminent, Edward could not
help saying innocently to him aloud:

‘Take care of yourself, poor orang !’

Again the orang showed his intelligent face among the leaves,
as if he wanted to thank him for his advice; then Edward, hear-
ing himself called a second time, ran into the house.

Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Surrey were waiting for him im-
74 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

patiently ; his father and mother wished to take him with them
to the Fort. He was to go in the palanquin with Elizabeth,
who was already dressed for the visit, while his father intended
to walk. In a short time Edward was in all the delight of
admiring himself in his best clothes, of riding in a palanquin,
of not having to repeat a lesson he had not learnt; and the
orang, the death of Smoker, and all the events of the morning,
were forgotten.

CHAPTER IX
THE VISIT

As Mrs. Palmer and Edward reached the residence of the
Governor, Grudmann, who had seen them from a window on
the ground-floor, ran forward to hand out Elizabeth. On
account of the heat, the pompous Governor had thrown off his
coat and wig, and appeared in a state of undress by no means
imposing. Nevertheless, he wished to show the greatest polite-
ness to his visitors ; and, as he led them into a room that served
for his office, he said to Palmer reproachfully :

‘Upon my word, Palmer, this is too bad! You told me
you were going to pay me a visit; but you did not say that
Mrs. Palmer herself would do me the honour, the pleasure—
and you take me by surprise, as you see.’

He offered his visitors seats; and Edward, who did not
approve of not being noticed, pulled him by the sleeve, and
said: ‘How do you do?

‘Ah! ah! there’s my friend Edward! cried the good
Governor, laughing ; ‘I am very glad to see him too. But as
for him, I need not thank him for his visit; he would go any-
where, provided he went in a palanquin ;’ and Grudmann burst
out laughing.

The conversation was carried on merrily, for some little time.
Palmer cut his visit short, for the weather looked threatening,
and he feared a violent storm.

So he and Elizabeth hastened to take leave of the Governor,
and, leading Edward away, set out on their return home.
THE VISIT 15

The clouds that had been visible for some days in the usually
clear sky of Sumatra now formed a thick veil over the sun, and
masses of vapour, rising from the sea, were darkening the air
more and more. Still the heat continued overpowering: an
indescribable feeling of discomfort oppressed every living thing ;
nature herself seemed sick, in the anticipation of one of those
convulsions so terrible at the equator.

A breeze, as scorching as the air of a furnace, blew only in
gusts, and yet the leaves of the clove, coffee, and cinnamon
trees fluttered incessantly, while large, lazy waves broke with a
loud noise on the shore.

The details of this grand and alarming picture were still more
apparent when they left the enclosure of the Fort and reached
the drawbridge, from which the sea, the river, and the whole
valley as far as the forest, were visible. Looking landwards,
the avenues appeared deserted, and the plantations abandoned
for the time; for everybody was busy about Van Roer’s ship,
the Gertrude, which was preparing to set sail. The crew were
working half-naked, and were trying to complete the cargo, and
the negroes and Malays were helping in this hard work; but,
overpowered by the extreme heat of the weather, they were all
obliged, from time to time, to throw themselves into the river,
in spite of the crocodiles, to cool themselves, and get fresh
strength and vigour. Yet both land and sea seemed as silent
as the grave. Elizabeth had got into her palanquin again, and
was trying in vain to obtain a little air by fanning herself with
her large Japanese fan. As to Edward, he was allowed to walk
home, and running by his father’s side, he was looking about
him with a childish curiosity that nothing could repress.

As they were descending the winding path that led to the
village, the stillness of the plain was broken by a sudden
tumult. First the firing of several guns was heard, and then a
confused noise of shouting. The sounds did not proceed from
the river-side, for the men were going on with their work at the
Gertrude quietly enough, but from the middle of the village,
and it really seemed from Palmer’s house.

Richard stopped directly, and ordered the bearers to stop
76 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

too. It might be dangerous to proceed, and it was only
prudent to wait till they could discover what was happening.
Elizabeth leaned out of the door of her palanquin to ask
anxiously the reason for this halt; but no explanation was
necessary.

All at once the shouts and firing began again with renewed
vigour, and at a little distance, in the middle of the plantations,
a mixed crowd of men and children were seen, running away,
as if they were pursued. ‘The author of this sudden alarm was
a creature of gigantic stature, whose way of moving about showed
wonderful agility. In an instant three or four persons were
knocked down, and among the number an individual armed
with an extensive umbrella. After this exploit, the conqueror
gained a neighbouring palm-tree, mounted quickly to the top,
and springing from tree to tree, soon disappeared among the
foliage.

‘That’s the orang-outang ! said Palmer, at last, after anxiously
watching the event.

‘Poor creature ! cried Edward ; ‘then they have found him ?

But no one noticed the evident regret of the little boy.

‘Is it not good Dr. Van Stetten who has been knocked
down there?’ added Palmer. ‘Yes, it is, but he is getting up
again, I am glad to see, and the others too. Come! they have
only been well frightened. The orang had not his club ; it was
that saved them.’

‘Thank God? sighed Elizabeth, falling back on her palan-
quin cushions ; ‘these orangs are terrible animals.’

‘Father,’ said Edward, ‘as the poor orang has not hurt any-
body, will they go after him again? will they kill him? I wish
they would not ; he saved me,—he is my friend!’

‘We must,’ replied Palmer ; ‘we must get rid of him as soon
as possible, or the country will not be safe. Go on,’ he con-
tinued, speaking to the bearers of the palanquin, ‘there is no
danger now.’

‘Edward, take hold of your father’s hand!’ said Elizabeth
quickly.

They set off again. The shouts and firing still continued,
THE VISIT 77

but they seemed to be dying away in the distance. As they
reached the village, they met Van Stetten limping along, with
his wig all awry, and his clothes torn and dusty. He was pro-
ceeding, slowly and painfully, towards his own house.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer stopped again, to inquire if he was
much hurt.

‘Ah, my good neighbours,’ he said, in a tone half-tragic and
half-comic, ‘I shall not forget my meeting with this diabolical
ape ina hurry! He is neither a man nor an animal; but a
fiend let loose that has iron muscles, and can fly in the air

 

without wings. They dislodged him from the great ebony-tree
close to your garden, and chased him from tree to tree as far as
your pepper-field, and then, all of a sudden, he fell upon us like
a thunderbolt. Without any weapon but his long arms and
powerful fists, he knocked down everybody that came in his
way, and escaped from us so quickly that no one could say
how he did it.’

‘But are you sure,’ asked Palmer, ‘that nobody has been
hurt in the skirmish ?”

‘Elephant-Slayer has had some teeth knocked out in his fall,
78 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

and his gun has been broken—his old matchlock, you know;
Elephant-Slayer will never forgive the orang for this.’

‘Bah! I will give him another gun. As for his teeth, a
Malay’s teeth are not worth much.’

‘One negro, I believe, has an arm dislocated; but that I
must see to,’

i
ee ANS 7
GY Sy

A
y

 

‘And you yourself, my good doctor,’ asked Elizabeth, ‘are
not you hurt ?”

‘Don’t speak of it, dear lady. I was thrown down as violently
as if I had been struck by the sail of a windmill. My hat was
knocked off and my spectacles broken. That I was not killed
on the spot, I owe perhaps to my umbrella, which turned the
orang’s blow aside, and broke my fall. Just see the state it
is in,’
THE CAPTURE 79

And he tried in vain to open his umbrella, a shapeless mass
of broken wood, bent whalebone and stuff all in shreds.

Richard and Elizabeth could not refrain from smiling; while
Edward, in his artless joy, said very quietly :

‘Ah! ah! how capitally he has defended himself, my friend
the wild man of the woods ’

Nobody heard these words. The child asked Van Stetten :

‘Doctor, is the orang hurt ?’

“No, my boy, none of the balls hit him. His movements
are so sudden and rapid, that none of our best marksmen can
get a fair shot at him.’

CHAPTER X
THE CAPTURE

SEVERAL hunters were now seen returning to the village, and
speaking in an animated way to those they met, while the
noise in the distance did not cease.

‘What is the matter now?’ asked Palmer; ‘is the orang
coming this way ?”

Elizabeth started with fright, and Van Stetten prepared to
defend himself with his umbrella; but it was a false alarm,
and the quiet faces of the village people showed that there
was no danger near. A negro from the house, who seemed
to be.coming from the scene of action, ran to meet his master
and mistress.

‘Well, Darius,’ asked Palmer, ‘ what news do you bring ?’

‘Ah! massa!’ answered the negro, with all sorts of strange
demonstrations, which might be taken to express joy, or any-
thing else ; ‘him be taken this time !’

‘Who is taken?’

‘Him—the man who does not speak !’

* What do you say?’ cried Van Stetten ; ‘you have succeeded
in taking the ape alive? That can’t be! He would have
beaten you all to powder twenty times over before he would
have let any one of you come near him.’
80 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Ah, massa!’ said Darius, still grinning, ‘him be taken, but
we not got hold of him yet.’

‘What is this fool of a negro talking about? ‘Tell us what
you mean, blockhead !

Poor Darius, disconcerted by the doctor’s roughness, got very
confused in his way of explaining himself. Palmer, however,
questioned him gently, and was not long in learning the truth.

The ape, having escaped the hunters, went off in a straight
line towards the forest, and was not long in getting consider-
ably ahead of them. Unhappily for him there was another
open space between the plantations and the great forest, and
he found himself under the necessity of coming down to the
ground, and walking to reach his usual place of refuge. With
the help of a great stick that he broke off a casuarina, or iron-
wood-tree, he was scrambling across with all possible speed,
when he was overtaken by his pursuers. At first he kept
them off by brandishing his formidable club; but the balls
and arrows were whistling round his head, and, bold as he
was, he felt the necessity of getting under shelter as quickly
as possible. In his perplexity, he took a step that might have
proved fatal to him.

‘The valley of New Drontheim reaches, as we have said, to
the foot of high volcanic mountains, and at the place where
the orang was thus pursued some blocks of basalt formed an
advanced point on the plain. In the middle of these rocks
was a deep cavity, from which flowed a copious stream, and
the waters had worn a narrow passage through the rocks which
was the only entrance to this enclosed space. Now it was
into this passage that the orang was seized with the unlucky
idea of entering, hoping perhaps to gain by that means the
wooded suinmit of the rocks; but he was soon undeceived.
At the end of the opening he found himself in a deep hole
with perpendicular walls, smooth, hard as marble, and which
it was quite impossible to climb. He tried at once to turn
back, but he was too late. The whole band of hunters rushed
upon him, like a pack of baying hounds, at the entrance of
the gorge ; retreat was impossible.
 

RUNNING INTO A TRAP
THE CAPTURE 83

The orang drew back with a low growl, striking the rocks
with his stick, and splashing the water of the stream with his
feet. The assailants, on their part, lost no time; some of
them kept up a constant shouting to frighten the orang, while
the rest rolled great blocks of stone into the opening, only
leaving just space enough for the water to flow out. Soina
few minutes the formidable animal was shut up in a prison
from which neither his extraordinary strength nor his great
agility could deliver him.

Such was the event, the news of which the negro had been
sent to carry to Mr. Palmer; at the same time he claimed a
gun for Elephant-Slayer, who had had his broken in the first
struggle. As the headstrong Malay intended to mount guard
night and day at the /ontaine-des-Laves, as the stream was
called, it was necessary for him to be armed, in case, which
was not very probable, the orang should try again to force a
passage.

Palmer told the negro to follow him home, and he would
give him the gun he wanted. As to Dr. Van Stetten, nothing
could express his joy when he learned that the orang was
caught.

“We shall catch him alive! he cried. ‘Darius, you may
tell the hunters that instead of ten gold pagodas, I will give
them twenty if they bring me this precious animal alive. You
may tell Slayer that I will cure his wounded cocks, that I will
give him as much opium as he pleases. + What a grand thing
it will be if I am able-to send to Europe the first full-grown
orang that has ever been seen there !

“Take care, doctor,’ said Richard, shaking his head ; ‘ only
this morning you thought it would be utterly impossible to
secure him.’

‘But he is a prisoner now; if we do not let him get any
sleep or food we shall soon subdue him. I will go and speak
to Elephant-Slayer about it at once, and in three days I shall
have made him as gentle asa lamb. Want of food and want
of sleep succeed with the most ferocious animals.’

‘What!’ said little Edward, with tears in his eyes, ‘ you

6—2
84 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

mean to starve the poor orang, that saved me from the
tiger ?’

No one answered him.

‘ Darius,’ asked Elizabeth, ‘are you quite sure that the orang
cannot escape from the place where you have shut him in?

‘No danger, ma’am ; we throwed stones as big as a house
into the opening ; he no more get away ; and the hunters, too,
guard the passage carefully. Me have mounted on a rock to
look at him at the bottom of the ditch. How funny he do
look down there. He grind his teeth and want to tear me to
pieces—and me laugh !’

At the same time, Darius showed his white teeth, and
clapped his hands with almost childish joy.

‘But can’t he climb up the sides of the ditchr They say
these monkeys climb so well, and are so strong !”

‘No danger, I say once more, ma’am,’ answered the negro ;
‘if you only saw, twenty feet deep! For that the man who
cannot talk get out of that, he must have a rope tied to one of
the trees at the edge of the pit, and thrown down to him. But
who throw the rope? not Darius, very sure !’

‘A rope! murmured Edward ; ‘it only needs a rope to save
him ?’

And he began to think.

‘Well, Richard,’ said Elizabeth to her husband, ‘as there is
nothing to be afraid of, let us go on.’

They took leave of the doctor, who returned in all haste to
Fontaine-des-Laves ; and, accompanied by Darius, they pursued
their way home.

Half-an-hour later, Anna and Edward might have been seen
in a room on the ground-floor under the care of Maria. The
negress was busy making up a dress of a fine deep lemon
colour, which, with a poppy-coloured silk handkerchief for a
head-dress, would form a toilette, she thought, that would .
dazzle all the blacks in the neighbourhood at the next bimbang.

But as the poor woman was not a very clever dressmaker,
she would have made but poor work of it if Anna had not
helped her with her needle and good taste. Thanks to Anna,
THE CAPTURE 85

the dress did seem almost fit for a human creature; and Miss
Surrey was making the utmost use of her pretty fingers to finish
the work, to the lively satisfaction of her companion.

Edward moved restlessly about the two workers; he was
more serious and less noisy than usual, and seemed very busy
making himself a new bow. However, he frequently stopped
in his work to go to the window overlooking the garden, and
gazed at the ebony-tree in which he had seen the monkey that
morning.

Once when he turned silent and pensive to his cousin, the
latter, without stopping her work for a minute, asked him in an
absent manner :

‘Edward, have you learned your geography lesson ?”

‘ Of course I have.’

‘Then say it to me while I am working.’

‘IT have not my book.’

‘That does not matter, I know it by heart.’

‘ But—but I have forgotten it since the morning.’

Anna looked at him reproachfully and sighed.

After a minute’s silence, Edward continued :

‘Anna, did you hear them say that they were going to starve
the poor orang? It must be a horrid thing to be starved !’

‘So it must be; the creature saved your life and Maria’s, and
I cannot help pitying it.’

‘You do pity it? asked the child, trembling; ‘then you
would not be sorry if it did escape from Fontaine-des-Laves ?”

‘I should be very pleased.’

Anna, in saying this, was only expressing a feeling of pity,
and she little guessed how many tears this unfortunate speech
would cost her.

Edward seated himself in a chair more quietly than was at
all usual with him. But suddenly he got up again and went to
the door.

‘ Where are you going ?’ asked his cousin. ;

“You know very well,’ answered Edward, somewhat embar-
rassed, ‘what you told me this morning. I am going to pick
you some flowers.’
86 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Go, if you like. You will find pretty flowers in the garden.’

‘In the garden !—oh, dear ! there are much prettier at the foot
of the waterfall.’

‘I don’t want those!’ answered the little girl in a peremptory
tone; ‘I will not have them !

‘Then I will go into the garden.’

‘Massa Edward, you no go far,’ said Maria as he went out ;
‘master want to take you to see the sailors go away.’

“All right | I will be there.’

And he left the room. Anna and the negress continued to
cut out and stitch very busily. As the child did not come
back, Anna left her work for a minute and went to the window.
She saw Edward in the garden, plundering the flower-beds.
Reassured: on this point, she went back to her seat, and listened
to an interminable story that Maria was telling to keep her
patiently at work with the hems and fells of the yellow.dress.

More than half-an-hour passed in this way. It was getting
dark, the weather was becoming gloomy, and the storm, that
had been brewing all the morning, now seemed imminent ;
Anna stopped the negress in the middle of her story—

‘Where can Edward be? she cried, running again to the
window.

She called her cousin. No one answered ; but she found
on the window-sill a charming bouquet that had been put there.
for her. She took the flowers, but her anxiety did not decrease,
and she said with some agitation :

“Where can he have gone? He is so rash, so venturesome.’

‘Don’t worry, Miss Anna,’ replied the negress, ‘but finish
the gown very quick for poor Maria. Dare say little Massa
Edward gone with massa, whom me heard go out just now.’

‘That’s it,’ answered Miss Surrey, breathing more freely ;
‘he must have gone out with his father. He might have said
good-bye to me.’

And she pouted coquettishly ; but soon began to smell the
bouquet, smiled, and resumed her work. Richard, it was true,
had just gone out, but alone, to ‘be present at the departure of
the ship. Not wishing to expose his son to the coming storm,
THE CAPTURE 87

he had made up his mind to leave the child at home, and had
left the house quietly.

When Palmer, in a great heat, reached the port of New
Drontheim, the vessel had already gained the middle of the
river. Palmer made his adieux to the captain and his com- .
pany, who then went off in a boat to the ship.

A few minutes after, Grudmann and Palmer found them-
selves alone on the shore with a few lookers-on. The ship
sailed along with difficulty, being impelled by such an uncer-
tain wind. At the moment it drew near the little island at the
mouth of the harbour, a great noise was heard landwards, clouds
of sand blew wildly about, the trees groaned and bent to the
ground, the river and the sea, which were a dull leaden colour
before, were covered in a minute with a foam as white as snow.
When the squall fell on the ship, it bent over in such a way
that it looked as if it must go down; but it rose again directly
and advanced towards the open sea.

‘What a wind !’ said the Governor ; ‘ the Gertrude will make
a good, quick passage, I hope.’

‘Don’t you think, Major,’ asked Palmer anxiously, ‘that a
tempest that begins in this way may be very dangerous for

_. friends on board ?’

‘Well, the wind blows from the land, so it is favourable for
going out of port. If once the vessel is out of the river, the
storm may rage as much as it likes; if it blows a hurricane the
Gertrude won't mind.’

In spite of the Major’s confidence the Gertrude struggled
with difficulty against the storm, whose violence increased every
minute.

The ship had taken in almost all her sails, and for a moment
she rolled over on her side, beating the waves with her lower
yards; but she rose again quickly, and cut a way proudly for
herself through the foaming waters. She directed her course
towards a kind of little strait that she must cross to gain the
open sea; but, before she reached it, the waves became so
high, the mist which filled the air so dark, and the clouds of
dust so thick, that those on shore lost sight of her completely.
88 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

The Major hurried home to avoid the rain that he knew
would soon fall in torrents, and of which the distant thunder
already gave warning. Palmer remained alone on the beach at
the risk of being blown down by the wind, or carried away by
one of the monstrous waves that dashed violently on the shore,
and tried again and again, but in vain, to get a glimpse of the

 

flying ship on the horizon. A fresh occurrence, however, com-
pelled him to turn his attention to another quarter.

In the midst of this war of the elements, several shots, and
then frightful cries at the other end of the settlement, were
heard. Richard tried to discover what could be the cause of
this noise; but on the land, as well as on the sea, it’was im-
possible to distinguish anything a few steps off, in spite of the
THE CAPTURE 89

dazzling lightning that was beginning to flash. The planter,
haunted by a vague presentiment, determined to go to the
village to learn what it was. So he set off to walk, but not
without difficulty, for the wind threatened every minute to
throw him down, and he was blinded by the dust, dry leaves,
and rice straws that were flying about all around him. At last
he gained a spot a little more sheltered from the tempest, where
he met Darius, who was running about like a madman, or as if
he were himself the plaything of the furious wind.

Darius had not perceived Palmer when the latter called him.
On recognising his master, the negro seemed at first to wish to
avoid him; but after a little hesitation he went up to him and
said, in a voice that could hardly be heard in the midst of the
uproar of nature :

*O master! master! sucha trouble! You die of grief!

‘What has happened, Darius :

‘Me not dare say—such a great trouble! Dear little Massa
Edward ?’

‘ Edward ! exclaimed the planter ; ‘ what do you know about
Edward? Speak, speak at once, I tell you!’

The negro was so frightened that his teeth chattered.

‘No, no, never! he cried, ‘you would kill me. Mercy,
mercy, master! poor Darius be innocent of all?

‘IT won’t hurt you ; I only want to know what it is about my
child, my Edward. Will you speak, you rascal”

He tried to seize Darius by the arm; but he sprang back.

‘No, no, me cannot tell!’ he repeated, almost beside himself

go to Fontaine-des-Laves, then you learn the truth.’

And he ran off as fast as he could go, leaving Palmer in the
greatest anxiety. The planter tried to call him back and to
run after him, but Darius was already far away. Palmer then,
almost distracted, set off for Fontaine-des-Laves, where he was
to learn the explanation of the negro’s words.
90 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

CHAPTER XI
THE FONTAINE-DES-LAVES

LET us now return to Edward, who had disappeared in such a
singular way while his cousin had thought him busy gathering
flowers in the garden.

The thought that they were going to torment the captive ape
by depriving him of food and sleep, or even kill him perhaps,
worked in young Palmer's brain. After the tales of the negroes
and other people about him, Edward no longer looked upon
the ape as a beast, but as a kind of man deprived of speech;
or, at least, as a being half-way between a man and a brute.
So his childish honour led him to think that he ought to pay
his debt of gratitude to his deliverer. But how was it to be.
done? Darius had certainly said that a bit of rope would
suffice to work the prisoner’s deliverance, but where should he
find a rope? And then how should he get out of the house?
The first person that met him alone in the country would
think it right to take him home, where he would get a sharp
scolding for his prank.

Busy with these reflections, which, as one would naturally
expect in so young a child, were rather vague, he made up his
bouquet, placed it on the window-sill, and slipped into the
court. He had no fixed plan yet; he would have obeyed the
first call from the house. But his father was writing in the
drawing-room, his mother and aunt were up-stairs; Anna was
listening in the little room to an African story that the negress
was telling; nobody seemed to be thinking about him, and
he was left to follow the suggestions of his adventurous dis-
position. Z

He walked mechanically towards a building used for storing
away the different crops. In the confusion caused by the
events of the day, the door of this magazine had been left open,
and the child could go in without any difficulty; cords of
different sizes were kept there to fasten up packages and bales.
THE FONTAINE-DES-LAVES gr

Edward took one, and hid it in his dress ina hurry. How-
ever, he did not yet know what he meant to use it for, and
perhaps thought, at any rate, it would do for a swing or some
other childish game.

This little theft committed, he began to wander about the
court. It was quite deserted. A Sumatran hut, built on piles,
with a wooden ladder up to the door, seemed to be the only
one where anybody was at home. A monotonous song, not
altogether wanting in melody, issued from it; it was Elephant-
Slayer’s daughter humming to herself. After a tithe Légtre
came down the ladder. Though she was not dressed in all
her holiday ornaments, yet she still preserved the proud and
rather hard beauty that characterizes the Malay women. Draped
in her savong, she was carrying an earthenware pot on her
shoulder, and was supporting it with her bare arm, like a sculp-
tured statue ; in her other hand she held something wrapped
up in a palm-leaf.

