life of voluptuous idleness, and such an existence
he looked upon with horror.

Could he not enter the British service in some way? he asked himself,
and rise to a life of usefulness, in which he might do some good for the
helpless, ground-down people amongst whom he was born?

Such a life, he told himself, would be worth living, and--What was that?

His hand involuntarily flew to his kris, as he heard a rustle amidst the
tangled cane just ahead, and he advanced cautiously lest it should be
some beast of prey, or one of the great serpents that had their
existence amidst the dense undergrowth.

There it was again; a quick sharp rustle amidst the trees, as of
something hastily escaping, and his hand fell to his side, and he
watched eagerly in advance, not hearing a cat-like step behind him, as a
swarthy Malay came in his tracks, sprang upon the young man's back, and
pinioned his arms in an instant.

Ali uttered a hoarse cry, and strove to draw his kris, but the effort
was vain. Three more Malays darted from their hiding-places, and in a
few minutes he was securely bound, with a portion of his sarong thrust
into his mouth to keep him from crying for help; another Malay, who had
been pulling a long rattan on ahead to imitate the sound of an escaping
animal, coming from his hiding-place and smiling at the success of the
ruse.

"What does it mean?" Ali asked himself; but he was puzzled and
confused, and his captors gave him no opportunity for further thought,
but hurried him right away into the depths of the jungle through a long
narrow winding track that was little used.

"Why, this leads to the sultan's old house, where the inchees were
killed!" thought Ali. "Surely they are not going to kill me?"

A shudder ran through him, and a strange sense of horror seemed to
freeze his limbs as he was half thrust half earned along through the
jungle, his captors having at times to use their heavy parangs to cut
back the canes and various creepers that had made a tangle across the
unfrequented track.

It was as the young chief had surmised. They were taking him to the
deserted house that had been formerly occupied by former inchees or
princesses of the Malay people, who, for some political reason, had been
cruelly assassinated by order of the present sultan, they having been
krissed, and their bodies thrown into the river.

Was this to be his fate? he asked himself; and if it was, in what way
had he offended?

The ans