man with the horn with him and, as
soon as he saw that the work was fairly done, he ordered the signal
to be blown. The torches were thrown down, and their bearers ran
back at full speed and, half a minute later, the rajah's men poured
out from the town. There was no pursuit, and the whole band
re-entered the stockade before, with yells of fury, numbers of the
enemy ran forward.

As soon as they did so, arrows began to fly fast from the stockade
and, knowing that they could effect nothing, without means of
breaking through, the Malays retired as rapidly as they had
advanced.

Short as was the interval that had elapsed since the first signal
was given, the town was, at the point where the attack was made, a
sheet of flame, which was spreading rapidly on either hand. The
hubbub among the enemy was tremendous. Upwards of a hundred had
been killed, by the rajah's party--for the most part before they
could offer any resistance--and not more than five or six of their
assailants had received severe wounds.

Loud rose the shouts of exultation from the defenders, as the fire
spread with ever-increasing rapidity; flakes of fire, driven by a
strong wind, started the flames in a score of places, far ahead of
the main conflagration and, in half an hour, only red embers and
flickering timbers showed where Johore had stood. Beyond, however,
there were sheets of flame, where the crops had been dry and ready
for cutting; and the garrison felt that their assailants would have
to go a long distance, to gather materials for endeavouring to burn
them out.

While the position had been surrounded by a zone of fire, the rajah
had, at Harry's suggestion, sent the whole of the men and women to
cast earth over the dead; piled, at four or five points, so thickly
in the ditch.

"If the matter is delayed another day," he said, "the air will be
so poisoned that it will be well-nigh impossible to exist here."

The rajah admitted this; but urged that his men would want to cut
off the heads of their fallen enemies, this being the general
custom among the Malays.

"It may be so, Rajah, but it could not be carried out, here,
without great danger. Our own lives depend upon getting them
quickly buried. We have no such custom of cutting off heads, in our
country, but that is no affair of mine. But the bodies now lie in
what is, in fact, a grave; and a few hours' labour would be the
means of saving the town from a pestilence, later on.

"When the