She went on singing, and chewing her betel, and she was
going away without paying any attention to Edward; but the
child went up to her coaxingly :

‘ Légére,’ he said in the fatods of the colony, ‘ where are you
going ?”

‘To Fontaine-des-Laves,’ replied Légére, without looking at
him.

‘And why are you going to Fontaine-des-Laves ?”

‘To take my father his food, and to tell him about the
wounded cock,’

‘Is the cock getting well ?’

‘Yes.’

And she was just going on when Edward caught hold of her
by the folds of her sarong.

‘Légtre, listen, do.- I love you very much; do take me to
Fontaine-des-Laves.’

‘What do you want to do there ”

‘I want to see the orang that they have got prisoner there.’

The Malay girl was very much flattered by this request ; for
in spite of her national pride she had often envied the familiarity
g2 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

that existed between her master’s child and the other women
belonging to the house. However, she answered dryly :

‘You are forbidden to go out with me. My master and
mistress will scold me, and my father will beat me. Go home?

Edward was offended at this not very gentle refusal ; but his
desire to go to La Fontaine only increased with contradiction,
and he answered, coaxingly :

‘You know why they won’t let me go out with you? It is
because they say Malays eat human flesh. Aunt Surrey told
me a story of a horrid woman who ate children, and who had
pointed teeth like yours. But I am not afraid of being eaten
—I am aman; and then the horrid woman was ugly, and you
are very pretty.’

This artless reply, which seemed, however, so cleverly put in,
induced the young girl to consent.

Did Légére want to play a trick on those who accused
her of cannibalism, or did she only yield to the irresistible
power of flattery? Perhaps. both motives influenced her, and
she answered : ‘Come, then.’

She set off at a good pace, and, though she was bare-footed,
Edward had some difficulty in keeping up with her.

The child was afraid at first of being seen from the house,
and while they were in the avenue he kept looking behind him
anxiously ; but they soon left the beaten path, that they might
take the shortest way to Fontaine-des-Laves. Then not being
afraid any longer of being met and taken home, Edward was
soon at ease again, and recovered his natural assurance.

Légére, as she crossed the fields of rice and pepper with her
pot on her shoulder, did not seem to trouble herself about her
little companion, and went on humming.

‘What are you carrying there, Légtre ?’ asked Edward care-
lessly. /

‘Not human flesh, child. It is a piece of goat, and some
rice, and bread-fruit cooked in the ashes.’

Edward, abashed by this rough reply, did not venture to say
any more; and Légére continued her song, taking a bit of
betel from her box every now and then.
THE FONTAINE-DES-LAVES 93

At the end of a quarter of an hour they reached Fontaine-
des-Laves. Elephant-Slayer, Darius, and the other hunters,
were guarding the rocks at the source of the stream. Certain
that the orang could not climb the walls of the cavern, they
‘contented themselves with guarding the passage by which he
had entered, to hinder him, if need were, from throwing down
the pieces of rock that closed up his prison. However, they
did not really believe such a thing possible, even for their
vigorous adversary, for they were fulfilling their task very
negligently, and, lying on the grass, they were playing at dice
and other games of chance popular in the colony.

The sight of Edward caused them some astonishment and
uneasiness. Although there seemed no cause for alarm, they
could not see the beloved son of the richest planter in the
neighbourhood exposed to one of the accidents so common in
that terrible country, without apprehension. Darius wanted to
take him home again directly, and tried to take hold of him ;
but Edward resisted, scratched, and bit so violently, that the
poor negro, not daring to employ force, let him go, determining
to watch all his movements and prevent him from doing any-
thing he should not. On his part, Elephant-Slayer seemed
much irritated with his daughter, who had acted as guide to the
child, and he scolded her well in Malay.

She did not put herself out at all.

‘He would come,’ she said coldly, placing her provisions on
the ground.

Edward hastened to have his say.

‘Yes, I wanted to come,’ he answered, in a resolute tone;
‘and who could hinder me? Iam master, surely; and I am
not afraid.’

This decision in so young a child could not fail to please
Elephant-Slayer.

‘And why did you want to come?’ he asked Edward more
gently.

‘To see the wild man of the woods.’

The Malay pointed with his finger to the blocks of basalt, at
the top of which were some trees and brushwood ; and any-
94 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

one looking down from there could see into the pit where the
orang was confined.

It would be mere play for Edward, accustomed to all kinds
of bodily exercise, to climb the rock; but, before trying the
ascent, he seated himself on a stone at Slayer’s side, and said
to him in an insinuating tone: ‘Have you not given the wild
man of the woods anything to eat since the morning ”

‘Nothing.’

‘Won't you throw him something this evening

‘No.’

‘ And to-morrow ?

‘No. ‘The orang is fierce because he is strong; hunger will
subdue him. When he has fasted for three days, he will let
himself be taken and bound. Then I shall give him to Van
Stetten, who will pay me twenty gold pagodas,—and I shan’t
let anyone else have any of them !’ he added, as if speaking to
himself, and putting his hand on the handle of his 477s.

‘But if,’ asked the little boy, ‘hunger does not make him
more gentle, what will you do?’

‘I shall climb the rock, and shoot him with poisoned arrows.
They do better than bullets; but they forbid us to use them.’

Edward, on learning the fate of his protégé, felt inclined to
cry, but he restrained himself.

‘O Slayer, you won’t be so wicked as to make the poor orang
suffer like this? Only think,—he killed the tiger that was
going to eat me up.’

“Yes; but he killed Smoker, a Malay, and a Batta, and he
broke the gun that was my father’s. I will be revenged ?

Now Edward burst. out crying.

‘Slayer,’ he said, clasping his hands, ‘let the wild man go, I
beg you. When I am a big man, I will give you a great many
golden pagodas, and fine guns, and fighting-cocks. But I shall
be so sorry if you torment or kill the poor orang that saved my
life.’

Edward had gone*the wrong way to work ; tears and suppli-
cations produced no effect on the fierce hunter; Elephant-
Slayer shrugged his shoulders. :
THE FONTAINE-DES-LAVES 95

‘You are a child,’ he said contemptuously; ‘and a Batta
warrior should not have listened to you so long.’

He turned away his head, and began to eat the provisions
that his daughter had brought. Then, having eaten as much
as he required, he played away the remains of his meal with the
other hunters, who had not left off their games of dice and
huckle-bones.

Thus Edward was left to his own devices. Darius, who
ought to have watched him, was chatting with Légére. No one
stirred when the child, after hesitating for some minutes, began
to climb the rocks. Scrambling up on his hands and feet,
he soon reached the top. There, he found himself on the edge
of the chasm, and looked down fearlessly. In spite of the
growing darkness a little basin was visible at the bottom of the
fissure, from which the clear, limpid water was flowing gently
out in the channel which served to carry it away. On a narrow
ledge of ground which surrounded the basin was the orang-
outang. The walls, being perpendicular, rendered every attempt
to escape from this well-like place useless.

The orang had, however, made incredible efforts to climb
up, as the state of his nails and his hands, bleeding from the
roughness of the rock, testified ; but now, leaning against the
rock, his long arms hanging down by his side, his eyes sad and
gloomy, he stood motionless, and seemed to have lost all
strength and courage. When he heard a slight noise overhead,
he started and looked up. No doubt he recognised Edward,
for his eye, all at once, assumed an expression so sad, so gentle,
and at the same time so supplicating, that it was impossible
not to be touched by it.

Up to this time, we repeat, the child had not clearly made
up his mind what he meant to do. He had come there as
much out of a spirit of opposition and curiosity as with the in-
tention of helping his friend in distress. But seeing the orang
so weak, so dejected, almost dying, he felt an ardent desire to
help him without delay and by any means.

‘Oh, dear! perhaps he is hungry,’ he thought.

He drew a beautiful ripe fig from his pocket, which he had
96 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

reserved for his own particular use, and-threw it generously to
the orang; but the latter seemed too much afflicted by his
present situation to dream of eating. The fig fell close to him,
and he did not exert his usual skill in catching it; he still con-
tinued to gaze at the child with eyes full of intelligence, grief,
and entreaty, as if to beg more effectual assistance.

Then Edward remembered the rope he had in his pocket ;
but, before putting it to any use, he resolved-to see what the
hunters intrusted with the blockade of the Fontaine were doing.
Elephant-Slayer, with his usual desperation, was playing at dice
with his comrades, while Darius and Légére were still chatting.
No one was noticing little Palmer; nobody seemed to be
thinking of him.

Having made sure of this point, he began to undo the rope
he had brought. Although it was pretty thick, yet it seemed
much too weak to bear the weight of such a wild, heayy crea-
ture. Besides, supposing it did not break, how could the
orang, exhausted by fatigue and hunger, raise himself up to the
edge of the chasm? And the least noise, the least failure,
would attract the attention of the hunters, and render the enter-
prise altogether impossible. In spite of these apparently insur-
mountable difficulties, Edward, to quiet his conscience, fastened
one end of the cord firmly to the trunk of a palm-tree that had
struck its roots into the clefts of the rock; and then he threw
the other end into the cavern. He hardly expected any result
from such a simple contrivance, but still he leaned over to see
what would happen.

What. happened took place so rapidly that he was struck
dumb with astonishment. The orang had watched with marked
attention, but without stirring, all Edward’s movements. When
he saw the rope drop, weak as he was, he raised himself at
once ; with one prodigious leap, he sprang across the basin of
the spring, seized the rope, and climbed to the top of the rock
with inconceivable agility. In the twinkling of an eye he was
at his deliverer’s side, and, brandishing his club, which he had’
not thrown away, he uttered a hoarse, commanding shout, as: 4f
to proclaim his triumph !
 

ESCAPE OF THE ORANG-OUTANG
THE FONTAINE-DES-LAVES 99

Edward forgot the exchange of good offices that had passed
between him and the orang, and was almost frightened out of
his senses when he saw this strange, hideous creature, of
gigantic stature, spring up before him like an evil spirit let
loose. He tried to run away, his limbs failed him, and he fell
into the brushwood, uttering cries of terror.

The hunters took alarm immediately, and they had little
trouble in guessing part of the truth. Their play and talk
were put a stop to, and each one seized his bow or his gun,
and began to climb the rock ; but, notwithstanding their haste,
they came too late.

The orang went up to-Edward, picked him up carefully, and
was turning him round with an air of surprise when the hunters
arrived. ‘Threatened by so many enemies, he settled what to
do at once. He threw away his club, pressed Edward to his
shaggy breast, and, seizing with his other hand the trunk of
the nearest tree, climbed to the top, in spite of his burden, with
the rapidity of thought.

The hunters, seeing the only child of the rich planter carried
up into the air in this way, trembled lest he should be dropped
from that frightful height, and did not dare to use their weapons,
for fear of hurting him. As for the child, made giddy at first by
the rapid motion, he was not long in coming to himself, and
began to cry for help in all the different languages he knew. Then
it was that Elephant-Slayer and the rest, in the hope of frighten-
ing the orang into leaving his prey, fired a few random shots,
and uttered the shouts that were heard far off in the country.

This proceeding did not have the result that they expected.
The orang did not intend to give up his prisoner so easily ;
hugging afresh the poor child, who was still uttering cries and
supplications, he sprang lightly to the next tree, and from that
to another, till it was soon evident that he would succeed in
gaining the forest, where he would be sheltered from all pur-
suit.

Although these rough men were not easily affected, they did
seem touched by the terrible situation of Edward, and left
nothing undone to cut off his captor’s retreat. They descended’

7—2
100 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

the rock, and ran hither and thither, shouting incessantly, and
loading and firing their guns. Unfortunately the trees, though
sometimes rather scattered, reached without interruption to the
forest, and the orang, by springing from one to another, was
able to brave their attacks.

Another circumstance now increased the difficulties of the
pursuit. The violent wind that preceded the storm had already
risen in the valley, as we have said, and was raising clouds of
dust and dried leaves, while the trees, beating against one
another, made a frightful tumult. In the midst of this com-

“motion, the hunters, blinded and deafened, could no longer
follow the movements of the orang or hear the lamentations of
his victim.

Besides, Edward’s voice grew weaker and weaker, either
because he was so high up, or because he was out of breath
with the prodigious leaps that the orang made with so much
ease and agility:

The last time that they were both seen, they were on the old
bombax, at the foot of which the scene with the tiger had
taken place a few days before. For a moment there was an
interval of calm, and from a distance they could distinguish the
great form of the orang-outang and the white clothes of the
little boy.

It was strange ; but one would have said that the orang was
aware of the suffering and fatigue of the frail creature he had
stolen. He took pains to save him from too violent shocks,
and very cleverly pushed aside the branches that might have
hurt him.

For a minute even, seeing that he was some way in advance
of his enemies, he stopped for an instant to let him take breath,
and rocked him gently in his long arms like a nurse. In spite
of these precautions, Edward seemed nothing but a dead
weight ; his frail body was bruised as if he had had a violent
blow, or as if he were already dead.

But very soon a fresh blast again darkened the'air ; when it
ceased, and when the summit of the bombax was again visible,
the orang and the child had disappeared.
BEREAVEMENT tor

The hunters lost all heart; the undaunted Elephant-Slayer
alone went on, saying : 3

‘The orang has done me an injury,—a Batta warrior must
revenge himself !’ ,

He was very rash to venture into these solitudes so late in
the evening, where he would be exposed to all kinds of dangers.
Some of Slayer’s comrades, however, followed him into that
part of the wood where the colonists had made some clearings ;
but at the border of the forest itself they dispersed under
pretext of continuing the search in different directions. In
truth, convinced of the uselessness of trying to deprive the
orang of his prey, they now only thought of getting shelter from
the storm as quickly as possible.

CHAPTER XII
BEREAVEMENT

WE now know what was the terrible misfortune that Darius
told his master had happened. When Palmer, distracted and
breathless, reached Fontaine-des-Laves, he found no one there
but Légére, who was quietly gathering up the remains of her
father’s dinner. She was just going away; but Palmer
stammered out, in a broken voice:

‘Where is the wild man of the woods? Where are they all?
What has happened ?’

Légtre looked at him in an absent way, took a lump of betel
from her box, and answered at last without any emotion :

‘They have all gone after the orang.’

‘Tell me,’ continued the planter, trembling with impatience
and fear, ‘what has happened here just now ?”

‘The wild man of the woods has run away, and carried off
the child.’

‘What child?’

‘ Edward,—master’s little boy. Edward threw a rope to
the orang, and the orang ran away and took Edward with
him.’
102 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

We must pardon Légtre for her heartlessness; she was a
Malay, and she was not a mother ; who could have made her
understand that such news, told in such a way, might have been
a death-blow to poor Palmer ?

On learning the terrible truth, Palmer felt as if a dagger had
entered his heart ; but he hardened himself against the feeling,
and asked, in a voice scarcely intelligible, which way the orang
had gone. Légére pointed to the old bombax, and he rushed
off in that direction, exclaiming :

‘Edward, my darling Edward! what will Elizabeth say ?’

The girl watched him as he went, struggling with the
violent gusts of wind ; then she lifted the pot on her shoulder
again and returned home, without seeming to have any idea of
the harm she had done.

In a few minutes Palmer reached the bombax; but he
looked in vain for his child’s captor, or the hunters that had
pursued him. It was growing dark rapidly, the fleeting bright-
ness of a few distant flashes of lightning scarcely relieved the
increasing darkness. The planter tried to shout, but the roar-
ing of the storm drowned his voice.

Sometimes, in the midst of the uproar, he thought he dis-
tinguished sounds of lamentation, and human voices answering
to his call; but he soon found that he had been deceived by
the kind of dismal groaning that the wind makes as it dies
away in the forest.

Nevertheless Palmer was not to be daunted. Unarmed,
bare-headed, for he had lost his hat as he ran desperately
along, his clothes in rags, his hands and face bleeding with the
thorny shrubs through which he dashed, he went on his way
at all risks, calling his son with a voice that was hardly audible.
As he was wandering thus in the darkness, a dark form sud-
denly appeared at his side. He guessed, rather than recog-
nised, that it was Elephant-Slayer.

He asked him quickly if he had any news of his son.

‘I have seen nothing,’ answered Slayer angrily.

‘Well, we must go on looking,’ replied Palmer energetically.
‘Slayer, you are a brave, experienced hunter; you are
BEREAVEMENT 103

acquainted with life in the woods ; help me to find my darling
Edward.’

‘To-morrow.’

‘Why to-morrow? why not this very minute? Perhaps
by to-morrow the wretch will have throttled my boy, or else the
child will be dead with fatigue and terror.’

‘The orang will not kill Edward,’ said the Malay coolly;
‘the men who do not talk are fond of children, and take great
care of them. Master, don’t go into the forest now.’

“Do you think, then,’ answered Palmer impetuously, ‘ that
I am afraid of tigers and other wild beasts? I shall take the
. child back to his mother, or perish in the attempt!’ “se

‘Slayer is not afraid either; but we can see nothing, we can
hear nothing, during the night and during the storm.’

‘It is beginning to lighten, and in a little time the lightnings
will make the wood as light as in the day-time; perhaps we
shall be able to see my son.’

‘Master ! master!’ answered the Malay impatiently, ‘don’t
disturb the orang; he is hiding no doubt somewhere near; if
you do disturb him he will certainly run very far away with
Edward, and we shall never find them again.’

There was some justice in these remarks; but the fatherly
affection and blind despair of the planter hindered him from
seeing it.

‘I won’t leave my child like that,’ said he. ‘Iwill never
leave these woods till I have found him, even if I have to hunt
for him all night.’

And he turned to enter the wildest part of the forest, from
which just then a frightful noise issued—a sound as if all the
wild beasts in the world had met there to howl at once. The
Malay, offended at this obstinacy, did not try any more to
detain him, and was going to return to the settlement, when
someone was heard calling in the distance. At the same
time torches were seen among the trees, and several persons
appeared, running quickly. As Richard turned round, his
wife, pale and tottering, threw herself into his arms, crying in
a broken voice:
104 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘Richard ! dear Richard! where is our child?

Mrs, Surrey had come with Elizabeth as well as little Anna ;
all three in the loose dresses they wore in the house, and with-
out anything on their heads. In fact, Légtre had not been
more careful in telling her mistress how Edward had been
carried off than she had been in telling her master. On learn-
ing the terrible news, the gentle mother had fainted ; but she
soon recovered, and, with the strength of fever and despair,.
set off towards Fontaine-des-Laves. Anna and the quiet
Mrs. Surrey, herself hardly less overcome, had followed her,
mingling their cries and tears with hers. Everybody belonging
to the house, even the most selfish and impassive Chinamen,
had accompanied the unhappy family. A few of the villagers

‘had joined them on the way, and they arrived just when
Palmer, mad with grief, -was trying to penetrate the inextric-
able thickets of the primeval forest. Elizabeth’s question
seemed to excite her husband to the last degree.

‘I will bring him back to you, Elizabeth,’ he cried, ‘I
promise you. Leave me alone—go home! I must recover
the son that God has given me for my comfort and joy !’

‘Ah! is he not my child as well as yours?’ answered the
mother impetuously. ‘ Richard, I will not leave you !

‘And me too!’ cried little Anna, sobbing. ‘Oh, do let me
go with you to look for Cousin Edward !

By the light of the resinous wood torches that the negroes
carried, Palmer looked at his wife and the child who wanted
to be his companions in his perilous expedition. Pale, feeble,
and out of breath, they could hardly stand; and it was a
wonder how they had managed to come so far. While he was
urging them to return home, Mrs. Surrey, who was much
calmer than the others, though not less grieved about the child,
had been questioning Elephant-Slayer and the other hunters of
the country on the expediency of making an immediate search
under such unfavourable circumstances. She hastened to inter-
fere with the authority that deep conviction and sincere affec-
tion inspire,

‘Brother and sister,’ she said firmly, ‘your grief bewilders
BEREAVEMENT 105

you ; it is impossible to attempt to do anything this evening
for the poor child. Richard, I beg you to wait till to-morrow
morning, if you want your search to be of any use. At this
time of night, in such perfect darkness, what can be the use of
going into that thick wood, full of fallen trees, and swamps,
and wild beasts? Besides, the storm is only just beginning,
and will certainly get worse and worse, till it will be impossible
to brave it. And then, too, if you want to make sure of
success, you must go wisely and thoughtfully to work. Wait
till to-morrow.’

‘ But to-morrow will be too late ? cried Elizabeth in her turn.

‘They tell me that they are sure we may trust the orang’s
wonderful instinct to preserve our Edward from all harm, and
that there will be more chance of finding him to-morrow, if we
do not give the alarm to his captor this evening. Come,
Richard and Elizabeth, I beg you, in the name of all that is
most sacred, for the sake of the poor child himself, go home
again.’

‘Well,’ said Palmer, ‘take Elizabeth and this child home
with you ; they can be of no use; but as for me, I have made
up my mind. I shall go and look for my boy !

‘Richard, I will go too! cried Elizabeth, leaning against a
tree to keep herself from falling.

‘And I, too ? repeated Anna.

‘ Nobody shall enter the forest at this time of night,’ said a
man’s voice, suddenly from among the spectators ; ‘it would be
extremely imprudent and foolish, and I will not allow it?

It was Major Grudmann, who had just arrived with Dr.
Van Stetten; both having heard of the misfortune that had
befallen the Palmers, the storm did not prevent them from
coming to express their sympathy and offer their help.

Palmer, in spite of the gravity of his situation, reddened
with anger at receiving such a positive order.

‘In virtue of what right, Major Grudmann,’ he asked, ‘do
you presume to impose your commands on me ?”

‘In virtue of the right of humanity, Mr. Palmer—the right
that any man has, whoever he may be, of hindering an absurd
106 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

and useless sacrifice; or, if you must have it, the right that
my title of Governor and first magistrate of the colony gives.
To-morrow, if you insist, you shall be at liberty to venture
into those solitudes, where perhaps no human creature has
penetrated before ; but this evening the danger is too evident,
too certain, for me to allow you to risk your life for nothing,
and I hope you will consent to listen to reason.’

The Governor, who thought a great deal about his authority,
was a man who would have it respected at any cost. How-
ever, Richard not seeming willing to give way, Van Stetten
hastened to interfere.

‘Come, Palmer,’ he said, ‘yield to evidence. Other duties,
other feelings, have a claim on you. Look at your wife.’

In truth, now that the first excitement was over, Elizabeth’s
strength began to fail her rapidly ; and at last she sank into
the arms of her sister-in-law and Maria, murmuring:

‘ There’s no hope! there’s no hope! My child is lost ?

Richard ran to her, but she had fainted; and perhaps it
was hardly to be regretted that she had lost all knowledge of
what was happening.

At this moment the wind, which had only blown in gusts
till now, burst forth suddenly with a violence and persistence
quite alarming. Now it was plain that the intervals of calm
were at an end, and that the typhoon of the Indian seas was
about to display its wild and terrible power. The torches of
the negroes, in spite of the tenacity of the flame, were sud-
denly blown out. The tops of the highest palm-trees were
bent to the ground, and a great number were snapped by the
tempest. In the forest there was not a green thing, from the
gigantic bombax to the weakest reed, that did not seem to be
uttering a moan—a cry of distress.

At the same time one would have thought that the whole
sky was coming down upon the earth ; the rain fell in torrents,
and the clouds of leaves and dust which darkened the air were
laid in a moment. Above this tremendous, universal tumult,
the thunder raised its mighty voice; not that grave, majestic
thunder, which roars at intervals in our temperate climates, but
BEREAVEMENT 107

tropical thunder, continuous, deafening ; which bursts like the
explosion of a thousand cannon at once, flashing flame like a
volcano, and frequently accompanied, in Sumatra, with earth-
quakes.

