yes! the terrible news was true—it was but too true—!
when the van gulpendams arrived at soeka maniesan, the proprietor of that sugar-factory could not help admitting that lately all symptoms of disturbance had disappeared. he [513]had caused the woods, in which the supposed seditious meetings were held, to be carefully watched; but he had not been able to discover in them a single human being. thus, he had come to the conclusion, that either his former information had been altogether false, or else that the mutinous spirits had removed to some other part of the country.
resident van gulpendam, on his arrival, summoned the assistant resident of the district of which soeka maniesan was an outlying station, and he also called before him the regent and the wedonos of the place; but he could not extract anything out of them which might awaken so much as a suspicion of danger.
very much the other way! all these authorities declared that the most profound calm and content prevailed throughout the district, though the regent was fain to admit that there was a great deal of poverty and distress about.
“indeed!” said the resident; “and what may be the cause of this sad state of things, radhen adipattie?”
the javanese chief shook his head dubiously, he did not at all like answering that question.
as he stood there hesitating, van gulpendam asked:
“do the landowners pay the labourers reasonably well?”
“oh, yes, kandjeng toean.”
“perhaps the rice harvest has failed or has not, this season, produced as much as usual?”
“no, no, kandjeng toean, the harvest has been especially good and abundant this year. the men have brought home many bundles of rice to the common barn.”
“what then may be the cause of the distress you speak of, radhen adipattie?” asked the resident.
“i do not know,” replied the javanese chief with a sigh.
the truth was, that he knew it well enough; but that he did not dare to speak out. he knew equally well that if he told the whole truth he would incur the displeasure of the resident. he knew that the barns were empty. the harvest had been plentiful indeed; but very little of the crop had found its way to the barns.
the fact is, that the javanese is a mere grown-up child. he had simply squandered away his produce while it was yet standing unripe in the fields. to lay his hands upon a little ready cash, he had sold his rice, long before it was cut, to the chinese money-lenders. and the money thus obtained, at a ruinous sacrifice of course, had speedily found its way to the [514]opium-den, to the gambling-booth and to the pawn-shop. it had been swallowed up by that august trinity which is the chief source of dutch revenue. no, no! the regent was too prudent a man to put his thoughts into words, he cast a look of awe upon the big cross which glittered on the resident’s breast and, with another sigh, he said again:
“i cannot tell, kandjeng toean.”
the resident was perfectly satisfied with the result of his investigation, and declared that he would occupy no other rooms than those in the outbuildings. he professed himself quite contented with the ordinary visitors’ quarters.
“but, resident,” persisted the proprietor, “your apartments in the house are all ready for you.”
“my worthy friend,” said van gulpendam, “i won’t hear of any such thing. i intend to prove to you that i am perfectly satisfied as to the state of the country, and, in the out-buildings i shall sleep as securely and as soundly as you in your house.”
from this resolution no arguments could move him. and, indeed, it seemed that he was perfectly right. the reports which came in from all quarters were so reassuring, that the owner of the factory soeka maniesan himself was beginning to incline to the opinion that he must have been deceived.
the first night which the resident and his wife passed in their apartments, was as quiet as any night could possibly be, and they enjoyed the most delightful rest.
the next day was spent in a minute survey of the sugar-factory although it was rather late in the season, and the yearly campaign was about to close. in the afternoon they took a pleasant walk, in the course of which both mr. and mrs. van gulpendam were delighted at the very great respect which was paid them by every class of natives they happened to meet. not that such homage was strange to them, quite the contrary; for, while he was only a controller, van gulpendam had exacted that every native whom he encountered on the way should squat down and make a respectful sembah, and that every woman should turn away her face, which is the usual way of showing deference. but here, all these things were done by the natives with such evident signs of deep humility—the country people were evidently so overawed at the sight of their august visitors—that both the resident and laurentia were delighted at so much submission. no, no, in these parts there could be not the smallest ground for apprehension; van gulpendam thought he knew quite enough of the native [515]character to make sure of that. the evening also was passed most pleasantly. the owner of soeka maniesan had invited the principal families of the neighbourhood to meet the resident; and these had, of course, eagerly, accepted the invitation. the gentlemen, and some of the ladies too, sat down to a quiet game at cards, and those who did not play, passed the time pleasantly enough with music and social conversation.
