eavy frown had settled, and his lips moved angrily as he listened to
his Prime Minister's oratory. In the silence that fell upon the room
when Babalatchi ceased speaking arose a chorus of varied snores from the
corner where the body-guard had resumed their interrupted slumbers, but
the distant rumble of thunder filling then Nina's heart with apprehension
for the safety of her lover passed unheeded by those three men intent
each on their own purposes, for life or death.

After a short silence, Babalatchi, discarding now the flowers of polite
eloquence, spoke again, but in short and hurried sentences and in a low
voice. They had been very uneasy. Why did Dain remain so long absent?
The men dwelling on the lower reaches of the river heard the reports of
big guns and saw a fire-ship of the Dutch amongst the islands of the
estuary. So they were anxious. Rumours of a disaster had reached
Abdulla a few days ago, and since then they had been waiting for Dain's
return under the apprehension of some misfortune. For days they had
closed their eyes in fear, and woke up alarmed, and walked abroad
trembling, like men before an enemy. And all on account of Dain. Would
he not allay their fears for his safety, not for themselves? They were
quiet and faithful, and devoted to the great Rajah in Batavia--may his
fate lead him ever to victory for the joy and profit of his servants!
"And here," went on Babalatchi, "Lakamba my master was getting thin in
his anxiety for the trader he had taken under his protection; and so was
Abdulla, for what would wicked men not say if perchance--"

"Be silent, fool!" growled Lakamba, angrily.

Babalatchi subsided into silence with a satisfied smile, while Dain, who
had been watching him as if fascinated, turned with a sigh of relief
towards the ruler of Sambir. Lakamba did not move, and, without raising
his head, looked at Dain from under his eyebrows, breathing audibly, with
pouted lips, in an air of general discontent.

"Speak! O Dain!" he said at last. "We have heard many rumours. Many
nights in succession has my friend Reshid come here with bad tidings.
News travels fast along the coast. But they may be untrue; there are
more lies in men's mouths in these days than when I was young, but I am
not easier to deceive now."

"All my words are true," said Dain, carelessly. "If you want to know
what befell my brig, then learn that it is in the hands of the Dutch.
Believe me, Rajah," he went