In face of these terrible convulsions of nature, man feels so
small, so insignificant, that his fiercest passions are silenced
at once. Such a change took place in Richard; the planter
saw at last the danger of persisting, the absurdity of his hopes.

‘God forbids it ! he said sorrowfully. ‘Poor child, forgive
me for waiting a few hours before I come to your help, and for
thinking of your mother first.’

He raised Elizabeth, who was still fainting, in his arms.

‘Sister, and you, Anna,’ he said firmly, ‘we must go home
quickly. Doctor, don’t leave us, I pray you, for we shall need
you.’ i
‘T fear so,’ replied Van Stetten, sighing; ‘ your good, kind
wife had no need of this fresh shock. But go on, I will follow
you.’

‘That’s right,’ said Major Grudmann; ‘my good neighbour
has turned sensible at last. Well, I must crave your hospi-
tality to-night, for your house is the nearest, and the storm
seems as if it would be no joke.’

They set off at once. Nature seemed mad or intoxicated
around them: every moment, great branches, or even whole
trees, threatened to crush them in their fall; while at every
step they were almost blown down, and several of them were
carried off their feet. The rain blinded them; happily, not-
- withstanding the want of torches, there was no risk of losing
their way in the darkness ; dazzling flashes of lightning, which
succeeded one another without intermission, made it as light
as day, and the lightning striking several points at once, kindled
fires which the wind and rain soon extinguished. The colonists
walked as much as possible close to one another, that they
might be better able to resist the storm. The negress Maria
helped her master to carry Elizabeth, whom even these torrents
of water did not revive. Mrs. Surrey had taken her daughter
Anna in her arms, still crying about Edward. The others
108 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

followed, helping one another as best they could, and calling
out now and then in a loud, sharp tone of voice, which was
the only way of making themselves heard above the tumultuous
noise of the elements.

Thus they reached the end of the forest. In the open country
there was less danger of being crushed by the fall of trees ;
but they were still more exposed to the violence of the wind
there, which formed waterspouts that moved along with terrible
impetuosity. The sugar and pepper plants were lying flat on
the ground, as if they had been cut down; the rice-fields were
completely devastated; the clove, the nutmeg, and the cam-
phor trees were torn up by the roots: it was a dreadful disaster
for the colony.

But Palmer did not trouble himself about it just then; he
was only thinking of the alarming state of his wife, whose fair
hair, streaming with rain, blew about in the wind. When the
bluish light of the flashes lit up Elizabeth’s pale face, she looked
like a corpse. Every now and then, too, Palmer turned his
head towards the forest. Once he even stopped suddenly: in
the midst of the roaring of the tempest he thought he could
distinguish the clear voice of a child—a voice that made his
very heart-strings quiver. But he soon discovered his mistake,
and went on.

At last they reached the house: that, too, had suffered.
Several of the negroes’ huts were thrown down; the wind was
threatening to blow off the roofs of the other buildings ; and
the waters of the neighbouring cascade were beginning to over-
flow the garden. But Richard did not notice these ravages,
any more than those in the plantations. He entered the lower
room, whither most of the others followed him ; an old negress,
who took care of the house, bringing a light. Without laying
down his precious burden, he said to. the Governor in a tone
of cordiality :

‘I ought to apologize to you, Major Grudmann. Show that
you are not offended with me, by giving your orders here as if
you were at home. Dr. Van Stetten, you must come to my
poor wife directly she is in bed: meanwhile, all I have is at
 

THE STORM
THE PURSUIT TiI

your service. Sister, take care of yourself and your little girl.
But above all,’ he added, raising his voice and employing
the language common to the different inhabitants of New Dron-
theim, ‘don’t let my servants forget that I must be in the forest
before daybreak to-morrow.’

At the same time he carried Elizabeth to her room, leaving
his guests and the other inhabitants of the house to recover as
best they could from the fatigues of the evening.

CHAPTER XIII
THE PURSUIT

As may easily be imagined, nobody in Palmer’s house slept
very quietly that night. Besides the other causes of anxiety,
Elizabeth was in considerable danger, and the doctor could not
leave her for a minute. Richard, too, was up all night as well
as Mrs. Surrey. The sick lady had recovered from her fainting-
fit, but she was in a burning fever and very delirious, and Van
Stetten’s grave face showed the fears the kind-hearted man
entertained.

The storm lasted a great part of the night; it was not till
near morning that, the rain, thunder and wind having subsided,
Major Grudmann and his people could leave the house to go
to their own dwellings.

However, the Governor, before leaving, very thoughtfully
organized a little party that, under Palmer's direction, was to
begin an active search as soon as it got light. It consisted, in
the first place, of Elephant-Slayer, who had an ardent desire to
avenge his private wrongs on the orang, Edward’s captor, and
of Boa, another Malay attached to the military force of New
Drontheim, who was to act as guide or scout. Boa, who was
so called on account of his skill in climbing trees and in creep—
ing through the densest thickets, had penetrated, it was said,
further than any other hunter in the colony into the vast forests
of the neighbourhood, and his peculiar experience could not
fail to be of great use. The negro Darius, a tolerable marks-
It2 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

man, and, above all, strongly attached to Palmer, was also to
accompany his master and carry his baggage. These were all ;
for a greater number of persons would have been worse than
useless, considering the difficulties and dangers of such an
expedition.

The Governor himself took the greatest pains to point out
all the steps that should be taken to provide against all con-
tingencies, recommending that the travellers should be well
armed, and supplied with provisions for several days, in case
they lost their way in those unknown solitudes, Grudmann
spoke himself to Elephant-Slayer and Boa, who was also in the
house, particularly to the latter, and threatened them with the
most terrible punishment if they gave Mr. Palmer any cause to
complain of them; while he also made them the most brilliant
promises in case they succeeded in bringing back father and
son safe and sound to the colony. It was not till he had made
all these arrangements, of which Richard was not in a state to
think just then, that he consented to go home.

As soon as the first rays of light began to tinge the sky, the
two Malays and Darius were up and equipped for departure.
Richard, who was seated in extreme dejection at the side of his
wife’s bed, his face hidden in his hands, was told that they were
ready: He got up in silence and went out. Five minutes
after he returned in the dress that he usually wore in hunting—
a hat of palm-leaves and trousers and jacket of leather, fastened
tightly round the body, to prevent the thorns penetrating; he
was armed with a long heavy gun, a pair of pistols, and a cut-
lass, intended more especially for cutting away creepers and
other climbing plants. In spite of this warlike equipment,
Palmer looked so pale, so sad, so crushed, that his very look
inspired pity.

By the light of a candle in the room he went up to the sick-
bed. Since Elizabeth had recovered from her fainting fit, she
had been constantly delirious, and had not spoken connectedly
at all; but now, as her husband bent over her to kiss her, she
opened her eyes, and said in an indescribably touching tone:

‘My Richard, I shall wait for you—for Aim and you /’
THE PURSUIT 113

Weeping, the planter stammered out a few words, but Eliza-
beth did not understand him. The excitement of parting had
only for a moment got the better of the illness that was preying
upon her, and she became again delirious.

Palmer perceived it, and, after having given a last kiss to his
poor wife, he made an effort to tear himself away from the sad
spectacle. But then he felt himself gently detained by his
sister and niece. Mrs. Surrey, always sensible, and understand-
ing that any injunctions would be useless, wept in silence.

Little Anna, pale and trembling in her nightdress, said,
clasping her hands:

‘Oh, uncle! you will bring back Cousin Edward, won’t you?

Palmer turned away his face.

‘Ask God, Anna,’ he said, in a hollow voice; ‘God alone
can enable me to bring the poor child back !

‘Mind you come back, Richard,’ murmured Mrs. Surrey,
sobbing.

‘And come back quickly,’ added the doctor in his turn.

Richard freed himself from the embraces of his niece and
sister. :

‘What do you mean, Van Stetten ?’ he asked, half distracted ;
‘is Elizabeth in danger ?”

‘IT hope not; but the shock has been severe, and delirium
is nota good sign in this horrible climate. We shall want good
news to act beneficially on her mind.’

In spite of the doctor’s reserve, Richard felt that his wife’s
very life depended on the result of his perilous enterprise ; how-
ever, he was silent, gave a last kiss to his family, and went
quickly out of the room.

Van Stetten followed him into the hall, where the two
Malays and Darius were waiting for him; he appeared to have
something to say to the planter, though he seemed rather shy
of mentioning it. Richard begged him to leave his wife as little
as possible during his absence.

‘Trust to me,’ answered the doctor; ‘I will take up my
abode here till your return. But, on your part, could you not
make some observations on this animal which is so rare and so

8
114 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

little known, the orang-outang? You can’t imagine how valu-
able these scientific observations would be; and if you only
had an opportunity of measuring its facial angle, or if you could
make sure that the great toes of its feet are not opposadble as
some travellers maintain ?

Palmer made a gesture of impatience; but he gave the
doctor’s hand a last squeeze, and left the house with the three
men that were to accompany him.

The country was still enveloped in darkness, but a faint light
began to be visible in the sky towards the east. They hastened
to reach the forest before the rising of the sun should drive the
orang deeper into its recesses. The thunder and rain had
ceased, although the wind was still very high, and large clouds
were moving rapidly along overhead. The hunters had to
walk with the greatest caution over the ground, which was
strewn with rubbish: in one place there were piles of rocks or
trunks of trees brought down by the torrents ; a little further
on there were pools of muddy water, that compelled them to
leave the direct road. The whole aspect of the land had been
changed in a single night ; entire plantations had disappeared,
deep hollows had been made in cultivated fields; anyone most
familiar with these spots could never have recognised them
under the layer of mud and dust, leaves, branches, and rubbish
of every kind with which they were now covered.

But Richard had other things to notice. His look was fre-
quently directed to the forest itself, over which the first rays of
light were just appearing, and sometimes his eye rested on the
bold men whom he had chosen to share his toils and dangers,
as if he was considering what degree of confidence he might
place in them.

The negro and the two Malays were dressed in almost the
same manner as Palmer was, with coats of thick leather,
fastened tightly round the body; contrary to their usual
custom, they wore boots, or rather sandals, to protect their feet
from the thorns or the sharp points of the rocks. Besides their
long guns, pistols, and rises, or curved cutlasses, they were
loaded with provisions and such baggage as could not be dis-

 
THE PURSUIT TI5

pensed with on such an excursion. Boa might have been about
forty, an advanced age in that fatal climate, and his height was
rather below the average. However, his iron muscles, which
stood out beneath his olive-brown skin, showed that he was
possessed of considerable vigour. The most perfect harmony
seemed to exist between him and Elephant-Slayer, not that
such men were likely to experience those feelings of humanity
and pity that might have sustained them in their enterprise, but
they counted on sharing the reward promised if they succeeded
in their attempt, safe to fight when the time for dividing it
came. Only the negro, Darius, faced the danger out of devo-
tion to his master and the lost child. Unfortunately, Darius
was the weakest, and the least experienced of the three, and
perhaps he might himself require help from his bolder com-
panions.

On the recommendation of the Governor, Boa had brought
with him an ally, whose services under the circumstances were
not to be despised. This was a large dog, with a shaggy coat,
with a ferocious but at the same time intelligent face. This
dog wore round his neck a collar ornamented with points, and
he was held in with a thick leathern thong. Endowed with an
excellent scent, he went along with his nose close to the ground,
and when he discovered the track of the fallow deer that the
storm had driven from their retreat during the night, he pulled
at his lease and growled, and his master had some difficulty in
making him leave the track. Such as it was, the little band
seemed exactly suited to the exigencies of the situation, and,
under the direction of Palmer, could scarcely fail of success
in their object, if, however, this object were not beyond the
reach of human effort.

In spite of all these turnings and of the difficulties in
their way, they reached the forest before the first glimpse of the
sun became visible on the horizon. The waterspouts had
thrown down numbers of trees ; the giant ferns and brushwood
were beaten down in some places, as if they had been trampled
under foot by herds of elephants ; the ground was strewn with
broken branches, and all the hollow places were filled with

8—2
116 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

muddy water, full of sand and dééris. The bombax itself, that
giant which had borne all the changes of the seasons during so
many centuries, had not escaped ; the lightning had broken the
top of it, split its sturdy trunk, and scattered its magnificent
bunches of purple flowers to the winds.

It was, however, towards this tree, in which the orang had
been last seen the evening before, that the hunters directed
their way. As he approached it, Richard perceived that he
was walking over the ruins of the £vouboul, the wonderful flower
that had attracted his son two days before to the fatal spot, and
he uttered a melancholy sigh at the remembrance.

The Malays consulted together about the direction they
should take ; but it was not thought prudent to proceed further
into the wood while it was still so dark. Happily, it was not
necessary to wait long; the light soon broke forth and rendered
the outline of surrounding objects clearly visible. The sun was
hidden from view by the masses of dark clouds which still
covered the sky ; but it was now possible to see the difficulties
and dangers of the road, and the singing of a few birds,
heard above the moans of the rustling of the dying wind, told
that nature was waking up again after the frightful convulsions
of the night. Then Boa turned to Darius, and said to him,
abruptly :

‘The child’s frock !’

The negro.took something of small size from his bag ; and
Richard recognised, with a mixture of emotion and surprise,
one of his child’s garments.

‘What are you going to do with that?’ he asked in a stifled
voice.

‘ Massa go see,’ answered Darius.

And he gave the garment to Boa. The latter took it and
made his dog smell it.

‘T understand,’ cried Palmer; ‘that is a good idea! Oh, if
the fine fellow could only find any trace of Edward !

The two Malays beckoned to him to remain perfectly silent,
and Boa said to the dog,—

‘ Now look.’
THE PURSUIT I17

The animal sniffed the different smells with which the air
was loaded, and seemed to hesitate for some minutes ; but he
soon turned towards the forest, sniffed again in a very noisy
fashion, and concluded by looking fixedly in the same direction,
tugging at the leash and wagging his tail and ears.

‘ He has found the scent,’ pronounced Boa.

No words could express Palmer’s pleasure; his heart beat
violently, and he was on the point of speaking when Elephant-
Slayer stopped him again.

‘Don’t speak,’ he said, in a low tone, ‘or the orang will run
away with Edward directly. We must walk quietly; the man
of the woods will hear the least sound, and perhaps he will try
to defend the child; a single blow from his club-might stretch
one of us dead who least expected it.’ .

Richard, seeing the wisdom of these precautions, did not
reply ; he examined the lock of his gun, and, having told Darius
to keep close to him, he went after Elephant-Slayer and Boa,
who had already followed the dog into the wood.

Instead of keeping his nose close to the ground, as hounds
generally do, he held his head up and sniffed from time to
time. Several times he was just going to bark, but a pull at
his collar from Boa always put a stop to such dangerous inten-
tions.

He entered the forest at a point where the trees were very
thick, and where to all appearance it was perfectly impossible
fora human being to follow. But Boa, as if he wished to justify
his surname, glided behind the dog and disappeared in silence
among the thorny shrubs. The other hunters discovered a less
difficult passage, though even there they could only crawl in
one by one. At some distance from the edge of the forest the
trees did not grow so close to one another, and were less
vigorous from the want of air and sun. Still they made little
way, and so great were the difficulties, that at the end of. half-
an-hour they were not more than five or six hundred paces
from the great bombax.

They soon found themselves in a glade filled with rugged
blocks of basalt piled up without any order. Tree-ferns and
118 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

gigantic grass, which seemed to belong to the vegetation of the
antediluvian period, partially concealed these picturesque rocks,
in the clefts of which some of the lovely flowers were growing
that we cultivate at great expense in our hot-houses. Around
this spot immense creepers were hanging in festoons from the
palm-trees, ebony-trees, pines, and casuarinas, and formed in-
numerable arches of verdure;-a few of the trees had been
blown down, some by the recent storm, others by the storms of
former days, or they had fallen from age; but they were all
buried beneath a mass of climbing plants and those splendid
parasitic orchids that grow on old trunks. A few birds of all
the colours of precious stones, parroquets, humming-birds,
woodpeckers, flew about round these sweet flowers, still wet
with rain, and a sweet smell filled the air, such as is often
noticed in gardens after a storm.

At this spot the dog quickened his pace, wagged his tail
violently, and would have barked if his master had not stopped
him by pulling his leash roughly. But while he watched the
hound, Boa gave his companions a sign to be on their guard,
and got his own gun ready.

Everything proved that the child and his captor were not far
off, and it became more and more necessary to be prudent.
The orang had perhaps perceived the hunters ; possibly he was
already hiding in some lurking-place with his terrible club.
They were obliged to keep a constant look-out on the right
hand and on the left, and they examined the foliage above them
incessantly, for death might fall upon them like a thunder-bolt.
The hunters, wading through the high grass, and surmounting
a thousand obstacles, listened to the slightest movement, to the
least noise. A leaf blown about by the wind, a woodpecker
knocking its beak against a bit of rotten wood, a little monkey
playing among the creepers, made them turn their heads quickly
and stop, till they had discovered the cause of their alarm.
They were absorbed in this important examination, when Boa,
who was a few steps in advance, stopped all at once, and, rest-
ing the butt-end of his gun on the ground, madea sign to them
to approach. They hastened to him, and, reassured by his
FOUND AND LOST 119g

calm attitude, they relaxed their vigilance a little. At the foot
of an enormous rock which jutted out, was a rather deep recess,
where several persons might have found shelter during the
storm of the preceding night. Now it was plain that this kind
of niche had been occupied recently ; a great quantity of dry
moss formed the bed, large pine-leaves had been brought there
to serve for a covering. The remains of some cocoa-nuts and
several other wild fruits were scattered about, as if to prove
that those who had sought a temporary retreat under this rock
had not left without having breakfasted.

CHAPTER XIV
FOUND AND LOST

HERE it was that Boa was examining something with great
care, and he held back the hound with a strong hand; for he
was stretching out his neck, and trying to trample on this
tustic couch. When the other hunters came up to him, the
Malay, moving the leaves carefully, pointed out the distinct
impression made by two figures on the moss. He put his
~ finger on each of them, one after the other, and said, in a tone
of triumph :

‘ Here the orang—there, Edward.’

Elephant-Slayer and Darius seemed convinced of the truth
of this remark, but Palmer seemed to doubt it.

‘Impossible!’ he said: ‘here we are not more than half a
mile from the great bombax, at the foot of which we halted
yesterday evening. If my child and this horrible ape had spent
the night in this place, they must have heard our shouts, and
Edward would certainly have answered.’

‘And the wind and the rain !’ said the Malay. ‘But master
will see.’ ;

At the same minute he loosened his hold on the dog, which
began eagerly to smell the bed of moss. Very soon the
sagacious animal, as if he wished to confirm Boa’s assertions,
drew from under the leaves a little piece of stuff which
120 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

Richard, with tears, recognised as having formed part of his
child’s dress.

‘Tt is true, then, that the orang has spared his life! he cried.
‘But look closely, my good fellows: do you see anything to
show that Edward is ill, or wounded ?”

The Malays again examined the moss bit by bit ; they could
see no trace of blood, and among the remains of fruit scattered
round the rock they found several that, without any doubt, had
been nibbled by a smaller and more delicate mouth than that
of the wild man of the woods. They concluded from these
different circumstances that not only Edward had no serious
wound, but also that, in spite of the terror he must have felt,
he had not lost his appetite.

‘But, then, where is he?’ asked Palmer anxiously.

‘Not far off,’ replied Boa; ‘the bed is still warm. No noise.’

Already the dog had left the hollow of the rock, and was
prowling about with his nose on the ground, as if he had found
a regular track. There was reason then to believe that the
child, on leaving the spot where he had spent the night side
by side with his savage guardian, had been allowed to walk,
and that if they followed the track patiently they might succeed
in finding him, However, this hope was not of long con-
tinuance. The track came to an end when they reached a
mass of fallen and decayed trees, such as so young a child
could not have climbed over without help, and there it ended
abruptly.

At this point, doubtless, the orang had taken Edward in his
arms and carried him from tree to tree through the air, the path
on the ground presenting too many difficulties for him.

The certainty of this dismayed the hunters ; but the Malays,
after having examined the place attentively, guessed, with some
sagacity, the direction the thief must have chosen. They went
round several obstacles in their way, and when they reached a
piece of ground where it was more easy to walk, the dog all at
once found the track he had lost.

‘Boa wanted to prove in different ways the reality of this im-
portant result; but the hound seemed sure of the fact and
FOUND AND LOST 121

hastened his steps, with his nose on the ground as before. In
a short time there was no longer any room for doubt: in a spot
where the streams of water had left the sand damp, two parallel
lines of footmarks were plainly visible; one was that of an
enormous foot with the great toe very wide asunder from the
rest of the foot, and of a peculiar formation, the other was
evidently that of a child. Both looked so fresh that they could
only have been made a few minutes ago. Richard could not
control his joy.

‘My God! he murmured, raising his tearful eyes to heaven,
‘wilt Thou indeed in Thy wisdom restore him to us?

But his companions again begged him to be silent; and it
was plain from their anxious looks that, in spite of these more
favourable appearances, they did not consider success certain
by any means. They set forward again, following now a kind
of path that seemed to have been traced by some large animal,
an ordinary inhabitant of these solitudes. This path was un-
certain and irregular, interrupted frequently by stumps of trees
and creeping plants. They could not see more than a few
steps before them, and were completely ignorant how far dis-
tant they were from the orang and his prisoner. However, the
dog showed more and more eagerness, and from moment to
moment they hoped to come in sight of them. So the hunters
followed Boa very cautiously, looking carefully around and
with their fingers on the triggers of their guns.

This perseverance was not to beunrewarded. At the end of
the path these courageous adventurers entered a part of the
forest that was very grand and majestic, and there they found
the reward of their labours.

Trees, of prodigious size, growing at regular intervals,
‘supported a triple vaulting of foliage, through which the still
feeble, slanting light could hardly penetrate. They might
have been taken for the grand pillars that adorn Gothic
cathedrals; thousands of years must probably have been
required for the wonderful development of these gnarled
trunks and roots. There were echoes under this vaulted roof
as there are in great buildings, and the chattering of the
122 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

parrots that were playing about on the border of this gloomy
part, without daring to enter it, was repeated in a very mourn-
ful fashion. Through the thick mass of branches and leaves
it was impossible to see the least bit of sky. .So all the flower-
ing, sweet-smelling plants that require air and light had dis-
appeared, even the parasite strangle weeds and the brilliant-
coloured orchis that grows everywhere in the Sumatran forests.
‘Nothing grew on the ground but yellowish lichens, mixed with
fungi, and other cryptogamic plants of odd shapes, lovers of
damp and darkness. — ,

Now, in the pale light that just penetrated the depths of the
forest, the hunters at length discovered two shadows, moving
about a hundred paces before them ; their practised eyes were
not slow in recognising the orang and Edward.

The man of the woods, made conspicuous by his great
height and long arms, was advancing slowly, leaning on a stick,
that served him at once for support and defence. At his side
Edward, without a hat and with his clothes torn, was walking
listlessly, sobbing incessantly, as naughty children do who are
tired of crying ; these sobs, repeated by the echo, made a con-
stant, melancholy murmur that it was heart-breaking to hear.
However, the man of the woods did not appear to be ill-treat-
ing his little companion in any way; on the contrary, he
seemed to be very careful of him. He stopped every now and
then to wait for him; the child’s hands were still full of wild
fruit and edible berries, that his captor had gathered for him
from the trees they passed. The orang seemed to take pains
to spare him all fatigue, and to save him from all danger ; he
often stroked his back in a caressing way. The affection he
so evidently felt for him rendered the hunters’ enterprise the
more perilous ; for it was plain the orang would not give up a
prey that was so dear to him without a fight.