if some remnants of uneasiness could yet have lingered in the resident’s mind, the placid landscape which lay stretched out before him must have dissipated all such vague apprehensions. the moon stood high in the heavens and shed her calm quiet light over the scene. a cool breeze was rustling in the leaves of the splendid trees by which the entire building was surrounded. in fact, everything breathed the most profound peace, that serene quiet which makes tropical nights above all things delicious. thus the evening passed in quiet enjoyment, and the hour of midnight had struck before the carriages came rumbling up to take the visitors home.
when the guests had taken their departure, and the inmates of the house were preparing to retire to rest, one of the overseers came in and reported that some fellow had been seen sneaking about behind the garden hedge.
“some thief, probably,” said the man carelessly, as if such a thing was a not at all unusual occurrence.
“come,” said the proprietor, “let us go and have a look round.” as he said these words, he took down his gun, and offered the resident a weapon of the same description. van gulpendam however, with a wave of his hand, declined to take it.
the two gentlemen, accompanied by the overseer, walked out into the grounds; while the ladies retired to their bedrooms.
as we have already said, the weather was beautifully warm and clear.
the two european gentlemen strolled about but could discover nothing to breed suspicion. the cool night-air induced them somewhat to extend their walk. they got outside the grounds and entered the fields of sugar-cane which adjoined the property, in which the canes had already been partially gathered. the cane which had been cut had been carried away to the factory; but a considerable part of the field was still occupied by the tall stems awaiting the hand of the reaper. here and there in the field were big heaps of dry [516]leaves which had been stripped from the cane and were destined presently to be carried to the factory to serve as fuel. the proprietor of soeka maniesan was a thoroughly practical sugar manufacturer, a man who knew all the ins and outs of his trade; and mr. van gulpendam, who, while he occupied inferior positions in the interior of the island, had been brought much into contact with that industry, prided himself upon being pretty well up in the subject also. thus between these two experts, the conversation never once flagged. followed at a respectful distance by the overseer, the gentlemen strolled leisurely along discussing the various kinds of cane which were grown on the plantation. van gulpendam would have it, that the light yellow cane contained the greatest amount of saccharine matter, while the other declared, quite as positively, that his long experience had taught him that the dark brown cane was the more profitable to grow.
both gentlemen stuck to their opinion, and the discussion was growing somewhat lively; when—suddenly—a yell was heard, and a number of men with blackened faces and armed with clubs, sprang up from behind one of the heaps of leaves and made a rush straight at the two europeans. startled at this sudden apparition, the resident and his host took to flight; but they had time to run only a very few paces, before the nimble-footed javanese had caught up the proprietor of the factory and felled him to the ground with a single blow, before he could so much as get his gun up to his shoulder. the resident they did not overtake until he had got within the grounds; but, instead of striking at him, the men seized him, flung him down to the ground and securely bound him. what had meanwhile become of the overseer was a mystery. very likely he had thrown himself down and was crouching behind a heap of leaves; or, perhaps, he was hiding behind some bushes. as van gulpendam was being bound, he could see a dozen of the men rushing off in the direction of the wing in which was situated his wife’s bedroom. he would have cried out for help; but a powerful hand drove into his mouth a gag made of an old rag and prevented him from uttering a sound. he could see that the attacking party first attempted to open the door; but, finding it locked and fast bolted, dashed it from its hinges with their clubs. then the whole party rushed in and cries of terror arose from the interior—then, suddenly, came one terrible shriek of agony—and all was still again—.
this had taken place so rapidly, that the din made by the [517]battering in of the door only startled some inmates of the house and the men who, during the night, had to attend to the steam-engines in the factory. long before anyone could come to the rescue, the attacking party had returned to their comrades, who mounted guard over van gulpendam. then, one of them without attempting to disguise his voice, said:
“come, make haste, let us get along, the horses are waiting for us in the cane-field.”
“is the lady dead?” asked one of the men as coolly as possible.
“dead!” was the reply, in a voice which trembled with revengeful passion.
“come, pick up that white pig, or else all the factory men will be upon us and i shall have to kris the dog; that would be a pity.”
at the words, a couple of bamboo poles were thrust under the arms and legs of poor van gulpendam.
