did our best; and I hope we affirmed our faith in the
power of Hollis's charm efficiently enough to put the matter beyond the
shadow of a doubt. Our voices rang around him joyously in the still air,
and above his head the sky, pellucid, pure, stainless, arched its tender
blue from shore to shore and over the bay, as if to envelop the water,
the earth, and the man in the caress of its light.

The anchor was up, the sails hung still, and half-a-dozen big boats were
seen sweeping over the bay to give us a tow out. The paddlers in the
first one that came alongside lifted their heads and saw their ruler
standing amongst us. A low murmur of surprise arose--then a shout of
greeting.

He left us, and seemed straightway to step into the glorious splendour
of his stage, to wrap himself in the illusion of unavoidable success.
For a moment he stood erect, one foot over the gangway, one hand on the
hilt of his kriss, in a martial pose; and, relieved from the fear of
outer darkness, he held his head high, he swept a serene look over his
conquered foothold on the earth. The boats far off took up the cry of
greeting; a great clamour rolled on the water; the hills echoed it, and
seemed to toss back at him the words invoking long life and victories.

He descended into a canoe, and as soon as he was clear of the side we
gave him three cheers. They sounded faint and orderly after the wild
tumult of his loyal subjects, but it was the best we could do. He stood
up in the boat, lifted up both his arms, then pointed to the infallible
charm. We cheered again; and the Malays in the boats stared--very much
puzzled and impressed. I wondered what they thought; what he thought;
. . . what the reader thinks?

We towed out slowly. We saw him land and watch us from the beach. A
figure approached him humbly but openly--not at all like a ghost with
a grievance. We could see other men running towards him. Perhaps he had
been missed? At any rate there was a great stir. A group formed itself
rapidly near him, and he walked along the sands, followed by a growing
cortege and kept nearly abreast of the schooner. With our glasses we
could see the blue ribbon on his neck and a patch of white on his brown
chest. The bay was waking up. The smokes of morning fires stood in faint
spirals higher than the heads of palms; people moved between the houses;
a herd of buffaloes galloped clumsily across a green slope; the slender
figures of boys brandishing sticks appea