The record-union., 1899-02-12

skin was dry and creased and wrlnkied.
He was naked, as were all his people.
save for a slender loin cloth Of bark
cloth, and his thin fianks and buttocks
were white with the warm, ashes in
which he had been lying when Kulop's
arrival interrupted his midday. snooze.
Bid these, thy children, build me six
bamboo raft, strong and firm, at the
foot Of yonder rapid said Kulop. and
mark We, be not slow, for I love not
Incidence"
1T can be done,' said the Sakai head
man, submissively.
THAT is well," returned Kulop. See
thou to it with speed, for am man
prone to wrath
The Sakai fell tol work, and by night
fall the six new RATS were completed.
and while the jungle folk toiled, Kulop
of the Hare-lip, who had declared that
he loved not Incidence, lay upon his
back on the floor of the chiefs hut, and
roared love song in a harsh, discord-
ant voice to the lady whose heart the
wealth he sought so eagerly, and now
began to see within his grasp, would
enable him to subdue.
Kulop slept that night in the Sallhai
hut among the restless jungle folk. The
air was chilly up here in the foothills.
and the fire. which the Sakai never
willingly let die, smoked and shoulder
ed in the middle of the floor.
And Kulop of the Hare-lip slept the
sleep of the just.
The dawn broke grayly, for a mist
hung low over the forest. white as
driven snow and cold and clammy as
the forehead of corpse. The naked
Sakai peeped shiveringly from the
doorways of their huts, and then went
shuddering back to the grateful
warmth of the fire and the frowzy at
mosphere within.
Kulop alone made his way down
to the river-bank and there performed
his morning ablutions with scrupulous
care-for whatever laws of God and
man a Malay may disregard he never
forgets the virtues of personal cleanli-
ness, which, in an Oriental, is even
more Immediately important to his
neighbors than all the godliness in the
world. A Malay would as soon think
Of foregoing his morning tub as he
would of fasting when food was to be
had in plenty and the days OF Rama
than had sped.
When his ablutions were completed
Kulop climbed the steep bank once
more, and, standing outside the chief S
hut, called the Sakai from their lairs.
bidding them hearken to his words.
They stood Or squatted before him in
the white mist, through which the sun,
just peeping above the jungle. was be-
ginning to send long slanting rays of
dazzling white light.
They were cold and miserable-this
little crowd of naked men-and they
shivered and scratched their bodies
restlessly. The trilling of the thrushes
and the chorus raised by other birds
came to their ear through the still air.
mingled with the whooping and bark
ing of the anthropoid apes; but the
morning song has small power to cheer
those who, like the Sakai, are very SEN
sitive to cold, and it is during the Chilly
waking hour that mems courage and
vitality are usually at the lowest eDb.
Listen, ye accursed Sakai!" cried
Kulop of the Hare-lip, waving his spear
above his head. Mark we'll my words,
for I hear the warm earth calling to
the coffin planks in which your car
casses shall be presently if ye fail to do
my behests. Go, gather up the getah
that lies within your dwellings and
bring it hither speedily, lest a worse
thing befal1 ye."
The Sakai rose slowly and walked
each man to his hut with tagging steps.
In a few minutes the great round balls
of gum, with a little hole punched in
each, through which rotten line was
passed, lay heaped upon the ground at
Kulop's feet. But the Sakai had
brought something as well as the getah,
for each man held long and slender
spear fashioned of bamboo. The
weapon sounds harmless enough, but
these wooden blades are strong and
stubborn. and the edges and points are
sharper than steel. Kulop of the Hare
lip saw that the time had come for
prompt action to supplement- rough
words.
Cast down your spears to the earth,
We swine Of the forest." he yelled.
Almost all the Sakai did as Kulop
bade them, for the Malay is here the
dominant race, and years Of oppression
and wrong have made the jungle-folk
very docile in the presence of more
civilized brown man. The Sakai chief,
however, clutched his weapon firmly.
and his frightened old eyes ran around
the group of his kinsmen, vainly in
citing them to follow his example. The
next moment his gaze was recalled to
Kulop of the Hare-lip by sharp pain
in his right shoulder, as the spear Of
the Malay transfixed it. His own
weapon dropped from his powerless
arm, and the Sakai broke and fled. But
a shrill cry from Kulop, as he ran
around them, herding them as collie
herds sheep, brought them soon to a
standstill.
No thought of further resistance re-
mained in their minds. and the getah
was quickly loaded on the RATS, and
the plundered Sakai, still wild with
fear began to pole them down the
river, while Kulop sat at ease on the
last raft, which two of the shuddering
jungle-folk punted carefully.
The wounded chief left behind in his
hut. sent two youths through the forest
to bid their fellow-tribesmen prepare
the poison for the blow-pipe darts, since
he knew that no one would now at
tempt to kill Kulop of the Hare-lip at
close quarters. But the poison which
the Sakai distill from the resin OF the
ipoh tree requires some time to prepare,
and if it is to be used with effect upon
a human being, a specially strong solu-
tion is necessary. Above all, if it to do
its work properly it must be newly
made. Thus it was that Kulop of the
Hare-lip had time to load his RATS
with sretah taken from two other Saka1