Just at that moment, as if nature desired to contribute to the escape of the savage, a wind squall suddenly extinguished the burning flame and enveloped the occupants of the raft in total darkness. [[123]]
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RESULTS OF THE FIGHT—DAMBOENG PAPOENDEH’S EXPEDITION—THE MAROETAS—BACK AGAIN TO THE KAPOEAS—NIGHT FIRING—THE BEES TO THE RESCUE—ASSISTANCE IN PERIL—THE SEPARATION—CIVILIZATION AND BARBARISM.
“I am not sure,” La Cueille said, “that it was wise in us to let that man escape.”
This sentence uttered the first thing in the morning was really the continuation of the conversation held after the escape of the head-hunter.
“Morte la bête, mort le venin,” was the opinion of the Walloon, given in his own language for want of knowledge of its Arabic equivalent.
When it was quite daylight the occupants of the raft counted the bodies of their assailants who had fallen under the fire of the Europeans. There were fourteen, including the one pierced by the knife of Schlickeisen. Their weapons and suits of mail became the spoils of the victors; the bodies, under pressure of necessity, were let down into the waters of the lake.
“An offering to Djata,” Dalim grinned.
When this funeral was finished and mutual congratulations had been exchanged, the attention of our adventurers was drawn to three canoes visible at the junction of the canal and the river. [[124]]They were terribly alarmed when they observed the Dutch flag displayed from the stern of the first two canoes. It was certain that they were being followed and that their experience of the past was only child’s play compared with what they might now expect. Breathless with alarm and anxiety they waited for further revelations.