“i am the kandjeng toean resident!” he tried to say. whether the words were understood or not is doubtful; but the only result of the effort was a furious blow in the mouth which drove the foul gag further home.
“march!” said the leader. four javanese thereupon took up the bamboo poles on their shoulders and trotted off with their burden. the sufferer groaned with the intense pain caused by the jolting; but his lamentations were not heard, or if they were, no one paid the slightest heed to his distress. close outside the factory grounds stood half-a-dozen horses saddled and all ready to start. upon one of these van gulpendam was tightly strapped, then some of the men mounted the other animals and the troop was ready to move on.
“to the ‘djaga monjet!’?” cried one of the horsemen to those whom he left behind.
“yes, yes!” eagerly cried the others.
as soon as the mounted men had disappeared with their prisoner, the party which was left behind set fire to the sugar-canes. the reedy stems burned fiercely and soon the dreadful roar of the flames was mingled with the sharp crackling of the canes. under cover of these flames and of the smoke, the party were enabled to make good their escape; and it was not until then that the big gong of the factory began to sound the alarm.
while this seizure was taking place at soeka maniesan, another surprise of the same kind was being carried out with equal success in another quarter. [518]
about six pals from the town of santjoemeh there stood a quaint looking building, hidden away very pleasantly amid charming scenery in the bends of the rising ground. had the house been built in anything like swiss or italian style, it might have been called a chalet or a villa; but the order of its architecture was so distinctly mongolian that no mistake could be made as to its origin. it was, in fact, a chinese pavilion which lately had become the property of lim ho the son of the opium factor at santjoemeh. if anyone had fondly hoped that, after his marriage, our babah would have settled down and become somewhat less irregular in his habits, a single peep into the interior of that pavilion must have dispersed all such pleasant illusions. that small building, situated there in so charming and lonely a spot was, in fact, nothing else than a trap into which the licentious young chinaman was wont to decoy the victims of his lust and was enabled to ensure their ruin. the apartments of the pavilion were all furnished regardless of cost and in the most sumptuous asiatic style. in every room there were luxurious divans and on every wall hung pictures which might be valuable, perhaps, as works of art, but the subjects of which were sensual and immoral to the lowest degree. on that same night in which the attack was made upon soeka maniesan, that chinese pavilion also was surprised. here the attempt succeeded even more easily than that on the sugar plantation. lim ho had that evening left his house in santjoemeh and was sitting in his pavilion impatiently awaiting for some poor creature who had aroused his passions, and whom his agents had promised to bring him. he had with him only two chinese servants, fellows who neither would nor could offer the faintest resistance. about midnight, a knock was heard at the door. it was a low faint knock, and the babah, in a fever of expectation, and thinking it was the pigeon which had been decoyed to his den, gave the word at once to open the door.
no sooner, however, had the bolts been drawn and the key turned in the lock, than half-a-dozen men with blackened faces and armed to the teeth sprang in. lim ho, true to the cowardly nature of his race, turned pale as death but never for an instant thought of resistance. he glanced round nervously to see whether any way of escape lay open to him; but when he saw both doors occupied and guarded by the attacking party, he tried, in his unmanly terror, to hide himself by creeping under one of the divans. in a very few minutes, however, [519]he was dragged out of that hiding place and was securely bound, strapped to a horse and carried off.
here again, just as at soeka maniesan, the attacking party left everything untouched. they did not lay a finger on any of the articles of value which lay scattered about; but they confined themselves strictly to the murder of mrs. van gulpendam and to the capture of the resident and of the opium farmer’s son.
