scoundrels and of making them pay dear for their
knavish trick. This hope, I may say in parenthesis, was not a vain one,
for a year later I met my Chinese culprit at Telok Anson and not long
after, his Malay confederate at Penang, on both of which occasions I had
the satisfaction--without troubling the legal authority to intercede for
or against me--of giving them a lesson in honesty that I dare warrant
will have made them lose the gust of treating others as they had treated
me.

I was glad to find that the Sam-Sam boy had not deserted me for I had
taken a kind of liking to him. He told me that the Malay who had
accorded us hospitality had narrated to his countryman most terrible
things about the Sakais, describing so many perils, and such ferocious
treatment, which awaited those who risked getting into their midst, that
even a man of dauntless courage would have shuddered. Nothing was said
to me of this, but the man had informed the other three, who understood
the Malay language, and between the four it was quickly decided to
escape.

The boy had heard it all but did not give me any hint, never thinking
that the wicked project of robbing and abandoning me would have been so
speedily carried into effect.

I asked the only companion left me if he was disposed to be faithful to
his engagement and to me, no matter where we went, or whom we met with,
and he expressed his readiness to accompany me. The answer put me into
better spirits and I made arrangements for continuing our journey.

* * * * *

We boiled enough rice and broiled enough fish to last us for two meals
and then divided both in two parts. We each took our own share and
wrapped it up in some leaves ready to eat when we made a brief halt on
the banks of the many streams flowing through the forest.

With the remaining provisions we made two bundles, as bulky as seemed
possible to carry, but their weight surpassed our strength so we were
compelled to sacrifice a large quantity of our victuals which we put
into a sack and left in the hut, hoping that there it would not be
damaged by the rain, and afterwards, still well-laden, we once more set
off.

Under the scorching rays of the sun and the weight of my burden I
plodded on, philosophizing to myself--like a Boetius lost in the
jungle--in order to draw some comforting conclusion out of this, my
first, unpleasant adventure. But my philosophy soon took the form of
certain medit