“But what am I to do?”
“See here?”
And at the same time he tore the letter into a thousand pieces, collected them in a pisang leaf and tied them up into a parcel.
“That is the way to return the letter to the Commander!” he exclaimed victoriously.
A loud cry of satisfaction was the answer, proving again that whoever has tact, may lead any assemblage as he wishes.
A few moments afterwards he placed the parcel into the messenger’s hand, with command to deliver it to the Commander, at the same time advising him never to return to the kotta with similar messages unless he wished to be cut to pieces. The frightened native accepted the parcel and hurried away from such dangerous quarters as fast as his feet would carry him.
In the meantime the two Dayak chiefs were seated with the Colonel on the trunk of a tree under a shed made of branches and leaves, and were waiting for the return of their messenger. The Colonel seemed very impatient; he stamped with his feet, drummed with his fingers on the sheath of his sword, and distinctly showed that he had not yet acquired the Eastern reserve so natural to his companions. At last he said:
“He is a long while coming, is he not?”
“It certainly is not far from here,” Tomonggong Nikodemus [[193]]answered, “but your honor must not forget how cautious our messengers have to be.”
“But do you really fancy this letter will lead to the result you expected?”