the proprietor of the sugar factory had, it is true, been knocked down by a blow of one of their clubs; but that blow had not been struck wantonly. it was inflicted simply as a precaution and in self-defence; for the man would undoubtedly have run off and spread the alarm. he would have roused his factory hands and caused the whole plot to fail, and he would immediately have started in pursuit of the raiders. that had to be guarded against at all hazards. but the blow did not prove deadly or even dangerous. as soon as the first excitement, consequent upon the discovery of laurentia’s murder, had somewhat subsided, a band of men had sallied forth to put out the fire in the fields, and then the owner of the factory was discovered lying insensible just outside his own grounds. at first they thought he was dead; for he was quite unconscious. they carried him into the house, and then his wife soon found out that her husband, though stunned by a severe blow, was neither wounded nor materially injured. every effort was made to restore him, and after some time, he recovered his senses. the day had dawned before the police had arrived at soeka maniesan and began to make their inquiries. there and then a careful examination was held of the entire staff employed on the factory—every single individual being submitted to a rigorous interrogatory; but no clue was found which could lead to the detection of the perpetrators of this daring outrage. just outside the yet smouldering cane-fields, were found the tracks of horses; but that led to no result for the weather had for a long time been very dry and the morning breeze had covered all further tracks with a thick layer of fine dust. thus there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to indicate the direction the horsemen might have taken. the proprietor himself, poor fellow, could not give the slightest information. all he knew was that, as he was quietly walking about engaged in argument with the resident, a number of fellows with blackened faces had started up from behind one of the tall piles of leaves, that he had attempted to run away, [520]but had been overtaken and had received a blow on the head which stunned him. of what had taken place after that he, of course, knew nothing whatever. the overseer’s story was, if possible, still more unsatisfactory. he said that the instant he saw the threatening forms appearing from behind the heap of dadoe, he had flung himself down flat upon the ground and then crept under another heap of leaves; and that he had not ventured to stir out of that hiding place until he heard the crackling of the canes and began to fear that the leaves which covered him might be attacked by the flames. while in this state of terror and suspense, he had seen nothing and had heard nothing. now, the question was: where were they to look for resident van gulpendam? the police were at their wits’ end. the whole district of santjoemeh was, naturally enough, in the greatest excitement; and universal horror prevailed at the terrible fate which, in all probability, had overtaken the chief of the district. but do what they could, and search where they would, not a trace of the criminals could be discovered, not a single gleam of light could be cast upon the impenetrable mystery. for a day or two this state of suspense endured until a fisherman, as he was trying to get his boat into the moeara tjatjing, caught sight of the naked body of a european floating just outside the surf. he made for it and drew it into his boat and then took it to the loerah of kaligaweh which was the nearest dessa.
had this simple javanese fisherman only known that it was the body of the kandjeng toean, he would no doubt have turned away his head and quietly said to his mates: “let allah’s justice float by undisturbed.”
had he been able to foresee what troubles he was bringing upon himself by raising that corpse from its watery grave, he would have taken good care not to touch it. the alligators would, no doubt, soon enough have provided for its burial.
as it was, the loerah of the dessa began by locking up the poor fellow. then he had to submit to endless examinations by the wedono, by the pattih, by the regent, by the controller, by the assistant resident, by the public prosecutor. all these authorities were most eager in the matter; and thought that, in this poor man, they held in their hands a clue to the mysterious drama enacted at soeka maniesan. thus they vied with one another in badgering the poor devil, until they drove him to desperation, and he at length was [521]forced to declare that he was light-headed and of weak intellect.
the body was readily identified as that of resident van gulpendam. there could be no doubt about that; for the features were almost intact. but all the parts which the sea-monsters had spared appeared extremely inflamed and swollen; and it was evident that the unhappy man must have died under an extremity of torture, though there was nothing to show that any knife or sharp instrument had caused his death.
what then had been his fate?
“to the ‘djaga monjet!’?”
yes! it was indeed to that very same dismal hut in the mangrove swamp by the moeara tjatjing, to which we introduced our readers in our first chapters, that the band of horsemen was now riding at full speed.
they carefully avoided all the dessas which lay on the road, a thing which they could easily do as they were perfectly acquainted with all the bye-paths. they shunned even the guard-houses, not being certain that the watchmen stationed there could be implicitly trusted. thus, without let or hindrance, the little troop rode on, and the day was just beginning to break when they reached the mangrove wood, in which the “djaga monjet” was situated.
when they carried van gulpendam, still bound hand and foot, into the hut, they found lim ho there. he had been brought in some time before, and was lying stretched out at full length upon the wretched flooring. he also was bound so tightly that he could not move hand or foot. at a signal from a tall, slim javanese, who appeared to be the leader of the band, the cords which bound the unhappy prisoners were loosened, and the gags were removed from their mouths.
around them stood about twenty javanese, all unrecognisable, with blackened faces and fully armed.
the chinaman uttered not a word, he seemed prostrate with terror. the sudden shock appeared to have annihilated him.
but, as soon as the european felt that he was free, he stretched his limbs, and in a voice of conscious dignity he said:
“are you aware that i am the kandjeng toean resident?”
