he
waist, and had shouted at the top of their voices as, waving the
krisses which they had borrowed, they fell upon the foe. The idea
that white devils were leagued with the enemies against them had
excited the superstitious fear of the Malays to the utmost; and
when, in the morning, scouts again sallied from the village, they
found that the enemy had entirely gone--the fact that they had not
even returned to carry off the effects which had been abandoned, in
the first panic, showing that they had continued their flight,
without stopping, to their distant villages.

The chief, like an able politician, took advantage of the
impression which his white visitors had created and, the same day,
sent off messengers to the villages which had combined in the
attack against them, saying that the white men--his guests--were
very angry; and that, unless peace was made, and a solemn promise
given that there should be no renewal of the late attempts, they
were going to lay a dreadful spell upon the villages. Women and
children would be seized by disease, and the right arms of the
warriors wither up.

This terrible threat carried consternation into the Malay villages.
The women burst into prolonged wailings, and the bravest of the men
trembled. The messenger said that the white men had consented to
abstain from using their magical powers until the following day;
and that the only chance to propitiate them was for deputations
from the villages to come in, early the next morning, with promises
of peace and offerings for the offended white men.

It was not for some time afterwards that the lads learned enough of
the language to understand what had been done; but they guessed,
from the exultation of the chief, and the signs which he made that
their late enemies would shortly come in, in an attitude of
humiliation, that he had in some way succeeded in establishing a
scare among them.

On the following morning deputations--consisting of six warriors, and
women bearing trays with fruit, birds, and other offerings--arrived at
the village. The men were unarmed. At their approach, the chief made
signs to the boys to take a seat at the foot of the principal tree; and
then, accompanied by his leading warriors, led the deputation--with much
ceremony--before them. The women placed their trays at their feet, and the
men addressed them in long speeches, and with many signs of submission.

The boys played their part well. As soon as they saw wh