This tickling of the toe had, at once, the desired effect. Starting up Verstork sat up and cried:
“Who is there?” As he said these words he put his hand to his foot, evidently fearing that a snake had touched him. Indeed, the chilly and leathery skin of a native may very easily convey such an impression, especially on a man who is but half awake.
“Who is there?” he cried again. But by this time the Javanese servant had, with a bound, jumped away out of the possible reach of his master’s hand, and from the furthest corner of the hut he said: “It is I, Kandjeng toean!”
“What do you want?” roared the Controller, now thoroughly aroused, and not in the sweetest temper.
“It is now four o’clock, and the dessa people are all waiting.”
“Is that all?” growled Verstork, who thought that his rest had been very unnecessarily disturbed. Who knows what absurdity he might in his drowsiness have added, had not the “toeaan, toeaan” of his servant, and the subsequent noise awakened van Beneden also, who was sleeping quite close to him.
He jumped up at once, and the moment he was awake began, as the Resident might perhaps have said, to turn up all hands.
“Come boys!” he shouted cheerily “Come boys, get up all of you!” as he threw himself from his bed with such energy as made the slight bamboo structure sway and creak as if it had been rocked by an earthquake.
“What’s the matter, what’s up?” cried several voices starting out of sleep.
“What’s up?” cried van Beneden. “There’s nothing up! You get up, all of you, as fast as you can. It is four o’clock, and the dessa folk are all ready for the chase.”