“yes, kandjeng toean,” replied the leader in a tone of mock humility. [522]
“it is but a few days ago,” continued van gulpendam, “that the kandjeng toean radja honoured me with a particular mark of his high favour.” as he spoke these words he pointed haughtily to the huge cross which still was hanging sparkling on the breast of his light-blue resident’s frock.
“yes, kandjeng toean!” repeated the leader, while all his men made the sembah in token of deep respect.
“government will exact the most terrible punishment should you hurt so much as a hair of my head!”
a mocking laugh was the answer to that speech. twenty men grasped the handles of their krises; but at a wave from the leader’s hand, all kept silence, and not a single word was spoken, not a single blade was drawn.
“before government will be able to punish,” rejoined the javanese quietly, “you will both be dead men.”
“dead!” exclaimed lim ho in a voice husky with terror.
“dead?” cried van gulpendam. “no, no, you dare not do that! my death would be too fearfully avenged!”
“both of you, i said—” resumed the leader with perfect coolness, “i said both of you deserve to die. we have passed sentence upon you. that sentence must be carried out—after that, they may do with us what they will—i mean, of course, if they can lay hands upon us.”
“but,” cried lim ho, half mad with terror, “what have i done?”
“you ask me what you have done? well, i will tell you. in this very hut, you inflicted upon a man, whose only fault was that he loved, and intended to marry, a girl upon whom you had cast your lustful eyes, the most atrocious torture. you ask what you have done? that same young girl you contrived, with the assistance of the njonja of yonder wretch, to get into your possession, you outraged her most brutally, and then, when you had worked your foul will upon her, you cast her off and accused her of opium smuggling.”
lim ho’s face grew ashy-pale as he heard these terrible words, he began to understand into whose hands he had fallen.
van gulpendam thought that he ought still to keep up his proud and dignified bearing. he could not bring himself to believe that a mere javanese would dare to raise his hand against his august person, against the kandjeng toean. but yet he thought it advisable to speak in a somewhat conciliatory tone. [523]
“if what you have just now said be true,” he began, “then certainly lim ho deserves severe punishment, and i pledge you my word that i will exert my authority to see that his punishment shall be proportioned to his offence; but what have i done that you dare to treat me thus?”
“you, you, kandjeng toean!” vehemently broke in the leader, in a voice which seemed fairly to hiss with rage, “you have made the offences, as you call them, of this chinese dog possible. you have had the man, of whom i just now spoke, cast into a dungeon, you condemned him to the most barbarous punishment, knowing all the while that he was innocent. and all this you have done merely in order that you might screen the smuggling trade of that scoundrel. you supplied the opium-farmer with the means of preventing that girl’s father from defending his own child against the brutality of yon beastly chinaman. do you still ask me what you have done? why, you and your wife are guilty of all i have said—and you and your wife deserve to die. part of our sentence has already been carried out, and, believe me, it will be fully executed.”
“wha—! what? partly carried out you said?” gasped van gulpendam. “my wife—!”
the leader turned to one of his followers:
“tell the kandjeng toean what has become of the njonja.”
“the njonja is dead!” was the brief reply.
“yes!” shouted the leader wildly, “the njonja is dead! we had mercy upon her, one single stab put an end to her accursed life. look here—those spots on my kris—they are her blood!”
“that shriek i heard?” cried van gulpendam.
“was the last sound she will ever utter in this world. but,” continued the javanese, still carried away by his passion, “do not for a moment flatter yourself that we will deal thus mercifully with you. upon a woman we could have compassion. but you! oh yes, you shall suffer! you shall feel something of the tortures you are so ready to inflict upon others!”
even then van gulpendam retained something of his fortitude and haughty bearing, and he said:
“i bid you beware of the punishing hand of the dutch government, it will know how to avenge me.”
“i am prepared to brave any peril, if only i have my revenge,” said the javanese. “upon you i am determined to execute justice!” [524]
“justice, justice!” cried van gulpendam, “and who are you that you dare to prate about justice, even while you are planning sedition and preparing for murder? tell me who are you?”
