and people came to me asking for
rice, or for money wherewith to purchase it, and I had nothing to give
them, only one little dollar remaining to me. It is very bad when the
little ones want food, and my liver grew hot at the thought. None of the
woman-folk dared to say any word, when they saw that my eyes waxed red;
but the little children cried, and I heard them, and was sad. Moreover,
I, too, was hungry, for my belly was empty. Then I looked upon my only
dollar, and, calling one of my men, I bade him go to a Chinese store,
and buy me a bottle of the white man's perfume. Now, when one of my
wives, the mother of my son, heard this order she cried out in anger:
"Art thou mad, Father of Che' Bujang? Art thou mad, that thou throwest
away thy last dollar on perfumes for thy lights of love, while Che'
Bujang and his brethren cry for rice?" But I slapped her on the mouth,
and said "Be still!"--for it is not well for a man to suffer a woman to
question the doings of men.

'That evening, when the night had fallen, I put on my fighting jacket,
and my Celebes drawers, and bound my _kris_, the "Chinese Axe," about
my waist, and took my sword, the "Rising Sun," in my hand. Three or
four of my boys followed at my back, and I did not forget to take with
me the bottle of the white man's perfume. I made straight for the
great Klang gambling house, and when I reached the door, I halted for
the space of an eye-flick, and spilled the scent over my hand and arm
as far as the elbow. Then I rushed in among the gamblers, suddenly and
without warning, stepping like a fencer in the sword-dance and crying
"_Amok! Amok!_" till the coins danced upon the gaming tables. All the
gamblers stayed their hands from the staking, and some seized their
dagger hilts. Then I cried aloud three times, "I am Si-Hamid, the
Tiger Unbound!"--for by that name did men then call me--"Get ye to
your dwellings speedily, and leave your money where it is, or I will
slay you!"

'Many were affrighted, some laughed, some hesitated, but none did as I
bade them. "Dogs and pigs!" I cried, "Are your ears deaf that ye obey me
not, or are ye sated with life, and desire that your shrouds should be
prepared? Obey me, or I will slay ye all, as a kite swoops upon little
chickens! What is your power, and what are your stratagems, and how can
ye prevail against me? I who am invulnerable, I whom even the fire burns
but cannot devour!"

'With that I thrust my right hand into the flam