Having made all safe, the Chinamen went off to fetch Dalima. What they intended to do with the girl was a matter of dispute between them. Liem King proposed that they should settle by a cast of the dice which of them should possess her; but Than Khan, who was of a more practical and covetous turn of mind, explained to his companion that a good round sum of money might be got out of the son of the rich opium farmer if they delivered her into his hands. They were still debating the question when they reached the Tjatjing, where they had left their victim lying on the grass. There they soon found out that they need not have argued the matter at all; for though they searched the whole place with the utmost minuteness, they could find no trace of Dalima. Yes, they did find a trace; for behind a clump of undergrowth close to the spot where they had left the girl, they discovered the coil of rope with which they had bound her. She had, evidently, somehow or other found means to get her wrists to her mouth, and had succeeded in gnawing through the cords. Once her hands were free it was mere child’s play to untie her feet and legs.
“Devil take her!” exclaimed Liem King, “that tit-bit is lost to us.”
“Indeed she is,” sighed Than Khan; “we have allowed a nice little sum to slip through our fingers. Lim Ho would have paid well for her.”
“Now, I think,” said Liem King, “the best thing will be not to breathe a word about her to the Company.”
“Oh, of course, not a single word,” assented Than Khan; “now that she has got away that would be most dangerous.”
“But what,” asked the other, “had we better do now with Ardjan? I think we had better let him go, too. He is sure to let out all about Dalima.”
“No fear,” rejoined Than Khan, “he won’t dare to do that. Should he utter a single word about the girl Lim Ho would have him clubbed to death.”
“Well,” said Liem King, pensively, “for all that I think the safest plan is to let him go.”
“H’m,” said the other, “why so? You know as well as I do that he ought to be on board the Kiem Ping Hin. Now, how on earth did he manage to get here in that ‘djoekoeng?’ Take my word for it, there is some mystery about that. Very likely it may be important to the Company to get to the bottom of that. Ah,” added he, with a deep sigh of disappointment, “I only wish we had tied up that wretched girl a little more securely.”
“Oh, no, don’t say so!” cried Liem King, “you would have bruised those darling little wrists and dainty ankles.”