“who i am? well, you shall know!”
in a corner of that wretched cabin stood a tub filled with water. the javanese took up the cocoa-nut scoop which hung by it and washed his face.
“now do you recognise me?” he cried, as he drew himself up to his full height before his prisoners.
“ardjan!” sighed lim ho.
“ardjan!” cried van gulpendam as thoroughly dismayed as was his companion in misfortune.
both of them now plainly saw that they were reserved for some dreadful death. the account which each had to settle with that young man was a heavy one indeed.
“have mercy! have mercy upon us!” they cried as they fell down on their knees before him, their teeth chattering with terror as they knelt at his feet.
“mercy?” almost shrieked ardjan. “what mercy did you show poor dalima and old setrosmito? come, speak up, will you? what mercy did you show to me and to my old father? dalima violated! my father and i locked up for months in a loathsome prison, and then, sentenced—by your very mouth—to years of penal servitude— and now you ask me to have mercy? if i could feel pity then indeed you might call me the veriest blockhead in the world. but,” continued the javanese, after a moment’s pause, “tell me, supposing i could feel pity, supposing i were to set you free, tell me, kandjeng toean, what would you do then?”
these words were spoken in a much milder tone, it seemed as if ardjan were wavering, and, in that hesitation, the unfortunate european thought he could see a faint gleam of hope. trembling with fear, he raised himself on his knees, and, wringing his hands in agony, he cried, while big tears went coursing down his cheeks:
“oh, do not fear. you shall have full pardon—free pardon—i have power with the government and i can induce them to forgive all. the great lord at batavia will grant me my request. all the injustice which has been done shall be amply made good. you shall have compensation—i will see to it i will pay it out of my own purse—! all that has happened shall be made good, believe me!” [525]
“dalima’s injuries also?” asked a hoarse croaking voice from behind ardjan. “those white fellows seem to think they are almighty, or else they fancy that we javanese are the greatest fools in the world!”
that name of dalima and these few scornful words seemed to rouse ardjan out of the fit of weakness which appeared for a moment to have come over him. he shook his head violently as if he wished to drive out some unwelcome thoughts, at that movement his head-cloth became loosened and his long black hair streamed fiercely and wildly over his shoulders.
“no! no!” he exclaimed, “no pity, no mercy. now i have you in my power, you are crawling and cringing at my feet as mean and as cowardly as the vilest beasts. did you ever see a javanese so degrade himself? did you ever see a native act so meanly, even when pleading for his life? you have sent plenty of them to the gallows, and you ought to know how a coloured man can die. pity! mercy! ha! ha! ha! you are ready enough now with your promises; but in your hearts you are, even now, scheming how you may evade them and break them. trust a white man’s word!—ha! ha! ha! as if we don’t know all about that. whenever did a white man keep his promise to us javanese? whenever—”
here one of the men whispered something into ardjan’s ear.
“yes, yes, you are right, let us cut it short. no, no—no pity, far from it. you shall have a painful, a cruel death. i had made up my mind to give you the most terrible—the ‘hoekoem madoe—’?”
lim ho uttered a fearful yell at these terrible words.
“mercy! mercy!” he moaned.
“—but that would take too much time,” continued ardjan, who had by this time regained his composure. “we might get the police upon us before you were quite finished and that would spoil the game— no, i have given up that idea. you shall undergo the ‘hoekoem kamadoog.’ the same punishment, you remember, lim ho, that you gave me; and yet i had committed no fault whatever, and the kandjeng toean there thought it right to leave your outrageous crime unpunished. no, you must not be able to say that i am more barbarous than you.”
“mercy! mercy!” cried both the wretched men.
“no! no! no pity!” rejoined ardjan.
then, with a signal to one of his mates, he continued:
“strip them and take them outside!” [526]
that order was carried out literally and in a very few minutes. the fine light-blue coat was rent from the resident’s back, his trousers followed and his shirt; and torn to ribbons they soon lay on the dirty floor of the cabin—even the virtus nobilitat was trampled under foot.
lim ho underwent the same rough operation, and then both men stood there naked before their pitiless judges. then their hands were tied behind their backs and the wretched creatures were simply pitched down the rude steps.
ardjan reminded lim ho of the glorious fun he had eight months ago when the two chinamen and himself were similarly treated.