At the sight of his son Palmer uttered a faint cry ; but a
quick sign from Darius, and an imperious look from the two
Malays, reminded him that he must restrain his feelings.
Happily, the rustling of the wind, as it blew through the long
avenues of trees, smothered this exclamation, which was drawn
FOUND AND LOST 123

from him by a feeling that he could not resist ; certainly the
orang, whose sense of hearing is extremely fine, had not heard
it, for he did not turn round. However, he might look behind
him at any moment, simply from his natural distrust ; and, as
the ‘hunters had no means of hiding themselves, everything
would be lost if he did,

 

It was necessary to decide what to do at once; the orang
and the child were going further away ; and it seemed equally
impossible to pursue them openly or to surprise them on this
piece of bare ground. Palmer and his men threw themselves
flat on the ground, behind a forsaken ant-hill, and Boa
hastened to muzzle his dog, whose services were not required
124 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

just then ; and, while one of them kept an eye on every move-
ment of the orang, the others set themselves to deliberate.

A plan was soon agreed upon. ‘They decided that Palmer
and the negro should continue the pursuit straight on, gliding
from tree to tree, and using every precaution not to be noticed
by the suspicious animal; meanwhile Boa and Elephant-
Slayer were to try, by going a little way round, to reach, before
the orang did, a clump of cocoanut-trees, situated at some
distance, towards which he and his little captive were direct-
ing their steps ; thus the orang would find himself hemmed in,
and they might be able to rescue Edward. This plan pre-
sented many difficulties, but it was the only practicable one,
and they set to work at once to put it into execution.

The Malays retraced their steps for a little way, and, then
plunging into the bushy thicket, were not long in disappearing.
On their part, Richard and Darius lost no time; they went
forward, stooping and taking advantage of every obstacle in
the way to hide themselves. The mosses and lichens, with
which the ground was covered, favoured this manceuvre, for
they deadened the sound of their footsteps. On getting near
enough to shoot, they were to fire at the orahg without waiting
for their companions ; but it would not do for them to be in
too great a hurry, or to fire from too great a distance ; for, in
that case, they ran the risk of hitting the child, or of only slightly
wounding the orang, which would certainly make him more
formidable still.

In spite of their efforts they gained very little ground on the
two they were pursuing. Every minute they were obliged to
stop to keep out of sight of the man of the woods, who seemed
uneasy, as if his instinct had warned him of the existence of
danger. This going backwards and forwards retarded their
progress considerably, and made the poor father most terribly
impatient.

However, the orang and Edward had reached the end of
that part of the forest that might be called the dark part, and
they were just coming to the clump of cocoanut-trees.

A dazzling light now shone upon them, and they could be
FOUND AND LOST 125

distinctly seen in spite of the distance. All at once they
stopped ; Palmer was afraid at first that they had taken alarm,
but the calm attitude of the orang reassured him. However,
this halt was soon explained; the orang lay down on the
ground at the edge of a little pool of water, and began to drink
as if he was very thirsty ; while Edward, more particular, filled
his hand with water and carried it several times to his lips to
quench his raging thirst.

The moment was a precious one; Richard and the negro,
casting aside every precaution, dashed forward. They rushed
over the space between them; but Palmer ran much faster
than Darius, who, being loaded with heavy baggage, was soon
left behind.

Palmer thought no more of waiting, and ran till he was
almost out of breath ; but he was obliged to stop again. The
orang got up and looked around with a frightened look. The
planter Jay down till his enemy should go on his way again ;
he was trembling with anger, and squeezed his gun convulsively
in his hands; but he was too far off to venture to fire. Then
followed a few minutes of intense anxiety. Would the orang
continue to walk with the child, or would he carry his prey into
the trees and proceed in what seemed to be his favourite mode
of travelling ? Chance, or rather Providence, ordered things
better than Palmer could have hoped.

The cocoanuts, at the foot of which was the pool of water,
were loaded with beautiful-looking ripe fruit. The orang, with
that suddenness of determination that distinguishes the quad-
ruman, threw down his club and began to climb one of the
trees with the evident intention of gathering some of the nuts.
The child remained alone at the edge of the water, but, not
knowing where to go, he was obliged to wait for his conductor,
and sat down on the ground, still crying quietly.

Palmer then continued his course with frantic impetuosity.
He was almost choked with his emotion; his temples throbbed
and his heart beat violently against his chest. His son, his
lost child, the hope and joy of his home, was there before him ;
he was going to touch him, to press him in his arms, and after
126 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

this nothing but death should ever part them. Darius, who
had rejoined his master, showed no less ardour. To beable
to run more quickly, he had thrown down his heavy burden
on the moss, and, armed with nothing but his gun, he stood
ready to lay down his life in the moment of danger.

Richard was already within a short distance of his son, and
was able to notice certain heart-rending particulars that had
escaped him till then. The poor little fellow’s clothes were in
tatters ; his eyes red and sunken, and his pale, wearied face
as well as his hands were furrowed with scratches, from which
the orang, in spite of all his care, had not been able to pre-
serve him. In his attitude there was a dejection, a sadness, a
despair, that no words could express; yet, with the curiosity
of his age, he watched the movements of his captor in the
neighbouring tree, or looked absently at the cocoanuts falling
with great noise into the pool of water.

Richard was convinced that his son’s rescue was certain.
Before the orang had come down from the tree, Edward would
be safe under his father’s protection. The planter, breathless
and almost wild with joy, stretched out his hands to him, and,
as the child was still looking at the top of the tree, he cried to
him in an almost inaudible voice:

‘Edward ! my dear little Edward !

‘Massa Edward !’ cried Darius, in his turn.

This time the child heard; he turned his head quickly.
Recognising his father and Darius, a smile of indescribable
joy overspread his face. He rose quickly and began to run to
them, crying : :

‘Oh, papa, dear papa, I knew you would come and help me!’

But these imprudent exclamations and unguarded move-
ments ruined everything. As the father and son were on the
point of rushing into one another’s arms, a kind of hairy phan-
tom threw itself between them, uttering a hoarse guttural cry.

Palmer and Darius, who had followed him closely, were
thrown down in spite of their strength and before they had
time to think.

At the same time the orang, for it was he that had dropped

a
THE FOREST 127

thus suddenly from the top of the cocoanut-tree, seized the
poor child, who struggled and cried piteously ; then, taking
hold of the trunk of a neighbouring tree, he climbed to the
top with incredible rapidity and disappeared once more.

For a moment yet a voice, growing weaker and weaker and
more distant, cried out among the leaves :

‘Papa! help! Oh, papa, papa!’

CHAPTER XV
THE FOREST

But Richard could not hear him ; his head had been thrown
with so much force against a stump that he lay without moving
on the grass, bleeding both from mouth and nose. Darius,
less hurt, was only stunned for a minute. Coming to himself,
he raised his gun to his shoulder and fired at random. But
the orang was already far away, and the child’s cries could be
heard no more in the gloomy silence of the woods.

At the sound of the firing, the two Malays issued from the
brushwood, and ran to the scene of this sudden and dreadful
disaster. They had been delayed, on their part, by the
ordinary difficulties of such a forest. However, they had seen
the orang on the cocoanut-tree very well, and they were
advancing, creeping through the long grass, and intending to
send a couple of balls into his body at the moment the cata-
strophe took place. They showed no sympathy for Palmer,
still lying insensible, and when the negro told them what had
happened they were very angry with Darius as well as his
master. According to them, before running to the child, he
should have fired at the orang; they were going to kill him
themselves, or at least wound him severely, when the foolish
haste of the other two had disconcerted their manceuvres. In
vain Darius pleaded the fatherly love that had made Palmer
forget all ideas of prudence; how could he make such a
feeling intelligible to these fierce natives— loving nothing,
respecting nothing, fearing nothing? Instead of listening to
bis explanations, they abused the poor negro with violent
128 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

words and gestures. However, the orang could not be very
far off yet, and in the hope of finding him again, they set out
in pursuit with the dog, leaving the faithful servant free to
attend to his fainting master.

Darius fetched a little watér from the pool near, and poured
it on Richard’s face, but it was some time before Palmer came
to himself; and, when he did open his eyes, he looked round
wildly, and hardly seemed to know where he was.

‘Ah, massa!’ said Darius; ‘it have been very lucky that
the man who does not speak had not got his club, or we be
killed on the spot. Now you drink this.’

And he held out to him a gourd full of rum. Richard
swallowed a few drops, and then his memory seemed to return.

‘And Edward? Where is Edward ?’ he asked abruptly.

Darius reminded him of the sad truth.

On learning that Elephant-Slayer and Boa had already.
started in search of the orang, Richard exclaimed :

‘I must go after them at once! I will not leave to others
the task of saving my son! Poor little fellow, he was looking
out for me, counting on my coming, and calling to me to
help him ?

He tried to rise; but no doubt the shock he had received
had injured some vital part, for he fell back directly.

‘Master, you not well yet,’ said the negro affectionately ;
‘you wait here and rest. The Malays come back soon, and
then all together we go and look for Massa Edward.’

Palmer was obliged to yield to his fate ; but, overcome with
the feeling of his powerlessness, he hid his face in his hands
and shed many tears.

At the end of about half-an-hour Elephant-Slayer and Boa
returned, gloomy and discontented ; they had found no trace
of the orang, and they had not heard Edward’s voice. Palmer
asked them what could be done.

They answered sulkily that the enterprise had failed, and
that, according to all appearances, the opportunity that had
been lost would not occur again. Now that the wild man of
the woods had been put on his guard, he would run away with
THE FOREST 129

his victim, without stopping a minute, and would not put a
foot to the ground till he was a very long way off.

‘And you cannot think,’ said Boa, ‘how large the forest is.
It would take twenty days, thirty days, or perhaps more, to
get to the end of it. How then can we find the orang?”

And he and his companion concluded that they must leave
Edward to his fate, and go back to the colony. The feeling
of indignation gave Palmer new strength.

‘What !’ he said, leaning on his elbow, ‘shall I give up the
hope of saving my child the very first day, the very first hour ?
Shall I give way thus to the first obstacle? I thought
Elephant-Slayer and Boa were bolder, more used to fatigue ;
but they are tired and disheartened already; let them go; I
must stay alone ; I shall not go back.’

‘ Master,’ said Darius, ‘ me follow you to death.’

The planter’s reproaches offended the Malays. Palmer
would have done better to have reminded them of the reward
that was promised them in case of success, and he continued :

‘The orang will come down to the ground again soon. He
seemed to be very fond of my child, and when he sees him
out of breath and hurt with these incessant bounds, he will
have pity on him, and will leave the top of the trees, I am
sure. You know as well, or better than I do, the instinct of
these orangs, an instinct that is almost equal to reason !’

‘The orangs are men who will not speak,’ replied Boa,
repeating the generally admitted opinion of the Malays; ‘they
have much more reason than some men who do speak.’

‘God grant they have also a feeling of compassion for weak-
ness,’ said Richard, sighing. ‘Now, will you follow me?’

He added everything he could think of to persuade them to
continue the search, and though neither of them expected any
good results from a fresh attempt, they announced that they
were ready to start.

By a strong effort of will, Richard managed to get on his
feet without Darius’s help. He tottered, and had frightful
pain in his head, but he concealed his sufferings, for fear of
discouraging his companions still more.

9
130 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

They returned to the pool of water on the border of which
the catastrophe had taken place. The Malays examined the
spot carefully, made the dog scent the quite recent trace of the
child and his captor, and, after they had settled their plans,
set out again.

On they went for a long time ; on—on till evening, getting
deeper and deeper into the solitary forest. As they proceeded
the forest grew more and more wild, and they entered parts
that had certainly never. been trodden by any human creature
before. Sometimes they met wild beasts, which fortunately
did not dream of attacking the little band; and they, on their
part, took care not to irritatethem. They only spoke in mono-
syllables and in a low voice; they took care not to make any
noise, and stopped occasionally to listen in these silent and
majestic solitudes. But they heard nothing more either of the
orang or Edward; and they could not discover any trace of
them. The dog himself, though they frequently gave him the
lost child’s dress to smell, did not seem any longer to under-
stand what they wanted him to do; and after hunting about
for a minute or two to quiet his conscience, went after the
track of some deer or other. It seemed certain that if the orang
had come down from the tree after the last alarm, he had not
done so till he was a long way off, and in some inaccessible
place near which the hunters had not chanced to come. ~

About an hour before sunset, they were all completely
exhausted. They had made this journey for the most part on
their hands and knees, or else they had had to cut a passage
for themselves through the creepers with their cutlasses. Long
thorns had pierced through their leathern clothes, some of
which were considered poisonous; their hands and faces were
torn ; thousands of insects, eager for blood, mosquitoes, gnats,
and immense wasps, persisted in following them, forming a
kind of buzzing cloud around them. Besides, during the day
they had not been able to stop for any meal, and had con-
tented themselves with eating some fruit gathered from the
trees of the forest; they were now extremely hungry, and their
hunger was partly the cause of their extreme prostration.
THE FOREST 131

But none of them were in such a deplorable condition as
Palmer, the leader of the expedition. His excessive fatigue
and his agony of mind had aggravated his sufferings, till they
were almost unbearable. A burning fever consumed him: at
times a thick mist came over his eyes, and he could hardly see
his way; at others his mind was confused, and he neither
knew what he wanted nor where he was going. So that, towards
the end of the day, in spite of his courage, he was obliged to
lean on Darius to get on at all, and without the help of that
devoted negro he would have been left behind long before.

The necessity of finding some shelter for the night was now
urgent. The Malays themselves could not tell where they
were ; all day the sky had been covered with clouds, and then
the trees were so thick that they found it impossible to guide
themselves by the position of the sun. They only knew that
they were far, very far, from any human habitation, and they
had no choice but to encamp in the middle of the wood.
Now, a storm no less terrible than that of the evening before
was brewing, and it was time to stop and construct some kind
of shelter.

This was not an easy thing todo. They must find an open
spot, clear the ground in order to destroy the dangerous in-
sects, build a hut with the branches and leaves, and gather
sufficient wood to keep up a fire large enough to frighten away
the wild beasts during the night, and these labours seemed
very formidable to men half dead with fatigue.

However, when they told Palmer that they must stop he
would not hear of it; according to him, there was no hurry;
they might still go on, and perhaps at last they would overtake
the objects of their pursuit. But the Malays took no notice of
his entreaties, and, while the unhappy father was lying stretched
on the grass under the charge of the negro, they considered how
they might provide for their present urgent necessities.

The place where they had halted did not seem well suited
for an encampment. It was a kind of wide path, made by the
frequent passing to and fro of a herd of large animals, either
buffaloes or elephants; and what should they do if these

Q9—2
132 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

formidable herds, which go about particularly at night, should
burst upon the travellers when they were fast asleep? Besides,
the hunters were dying of thirst; they must discover some
water. The two Malays went off therefore in different direc-
tions to seek some more convenient spot in the neighbourhood.
At the end of a few minutes Elephant-Slayer returned without
having succeeded, and sat down at a distance from the others
to wait for his companion. The latter was not long in return-
ing, escorted by his dog, who was now allowed to roam at
liberty. Doubtless Boa had been more happy in his search,
for he simply said:

‘Come, all of you.’

Elephant-Slayer followed him without asking any explana-
tion, but it was not so easy for Richard to obey the summons.
In this short interval of rest he had grown heavy with sleep
and could not rise. However, with Darius’s help he managed
to get on his feet, and dragged himself along behind the rest,
uttering groans that were wrung from him by the frightful pains
he was enduring.

They proceeded about a hundred paces in this way. Boa
had chosen a glade surrounded with gigantic trees for a place
of encampment. There was a pond in the middle filled by the
rain of the preceding night, yet the water was both limpid and
fresh. But what struck the hunters most was the sight of
three or four huts made of boughs and covered with leaves,
fixed on some large projecting roots. These huts, without
doors or windows, and constructed in a very rough fashion,
were a great help to people who had neither time nor strength
to build others. One of them was perched on a pandanus-
tree in the fork of two branches, like the nest of an enormous
bird. But this style of building was not at all peculiar in a
country where the greater number of the dwellings are built on
piles, as we have seen was the case with the Malay houses
of New Drontheim. Palmer, though almost exhausted with
fatigue and suffering, examined these singular constructions
with curiosity.

‘How could human beings,’ he said, with an effort, * estab-
lish themselves in these melancholy solitudes ?”
THE FOREST 133

‘Not men from the colonies,’ answered Boa shortly, ‘but
men who do not speak.’

‘What! cried Palmer; ‘these huts have been built and
occupied by orangs ?”

The two Malays answered in the affirmative.

‘Then let us stay here; the inhabitants of these cabins will
certainly return, and perhaps the one that has stolen my son
will be among them.’

But Boa made them notice that the huts appeared to have
been deserted for a long time. The palm-leaves with which
they were roofed were crumbling to dust; the heaps of moss
that served for a bed inside were swarming with centipedes,
wood-lice, scorpions, and other venomous creatures. The
remains of cocoa-nuts were scattered about in plenty, but they
were rotten and decayed. One of the clubs that apes of a
large kind carry had been left in the principal hut, and looked
as if it had been there for a year. In fact, there was no reason
to hope that these huts had been visited lately by the old pro-
prietors. However, it was necessary to establish themselves
there for the night; the storm was rising, the sky was growing
darker and darker; there was not a minute to lose. Boa
busied himself in covering two of the huts with fresh leaves,
and put fresh moss instead of that full of insects. On his part
Elephant-Slayer set himself to pile up a supply of dry wood
and to cut down the grass round the encampment.

These different labours, thanks to the peculiar experience of
the two Malays, were soon finished. Ina short time Richard
was settled on a soft bed in the principal hut. Darius was to
remain with his master, while Boa and Elephant-Slayer occupied
a hut near. The Malays and the negro had agreed to watch
by turns during the night.

They made a good supper round the fire, which just then
had the double advantage of giving light to the hunters and
driving away the mosquitoes. As to Richard, though he had
taken nothing since the evening before, he could only swallow
a few drops of the milk of the cocoa-nut which the negro
brought him. He had fallen into a kind of stupor, and,
134 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

panting for breath, with his eyes closed, he constantly uttered
involuntary groans.

Night came, and with it the expected storm. ‘The hunters
retreated hastily into the huts ; torrents of water streamed from
the sky, and the thunder roared incessantly. In a few minutes

 

the bivouac fire was completely extinguished, and it was im-
possible to light it again during the pouring rain. This was
another danger; for nothing but the fire could keep off the
wild beasts; but in spite of the violent commotions of the
elements, all the tired hunters slept, except the one on guard.
THE RETURN 135

CHAPTER XVI
THE RETURN

THE storm lasted all night, and it was owing to this circum-
stance perhaps that they were not attacked by the inhabitants
of this primeval forest, for wild beasts seem to lose some of
their ferocity during the great convulsions of nature. They
were only alarmed once, and that was while Boa was on duty.
The dog, which was sleeping near his master, suddenly raised
his head and uttered a low growl. Boa, knowing well what this
meant, seized his gun and looked carefully around him. At
less than twenty paces a fixed, steady pair of eyes were shining
in the darkness. Without a moment’s hesitation, he shouldered
his gun and drew the trigger; a howl followed. The Malay,
after having fired, drew his Avis, expecting to see the furious
animal spring at him ; but there was no movement during the
rest of the night.

The report of the gun and the howling of the monster were
so blended with the roaring of the tempest that the sleep of the
other hunters was not even disturbed. Only when Boa went
“in the morning to see what effect his shot had produced, he
found under the brushwood large stains of blood that the pour-
ing rain had not completely effaced ; no doubt some royal tiger
had experienced for the first time in his solitude the dominant
power of man.

At daybreak the Malays and the negro, being rested and in
good health, were quite ready to resume the search. Un-
happily, the leader of the expedition was no longer in a condition
to direct or even to be of any use to his companions. His
flushed countenance and wild eyes proved the progress of fever;
they called him, but he did not seem to hear ; they tried to put
him on his feet, but he fell back like a senseless lump. They
pressed him with questions, but he only answered with inarticu-
late sounds ; he could no longer think, feel, or understand.
What was to be done? Boa and Elephant-Slayer, as hard-
136 THE WILD’ MAN OF THE WOODS

hearted towards other people as they were careless of them-
selves, wanted to leave the sick man to his fate ; they talked of
returning to the colony, leaving Palmer and the negro to do
what they could. But Darius employed all his eloquence to
persuade them to abandon such a selfish intention ; he reminded
them particularly of the express injunctions of the Governor ;
he told them that if they abandoned ‘Massa Palmer’ in this
way the Major would have them hung or shot as soon as they
appeared in New Drontheim: in fact, he employed such argu-
ments that the Malays at last became more tractable.

It was agreed that they two alone should follow the track of
the orang during the day that had just begun, while Darius
remained in the hut with the sick man. Slayer and Boa were
to return in the evening, after beating the surrounding parts of
the wood ; and, if their investigations were in vain, they would
consider about returning home the next morning. No doubt
Palmer, after having enjoyed absolute rest, would recover his
consciousness, and would be able to say what he wished. This
plan settled, one of the Malays climbed a tree to see where they
were, and that they might be able to find the huts again later
in the day. After making his observations, he rejoined his
comrade, and they both plunged once more into the wood,
followed by the hound.

Darius now remained alone with his master, and the day
seemed to him interminable. It continued to rain heavily,
though the storm had ceased, and the water was trickling
through the roof of the hut. The sick man did not seem to
mind it ; on the contrary, he placed his burning forehead me-
chanically under the little stream of water that was dripping
down drop by drop, and it appeared to relieve him. He did
not speak a word to Darius, and hardly seemed to know him ;
but at times he got much excited, and in his delirium talked in
a most heart-breaking manner. Sometimes he thought he saw
his son, and lavished the most tender caresses on him ; some-
times he called his dear Elizabeth, and began to comfort her in
the most affectionate way. Joy, hope, and terror, seemed to
bring gentle or terrible forms before his troubled mind by turns.
THE RETURN 137

Then, exhausted by these violent attacks, he sank again into a
state of gloomy torpor, which lasted till the next fit of delirium
came on.

In the evening the two Malays returned, very tired and wet
to the skin. They had not seen the orang, and had given up
all hope of finding poor Edward again. They could not think
of penetrating further into these endless forests. They had
been attacked by one of the black bears that feed upon palm-
trees, and after having fired both their guns at him and
wounded him, they put an end to him with their krises.

Then one of them had been pursued by a buffalo, and had
been obliged to double to escape the ferocious animal. And,
lastly, a few leagues from the huts there was a large swamp full:
of crocodiles and great snakes, and this appeared to be an in-
superable barrier. Slayer and Boa had walked along its edge
for a long time without finding any way across, and, to all
appearance, no such way existed. It was therefore desirable to
begin the retreat at once ; especially as the rainy reason, which
had just commenced, might, if they waited too long, render
their return very difficult and very dangerous, if not impossible.

These reasons were decisive, and Darius had nothing to
answer, except that his master was quite incapable of walking.
However he wished to wait till the next day, before he came to
any definite decision, hoping that Palmer’s condition would im-
prove in the night.

But the night was still more distressing than the previous
one. The sick man tossed about incessantly, and at times his
delirium almost amounted: to frenzy. On the other hand, the
rain still continued to fall, and threatened to inundate the
country. During this night again they had not been able to
light any fire, and tigers prowled about continually, roaring
frightfully. They were obliged to keep a good lookout and to
fire their guns from time to time to drive them away, so that
when the first rays of light appeared not one of the hunters
had had a moment’s rest.

