Upon Martin’s arrival with the small force, the Chief, who was standing in the midst of some ten or twelve of his vassals, all armed with creeses and boar-spears, looked very surlily; then, changing his tactics, he affected to praise the appearance of the men and their arms, but mildly suggested to Prabu that, for the sake of himself and crew, it would be as well to send them back to the prahu, as the sight of so many armed men might arouse the jealous fears of the villagers in the mountains. But Prabu, with equal simplicity or cunning, declared that there was no fear of their embroiling themselves with his subjects, for they were mild-tempered men, whom he could hold well in hand, and that, moreover, he had ordered them to accompany the party for his Highness’s amusement and gratification—indeed, to show him what musket-practice would do among the tigers; adding, that, should his Highness approve it, he would, before taking his departure from his territory, present him with a case of arms. At which Mahomed testified so much delight and good humor, not to say apparent manly frankness, that even I began to think that my suspicions were groundless.
Well, all being prepared, we started, Mahomed leading the way into the interior, by following the windings of a small river—swollen, muddy, and rapid from the late heavy rains. Now, during the first five or six hours, Mahomed was both lively and jocose: as, however, time wore on, and we found no tiger’s track, he became moody, and withdrew every now and then to hold a conference with two of his sub-chiefs; and this again arousing my doubts, I whispered to Prabu and my brother.
“Oh, bother with your suspicions and prophecies of evil, you old witch!” replied the latter; “he is only sorry because we have not yet been able to beat up a tiger.”
“Sahib,” replied Prabu, “there is no fear; for if Mahomed were to play us false, he would lose the muskets I have promised. It is as the Sahib Martin says: you will see how his eyes will glisten when we start a tiger.”
After such expressions of confidence, what could I say?—nothing—and so we pursued our search for game for two more hours; but then, as we had reached a small village of bamboo huts, the Chief proposed that we should remain in one of them and refresh ourselves, while two of his attendants went to beat a neighboring jungle.
As we entered this little village, an incident occurred that exhibited to the full the true nature of the Chief. A girl, very pretty for a native, ran across our path, and, stumbling against a tree-stump, fell at his feet. Conceiving this—albeit a pure accident—to be an insult to his dignity, Mahomed caught her up in one of his vise-like fists, and dashed her forward to a considerable distance, where she lay, bruised and bleeding from a wound in the face.
“The cowardly hound!” cried I, in English; and running forward, followed by Martin, we picked her up, staunched the bleeding, and with kind words led her into the nearest hut, where we left her, with a face beaming with gratitude, and exclaiming, “Allah preserve the good sahibs!”
This interference—for so the Chief doubtlessly considered it—between him and one of his slaves, evidently much vexed him; and I could see, from the savage glare of his eyes, that it was with pain he restrained his anger. As soon, however, as we entered one of the huts, the cloud seemed to have passed over; for he began a lively chat as to our hunting prospects, which he continued until interrupted by the coming of the refreshments. At the very sight of these, even, Martin and I forgot his brutality; for our vision was then delighted with stores of the delicious mangosteen, and our sense of smell by the arrival of several small vessels of hot, well-milked coffee. Fortunately for us, the refreshing beverage was not drunk.
But now let me tell you how we were placed in that hut. I was reclining at full length, with my head resting upon a bamboo pillow, against one of the sides; the bamboos of which had shrunk from each other at least an inch, so that, when looking in that direction, I could see all that was doing without. My brother was in a similar position by my side—Prabu about the middle of the hut; and between us three and the door, with his face turned rather toward the exterior, sat the Chief upon a mat. This position he had taken, ostensibly, that he might the better communicate with his people, who, of course, were not permitted to sit in their lord’s presence. With reference to the men, I may add that, while the attendants of Mahomed had seated themselves in a line immediately near the hut, our party from the prahu were placed at a short distance beyond them; but both parties were partaking, or about to partake, of their coffee.
Well, I had been in the position described three or four minutes, awaiting till the coffee had become sufficiently cool to drink, when, as my left hand rested against the bamboo, I felt a tickling sensation. Turning my head, I saw the girl who had been so brutally used by the Chief earnestly gazing upon me. “Sahib,” she whispered in my ear, “not drink coffee; it kill. Young chief bad man.”