Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/290

 movements were slow and cautious. All this hap- pened in the space of a few seconds, and then the rattan jerked sickeningly under the blow of a heavy woodknife. Another blow, and the brawny creeper groaned like a sentient thing in pain; a third, and it parted with an awful suddenness, and Ka' and the two women were precipitated from a height of nearly eighty feet into the invisible forest below. The man immediately in front of them had just sufficient time to save himself by clutching the branches of the tree to which the near end of the rattan was made fast.

Old Ka' gave vent to an appalling yell, into which was compressed all the passionate despair of his long lifetime and of his downtrodden and unhappy race. Each of the women, as she felt her foothold give way beneath her, screamed shrilly-sudden, abrupt cries which ceased with a jerk, as of the breath caught. sharply. For the space of a second there was silence, and then the crashing sound of heavy bodies falling headlong through leaves and branches, and three thudding concussions -distinct, but almost simul- taneous were succeeded by a few low groans far below in the darkness. The tame Sakai yelled their triumph, passing the news of their success on to the Malays, who answered with the sorak, and thereafter There was much laughter. Ka's people, sick with the horror of what they had heard and trembling with fear, made their way back to the spot where they had sat encamped all night, and luddling up against one another in quaking misery, waited in dumb despair for the dawn and for death.