Yet they had need to recruit their strength for the fresh
exertions that were awaiting them. There was now, indeed, no
138 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

doubt what must be done ; it was plainly necessary to abandon
the child to his fate and return to the colony without loss of
time. The provisions were completely exhausted, and they
had nothing to depend upon but the wild fruits of the forest.
Their clothes were in rags, their feet bleeding, their bodies
wounded with thorns, and half devoured by the greedy insects
of the woods. An immediate retreat was unavoidable, and as
Palmer was too ill to walk, he must be carried.

It was not without difficulty that Darius persuaded the
Malays to do this; he was again obliged to have recourse to
threats and promises, for they positively refused to burden
themselves with the sick man. At last they reluctantly con-
sented, and immediate preparations for departure were -made.
They formed a kind of litter for Richard out of some branches,
and then, having breakfasted on a fat lizard, which they ate
raw, as they could not light a fire, they left the orangs’ huts.

It may easily be imagined that the journey could not be
accomplished without almost unheard-of exertions. The
bearers of the litter had frequently to walk over swampy
ground or through tangled brushwood, while the third hunter
cut a passage for them with his knife. They were constantly
obliged to leave the straight path to avoid deep pools, or else
masses of prickly shrubs that could only be destroyed by fire.
In this manner they doubled the distance, and, to add to their
misfortunes, they frequently lost their way, in spite of the
sagacity of the Malays in discovering their whereabouts in these
solitudes. Several times over Boa and Elephant-Slayer sat
down, refusing to proceed any further, and threatened to stab
poor Darius, who exhorted them to take courage.

At times the faithful servant himself almost lost heart, and
began to think, too, that the task was beyond his strength.
His body was one large wound; he was dying of hunger, and
could hardly put his bleeding feet to the ground. However,
these fits of despondency did not last long ; he soon recovered
his courage, and, when he saw one of his comrades growing
faint, he went and harnessed himself to the litter with renewed
ardour.
THE RETURN 139

But if the sufferings of the hunters were terrible, those of
Richard cannot be described. Tossed about in the middle of
briars and thorns, without being able to push them aside,
drenched with rain, consumed by fever, he could do nothing
but groan every now and then. Even these groans became
weaker and weaker, and towards the end of the day they ceased
altogether. At one time Darius thought it was all over with
his master ; but when he put his hand on Palmer’s heart, he
could feel slight beatings. It was plain they must hasten
forward, if they did not intend this last spark of life to be
extinguished.

During this direful retreat Boa’s dog was a great help.
Several times he found the road again when they had lost it;
several times. he gave the alarm whén some evil beasts were
about to spring on the defenceless hunters. And it was he
that announced their arrival at the colony by barking joyfully.

It was time ; the sun was setting amid blood-red clouds, and
if the travellers had had to pass another night in the forest,
without food or shelter, probably not one of them would have
returned from the perilous expedition. However, their strength
seemed to revive when they found themselves in beaten paths,
and perceived signs around them that they were approaching
the dwellings of men, such is the wonderful influence that the
mind has on the body. Their bent forms grew erect, and they
carried their burden more cheerfully.

But the sick man gave no sign of joy: he was completely in-
sensible.

As the little band entered the fields, the Chinamen belong-
ing to Palmer’s house had just finished their work, and were
preparing to return home. Several, with the cool indifference
of their nation, noticed the piteous condition of the hunters
without dreaming of asking what had happened, or offering to
help them. But Elephant-Slayer did not intend to put up with
this ; he gave a sign to Darius, who was helping to carry Palmer
just then, and they deposited the litter on the ground. Then
the Malay seized hold of the two Chinamen that were nearest
to him by their long tails. In spite of their protestations and
140 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

resistance, he harnessed them to the litter, saying, with one
hand on his &7zs -

‘He is your master, too. It is your turn.’

And the Chinamen, one of whom was our old acquaintance
Yaw, were obliged to take the place of the bearers as far as the
house ; while the latter, completely worn out and tottering,
followed them with difficulty.

It was night when they reached the house. At the news of
their return people ran out to meet them with torches. They
dared not ask any questions, but they gazed at them eagerly.
Their piteous appearance was significant enough ; a few words
from Darius made them fully acquainted with the ill-success of
the enterprise. Then the negro, in his turn, asked after Mrs.
Palmer.

‘Ah! Darius,’ answered Maria, weeping, ‘ great trouble in
the house! Good missus not have two hours to live

At this instant Mrs. Surrey and little Anna, pale and trem-
bling both of them, appeared on the threshold.

‘Edward! cried the young girl; ‘have you brought me my
cousin Edward ?”

No one answered.

‘And my brother !’ cried Mrs. Surrey, ‘ where is my brother?”

The light of a torch fell on the litter, and they saw poor
Palmer, livid, his features distorted, and giving hardly any signs
of life. Mrs. Surrey thought he was dead, and uttered a
piercing cry, while Anna fell down fainting.

Dr. Van Stetten now approached; a glance was enough to
tell him the truth.

“Ah? he said sadly, ‘the good news I wanted so much to
restore my poor patient to life has not come; but, on the con-
trary, here is another case for me, a grief for all.’

They hastened to attend to Palmer, while the negress carried
off Anna, who was still unconscious. The next morning, the
people in the village of New Drontheim learned that Edward,
as we have related, was still in the orang’s power, that Mrs.
Palmer had died in the night, and that her husband himself
was at the point of death.
THE FATHER’S RESOLVE 141

CHAPTER XVII
THE FATHER’S RESOLVE

Five years had elapsed since the events. we have just related.

During this interval great changes had taken place in New
Drontheim, and the colony appeared to be in a wonderfully
prosperous state. Numerous buildings, indigo-factories, sugar-
factories, and mills had spread over the whole valley, as if they
had sprung out of the ground; the great forest that formerly
surrounded the houses had retreated several miles, and cultiva-
tion had extended widely in every direction.

The great bombax was no longer in existence; the very spot
where Edward and his nurse had been attacked by the tiger
was covered with fields of pepper, rice, and sweet potatoes.
The population of New Drontheim had increased threefold in
this short period. It is true that it was still composed of that
strange mixture of Chinese, Malays, Negroes and Europeans
that we are already acquainted with, but the number of
Europeans had increased in a greater proportion, and there
were always some European ships at anchor in the river.

The means of defending the colony had also become more
important. Instead of the poor dilapidated fort on the top of
the rock at the entrance of the harbour, there were two fine
batteries one on each side of the river, well kept and well
guarded, capable of resisting a considerable force for some
time. Old Major Grudmann, who had retired on his pension,
had been succeeded by another Governor, a man full of activity
and zeal, who was as friendly to Palmer’s family as his prede-
cessor had been.

In the midst of the general prosperity, Palmer’s establish-
ment had not ceased to flourish ; his buildings looked larger
and better cared for than they used to do ; there were a greater
number of workpeople, and his storehouses were hardly emptied
by ships coming to Sumatra for cargoes of spices and woods for
dyeing and cabinet-work than they were filled again, as if by
magic, with all sorts of commodities for the next purchaser.
142 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

The house looked as neat and gay as ever, the garden had lost
none of its Chinese curiosities, neither its pagoda with gilded
turrets, nor its bamboo bridges across the stream with the
waterfall, nor its china elephants with flower-pots for trunks.
A wise and beneficent authority seemed still to rule the house
and secure the comfort and prosperity of its inhabitants.

This influence, however, was not that of Richard Palmer,
The head of the family had no longer the will and energy
requisite for such a task. Though he did not utterly sink under
the effects of despair, yet, when he came to himself again, life
seemed of little value. Bereaved of his wife and son, he
became gloomy and taciturn. He did not trouble himself at
all about his affairs, and cared for nothing but roaming about
in the woods, where he frequently spent five or six days together.
When he returned home after these long absences, he looked
gaunt, famished, and spent with fatigue.

In her brother’s stead, Mrs. Surrey, who had superintended
the household affairs in Elizabeth’s lifetime, now assumed the
management of everything in which the interests of the family
were involved. Anna gave her as much assistance as she
could.

When Richard, after along and painful illness, had recovered
his health, thanks to the skill and devotion of Dr. Van Stetten,
he sank at first, as we have said, almost into despair. How-
ever, a thought, which by degrees became a fixed idea, took
possession of his mind: according to the prevalent reports of
the manners and habits of orangs there was reason to hope
that his son was still alive; he must therefore find him, rescue,
or at least avenge him. Through brooding continually over
this one subject, Richard became persuaded that he must
devote himself entirely to this rescue or revenge ; and, when he
had once arrived at this determination, his health began to im-
prove rapidly. Henceforth he had an object in life ; he thought
that in listening to the suggestions of his paternal love, he was
obeying the voice of that poor mother, who was calling to him
from her grave to seek and save the lost child. So, leaving the
affairs of the house to his sister and niece, he set himself to
THE FATHER’S RESOLVE 143

find means of putting his project into execution. He could
not bear the idea of employing strangers to help him in this
work of deliverance ; besides, the Malays, the only native race
that had the vigour and courage necessary to assist him
effectually, were ferocious, treacherous, and unruly. He deter-
mined therefore to depend only on himself. For this purpose
he must give up his European habits, must harden himself to
fatigue and privation, and expose himself to the dangers of an
adventurous life in these uninhabited places—in a word, he
must turn savage. This task, in his state of mind, did not
appear to him-beyond his strength, and he set himself to it
resolutely as soon as his health was restored.

His first care was to improve himself in shooting, by acquir-
‘ing the skill and the quicksightedness that are indispensable to
a hunter in these wild solitudes. After constant practice, he
acquired an extraordinary skill in the use of a large and very
good rifle, which he had procured at great expense. In his
hands the weapon was capable of doing wonderful execution ;
the largest animals, such as the elephant and the horned
rhinoceros, common enough in the uninhabited parts of Sumatra,
had fallen more than once under his fire. He had learned,
too, to use the 477s dexterously ; and in deadly struggle with
the monsters of the primeval forest he never failed to plunge
the terrible blade exactly in the place where the blow would be
fatal.

This was much, but it was not all; according to the pro-
gramme he had laid down for himself, he must harden his body
to the inclemency of that unhealthy climate; must accustom
himself to do without the comforts of civilized life, and to sleep
on the bare ground ; he must try to improve to the utmost his
sight and hearing, and this result could only be arrived at by
long and persevering practice. So, during the five years that
had elapsed, he had wandered about incessantly in the woods,
living on the produce of his hunting, sleeping wherever night
overtook him, and encountering with eagerness difficulties,
toils, and dangers.

Thanks to this new education, Richard gradually became all
144 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

he desired. His health was re-established, his limbs had
acquired vigour and agility; and, although he had become
much thinner, he could bear hunger, thirst and fatigue for a
long time together. He could hear, at a considerable distance,
the noise of steps on dry leaves ; in the midst of the thickest
underwood he could spy out the retreat of a wild beast, and in
following a track several miles he had the marvellous instinct
of the Red Indians of North America.

One could easily understand that Richard, in his long ex-
peditions through the Sumatran forests, was exposed to very
terrible adventures. Once he had to fight an enormous bear
without any other weapon than the hatchet with which he was
cutting his way through the underwood. Another time he
found himself suddenly enveloped in the folds of a monstrous
boa, that was dragging him away to crush him against a tree,
according to the custom of these immense reptiles ; but the
planter, using with wonderful coolness the tactics of the Malays,
drew his 477s, cut the cold, slimy ring that encircled him, and
then put an end to the snake by a shot from his rifle. We say
nothing of the furious buffaloes that he brought to the ground
with a ball in the middle of their foreheads, when they were
rushing wildly upon him; of the tigers that he struck down at
the moment when, stealing through the long grass to spring
upon him, he could only see their shining eyes. But the
danger he would have encountered most readily was precisely
that which he had not the least occasion to brave ; we mean an
encounter with orangs. This species of ape is rare, and during
this long period Palmer had only seen a few, and they were
always at a great distance ; but, ever active and alert, he looked
to Providence to give him the opportunity he so earnestly
desired. As to his son, in spite of his constant search, he had
never found any trace of him, and everything led him to suppose
that, if Edward was still living, the orangs had carried him away
with them to some remote part of the forest to which he had
not yet penetrated.

It remains for us to mention Palmer’s compahion in his
hazardous expeditions, a dog named Robin. This Robin,
THE FATHER’S RESOLVE 145

which Richard had trained himself with the greatest. care, was
not a powerful animal, capable of using his teeth in his master’s
defence, like Boa’s dog; on the contrary, it was a little animal,
very much like the pug-dogs that are the delight of some old
maids. Robin would be of no use in a serious conflict with the
inhabitants of the forest ; but, on the other hand, his hearing
and scent were singularly fine, and he was constantly on the
watch. During the day, when they were walking, Robin would
go along as a scout, twenty paces in front of Richard, examin-
ing the bushes, smelling the tracks, and noticing everything
that seemed suspicious to him. If any danger threatened, the
dog immediately beat a retreat, with his tail between his legs,
and uttering a low, timid bark, every variation of which his
master had learned to know.

At night Richard would sometimes build a shelter for him-
self of branches; but frequently he slept in a recess in the
rock, or in a hollow tree. Robin always had his place at his
feet. Although apparently sound asleep, he would raise his
head at the slightest sound, and give the usual signal. Richard
was on his feet in a moment, with his rifle in his hand. In
this way neither master nor dog could be taken by surprise—
an incalculable advantage in these solitudes, where danger
always comes unexpectedly, and is the more fatal in proportion
as it is unforeseen.

Such was the changed man who had undertaken to find the
lost child; such were the means of defence he possessed
against the thousand dangers of this terrible kind of life.
Nevertheless, he did not hide from himself that, in spite of his
precautions, he would probably, sooner or later, fall a victim
to his temerity. But this probability scarcely disturbed him :
long since he had made the sacrifice of his life ; and when the
thought of one day becoming a prey to wild beasts presented
itself to his mind, he would say, with gloomy resignation :

‘Be it so! then my troubles will be ended.’

Since the loss of Edward, five years, as we have said, had
passed away, when Palmer set out on an excursion that took

several days, and the results of which filled him with hope
10
146 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

He had left the house equipped as usual, carrying his weapons,
his hatchet, and some provisions. This time he resolved to
explore a new part of the forest. It may be remembered that,
at the time of his first expedition in company with Boa and
Elephant-Slayer, an immense marsh of unknown extent, but
which formed an insuperable obstacle in that direction, had
‘compelled them to turn back. Since that time Palmer had
examined minutely the part of the wood that lay between the
marsh and the colony ; but the morass, with its gigantic reeds
sharp as sabres, with its slimy bottom swarming with croco-
diles, with its pools of stagnant water and poisonous exhala-
tions, had always stopped his way. However, Palmer, in one
of his previous rounds, had climbed a tall tree, and had
thought he could distinguish, about the centre of this marsh,
a narrow chain of rocks which might serve as a bridge across
it, and it was at this point that he intended to try and cross.
In order to reach this spot he walked for two days. He
guided himself by a little pocket compass, which he never
went without, and by certain points that had become familiar
to him. He also frequently consulted a kind of map of the
country which he had traced himself, and on which he had
carefully noted his previous discoveries. By the help of these
marks he found the place he wanted without any difficulty,
and this piece of success was soon followed by another. He
was not mistaken in his anticipations: the basaltic rocks that
he had perceived in the distance were continued in an irre-
gular manner, but without intermission, across the marsh. It
was a natural bridge which made it possible to cross these
morasses, so dangerous in themselves and so perilously infested.
Richard availed himself of it without troubling himself about
a few gavials (crocodiles) that seemed disposed to dispute his
passage, and soon entered a part of the forest perfectly new to
him, and two or three times more extensive than that with
which he was already acquainted. For the first time since
his troubles a feeling something like joy awoke in his heart.
Perhaps his son was concealed in this mysterious district ;
perhaps he should at last get at these invisible orangs, and
THE FATHER’S RESOLVE 147

punish the thief that had stolen Edward. However, in spite
of his impatience to begin the search, he felt the necessity of
.not penetrating into this unknown land without having first
discovered exactly where he was, in order that he might avoid
doubts and fatal mistakes for the future. He chose as land-
marks two or three high mountains inthe centre of the island,
noted down on his map several important observations, and
then, and not till then, he dared to venture into those solitary
places, where perhaps no human creature had ever penetrated
since the creation.

This part of the country wore a very different aspect from
that of the district on the other side of the marsh, and the
hunter noticed, not without lively satisfaction, that it was suited
in every particular for the abode of orangs, He knew, in fact,
that these quadrumans are extremely susceptible of cold, and
that in Sumatra, where the temperature is subject to sudden
changes, especially in the neighbourhood of the mountains,
they generally establish their dwellings in low, covered regions,
sheltered from the wind. Now this part seemed exactly suited
to the requirements of orangs. It was a kind of valley, or
rather an extensive depression of the land, which extended as
far as one could see. The trees, of colossal proportions, were
no longer so very close to each other, but disposed in clumps
in a picturesque manner. The ground was soft, without being
marshy. The high grass formed a wavy sea of verdure, from
which the venerable trunks of the bombax and palm-trees
emerged. The landscape had the majestic and grand appear-
ance of an American savannah.

Richard plunged resolutely into the high grass. After the
first few steps all this brilliant picture disappeared from his
sight, and he could see nothing but the tops of the nearest
trees. Robin followed him, his nose in the air and his eye on
the watch.

The planter was not long in discovering that this grand
vegetation, apparently so quiet, was peopled by numerous
inhabitants. Every minute clouds of birds—white spoon-bills,
rose-coloured flamingoes, herons with flowing crests — flew

10—2
148 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

around him, and wide tracks in the prairie betrayed the custo-
mary paths of large quadrupeds ; but, except a buffalo, which
he found ruminating at the foot of a tuft of rattans, and which
just turned towards him his melancholy eye, without disturbing
himself, he saw no cause for alarm.

Palmer frequently met with pools of water, formed during
the last rainy season, and which obliged him sometimes to go
along way round. In spite of these obstacles, in spite of the
caution with which he was obliged to proceed, he made rapid
progress, and had penetrated some way into the valley, when
he perceived that the sun was about to set. Now he could
not, without exposing himself to certain danger, spend the
night in the open air, as he had done several times before, and
it was time to think of a shelter for the night. Unfortunately
he could see neither rock nor hollow tree there that would
serve him for a temporary retreat. He was in the middle of
the savannah, and it would be the utmost imprudence to wait
till morning in the place where he was.

Palmer therefore set to work to discover a more favourable
spot to establish his camp. He wished particularly to dis-
cover some running water, for not having ventured to quench
his thirst at the pools of impure water he had met with on his
way, he was almost dying with thirst, and his little companion
was in the same condition. His desire was soon gratified, and
he found a fresh, limpid stream, where both master and dog
could drink at their leisure.

In other respects the place was such as could be wished foi
a resting-place during the night. Besides drinkable water—
one of the first necessaries in these solitudes—there were
cocoanut-trees, fig-trees, and bananas, loaded with fruit ; and,
what was more, Palmer spied out a hollow place among the
gigantic roots of a banyan-tree, deep enough to serve as a
shelter both for himself and Robin. After having made sure
that this cavity was not already in the possession of certain
inhabitants that would not willingly have consented to share
it with him, he hastened to gather together moss and dry leaves
to make a bed.
DISCOVERY 149

CHAPTER XVIII
DISCOVERY

Wui_s, Palmer was thus occupied, a faint howl, which was all
the sound that Robin was ever known to produce, for Robin
never barked, attracted his attention. Although the hunter
did not recognise-the tone which told of imminent danger, he
quickly raised his rifle to his shoulder and looked about to see
if he could discover the reason for this warning. In a few
minutes a little stag, of a kind very common in Sumatra, made
its way out of the grass about twenty paces from him. Whether
it was that he did not see Richard, or whether he was still
ignorant that he had anything to fear from human beings, he
walked on with a quiet step, and, rearing his majestic horns,
he approached the rivulet without fear. He would be an easy
prey, and the planter thought a cutlet of deer roasted in the
ashes would be a nice supper for him and his dog after the
fatigues of the day. He was on the point then of pulling the
trigger of his rifle, and of disturbing the deep silence of the
forest by firing, when Robin gave a second howl, but this time
in a plaintive tone, very different from the first. The master
recognised the signal of alarm, and thought no more of the
poor stag, which, after having quenched his thirst, went away
without guessing the danger he had just escaped.

Palmer stood still with his weapon at his shoulder, and
looked in vain in all directions; he could hear no noise, and
could see nothing. At last, tired with waiting, he turned to
Robin to scold him for his mistake, and then he noticed that
the dog, instead of troubling himself about what might be
happening on the ground, had his eyes fixed on a tree about
thirty or forty feet off. The planter then directed his attention
to the same point, and at last distinguished some great body
moving in the thickest part of the foliage : it was an orang.

‘Palmer’s first impulse was to fire at this member of the
detested race, but he thought better of it. The orang had not
se€n him, and did not seem uneasy. No doubt he lived some-
150 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

where near, and instead of killing him on the spot, to satisfy
his blind revenge, would it not be better to follow him and
watch his actions, ready to send a ball into him, if circum-
stances required it?

Richard lowered his gun for the second time, and throwing
himself down behind a group of bamboos, continued to watch
the orang.

The latter, as we have said, seemed to have no idea of
danger, and probably little suspected the presence of an enemy
in that part of the forest over which he had reigned as king till
that day. He passed rather heavily from one tree to another.
The slowness of his movements was easily accounted for ; his
hands were laden with figs and bananas, which he had just
gathered from the neighbouring trees. It would not do, how-
ever, to trust too much to this apparent indolence. Palmer
knew that at the least alarm the ordng would quickly throw
down his burden and disappear with the rapidity of thought.
When the orang had gone some little distance, the hunter
seized Robin, fearing he might prove a serious trouble to him,
and placed him in the hollow where he intended to sleep,
ordering him to remain quiet. This was enough; the little
creature, accustomed for a long time to such proceedings,
crouched down in the cavity, and would not have thought of
stirring all night without his master’s leave.

Palmer, easy on this point, began to creep through the high
grass, and was not long in discovering the orang, who was
quietly continuing his course from tree to tree. The planter
took the greatest pains not to be seen; but, unfortunately, the
flocks of birds that flew away as he proceeded might betray
him. Once even, he threw himself flat on the ground, think-
ing he was discovered. The orang, in fact, had come to a full
stop on a thick branch, and had uttered a dull, guttural kind
of noise. Was it a cry of alarm, or was it a call?

Palmer, both surprised and uneasy, did not know what to
think, when the same noise was repeated a little further off, as
if by an echo. Richard’s joy at becoming certain of this was
unutterable. His dearest wish was on the point of being
DISCOVERY 151

realised ; he was about to find what he had sought for in vain
for five ean colony of orangs !

In a few minutes he reached a glade, well sheltered from the
wind by thick masses of trees, and traversed by the stream of
which we have spoken. In this kind of enclosure the grass
was worn, and looked as if it had been trodden under foot;
on the bank of the stream a well-beaten, damp path led him to
think that it was habitually used by some animals when they
went to get water. But what struck the hunter at first was the
sight of three huts almost exactly like those he had seen in the
forest in his first expedition. Two of them were perched on
the principal branches of an old ebony tree; the third was
built against the trunk of a bombax-tree, a little apart. The
latter, more spacious and infinitely better built than the others,
was covered with palm-leaves that were still fresh, and it
appeared greatly preferable to the miserable huts which afford
shelter to some of the aboriginal inhabitants of the South Sea.

