"I don't think the sultan is very fond of
hunting, though."

Just at this moment, unseen, of course, by the three young men, Dullah
was whispering to a rough-looking, half-naked Malay, into whose hands he
placed a little roll of paper, which the man secured in the fold of his
sarong, dropped into a sampan, and then hastily paddled to the mainland,
where he plunged into the wood and disappeared.

Meanwhile the three friends sat chatting, and Ali expressed his sorrow
about the adventure the two young Englishmen had had with the slave
girls.

"Where are they now?" he quietly asked.

"Oh, Miss Linton and her cousin have quite adopted them," said Bob.
"But surely you don't think we did wrong."

"Speaking as the son of the Tumongong, I say yes," replied Ali; "but as
one who has imbibed English notions and ideas, I am bound to say that
what you did only makes me feel more thoroughly how it is time we had a
complete revolution in Parang."

"I say," said Bob, "you'll get stuck-up for high treason, young fellow,
if you talk about revolution."

"No fear," said Ali, laughing quietly. "My ideas are pretty well-known;
but I am too insignificant a fellow for what I say to be noticed. Now
if it was my father--"

"Yes--if it was your father," said Bob, "I suppose they would kris him?"

Ali nodded, and after a quiet cigar under the trees, during which he
complained more than once of the wrench the seizure by the crocodile had
given to his muscles, he bade them good-bye, promising to have
everything ready for the tiger-hunt, and, leaping into his boat, was
rowed away.

Ali had about a mile to walk along one of the jungle-paths to reach his
father's house, and he was going along very thoughtfully under the
trees, quite alone--for he had left his men behind, to look after and
secure the boat. It was comparatively cool in the shade, and he began
thinking about the two young men he had left, and contrasting their
civilised life with his. The savagery and barbarism by which he was
surrounded disgusted him; and knowing well as he did, how the sultan and
the various rajahs of the little states lived by oppressing and grinding
down the wretched people around, he longed for the time when a complete
change should come about, bringing with it just laws, and a salutary
rule for his country. His own life troubled him in no small degree, for
he saw nothing in the future but the career of a Malay chief, a ruler
over slaves, living a