of the science which the Malays call _tipu prang_--the deception
of strife--a term which is more accurately rendered into English by the
word treachery, than by that more dignified epithet strategy. He had
already been the recipient of various land grants from the King, which
carried with them some hundreds of devoted families who chanced to live
on the alienated territories; he already took rank as a great Chief; but
his ambition was to become the master of the Lipis Valley, in which he
had been born, by displacing the aged To' Kaya Stia-wangsa, the
hereditary Chief of the District.

To' Gajah knew that To' Kaya of Lipis, and all his people were more or
less closely related to Panglima Prang, and to the Jelai natives. He
foresaw that, if war was declared against Panglima Prang by the King,
the Lipis people would throw in their fortunes with the former. It was
here, therefore, that he saw his chance, and, as the fates would have
it, an instrument lay ready to his hand.

At Kuala Lipis there dwelt in those days an old and cross-grained
madman, a Jelai native by birth, who, in the days before his trouble
came upon him, had been a great Chief in Pahang. He bore the title of
Orang Kaya Haji, and his eldest son was named Wan Lingga. The latter was
as wax in To' Gajah's hands, and when they had arranged between
themselves that in the event of a campaign against Panglima Prang
proving successful, Wan Lingga should replace the latter by becoming To'
Raja of Jelai, while the Lipis Valley should be allotted to To' Gajah,
with the title of Dato' Kaya Stia-wangsa, they together approached the
Bendahara on the subject.

They found him willing enough to entertain any scheme, which included
the humbling of his proud vassal Panglima Prang, who so lately had done
him dishonour in his own capital. Moreover the Bendahara of Pahang was
as astute as it is given to most men to be, and he saw that strife
between the great Chiefs must, by weakening all, eventually strengthen
his own hand, since he would, in the end, be the peacemaker between
them. Therefore he granted a letter of authority to Wan Lingga and To'
Gajah, and thus the war began.

The people of Pahang flocked to the interior, all noisily eager to stamp
out of existence the upstart Chief, who had dared to wear shoes, and to
carry an umbrella in the streets of their King's capital. The aged Chief
of Lipis and his people, however, clove to Panglima Prang, or To' Raja,
as he now op