“you remember,” he laughed, “how than khan and liem king tumbled down from top to bottom? it was fine sport to you then!”
it took but a few moments to tie up the two victims to the niboeng-palms, which grew in front of the hut—to the very trees to which the two chinamen and ardjan himself had been fastened.
“the kandjeng toean to that tree,” said ardjan, pointing to the stem at which he had himself suffered.
“pardon! pity!” the poor victims kept crying incessantly.
no one heeded their agonising yells. when they were tied up—ardjan gave the word: “now, my lads, give way!”
four men stepped forward each armed with a bunch of the formidable nettle, and the blows began to fall like rain upon the bare limbs of the wretched victims.
wherever the leaves fell the flesh seemed to shrink away in agony.
the chinaman bit his under-lip until the teeth met in the flesh, but he did not utter a single moan. at first van gulpendam strove to follow his example; but he had not the tough resolution of an asiatic in this supreme moment. he could not restrain himself. first he moaned, then he whimpered, he cried aloud in his misery, he howled, he yelled with pain. nothing could touch his ruthless executioners. “pardon! mercy!” he cried. “oh, i beg for mercy!”
but, in reply to his piteous cries, came the words:
“dalima! ardjan! pak ardjan! setrosmito!” and then upon the brain of the unhappy resident there flashed another name, a name more terrible to him perhaps than all the others:
“meidema, meidema! pardon, mercy!” he kept on wailing in a voice which told of the most exquisite torture. [527]
but gradually his cries grew weaker, at length they became hardly intelligible—they gurgled like a hoarse and dying rattle in the throat. the pain was beyond endurance. still the men kept plying their deadly nettle.
at length his head began to dangle helplessly, and it seemed as if the unfortunate sufferer had lost consciousness.
lim ho had been fortunate enough to reach that state much earlier, and was thus sooner out of his misery.
ardjan stood by at the scene, glaring at his victims with revengeful eagerness. he clenched his fists convulsively, he had to exercise the greatest self-control to prevent himself from catching up one of the bunches of kamadoog leaves and having his blow at the wretched beings who had not scrupled to inflict the same barbarous treatment upon himself. no, no, he felt not the smallest grain of pity—he could think only of his own wrongs and his own happiness destroyed for ever. even if the voice of pity could have spoken within him it would have been stifled by his father, who, standing close behind him, kept on whispering in his ear: “dalima, dalima!”
for some time the two victims had been unconscious; but yet ardjan did not think of putting a stop to the torture. at every blow, at every touch even of those terrible leaves the skin of the sufferers puckered up though the bodies no longer felt the pain. the muscles stretched, then ran up into knots and horrid spasms shot through the entire frames. soon the bodies could no longer support themselves, but hung in the cords that bound them, limp as empty sacks. the eyes of the tortured men were closed; but every now and then they would spasmodically open for a moment, and would stare with a blood-shot stony gaze which betrayed the extreme suffering which even the senseless body was undergoing.
in their dying agonies they flung their heads convulsively to and fro, dashing them up fearfully against the niboeng palm while flecks of foam came flying from their lips. but, in this world everything must come to an end, and at length the protracted sufferings were over.
gradually the convulsive starts of the two bodies began to subside and finally ceased altogether. the soul had left its earthly tenement. then ardjan, in tones the most indifferent in the world, said, “enough!”
at the word, his men looked at him for further instructions. “untie them,” he said, and without speaking another word, he pointed to the sea. [528]
the instant the ropes were cut through, the bodies fell with a heavy thud to the ground. as he fell van gulpendam for the last time opened his eyes and, very softly, but quite intelligibly he sighed forth the single word:
“meidema!”
the thought of that unhappy family—of those good honest people whose ruin he had so craftily and cruelly planned, haunted that guilty soul even as it was taking its flight. with that name on his lips he expired.
lim ho gave no sign of life.
both corpses were then dragged to the kali tjatjing and pitched into the water, and the stream quickly carried them out to the java sea.
in the far distance between the two headlands could be seen the schooner brig kiem ping hin quietly riding at anchor and flying the british ensign. faithful to her calling she was waiting for an opportunity to deliver her smuggled goods to the company lim yang bing.