No orang was to be seen near these singular dwellings, and
Richard doubted if they were still inhabited, but his uncer-
tainty did not last long. The orang that had been his guide
thither, when he had reached the glade, repeated his mysterious
sound. Immediately something stirred in one of the huts in
the ebony-tree, and two hideous heads—one large, with the
prominent face of a beast, the other much smaller, and more
like the human countenance—appeared at the entrance; then
the two orangs came out of their dwelling, and advanced to
meet the first. They were evidently mother and son, no doubt
the wife and child of the one that was coming home with a
store of provisions. Indeed, when they met, the greatest friend-
ship seemed to exist between the three; the odd sounds began
again; they sat down on a thick branch, and began to make
their supper together on the fruits that the father had brought.

Palmer could now observe the strange creatures more closely
than he had done tillthen. The father and mother were about
six feet high; they were covered with brown hair, soft and
silky, except the face, hands, and some other parts of the body
that were bare and copper-coloured. They had hair on their
152 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

heads and a moustache over the mouth, which was large, with
thin tight lips. They had thick eyebrows, and their eyes had
much vivacity and expression. There was something sedate
and thoughtful in their way of moving, not commonly observed
in any other kind of monkey. The little one looked lively,
and almost intelligent, and seemed as if he showed signs of a
certain capacity for education.

It is well known that young orangs that have been brought
to Europe have shown a wonderful facility in imitating the
different acts of men; and a modern savant has given an
account of the wonderful feats attributed to a young female
orang, which was presented to the Empress Josephine, and
which Napoleon I. named Mademoiselle Desbots.

Richard was not in a humour to study the problem in natural
history that thege curious creatures offer, and which perhaps
will remain unsolved for a long time. If, indeed, he had not
feared compromising by too great precipitation the result of
his discovery, he would have yielded to the temptation of
disturbing this family meeting by discharging his rifle at them.
But he put a restraint on himself, and his caution did not long
remain unrewarded.

The youngest orang, while playing with a fine cocoa-nut that
his father had brought, uttered two or three peculiar cries, and
leaned down towards the hut at the foot of the tree. A voice
from within answered him, and then a strange creature came
out, whose form was altogether different from that of the orangs,
and sent a thrill through the heart of the observer.

In truth, it was not an orang, let us say at once: it was a
man, or rather a youth, who looked as tall and strong as a man.

His long tangled hair served him for clothing, and his body,
although burnt by the sun, and hardened by contact with the
air, showed indelible signs that he belonged to the white race.
His nails were long and sharp, his movements sudden and
agile; yet he had a look of gentleness, and even of wild melan-
choly, that inspired compassion.

We can give no idea of the ecstasy that Richard felt at this
apparition. This miserable and degraded being was his son,
his Edward.
DISCOVERY 153

No doubt there was a great difference between the fair rosy
child that he had lost and this robust, sunburnt youth, who
had sunk into a mere savage. However, Palmer could not be
deceived; his paternal heart leapt within him. Forgetting
everything else, he was on the point of raising himself above
the high grass that concealed him; he was on the point of
crying out, ‘Edward! my dear Edward!’ but the sounds died
away on his lips, the arm on which he was resting bent under
the weight of his body, and he fell with his face to the ground,
unable to see, hear, or move. This momentary weakness had
a happy result, for it gave time for him to think a little, and
moderate these first transports.

When he came to himself, he felt the necessity of acting with
extreme prudence, if he wished to restore the unhappy child
he had just found to civilized life. He could not be sure of
killing with a single ball the orang he had first perceived, and
which he suspected was the one that had run away with
Edward ; besides, if he killed the head of the family, would
not the female endeavour to avenge his death, as well as the
young one, which seemed to be a formidable animal already ?
There might be other orangs in the neighbourhood that would
run thither at the first signal of alarm—how would Richard, in
spite of all his courage and weapons, be able to defend himself
against a troop of these animals, with whose indomitable vigour
he was well acquainted? Again, and above all, how could he
tell that the poor child, who had fallen into such a state of
degradation, would recognise his father, and not rather take to
flight when he saw him, or even try to defend himself from
him? It would be better then to remain concealed, and wait
for a favourable opportunity to act.

While the hunter thus found himself condemned for a time
to inaction, the inhabitant of the hut advanced in a listless way
towards the ebony-tree, on which the family had assembled.
On seeing him, the young orang displayed the greatest joy;
he redoubled his cries in a peculiar tone, and seemed to invite
the youth to mount, by showing him the beautiful fruit he had
in his hand. As Edward—for so we shall now call him—did
154 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

not seem in a hurry to accept this invitation, he came down
himself, hanging by his hands to the lowest branch of the
tree; then, running on his two feet in rather an awkward
manner, he threw himself on Edward’s neck, whom he seemed
very fond of, and gave him many hearty kisses, putting his lips
to his cheeks and chest.

Edward, after having yielded in an absent way to the caresses
of the young orang, freed himself from his embraces and
passed on. But this was not what his companion wanted, and
when he saw him going away he began to utter piercing cries,
and dashed away from him the fruit that he had in his hand.
But as these demonstrations did not produce the desired effect,
he put himself into a temper, and set to work to stamp, and
then throwing himself on the ground, he began to cry, wiping
away his tears with his fists, as children do sometimes.

This grief and anger did not affect Edward much, and he
only smiled faintly. He kept on his way to the stream, bent
down and drank out of the hollow of his hand: and after this
he seemed to be hunting among -the trees for something that
would do for his evening meal. Spying out a large fig-tree
loaded with fruit, he took hold of it in a determined way, and,
with an agility little inferior to that of the orangs themselves,
climbed to the top; there he took his seat on a branch, and
began to eat his supper.

However, the mother seemed excited by the lamentations of
her child ; she made a great noise to appease him. Not being
able to succeed in doing so, she came down to the ground,
took him in her arms, and overwhelmed him with caresses ;
but nothing would do. As the little orang continued to weep
and cry, she had recourse to a few gentle taps with her large
hand to impose silence on her offspring.

Meanwhile the father, having finished his supper, had
stretched himself out listlessly on a branch, a favourite attitude
with orangs. However, he did not lose sight of Edward, who
had gone too far away to please him. At last, finding that
the youth was certainly too far off, or was too long returning,
he roused himself from his indolence and went after him,
DISCOVERY 155

springing from tree to tree, till poor Edward saw him coming,
and no doubt fearing some violence, he hastened to fill his
mouth with fruit, and let himself down the tree. Then he
returned sadly towards the huts through the grass on the
ground, while the orang, apparently satisfied with his docility,
returned along the branches of the trees.

Palmer was cut to the heart to see his son and the son of
his dear Elizabeth, the child of so many hopes, reduced to
this condition of misery, that he was the slave of these hideous
apes. And there was no longer any room to doubt that
Edward was retained by force, and that the orangs exercised a
constant watch over him, to prevent him from recovering his
liberty, though it was clear he would not know what to do if
he did get free, and this circumstance required the most
serious attention.

Edward and the quadruman family seemed now to be on
very good terms. As soon as the youth approached, the
little orang sprang into his arms, and covered him a second
time with kisses. A fine fig that Edward gave him quite re-
established their friendship, and they played together on the
grass for a little time with mutual pleasure.

The father resumed his careless attitude on the tree. As
to the mother, seated at the foot of the tree, she watched their
games ; perhaps she felt some jealousy at the affection her
son showed for the prisoner, but she only manifested it by
uttering a few guttural sounds that did not seem to have any
threatening character about them.

The planter observed all this with as much astonishment as
grief; it seemed to him that Edward, though he had almost
acquired a man’s stature and strength during the last five
years, had yet less intelligence than when he was a child.
But he was soon obliged to leave his observations, and the
reflections they suggested; the sun had set, the night was
coming on, as usual, without being preceded by any twilight,
and the sky had grown suddenly dark. In a little time the
male orang repeated his grunting sound, and went into one
of the huts on the ebony-tree, while the mother and child
156 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

went into the other. Edward, on his part, hastened to his
leafy abode, and everything became silent and still in the
glade.

Richard knew not what to do, but he had an intense desire
to try at once to get at his son in some way. While he was
considering the subject, a terrible doubt flashed across his
mind. During the preceding scenes Edward had not pro-
nounced a single word; could it be that he had completely
forgotten how to speak human language, and that he would
be unable to understand and answer when anyone spoke to
him? ‘Then what circumspection would be necessary if the
powers of his mind had been thus lessened by the solitude,
silence, and society of brute creatures? In spite of all this
the poor father determined to risk an attempt at once.

After having given the orangs time to fall asleep, and being
quite sure that it was too dark to be seen, he crept to Edward’s
hut, crouched down behind the wall of foliage opposite the
entrance, and in English, as the language that used to be
most familiar to the child, he said, in a gentle voice :

‘Edward, dear Edward! do you still think of your father?”

There was a sudden movement in the hut, as if someone
got up from his seat ; at the same time Palmer heard a sound
of gasping for breath that betrayed unusual emotion. Perhaps
the dweller in the cabin thought himself the plaything of a
dream, when Richard, after a short pause, continued in the
same tone, stopping between each word:

‘Edward! Edward! have you forgotten your father who
loved you so dearly, and your mother, and your cousin Anna ?”

Hardly had he finished these words than he was frightened
himself at their effect. Whether the human voice which he
had not heard for so long struck him with terror, or whether
he understood the meaning of these words, Edward seemed
seized with a strange kind of frenzy. He rushed out of his
house uttering frightful cries, and began to run up and down
in a frantic way. In his hand he brandished a club, and beat
the air with it as if he were striking at a phantom.

As he ran he continued to utter wild piercing shrieks which
DISCOVERY 157

had nothing human about them. At last, desperate, breath-
less, and streaming with perspiration, he threw down his stick,
seized the trunk of a tree, climbed it in a minute, and dis-
appeared among the branches.

Palmer was astounded at the result of his experiment ; he
waited for a long time without seeing Edward return ; much
discouraged, he returned to the place where he meant to spend
the night, and found Robin still in the hollow where he had
left him. The little animal was dying with hunger, and his
master hastened to give him some supper. As for himself, he
did not dream of eating, in spite of the fatigues of the day.
He did not dare light a fire, as he generally did, to scare away
the wild beasts, for the bright light would certainly alarm the
orangs, and perhaps his son himself. Besides, he had no wish
to go to sleep, and he could depend on himself to keep watch
during the rest of the night. So he settled himself in his
poor lodging, and with his rifle on his knees, began to think
over the difficulties of his situation.

It was not enough indeed to have found Edward—he must
get him away at once from the power of these formidable
creatures; and Richard knew well enough what they were
capable of to appreciate the danger of such an enterprise. In
order to gain his object it would be necessary to hold some
communication with Edward, and to arrange a way of escape
with him ; but how could he arrange anything with him when
the very sound of the human voice produced such an effect
on the young savage ?

Now that Richard had found his son, he did not want to
run the risk of losing him again by taking any imprudent step,
or one of which the success was uncertain. So, after having
thought a long time, he decided on the following plan: not to
attempt anything at present, but to return to the colony for
help ; to come back again quickly with a large number of men,
who would surround Edward’s hut and take possession of him
in spite of any resistance the orangs might make. This plan
would require some little time to put into execution, and
would compel the father to leave the child for some days still
158 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

in his miserable condition; but it was the safest one, and
Palmer would not try any other.

Still one subject of anxiety tormented him; what had
become of Edward? In his blind terror had he not hurt
himself seriously by running against the trees and rocks?
This thought worried the hunter during the rest of the night.
Several times he was on the point of going back to the hut to
see if his son had returned, but it was advisable, in order to
ensure the success of his plan, that nothing should disturb
the serenity of the orangs, and the other animals of that
genus, which, during his absence, might quit their present
dwelling and go and establish themselves in another part o
the forest. However, not being able to overcome his uneasi-
ness, he glided to a mass of underwood whence it was easy
for him to watch the inhabitants of the glade ; he settled him-
self there with Robin, and waited impatiently for day.

Day came at last, and the brightness of early morning lighted
up the woods. Unfortunately the pestilential cadout rolled in
heavy waves under the overhanging trees and made it im-
possible to see at any distance. It was useless to hope that
the fog would pass off for some hours, and the hunter, who
was ina hurry to be up and doing, had no time to lose in
making observations. But he considered that if this vexatious
mist prevented him from seeing, it must also prevent him from
being seen, and he went nearer the huts, taking advantage of
every inequality of the ground to conceal himself.

He soon had the satisfaction of seeing Edward return with
slow steps to his cabin. The poor boy looked even more
downcast and sad than the evening before, as if the event of
the previous day had awakened some bitter remembrances.
With head bent down, he passed close by his father, and went
and sat down before his hut in a gloomy, dreamy way.

Palmer guessed, or thought he guessed, what was disturbing
his weak mind: and what would he not have given to run into
his son’s arms, to quiet him, and explain what appeared dark
and terrible to him? But his first attempt had succeeded too
ill for it to be prudent to risk another, and the father shed
tears as he was obliged to content himself with murmuring :
RETURN HOME 159

‘Ah, poor child, take courage! a few days more and your
sufferings will be at an end!’

Palmer then began to make his retreat with the greatest
caution. Having warned the dog by a sign that he must be
silent, he set to work to creep slowly through the brushwood,
and in a short time they found themselves out of the glade.

CHAPTER XIX
RETURN HOME

Ir was not without a pang that the father turned away from his
beloved child, whom he had found again after incurring so
much difficulty and danger on his behalf. When he caught
his last glimpse of Edward through the mist, he was still sitting
before his hut plunged in a sad reverie. He was resting his
head on his hand, and his long tangled hair formed a veil ‘to
his grief, but this veil was not thick enough to hide the great
tears that chased each other down his sunburnt cheeks.

Palmer set off at a quick rate. He reckoned that in two
days he could traverse the distance, which was considerable,
that lay between him and New Drontheim, and return on the
third with a numerous company to effect his son’s deliverance.

But, in spite of the precautions he had taken, and the points
that he was quite sure about, he lost his way more than once
in the savannah. After having recrossed the winding ridge of
rocks that extended across the marshes, he hoped that his pro-
gress would be more rapid, but an unfortunate accident again
delayed the fulfilment of all his anticipations.

Little Robin, as he ran hither and thither round his master
to make sure of the road, was bitten by one of those venomous
reptiles that infest the forests of Malaysia. Such an accident
was nothing new ; and twenty times over, by applying certain
herbs that he was acquainted with, to this faithful servant’s
wound, Palmer had succeeded in curing him very speedily.
Now. he hastened to apply his usual remedy to the place, but
the result did not answer his expectation. The dog continued
160 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

to suffer, and swelled up to an immense size; he was soon
unable to walk, and Palmer was obliged to stop and attend to
him. But all his efforts were useless ; the poor creature expired,
gazing at his master with a look full of affection, and licking
his hands.

His sudden death grieved the hunter very much, and made
him feel very downcast.

‘Dear little companion of my sufferings and miseries,’ he
said, with tears in his eyes, laying down the lifeless body, ‘ did
you think, then, that I should not want you any more? Why
did you leave our task unfinished ”

He did not like the body to become the prey of wild beasts,
and dug a little grave for it with his 47s ; then he set off again
with a sore heart.

This event lost him some precious time. Besides, being
deprived of the help of Robin’s wonderful instinct, he could
not proceed with so much rapidity and assurance as before.
So, instead of reaching the colony the next day, as he had
wished to do, he did not arrive till the third day.

When he reached the house, the new Governor, Mr. Deursen,
was paying a visit and chatting with Mrs. Surrey and Anna.

The Governor was surprised at Palmer’s condition. Edward’s
father was looking old and worn, though at times he manifested
extraordinary vigour. His face was bronzed and wrinkled ; his
long, matted beard showed how little he cared about his own
appearance, and there was a kind of wildness at times in his
sunken eye. His dress corresponded with his countenance.
He who once dressed with so much care, when he wished to
please a beloved wife, was clothed in skins, which were only
half tanned, and fastened round his limbs with leathern thongs.
These substantial garments had, however, suffered from the
thorns and sharp grass, for in several places they left his hard,
dry, hairy skin exposed, which neither the stings of insects nor
the thorns of the bushes could penetrate.

Though Palmer was generally overcome with fatigue when
he returned from his expeditions into the interior of the country,
he had never seemed so reduced as he did now. His feet
RETURN HOME 161

were bleeding, he could not stand upright, and his feverish
look led them to guess that to all his other sufferings was added
that of hunger.

However, on perceiving his sister and niece, he quickened
his speed, and waved his arm as if he was impatient to announce
some great news. At last, when he reached them, he cried
out, in a hollow voice:

‘Sister Anna, there’s no doubt !—he is living, I have seen
him ?

He stopped, and leaned against the door-post, for his strength
failed him, and he turned giddy.

‘Richard,’ asked Mrs. Surrey, ‘what do you mean? whom
are you talking about ?’

‘Uncle,’ cried Anna, in her turn, ‘ what has happened ?”

He tried to answer, but the sounds died away on his lips,
his head swam round, and his legs gave way under him.
However, he murmured at last, with a great effort :

‘ Edward !—Edward !—Edward !’

And he fell down insensible.

When he came to himself, thanks to the care lavishly bestowed
on him by Van Stetten, who arrived at that very minute, he
pressed the doctor’s hand, and cried:

‘Yes, sister,—yes, dear Anna,—yes, my friends, Edward is
living ; I have seen him; I have been within a few paces of
him ; I could have talked with him if he had been able to
recognise my voice, and understand and answer me.’

And he related in detail the incidents of his last expedition
into the deep forest. All present listened with an air of dumb
amazement. Every now and then Mrs. Surrey and Anna
uttered exclamations of terror, or, raising their clasped hands
to heaven, shed abundant tears.

When Palmer had finished his tale, the Governor seemed
very thoughtful.

‘I have heard wonderful stories told of the great apes of
Africa and Malaysia,’ he answered ; ‘ but really, Mr. Palmer, if
anyone but you had told me such things I should not have
believed him. However, your son is alive still, and that is the

II
162 THE WILD MAN OF THE.WOODS

great thing. We may save him, and, though he is reduced to
such a deplorable condition, restore him to civilized life. He
is young; education will efface the traces of his present degra-
dation ; and why should he not again become the pride and
joy of his family? Mr. Palmer, do you intend to be long
before you attempt the rescue of the poor child ?’

Palmer answered in a firm tone:

‘I shall set out to-morrow morning.’

Anna and Mrs. Surrey tried to reason with him ; he would
not even give them time to open their mouths.

‘You are going to talk to me of the fatigue I have just had,’
he replied, in a peremptory tone; ‘say no more about it! I
am quite rested ; I feel quite strong and ready to start again.
If I were not obliged to make some positively necessary pre-
parations, and to collect a sufficient number of men to secure
the success of my enterprise, I should set off at once.’

The poor women, quite abashed, dared not say another word.

“I understand your impatience, Mr. Palmer,’ answered the
Governor, ‘and I share it. You have need, you say, of a great
number of men to carry out your plan effectively ; I can get
you some. In the roads there are some Lascars that we took
in at Malacca to look after the rigging; they are iron men,
accustomed to tiger-hunting in impenetrable jungles, and
hardened to all the fatigue of life in the woods. We will have,
too, any natives whom you can persuade to come, and I intend
to accompany you myself. How long do you think this excur-
sion into the forest will take?’

‘Three or four days at most.’

‘Then it is settled, Mr. Palmer ; I will go with you.’

‘We shall succeed ! cried Palmer. ‘We shall find Edward,
and get him away from these horrible creatures that have got
him in their power. In a few days I am sure he will become
as gentle, kind, and affectionate, as he used to be when he was
a baby.’

The Governor sent for several Lascars, and told them what
he expected of them, promising them a handsome reward, which
they were by no means disposed to refuse.
RETURN HOME 163

They were charmed, moreover, at the idea of wandering
about for some days in the woods. So they consented in the
name of their absent comrades, and set to work to consider
how they could let them know, that they might all be ready at
the appointed hour for setting out.

On their part Elephant Slayer and the other Malays, knowing
Palmer’s generosity, and being sure of a handsome reward,
declared they would willingly join the expedition.

Next morning, a little before daylight, as Richard had desired,
all who were to take part in the expedition, including the faithful
Darius, met in the court of the house. Though it was not very
dark, the cabout rendered the use of lights necessary, and
several torches fixed in the ground shed a reddish light around
them. The Lascars and Malays were already at the place of
rendezvous, some dressed in their long white garments, others
wrapt in their large sarongs, as the morning air was fresh, but
all of them wore, under these flowing robes, a very simple
costume which could not get in their way in the midst of the
inextricable underwood of the forest. They were provided
with cutlasses and hatchets to cut a passage for themselves
through the thickets, and besides they had heavy guns and
some of the long matchlocks which are still used in these-bar-
barous countries. The Malays would have liked to have
furnished themselves with their ordinary weapons—poisoned
arrows—but Palmer set himself against the very idea of it, for
fear, if any scuffle took place, his son might receive some
mortal wound ; and. they were obliged to submit to his orders.

However, the two races formed distinct groups ; whether it
was that the difference of their language kept them apart, or
that they had a feeling of distrust to each other, they remained
at the opposite ends of the court without holding any commu-
nication with one another. The two groups consisted in all of
about forty hunters, and this number seemed more than suffi-
cient for the success of the enterprise.

Richard Palmer superintended everything. Though he had
had hardly two hours’ rest during the preceding night, he
seemed full of courage and vigour. Dressed in his leathern

1I—2
164 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

costume, which was much faded by the sun and torn by the
thorns, he went about from one to another, busying himself
about the smallest details. Many people, too, were moving
about the court, and the lights, which could be seen incessantly
passing and repassing the windows of the house, showed that
the people indoors were as busy as those out-of-doors.

In a little time fresh torches were seen in the avenue, shining
through the mist, giving warning of the approach of a second
band of hunters; it was the Governor and some other persons.
Deursen was already equipped for an expedition into the
woods; he wore long gaiters, deer-skin breeches, a hunting
jacket trimmed with light gold lace, and a very low hat. A
well-armed negro followed him, to carry his rifle and the little
baggage he could not dispense with.

Richard gave truce for a moment to his engrossing cares,
and went forward to meet his guest. He shook hands cor-
dially with the Governor. e

‘Mr. Palmer,’ said the latter, ‘I bring you a new comrade,
whose assistance may perhaps not be useless to you.’

And he pointed out Dr. Van Stetten.

‘Thanks, my dear doctor,’ answered the planter; ‘ you are
welcome among us. Have you made your preparations ?”

“Oh dear, yes,’ replied Van Stetten good-temperedly. ‘My
case and a few necessary medicines are in the pockets of my
coat, and I have not forgotten my parasol.’

And he exhibited the big old umbrella that he generally .
took with him on his walks.

The hunters filed off down the avenue by the light of
torches.

As day began to dawn they arrived at the edge of the forest.
When the clumps of tall trees became indistinctly visible in the
mist, Palmer ordered a general halt. So far there had been no
danger to fear, and each one could walk as he liked; but on
quitting the inhabited districts some precautions must be taken,
if they wished to avoid danger and confusion.

_ The planter now intended to establish strict discipline among
the band of men, and made it a rule that no one should wander
RETURN HOME 165

away during the course of the journey. He himself, as guide
and chief of the expedition, proposed to walk first with a few
men armed with hatchets and knives to clear a path if neces-
sary. Within reach of this advanced guard, a certain number
of hunters were to hold themselves ready to repulse any attacks
of wild beasts by firing at them. Behind them came Deursen,
Doctor Van Stetten, and lastly the horse laden with baggage.
The rearguard consisted of the rest of the hunters. All the
men were advised not to leave the ranks under any pretext
whatever. A shot, followed directly by a shout, was to be the
signal of alarm ; all those who heard the signal-were to run to
the help of the comrade in danger. The sound of a horn that
Palmer was to carry slung over his shoulder was to rally the
whole troop in any case of pressing necessity.

