b her to teach her better
manners.

At this she flew into a perfect fury of rage, 'Hei! Stab then! Stab!'
she cried, and, as she shouted the words, she made a gesture which is
the grossest insult that a Malay woman can put upon a man. At this To'
Kaya lost both his head and his temper, and, hardly knowing what he did,
he drew his dagger clear and she took the point in her breast, their
baby, who was on her arm, being also slightly wounded. Dropping the
child upon the verandah, she rushed past her husband, and took refuge in
the house of a neighbour named Che' Long. To' Kaya followed her, and
cried to those within the house to unbar the door. Che' Long's daughter
Esah ran to comply with his bidding; but, before she could do so, To'
Kaya had crept under the house, and he stabbed at her savagely through
the interstices of the bamboo flooring, wounding her in the hip. The
girl's father, hearing the noise, ran out of the house, and was greeted
by To' Kaya with a spear thrust in the stomach which doubled him up,
and, like Abner Dean of Angel's, 'the subsequent proceedings interested
him no more.' Meanwhile, To' Kaya's wife had rushed out of the house,
and returned to her home. Her husband pursued her, overtook her on the
verandah, and stabbed her through the breast, killing her on the spot.

He then entered his house, which was still tenanted by his son, and his
mother-in-law, and set fire to the bed curtains with a box of matches.
Now, the people of Kuala Trengganu dread fire more than anything in the
world; for, their houses, which are made of very inflammable material,
jostle one another on every foot of available ground. When a Trengganu
man deliberately sets fire to his own house, he has reached the highest
pitch of desperation, and is 'burning his ships' in sober earnest. At
the sight of the flames, To' Kaya's son, a boy of about twelve years of
age, made a rush at the curtains, pulled them down, and stamped the fire
out. To' Kaya's mother-in-law, meanwhile, had rushed out of the house,
seized the baby who still lay on the verandah, and set off at a run. The
sight of his mother-in-law in full flight was too much for To' Kaya, who
probably owed her many grudges, and he at once gave chase, overtook her,
and stabbed her through the shoulder. She, however, succeeded in making
good her escape, carrying the baby with her. To' Kaya then returned to
his house, whence his son had also fled, and set it afire once more, and
this