Matters soon settled quietly down, and the swarthy-looking Rajah Suleiman, in gorgeous array and attended by quite a staff of his notables—Maharajah Lela, Tumongong, Muntri, Lakasamana, and the rest of them—was haughtily partaking of an excellent breakfast, with a string of followers behind the chairs of him and his suite—pipe-bearers, betel-box carriers, and other attendants; while a picked guard of his finest men in a uniform of yellow satin, all armed with the lim-bing or throwing-spear and kris, were drawn up in the veranda, carefully watching over their lord in the mess-room, and as carefully watched over themselves by a guard of quiet-looking linesmen with fixed bayonets.
It fell to Archie’s lot to be near the clump of trees beneath which the half-dozen splendid elephants that brought in the Rajah were being fed and groomed.
They had come in covered with mud from their journey along the narrow forest path formed of a line of deep mud-holes made by the elephants themselves, every one of the huge animals invariably planting his feet in the track of the one which had preceded him. Their trappings during the journey had been carefully rolled-up, and now hung with the howdahs from horizontal branches of the sheltering trees.
As soon as it was light the great beasts had been marched down by their attendants to the landing-place for a swim, and brought out again back to the shelter to be carefully groomed, and now stood partaking contentedly of their morning meal, prior to being decked with their gay howdah-cloths and other trappings.
One of the first men that Archie encountered was Peter Pegg, who was standing watching the mahouts, who in turn were overlooking the attendants whose duty it was to groom the Rajah’s stud.
“How is it you are not on duty?” he said.
“Am, sir,” said the lad. “The Sergeant put me here to keep a heye on these helephant chaps and see as they don’t get quarrelling with t’other Rajah’s men.”
“Why, they have not come yet, have they—Rajah Hamet, I mean, and his people?”
“Oh yes, sir; and they are out yonder—helephants and all. Joe Smithers is doing the same job with them.”
“Did you see the Rajah?”