Palmer gave his instructions in different languages, that they
might be understood by all present, and Deursen himself re-
peated them to the Lascars. When they were quite sure that
nobody would be able to plead ignorance of the rules, they set
off marching in the order agreed upon, and entered the forest.

CHAPTER XX
THE EXPEDITION

Ir did not seem at first sight that so many precautions were
necessary ; the part of the wood they were traversing was
frequented by the colonists, and here and there traces of paths
were visible. But as they advanced the trees became thicker,
the creepers more entangled, and the thorns and stems of the
tree-ferns, aloes, and cactuses, more entwined.

But at the same time, Palmer, an experienced guide, chose
with wonderful sagacity the places where the ground was most
even, where the underwood was least dense, and if occasionally
they had to plunge straight into thickets that seemed almost
impenetrable, they more often walked under high trees where
the ground, being covered with a thick, velvety carpet of moss,
offered no obstacle to their progress, and allowed them to
advance rapidly.
166_ THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

It was through a place of this kind that they passed about
an hour after they had entered the forest. It was already
broad daylight, though the mist and the thick foliage overhead
prevented them from seeing the sun. It was deliciously cool
in these shady places, and sparkling drops of dew hung from
the leaves. The white costume of the Lascars, the drapery of
the Malays, the shining weapons, the lively groups of men,
formed a pleasing picture in the midst of these majestic woods.
No other sound was heard than the strange songs of a few
birds ; no other inhabitants were to be seen than the great
lizards that ran up and down the trunks of trees, which were
covered with beautiful parasitic orchids, little bearded monkeys
springing from branch to branch, or a few deer, which, starting up
almost under the feet of the hunters, ran away down the long
avenues which stretched away further than eye could see.
However, the mist cleared off at last, and the sunbeams flashed
through the forest trees here and there like fiery darts. - A halt
became necessary for the men, who had had frequently to use
their hatchets in cutting a path through the thickets. So they
stopped to rest during the extreme heat of the day.

Up to this point the journey had been made under the most
favourable auspices. They had seen no wild beasts, the diffi-
culties in their way did not appear to be insurmountable, and
the heat, though very great, was not unbearable under the
shade of the trees. So the travellers were as full of zeal and
courage as they had been in the morning. It must be con-
fessed that the Lascars and Malays still kept apart; but thus
far they were equally obedient to the orders of their chiefs, and
in spite of the dislikes and antipathies of the two races, the
peace between them did not seem likely to be disturbed.

After two hours’ rest they set off again. Palmer had decided
that they should encamp that same evening on the border of
the extensive morass that divided the forest in half, not far
from the ridge of rocks recently discovered. He had calcu-
lated that by spending the night in this place it would be easy
next day to cross the ridge, to reach the region of the orangs,
and after having rescued Edward, to return and encamp in the
THE EXPEDITION 167

same place. Thus the journey, if no unforeseen obstacles
occurred, would not occupy more than three days, as he had
said at first.

However, the second half of the journey was not so easily
accomplished as the first. ‘They plunged afresh into thickets
where their progress was intercepted by numerous and ever-
recurring obstacles. The character of the soil varied at every
step ; sometimes it was dry and pebbly, sometimes spongy and
damp, but more frequently overrun with the rank and vigorous
vegetation of tropical regions. No difficulty daunted the in-
defatigable Palmer; he was always at the head of the troop,
guiding his companions without hesitation through these
gloomy solitudes. By means of certain marks that he had
traced on the trunks of certain trees he could discover at once
towards what point he was proceeding, however confined his
view might be. .

Still, it was late when they reached the spot where they were
to encamp for the night.

The character of the landscape was far grander than that of
any landscape in our temperate zones. The marsh extended
as far as the eye could reach, bordered by the irregular line of
the forest, which was indistinctly visible on the other side in
the misty distance. Here and there were large pools of leaden,
stagnant water, and beds of reeds, which waved, with a metallic
sound, at the least breath of wind. Little islands of mud lay
on the bosom of the sleeping waters, shaded by groups of
bamboos, and willows with pale foliage, or banyans, or the
-sacred fig-trees, so common on the banks of the Ganges. A
fiery sky hung over the gloomy scene, and in the air reddish
mists floated low and heavy, which looked as if they must con-
tain the seeds of disease and death. Now the sun, like a globe
of red-hot iron, cast only oblique rays over the plain, and
increased yet more the solemn sadness of this lonely spot. At
this time of the evening, herons as white as snow, ibis with
plumage as red as fire, snake-birds with curving necks, were
flying about in great numbers over the lagoons, and uttering
startling cries. In the distance were seen wild boars and
168 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

tapirs, which, alarmed at the sight of men, hurried away from
the neighbourhood of the marshes to their ordinary retreats in
the depths of the forest. Monkeys, great and small, chased
each other to the tops of the palm-trees, flying lizards sprang
from branch to branch, supported by the large membranes of
their scaly feet. The very reeds, to judge by their long un-
dulations, seemed to be traversed by numerous reptiles, perhaps
by the enormous boa, the sovereign of these pestilential spots.
They began to hear the hoarse cry of the gigantic toad, pecu-
liar to tropical countries. And lastly certain ripples in the
liquid mud and certain black spots that appeared every now
and then among the large leaves of the water-lilies, made them
suspect that the crocodiles were beginning to stir at the bottom
of the water, waiting till it was dark enough for them to come
and sport on the banks.

Such was the spectacle, at once grand and imposing, that
presented itself to the eyes of the hunters as they halted at the
edge of the morass.

The men set to work at once to encamp. Scattered about
under gigantic trees, so high that they were almost frightful to
look at, they seemed like dwarfs, so small did they appear com-
pared with the colossal proportions of everything around them.
They had thrown off all useless clothing, in order to fulfil their
task more easily, and they had no other clothing than a pair
of drawers, which left exposed to view their black or copper-
coloured bodies streaming with perspiration. Some of them
cut down young trees, either for fires during the night or to
supply materials for a hut for the leaders of the expedition.
Others busied themselves with preparations for supper, and
before long the wreaths of smoke, rising slowly into the air,
pointed out the kitchen of the bivouac.

The sound of hatchets, the crash of falling trees, the cries
of the men at work, and a few shots fired occasionally, were
repeated with grand effect by the echoes of the primeval forest,
where those different sounds soon died away, as into empty
space.

In the middle of this general activity, a quarrel broke out
THE EXPEDITION 169

between the Malays and Lascars. Several times they seemed
on the point of fighting, and the Governor was obliged to put
his hand on the pistols shining in his belt to induce them to
abstain from more serious provocations than those of gesture
and voice. This was how it happened.

All the morning, as we have seen, Malays and Hindoos had
formed two distinct bands, who watched each other with dis-
trust, if not with a feeling of hostility. The Malays, who were
clever and experienced hunters, had succeeded during the day
in killing two deer and a young boar, while the Lascars, either
less skilful or less fortunate, had only knocked down a few
birds. Now they had brought very few provisions with them ;
they had reckoned on the produce of the chase and the wild
fruits of the forest for the support of this numerous company ;
it was, therefore, necessary to make an equal division of the
food among all the travellers. Although the Hindoos in
general abstain from meat, the warlike caste of the Lascars
very willingly form an exception to this rule, and those belong-
ing to this band of hunters, exhausted and famished, did not
seem at all inclined just then to listen to the precepts of their
religious faith. So they claimed their share of the tempting
game, and it was this claim that offended the Malays. Whether
the latter were actuated by a feeling of secret enmity, or simply
yielded to their proud and quarrelsome dispositions, they
refused to share the produce of the chase with the rest, and
especially with the Hindoos. Insulting words were exchanged
between the two parties, and they were becoming so excited
that the leaders were obliged to interpose their authority to
stop a conflict which might have had most serious conse-
quences.

The night was by no means a quiet one. Myriads of
mosquitoes filled the air as soon as the sun went down, and
would not allow the tired travellers a moment’s rest. Besides,
in spite of the large fires which they kept up all night, they had
several alarms from elephants and tigers. The tigers especially
were very numerous and fierce ; they roared incessantly round
the camp, and their hoarse cries were echoed from every part
170 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

of the forest. The inhabitants of the marshes were no quieter ;
not to speak of the giant toad, which croaked away among the
reeds, a continual rattling was heard from the side of the lake,
and a kind of roaring, like that of a pair of blacksmith’s bellows.
Sometimes, too, prodigious plunges occurred, as if heavy masses
had fallen into the water: it was the crocodiles or gavials that
were amusing themselves in their fashion. Several even were
not content with this large lake for the theatre of their games.
A Lascar on duty at the edge of the morass, having fallen
asleep at his post, was awakened by the horrible putrid odour
that these animals spread around them. Hesprang to his feet,
and perceived, by the light of the moon, a gavial, twelve or
fifteen feet long, gliding up to him, and preparing to attack
him; the Lascar fired a shot to frighten him away, and the
gavial slowly retired. The sentinel, as may easily be imagined,
did not have any more sleep for the rest of the night. The
dawn. came, however, with its usual accompaniment .of thick
mists; and as soon as it got light, the noises abroad changed
their character. The elephants left off roaming about under
the trees, the branches of which they broke with their trunks ;
the tigers were silent, and the gavials returned to their mud,
and the songs of a thousand happy birds hailed the return of
day. It was advisable that the band should take advantage of
this cool time, the most agreeable in the day. So, at Palmer’s
call, they were all on foot in a few minutes. They rolled up
the cloaks that had served for beds during the night, extin-
guished the fires, and breakfasted quickly on what remained
of last night’s provisions. Those of the travellers, Malays or
Lascars, who were Mussulmans, went to the lake, and while
some performed the ablutions prescribed by the Koran, the
rest, turning towards Mecca, addressed their morning prayer
to Allah.

Palmer was about to give the signal for departure, when
Deursen said to him:

‘Affairs do not go on very well balase the Malays and
Lascars, Mr. Palmer. There are comings and goings and
whisperings among these people that make me suspicious. I
THE EXPEDITION 171

am afraid that on the first opportunity it will be almost impos-
sible to hinder a new collision.’

‘T have noticed the signs of quarrelling that you_mention,
Mr. Deursen,’ replied Palmer sadly. ‘I hope, however, our
men will give us time to accomplish the task for which we
came into these solitudes: to-morrow evening we shall be
returning to New Drontheim, where the means of repression
will not be wanting in case of open insubordination. From
now till to-morrow the parties will probably have dangers and
difficulties enough to put up with, to make them forget their
mutual grievances. We must be on our guard, and by exer-
cising at once firmness and address, we shall manage, no
doubt, to keep the peace till the end of the journey.’

The Governor, though he did not altogether share this hope,
nodded as a sign of assent. Five minutes after the whole band
set off and proceeded along the edge of the marsh to look for
the ridge of rocks that formed a kind of natural bridge across
it. The mist being thicker over the water than in the plain,
it was impossible to distinguish any objects more than ten
paces ahead, and the walking over this muddy ground was
dangerous. Besides, in this fog, it was quite possible that they
might miss the rather narrow path which led to the other part
of the forest. Palmer himself, whose directions had always
proved right, and whose observations had been found to be so
correct, seemed now uncertain and hesitated. Happily the
sun, as it increased in power, partly scattered this troublesome
mist, and allowed the travellers to discover at last the path they
were seeking...

It was, as we have said, an irregular line of rocks that in
certain places-hardly rose more than a few feet above the level
of the lake ; of these rocks some were bare and barren ; others
were covered with shrubs and brushwood: occasionally they
were separated by pools of stagnant water. The whole chain,
from its numerous windings, was four or five miles long, and
the remains of the mist, by hiding the opposite side, added to
its, gloomy appearance,

Hardly had they set foot on the ridge than the travellers saw
172 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

the necessity of helping one another. They were obliged to
try the ground at each step, for the least carelessness might
lead to a fatal fall) The horse frequently stuck in the mud,
and it seemed impossible to make him proceed. Besides, all
the monsters of this pestilential bog seemed to have under-
taken to defend their domains against the invasion of man;
and if they had not taken the precaution of firing every few
minutes, terrible accidents would probably have occurred.
Here, a boa-constrictor, surprised on his rock while he was
lying digesting his food, withdrew majestically into the reeds.
Further on, an enormous crocodile, disturbed while he was
sleeping in the sun, plunged into the water with a dismal
snort, turning his mournful, prominent eye as he went on
those who had the audacity to interfere with him. In every
direction these loathsome creatures showed where they had
been, by leaving clammy, fetid slime on the ground behind
them. We need hardly mention the innumerable little snakes,
lizards of every size, scorpions, millipedes, and centipedes, that
swarmed round the travellers. As to birds, they frequently
rose in swarms so thick and so clamorous that they inspired
the hunters with more alarm than even the gavials and the boas.

Dr. Van Stetten, under the shelter of his voluminous um-
brella, no longer wandered about to the right and left to gather
rare plants or catch insects, but walked on with difficulty, over-
whelmed by the insupportable heat.

However, thanks to Palmer’s cautions and the perfect order
he maintained among his men, the passage was performed
without any accident. Long before the sun had half com-
pleted its course, the whole band reached the end of the ridge
safe and sound, and halted under the shadow of some pan-
danus trees on the border of the savannah lately discovered
by Palmer.

CHAPTER XXI
FRESH DANGERS

HERE a new plan of proceeding became necessary. Useful
as shouting, running, and firing had been in crossing the bog,
FRESH DANGERS - 173

now it was just as necessary to keep silence and glide along
unperceived. They were close to the district frequented by
the orangs, and they were well aware what a fine sense of
hearing these animals possess. If the orangs were once put
upon their guard, some of the adventurers might easily become
their victims. Concealed among the foliage, they might, ac-
cording to their wont, break the hunter’s skull with their clubs
before he had even guessed they were near. None of the
men belonging to the band were ignorant of these facts, and
the boldest felt the need of prudence as they entered the part
of the forest inhabited by such creatures.

However, Palmer had decided to go by himself first and
discover whether Edward was still in the neighbourhood. He
invited his comrades, therefore, to rest in the place where
they were. After having strongly advised Deursen and the
doctor to see that the men were not thinking of taking advan-
tage of this interval of leisure for any other purpose than rest,
he plunged into the savannah, and soon disappeared in the
long grass.

More than an hour passed away and he did not return.
The sun was then in its greatest power; the heat was so
overpowering that no human creature could brave it with
impunity. So the Malays, negroes, and Lascars, in spite of
their secret animosity, slept side by side. Deursen himself,
who was lying on the grass, seemed completely knocked up.
As to the doctor, stretched on his back, shaded by his old
umbrella, he was looking perfectly unable to stir, and the
large ants of the forest might have eaten him up on the spot
for all the power he had to free himself from their torture.
Everybody, however, soon came to life again when Palmer,
issuing from out of the savannah at last, and running towards
the sleepers, cried, in a trembling voice:

‘I have seen Edward ; I have seen the orangs! Get ready,
everybody. We can reach them in half an hour.’

As we have said, the men were on their feet in an instant.
In some, the magic word, ¢he ovangs, drove away all wish to
sleep: in others, the name of Edward recalled the object of
174 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

the expedition, and the frightful: disaster which they had to
repair. :

Van Stetten, who, after incredible efforts, had managed to
get on his feet, said, as he wiped the perspiration from his
forehead, and uttered deep sighs:

‘Oh! if I have only an opportunity of measuring the facial

4
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tal it,
Na ORS nS
APS ALON

   

angle ot an orang! ‘The savand¢s of Europe will never know
what such a discovery has cost me.’

Palmer gave his men most minute directions, in order to
avoid committing any mistakes that might render the expedi-
tion abortive. It was agreed that the hunters should form a
large circle round the place inhabited by the orangs, and that
DELIVERANCE 175

this circle should draw in gradually in perfect silence ; that
they should try above everything to secure Edward, and they
were forbidden to fire at the orangs, except in a case of absolute
necessity ; for if one was killed or wounded, the others might
inflict serious injuries on the party. Deursen was to go with
his Lascars and occupy the post appointed for him by Palmer,
while Palmer himself was to advance on the other side with
the Malays; a few notes of the horn that the leader carried
slung over his shoulder would give the signal for meeting.

‘Now,’ continued Palmer, ‘let everybody be prudent and
take care of himself; for, if the rescue of my son should cost
the life of any of his deliverers, it would be a cause of deep
regret to me, and hereafter to Edward himself.’

In a few minutes the whole troop advanced and entered the
savannah. s

CHAPTER XXII
DELIVERANCE

PatMER had his reasons for recommending his comrades to
be extremely careful ; in the little exploring excursion he had
just made, he had discovered that the danger was greater than
he had expected at first. This is what had happened to him.
In the part of the wood he had been to, the trees, as we said
before, were far apart; nevertheless, every time the planter
passed under one of these trees, he examined the foliage care-
fully, to make sure that an orang on guard was not hidden in
it. But at that time of day, when the heat was insupportable,
all creation seemed quiet and dormant. Except a few snakes
that fled away before Palmer, nothing stirred around him ; the
very insects were silent. The birds, which at his first appear-
ance in this untrodden -district flew away in every direction,
now did not seem as if they could make up their minds to
leave the long grass where they could still find a little moisture
and coolness. As to Palmer, he appeared quite insensible to
the influence of the extreme temperature and to the burning
heat of the sun, which was so exactly over his head that his
body cast no shadow. Not a drop of perspiration ran down
176 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

his bony, sunburnt face. He breathed the burning air, which
seemed as if it issued from a furnace, without difficulty. He
thought of nothing but his son and the important scene that
was about to be played in that very spot.

As he advanced with the greatest caution, he directed his
steps towards the wooded part inhabited by the orangs. In
a short time the trees around him became more numerous,
closer to one another and thicker, and he had nearly reached
the spot he was aiming at when a slight creaking was heard
overhead. He stopped instantly, held his breath, and, after
having silently cocked his rifle, examined the tree whence the
sound proceeded. An orang was lying idly in a mass of orchids
at a height of about twenty feet, and seemed to be enjoying
his siesta; he had moved in his flowery bed and broken a
branch, and thus attracted the planter’s attention.

Palmer pointed his rifle at it for a few minutes. At the
slightest hostile movement of the orang he would have touched
the trigger. But the orang had not perceived the hunter, and,
after a sonorous yawn, fell asleep again quietly. It did not
enter into Palmer’s plan to begin the attack immediately, for
fear of disturbing the neighbouring colony. So, when he was
quite sure that the sentry was sound asleep again, he went
back quietly, to try and enter the glade on the other side.

Having made another turn, he began to creep through the
grass, using the utmost care not to be discovered. This caution
was not needless, for he again saw three or four orangs sitting
together on the trees, in careless attitudes, while the huts
themselves appeared to be occupied by their usual inhabitants.
Was this increase of the band accidental, or had Richard on
‘his former visit only made acquaintance with part of the in-
habitants of the glade? In any case, it added greatly to the
difficulties of the enterprise. However, as may easily be
imagined, the planter did not dream of retreating ; he con-
tinued to creep through the underwood, and his bold perse-
verance was rewarded with success.

On the bank of the stream that crossed the glade were
Edward and the young orang that seemed to be the usual
DELIVERANCE 77

companion of his games. They were both coming out of the
water, where they had just been taking a bath, and Edward,
to protect himself from the rays of the sun, had made a kind
of garland of damp grass, and had rolled it round his naked
body. The water dropped from his long hair and from this
garment, which was graceful, though rather too primitive.
Edward had no longer that gloomy, melancholy look which
had struck his father at first ; with a smile on his lips, he bore
the teasing of his companion, who tormented him in a thousand
different ways. However, the young orang, either intentionally
or by accident, having pulled his hair, he turned round to avenge
the insult; but the frolicsome quadruman had already gained
a neighbouring tree, which he climbed with the greatest ease.
Edward wanted to do the same, but it was very plain that, in
spite of his agility, he could not contend with his friend in this
kind of exercise. He perceived it himself, for when he had
climbed half-way up the tree, he came down again. Palmer
noticed this little fact with pleasure; it proved at least thathis poor
boy would not be able to escape him by springing from tree to
tree; and if they could succeed in surrounding him on the ground
they might easily make sure of him. So he continued to
watch him, hoping that by studying the habits of the savage he
might find means to accomplish his projects of deliverance.
Edward, despairing of reaching his companion, or disdaining
to avenge himself, had returned to the stream, while the young
orang seemed to be setting him at defiance and laughing at
him. Without troubling himself about him any more, he went
to the foot of a willow, and taking up a bow and arrows that he
had placed there, began to shoot at the trunk of a tree, for the
sake of practice, it seemed. He never missed his aim; but
the bow was not a very formidable one, and differed little from
those given to children. The cord looked as if it was made of
the fibre of the cocoanut-tree or of some other fibrous plant ;
the arrows, though made of very hard wood, were not tipped
with any metal to make them sharp, and certainly could not
hurt anything larger than a bird or small animal.
Edward seemed to take the greatest pleasure in shooting,
and when he was satisfied with his own skill, he laughed merrily
12
178 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

in self-applause. The young orang meanwhile had been
watching his friend’s sport from the top of his tree. After a
little time, wishing to take part in it, he came down from his
observatory and went up to Edward. He looked humble,
almost supplicating ; evidently he wished to obtain pardon for his
past faults. But Edward pouted ; he would not turn round, and
went on shooting his arrows against the trunk of a tree, without
seeming to bestow a thought on the penitent offender. The latter,
vexed, tried to seize the bow ; Edward pushed him away roughly.
The young orang began to cry and bemoan himself, stamping
with his foot and rolling on the ground, like a naughty child.

At that moment, the kind of noise that we have already
mentioned, and which seemed to be the usual voice of the
orangs, was heard from the interior of one of the huts. It was
the father or mother of the young orang complaining of the
harshness with which their son was treated. Whether the
sound was a threat of which poor Edward knew the meaning,
or whether he thought he had punished his companion’s tricks
enough, he turned towards him, smiling. Immediately the
young orang uttered a cry of joy, threw himself into his arms,
and kissed him on his hands and chest, with transports of
affection that no words can describe.

Peace being made, Edward consented at last to give up the
bow in question ; but his friend used it clumsily, shooting
almost at random, and none of his arrows reached the mark.
Furious at his own awkwardness, he threw away the bow, which
Edward picked up again, laughing at him. By way of retalia-
tion, the young orang picked up some pebbles from the bed ot
the stream, and threw them with vigour and dexterity against
the trunk of the tree that served for a target. As often as
Edward hit the mark with his arrows, so often the orang hit it
with his stones, and this equal success excited their pride and
pleasure to the highest pitch.

Palmer, crouching down behind a clump of small trees,
noticed this scene with mingled curiosity and emotion. His
son, then, had some pleasures even in this captivity in which the
relations of the human race to that of the brute were so singu-
DELIVERANCE 179

larly reversed. He could not sufficiently admire the grace and
suppleness of this wild youth. Edward’s body, strengthened
by exercise and open air, presented the finest proportions, and
his hair floating about his shoulders gave him a noble appear-
ance. When the youth, with one leg drawn back, in a posture
full of natural dignity, held out his bow and prepared to let fly
an arrow, he was as beautiful as a Greek Apollo, and this
beauty was rendered still more striking by its contrast with his
companion’s ugliness.

The latter, though his face was expressive of gaiety, and a
certain intelligence, though every movement displayed superior
strength and agility, presented by the side of this remarkable
specimen of the human race every sign of a brute nature.
His prominent jaws, his flat nose, his long hairy arms, his thin
legs, reminded one that, in spite of the affection that seemed
to exist between him and Edward, in spite of the apparent
similarity of their tastes and actions, there was a distance between
them as great as that which exists between heaven and earth.

