robbery was committed--for had not the whole company to wait
for a second brew--made reply with the only English of his vocabulary,
"yes." X., who had the doubtful advantage of understanding as well as
seeing all that was going on, glared fiercely as he saw himself deprived
of the only portion of the meal which was at all likely to be good, and
could willingly have caused an interruption by using his napkin and
bread as a sling and a stone. The "yes" of the native apparently checked
the embarrassment which the lady was beginning to feel, and triumphantly
she exclaimed, "My goodness, what a country." Then the husband blew his
nose with discomfort, and, her attention attracted, his good wife
exclaimed, "My dear, you have a cold, let us go to bed," and they went.
X., and possibly others, found satisfaction in the thought that people
might go to bed after partaking of such a concoction as that couple had
done, but that they certainly would not sleep. Nor did they, as the
sequel showed. For the lady and her husband also had a room on the
terrace suite, and this was divided only by a thin partition from that
of X., and though he did not wish to listen, the first words which
greeted his gratified ears on the following morning were, "Oh, darling,
I have had such a dreadful night; I never closed my eyes." X. heard no
more as he delicately buried his head in the pillows, lest he should be
dragged too deep in domestic confidences; but he had heard enough--he
was avenged. And they knew themselves it was the coffee, since it was
noticed that this night after dinner the sleepless couple each firmly
declined the brimming cups, which, with kind forethought for the public
good, the proprietor had ordered to be handed to them.

CHAPTER X.

CUSTOMS AND COSTUMES.

Early in the morning X. went out to explore, and, naturally, his first
visit was to those wonderful gardens which are the first in the world,
and are the resort of naturalists from all portions of the globe.

In a sketch of this nature it would be presumption to attempt to
describe the marvels of this garden, one of the sights of the East,
which it is worth while going to Java to see. During his walk the
traveller was at every turn astonished at the evidences of wealth
amongst the natives, the tiled roofed houses and plentifully stocked
orchards and gardens, while goats and sheep browsed everywhere. In the
streets everyone appeared to be selling--there seemed none left