“There are about thirty of them I should think,” said Laurentia.
“Only five and twenty, njonja.”
“Only! Only five and twenty!” said Mrs. van Gulpendam smiling. “It is pretty well, I should say—ten thousand guilders worth of lanterns!”
Lim Yang Bing’s face glowed with satisfaction. Like most parvenus he took an intense delight in letting every one know what he had paid for the precious objects he exhibited.
“And look, njonja,” he continued, “pray look at those tigers.”
With these words the opium-farmer pointed to a pair of red marble tigers. The figures were life-size and were represented crouching on two black marble pedestals at the foot of the two pillars one on each side of the altar.
“Yes, babah, I admire them much—they are very fine indeed! They must have cost a pretty penny I should think?”
“Each one of those figures represents five thousand guilders, njonja.”
“But babah!” cried Laurentia.
“You see, njonja,” said the babah sententiously, “when one gives a wedding party of this kind, one ought to do it well. Have you noticed that cock over the altar yonder?”