However, the two friends got tired at last of these amuse-
ments, and a hoarse call from one of the huts seemed to warn
them that it was time to gotorest. Edward, taking his bow
and arrows, went towards his hut. The young orang seemed
disposed at first to follow him, but another call, more authori-
tative than the first, induced him at last to obey. He appeared
to leave his dear Edward with the greatest reluctance ; he over-
whelmed him with caresses, and it was only after he had seen
him enter his cabin that he climbed the tree to which his
mother was calling him.

The time was a favourable one. Edward, being tired, would
no doubt go to sleep; it would be easy to surprise him in his
sleep. Besides, the orangs scattered about the trees and in the
huts seemed themselves to be overpowered with the heat, and
would probably relax their usual vigilance. So the planter, set
free from the kind of fascination that the presence of his son
had exercised over him till then, hastened to beat a retreat, and
had the good fortune to succeed in doing so without attracting
the enemy’s attention.

12—2
180 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

A few minutes later and he was among his people again.

Deursen, as we have said above, had been directed to lead
the Lascars to the other side of the glade frequented by the
orangs in such a way as to cut off their retreat into the forest ;
while Palmer, with the Malays, was to approach the colony in
front, and they now set themselves to execute these different
movements. They walked in the greatest silence; all conver-
sation, even in a low voice, was forbidden. They were to
remain, as much as possible, under the shelter of the trees, and
where there were no trees, to crawl on their hands and_knees
through the long grass. These good arrangements had the
happiest results; Palmer and those who accompanied him
arrived without any hindrance in sight of the glade, and almost
at the same time the cry of a heron, perfectly imitated by one
of the Lascars, assured them that Deursen and his people had
also reached their appointed post.

Palmer then put his horn to his lips and blew softly a few
notes ; this was the signal for the two bands to spread them-
selyes out and form a circle round the glade. This movement
was executed with extreme precision. ‘Two curved lines were
formed, then lengthened out, and then the ends united. There
was not more than a space of ten paces between each of the men
composing this chain, and nothing that was enclosed within this
circle could possibly escape except by flying through the air.

Palmer and Darius held themselves ready to fire; Van
Stetten, whom they had also armed with an enormous gun,
seemed very ill at ease. Nothing, however, seemed to justify
this uneasiness. The orangs did not show themselves, and if
Palmer had not seen a rather numerous band of them a few
minutes before with his own eyes, he would have thought that
they had deserted the spot.

However, he knew how deceitful this appearance was, and
the sudden disappearance of the dangerous adversaries seemed
to him the worst possible sign. He would have preferred an
open attack on their part to this treacherous silence and still-
ness. His anxious forebodings were not long in being realized.
A dull heavy blow was heard, and a Malay fell as if struck by
a thunderbolt. At the same instant, one of those standing
DELIVERANCE 181

nearest to the victim raised his gun to his shoulder, and aimed
at the terrible club-bearer in the tree that had struck the blow,
but Palmer hastened to interfere.

‘Don’t shoot ! don’t shoot!’ he said energetically, ‘or all is lost!’

The order was obeyed, and the hunter, muttering angrily,
lowered his gun. They raised the unfortunate Malay, but help
was in vain; the skull was shattered, and death had been in-
stantaneous.

Palmer had hardly recovered from the horror produced by
this occurrence, when the same dull sound, followed imme-
diately by a fall, was heard ; this time it was among the Lascars;
another man had fallen under the invisible clubs. But this
time the planter could not prevent vengeance being taken.
The Lascar had hardly measured his length on the ground than
a shot was fired, no doubt by one of the friends of the deceased.

It did not appear that the ball could have reached the orangs ;
but the sound of firing, the first perhaps that had ever echoed
through that part of the wood, produced an extraordinary
effect. The silence and stillness that had reigned till then
among the foliage was suddenly broken. Strange cries rose on
all sides ; a frightful tumult followed in the trees. The largest
branches were snapped asunder as by a tempest, and fell down
with a crash at the hunters’ feet ; little branches, leaves, and
parasite plants fluttered about in every direction. At the same
time gigantic creatures were seen climbing rapidly to the tops
of the highest bombax and pine-trees; they might have been
taken for gigantic birds flying with the utmost speed towards
the glowing sky.

A few shots were fired again, in spite of Palmer’s prohibition,
and in spite of the evident impossibility of reaching their agile
adversaries; then followed the most perfect silence. No
doubt the orangs, safe in their aérial refuges, were again on the
watch, and were waiting to see what the next proceedings of
their assailants would be.

“Now, now !’ cried Palmer, ‘don’t lose a minute—Edward is
still in his hut, I know,—I am sure of it. Let us make haste.’

He ran towards the hut with Darius and the doctor. As
they drew near Edward’s miserable cabin, they were rejoined
182 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

by Deursen, and the negro who acted as his servant. Deursen
was about to give Palmer his account of the last occurrences,
but the latter had only time to say hastily :

‘He is there; stay here.’

When they reached the hut they perceived that its inhabi-
tant had closed the entrance with branches; at that very
moment he was in the act of piling up the moss and dry leaves
that served him for a bed behind the slight enclosure. He
appeared dreadfully frightened and much agitated, and over-
whelmed with terror, and they could distinctly hear the sound
of his oppressed breathing.

What was to be done? Certainly a single blow of a hatchet
would suffice to open a breach in the frail building ; but that
perhaps might drive the young savage to do something blind
and desperate. Palmer gave a sign to those-around him to
keep silence ; then he leaned towards the wall of the hut, and
said in a gentle voice, and in English :

‘Edward, my boy, don’t be frightened ; it is I, —it’s your
father,—I have found you at last, after looking so long for you.
I love you still, and I have come to deliver you from the
bondage of the orangs.’

He was silent and listened; the convulsive movements
inside the hut had ceased. Perhaps Edward remembered that
he had heard such sounds a few days before; perhaps even
his memory went further back, and he tried to recognise the
accents of that dear voice, which, without his knowing why,
caused him such great agitation. However, his calmness did
not last long, he soon became more violently agitated, and his
breathing became more laboured.

Palmer continued, in an anxious tender tone:

‘My son |—my Edward !—my child?

Ah, with what a tone was this uttered! The effect of this
appeal was prompt and decisive.

‘Papa!’ cried a trembling voice.

At the same instant the branches were dashed away im-
petuously, and Edward, pale, his hair dishevelled, and his look
wild, darted out of the hut. He did not seem to know what
he was about, and he had his bow and arrows in his hand.
DELIVERANCE 183

Trembling all over, and with a strange wild look, his very
terror, astonishment, and joy, added to the nobleness of his
appearance. When he came into the glade, he stopped, let fly an
arrow at random, as if at some invisible object. The arrow fell
without any force, a few paces off. Then the poor boy let the bow
itself drop from his trembling hands, and looked around him.

A thousand different feelings were depicted-on his sunburnt
face, at the sight of the persons who stood motionless and
silent at the side of the hut ; however, the dominant impression
seemed to be that of fear. As he tottered, Palmer was on the
point of stepping forward to support him; but Edward made a
sudden movement as if he were about to run away, and the
poor father did not dare to stir from his place.

‘Good-morning, Edward,’ he said gently.

The young savage tried to pronounce a few words, but his
speech was confused ; he could only make indistinct sounds,
and stopped as if ashamed of his weakness.

Nevertheless, these signs of the near awakening of his
enfeebled intellect inspired Edward’s friends with the greatest
joy. The planter then added :

‘My child, won’t you kiss your father, who loves you better
than anybody? Have you forgotten your father ”

‘ Father,’ echoed Edward, with some difficulty.

But he added almost directly, of his own accord and with
great clearness :

‘Mamma !’

This sacred name, the first that rises to the lips of the child,
the last that makes the heart of the old man beat,—this name
uttered by the young savage, touched those present most
deeply. Every eye filled with tears.

‘Your mother, poor child,’ said Palmer, ‘ you will never see
again.’

But overcoming his emotion, he added :

©You have your father and your cousin Anna, and relations
and friends, who will make you forget all your past sufferings,’

Edward listened attentively, and seemed to have some diffi-
culty in understanding the meaning of the words addressed to
him. He stammered out:
184 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

‘ Father—mother—Anna.’

‘Ah! he remembers everybody that used to love him,’ cried
Palmer with ecstasy ; ‘and his love returns at the same time as
hismemory. Already he seems to want to speak, and in a few
days God be praised ! my child is given back to meat last.’

Till now they had formed a circle round Edward, but with-
out daring to approach him, for it seemed that the least touch
would make him rebel. Palmer, after having allowed his son
time to get used to the sight of men, spoke a word aside to
Darius, who at once gave him a little parcel; he drew out of
it one of those blue cotton cloths worn by Hindoos and
negroes. It was a very simple garment, but they could not
expect at first to impose a more complicated dress on this
child of the woods, so impatient of restraint.

Palmer even thought that he must be very careful how he
persuaded the youth to let himself be dressed. He first
showed him this blue cloth, and made him understand that it
was meant for him; then he went gently up to him, and tried
to clothe him with the loose drapery. Edward, in spite of his
astonishment, trembled directly he was touched, and _ his
muscles became rigid. Happily, a few kind words and signs
of affection calmed him. His toilet completed, and it did not
take long, he seemed to look at himself with complacency, and
burst out laughing with all the zazve/é of a child.

Till now the orangs had granted some respite to the band of
hunters ; but they might change their minds, and the hunters,
under these thick trees, were still exposed to their blows. It °
was not prudent, then, to wait any longer in this place.
Besides, Edward, thanks to the caution with which they had
acted, seemed to have become sufficiently tame to follow his
father and friends without resistance. So Palmer, taking hin
by the hand, said to him kindly :

‘Come, Edward ; come, my boy. We must go.’

As the young savage let himself be led away, sharp cries
were heard from a neighbouring tree ; they seemed to express
at once sorrow and anger. Edward stopped, and his father,
in spite of his efforts, felt him become firm as a rock, while he
looked about to see the cause of this noise.

 
DELIVERANCE 185

It was the young orang, who had just come out of his hut,
and who, seeing the usual companion of his games going away
with these unknown invaders, gave himself up to the most
violent despair. Bending down from a branch, he gesticulated
in a most lively fashion, and brandished a club in a threaten-
ing manner. Edward, no doubt, had a real affection for this
creature, the only one that loved him in his miserable con-
dition. So he seemed greatly affected by this appeal, and, do
or say what they could, he refused to advance. He even
stretched out his arms towards the young orang, and answered
him with a guttural exclamation. Immediately all the orangs
scattered about in the trees uttered their usual growl; then
hastily breaking off thick branches from the trees, they threw
them with much vigour and skill at the hunters, while the
young one redoubled his furious gestures and brandished his
club.

‘We must not hesitate,’ said the planter to Darius, ‘since he
will not walk we must carry him ; if he resist, we must bind
him. God forgive me the violence which I must exercise
towards the son for whom I would sacrifice my life! But the
orangs seem to intend to attack us in a body, and if they do
really attack us, no one knows what will happen. Darius, do
what we agreed on.’

The negro, unfastening a cord that he wore as a sort of
girdle, twisted it quickly round Edward’s limbs. ‘The latter,
taken up with his companion, never dreamt of the possibility
of this violent treatment ; and trying to execute one of his
impetuous movements, he fell, and would have hurt himself
if his father, who was holding him by the arm, had not broken
his fall. Nevertheless, neither Palmer nor Darius had counted
on his extraordinary strength; hardly had he fallen to the
ground than he began to struggle violently. The two men
alone could not control his struggles; Deursen, the other
negro, and Dr. Van Stetten himself, were obliged to help in
reducing him to such a condition that he should have no
power to resist. He was soon strongly bound and made com-
pletely powerless.

Then he began to utter cries so frightful, so different from
186 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

the sounds that terror or anger sometimes wring from human
beings, that those who heard them never forgot them. He
rolled on the ground in a perfect frenzy, biting everything
within his reach.

Palmer, greatly agitated, called all the hunters round him ;
for it was no longer necessary to guard their post now that the
object of the expedition was attained. He ordered four of the
Malays to lift up Edward, while some of the others carried
away the two men killed by the orangs.

‘Let us go,’ he said, ‘let us go; we must make haste to get
out of this thicket. As soon as we reach the plain we shall
have nothing more to fear, I hope. Till then——’ He had
no time to finish his sentence.. As the men appointed for the
task were going to raise Edward in their arms, the young
orang made a prodigious leap from his tree, and raising his
club, rushed on the men who he thought were persecuting his
friend. His attack was so sudden and so impetuous that the
Malays, in self-defence, were obliged to drop their burden on
the grass ; but the formidable animal was already upon them.
As one of them seized his gun, a blow from the club broke
his arm a little below the elbow. The orang, howling and
leaping, was preparing to strike again, when a shot, fired close
to him by a Lascar, entered his breast. The wound was
mortal, and streams of dark blood flowed from it. However
the quadruman hardly seemed to notice it, and lost none of
his indomitable vigour. He threw down his club; and em-
ploying no other weapons than his large hands and long
muscular arms, he dashed aside the strong men who were
guarding Edward without any apparent effort, and threw them
roughly to a distance. Then leaning over his friend, he took
him in his arms, covered him with kisses, and tried to carry
him away to the huts. But then it became evident that his
strength was not equal to his courage ; twice he raised Edward,
twice he let him fall again. They both continued to utter
piercing cries, and shed abundant tears ; and while the orang
tried to set his old companion free, the latter rolled about
convulsively on the grass, trying by sudden jerks to break his
DELIVERANCE 187

cords. However, the men who had been so rudely repulsed
were on their feet again, and were running to avenge the
insult, with the help of the rest of the band. The young
orang, in the midst of so many enemies, drew himself up
proudly, and tried again to defend Edward, who was unable
to defend himself. Hé had picked up his club, and was
brandishing it with spirit, threatening with certain death who-
ever dared to approach. His enemies never thought of
shooting at him again ; either they were afraid of hurting each
other in the confusion, or perhaps they were filled with pity at
sight of the poor creature’s devotion to young Palmer. But
Elephant-Slayer was not a man to allow himself to be stopped
by such scruples. So, while the orang was facing his other
assailants, he glided treacherously behind him and buried his
kris up to the hilt between his shoulders. The young orang
turned round quickly. Seizing the bloody blade, he broke it
like glass, while with the other hand he aimed a blow with
his club at Elephant-Slayer, who avoided it adroitly. The
quadruman was on the point of returning to the charge, but
he was attacked on all sides at once with rises, swords, and
bayonets, and he could not defend himself with his club from
so many formidable weapons. He was wounded again severely
in several places, and yet he did not fall; still standing, with
flaming eyes, he would not abandon his captive companion.
The poor creature soon changed his attitude ; overpowered
by numbers, covered with blood, he threw down his weapon,
and ceased all resistance. By his cries, tears, and supplicating
gestures, he seemed to be imploring his enemies to have pity
on him. His dying look was strangely intelligent. He placed
his hands on his gaping wounds; he uttered groans so sad, so
expressive, that no human language could equal them. All
the spectators of this miserable scene were deeply touched,
and Palmer turned away his head with horror. One of the
. Lascars, perhaps with the intention of putting an end to the
sufferings of Edward’s defender, gave him a blow with a
bayonet ; but he had miscalculated the strength that the orang
still possessed, for the latter, seizing the weapon, broke it as
188 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

he had broken the &ris, while his dying look seemed to
reproach the assailant for this piece of unnecessary cruelty.*

This frightful struggle was drawing to its close, when some-
one cried out :

‘Look out! The other orangs are upon us.’

Every eye was turned to the spot indicated. The man who
had given the alarm had exaggerated a little; the greater
number of the orangs, posted on the tops of the trees, were
content with making a furious noise; two alone were running
towards the hunters, with the evident intention of attacking
them ; they were the father and mother of the young orang.
They could be seen leaping from tree to. tree, breaking off in
their anger the tops of the palm-trees, and scattering around
them a cloud of leaves, moss, and parasitic plants. If a single
orang of less than full growth had sufficed to keep the whole
band in check, what might not be feared from these two
terrible animals, of frightful size and strength, and excited by
the cries of their young one in distress ?

Palmer perceived the greatness of the danger.

“Keep close round us,’ he cried, ‘and let us get out of this
detestable thicket as fast as possible.’

He took his son in his arms himself, and carried him off in
spite of the cries and feeble resistance that Edward (being so
securely bound) could still make.

The wounded orang was clinging to his friend’s leg, and
allowed himself to be dragged along for a minute without
letting go his hold; but his wounds had exhausted his
strength, and he was obliged to give in, uttering a last sad cry
as he did so.

The hunters, to whom their chief’s command had been
transmitted in different languages, hastened to gather round
the principal group, and the retreat was hastily commenced.

Then the two orangs dropped to the ground and ran to their
dying young one. Happily, being completely taken up with
his sufferings, they never thought of troubling themselves about

* These particulars about the dying orang are perfectly correct. See an

account given in the Aszatic Researches, by two English officers, who killed
an orang on the coast of Sumatra in 1826.
DELIVERANCE 189

the hunters, who, if they had, would have found some difficulty
in making their escape through the trees.

The mother took her young one in her arms ; she examined
his wounds, kissed them, tried to stanch the blood, and shed
many tears over him, while the father brandished his club and
growled.

In a little time the rest of the orangs, being called by the
afflicted family, ran to them, and seemed to share their grief
and anger.

The young orang had just expired as the band of hunters
lost sight of them, and the others, according to the usual
custom of their race, covered his body with leaves and
branches. His mother rolled about on the grass, and filled
the forest with her lamentations.

CHAPTER XXIII
CONCLUSION

A LITTLE later the band of hunters halted under a clump of
trees, which were so completely isolated that there was no fear
of their being surprised by the orangs. This rest was much
needed, for the heat, after so much excitement and fatigue,
was overpowering. Besides, they had to bury the men who
had been killed by the terrible apes, and a grave at the foot of
a palm-tree was quickly dug.

Palmer, in spite of the lives that Edward’s deliverance had
cost, could not conceal his joy, and he gazed with much
affection at the son whom his perseverance and courage had
saved.

‘Now, Mr. Palmer,’ said the Governor, ‘we are surely free
at last from orangs. They seem to understand that it is
dangerous to be within our reach.’

‘We must not be too confident,’ answered Palmer thought-
fully; ‘I know facts about these strange animals that make
one almost doubt if there be not a sort of diabolical intelli-
gence in their malice. I wish we were on the other side of
the lake. Let us hurry on.’
190 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

When they reached the edge of the marsh, the sun was
beginning to go down, and the heat had decidedly abated ;
nevertheless, the volcanic blocks of stone, forming the ridge,
were still so burning hot that the Lascars could not walk over
them with their naked feet without considerable pain.

Edward, who had become tractable again, walked quietly
between the two men who were appointed specially to watch
over his movements. Palmer, perceiving that the young savage,
dressed in nothing but a blue cotton cloth, had his bare skin
exposed to the rays of the still scorching sun, went to the
baggage and took out a piece of calico, and threw it over
Edward’s shoulders. On first feeling the light stuff, Edward
tried to throw it off, but very soon the comfort it afforded
made him change hismind. He left off twisting himself about,
and looked round to see to whom he was indebted for this
relief. Then his countenance lighted up, and he said in a
voice that retained all his old childish tones :

‘Papa! papa!’

Nothing could express Palmer’s delight at this entirely
spontaneous proof of filial affection.

‘Ah, now he knows me! he cried proudly. ‘Yes, he
knows me quite well, in spite of my long beard and gray hair!’

‘Papa !—mamnia !—Anna!’ repeated the youth.

Palmer felt strongly tempted to press him in his arms, but
was afraid to do so too soon, for fear of frightening him away.

‘Come! he exclaimed, ‘it won’t be so difficult or take so
long to teach him as we might have feared. Edward,’ he
added, addressing his son, ‘Anna will be your teacher, your
companion, and your constant friend again, as she used to be:
she promised me she would.’

Edward seemed to understand the words spoken to him
more and more easily. He laughed, clapped his hands, and
repeated the names of his father, mother, and Anna. How-
ever, in the midst of his gaiety he appeared suddenly to re-
member something, and pointing towards the part of the wood
they had just quitted, said in a frightened tone:

‘Orangs !
CONCLUSION TgI

‘You need not be afraid of those savage beasts any more,’
replied the planter; ‘there are a great number of us, and we
are well armed ; we shall be able to defend you. By-and-by
you shall tell us all you have suffered among them — what
privations and pains you endured before you got used to that
miserable way of living. But now you can be easy. You are
under the protection of your father and friends.’

In spite of these assurances, Edward still seemed to feel
some vague uneasiness at times, and he looked behind him
frequently with an expression of alarm and grief.

However, they had now reached the edge of the lake.
There they found some tall, leafy trees, and some shade, which
was a great relief to them after their long journey in the sun,

The hunters began to cross the ridge of rocks, and Palmer
made all the men pass on in line before he did. Accompanied
by a Lascar, he was preparing to follow them, when among the
leaves of an enormous pandanus-tree at the edge of the water
he thought he saw something move ; a thought struck him :

‘Can it be Edward’s captor pursuing him ?’ he murmured.

He had his hatchet as well as his gun. He walked resolutely
towards the tree, and the Lascar was courageous enough to go
with him. Palmer did not stop till he came within two steps
of the tree, and still watehed the thick foliage carefully. There
was certainly an orang that had taken up his station in the
lower branches, and was now brandishing his club and gnashing
his teeth. It was of the largest size and tremendously strong.
The planter recognised Edward’s captor at the first glance.

‘ Accursed brute’ he exclaimed, ‘it is to you I am indebted
for all the greatest troubles of my life. Now for it

The savage animal was coming down, growling and brandish-
ing his- club, but Palmer did not stir, and planted his foot
firmly, hatchet in hand.

‘Take care,’ cried the Lascar, ‘the orang is just upon you;
he is going to——’ ;

‘So much the better! said Palmer. ‘Leave him to me,’

The Lascar, in spite of this order, took advantage of the
moment the orang showed himself to fire at him, but the
192 THE WILD MAN OF THE WOODS

quadruman did not seem to notice the wound. Hanging to a
branch by one of his hind hands, he let his great body fall
forwards, while with one of -his fore hands he swung round a
club as thick as a man’s thigh. The momentum, increased
by the whole weight of the orang, was so great that the very
air hissed, and the club, striking the trunk of the pandanus,
made the bark fly off in strips. But Palmer, as quick as
thought, had sprung on one side, and taking advantage of the
moment when his enemy was himself stunned with the violence
of the shock, he struck him a blow with his hatchet that
sounded as if the blade had met with a block of granite.

The blow clove the skull of the formidable animal, yet he
did not let go at once, and remained hanging, wildly swinging
his club. Palmer, with inexorable coolness, dealt, him another
blow, no less violent than the first. This time the stroke was
mortal ; he fell, palpitating still and still hoiding his weapon,
on the grass, which was already bathed in his blood.

‘Dead at last’ cried Palmer triumphantly ; ‘I have nothing
more to fear for my son.’

And he rejoined the other hunters in all haste.

They followed the same path till the evening, and it was far
into the night when they reached the house, where Mrs. Surrey
had prepared refreshments for all the hunters.

We have no need to describe the delight of Anna and her
mother. Palmer rewarded the Malays and Lascars liberally.

Edward’s education had to be begun again, but it proved a
great success, thanks especially to the intelligent and loving
pains that the gentle Anna bestowed upon him.

Some years later the marriage of Edward and Anna crowned
the hopes of these youthful companions and of their devoted
father, who would have thought himself the happiest of men
if only his dear Elizabeth had lived to share his joy.

THE END

 

BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.
HET
Hr a
Nees
Ev vtai Treva tines