Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/338

 prince, there sat in the latter boat Tûan Bângau and about a dozen of the King's Youths. Arrived at a certain place, Tŭngku Saleh ordered his men to make the boat fast in midstream while he ate some sweet-meats which his women had prepared and packed for his use. The Sultan's boat meanwhile went un upriver, and presently disappeared round a jungle-covered point.

When the prince had eaten his fill, he bade Tûan Bângau and one or two other Saiyids who were among his followers, fall to on the remainder; and it was while Tûan Bângau was washing his mouth over the side of the boat after eating, that Tŭngku Saleh gave the signal which heralded his death. A man who was behind him, leaped suddenly to his feet and stabbed him with a spear, and a second thrust, de livered almost simultaneously by another of the party, knocked him into the river. Tûan Bângau dived and came presently to the surface in the shallow water near the bank of the stream. Here he rose to his feet, drew his kris, and called to the men in the boat to come and fight him, one at a time, it they dared. The only answer was a spear which struck him in the neck, and a bullet fired from the prince's express rifle by one of his men, which penetrated to his heart. He collapsed where he stood, and a moment later all that remained of Tûan Bângau was a huddled form lying motionless in the shallow water, with the eddies playing in and out of the brilliant silk garments, which had made him so brave a sight in life.