Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/377

 patch of shadow cast upon the bare earth by a neigh- bouring house, and the vivid moonlight revealed every detail of the scene around them-the yellow, sun-baked soil, the green of the smooth banana leaves, even the red of a cluster of rambut-an fruit on a tree near at hand.

Presently the sound of voices talking and laughing light-heartedly came to the ears of the listening tuen, and as the speakers drew nearer the committee of three were able to distinguish Leh's mellow tones. At the parting of the ways he turned off by himself along the footpath, his companions keeping on to the main road. Leh took leave of them with a farewell jest or two, which sent the others laughing upon their way, and then he strolled slowly along the foot- path humming the catch of a song under his breath. The three in the shadow of the house could see the colour of the gaudy cloths wound about their enemy's waist, the fantastic peak into which his handkerchief was twisted, the glint of the polished kemuning wood and the gold settings of his dagger hilt, and the long, broad-bladed spear that he carried in his right hand. They watched him drawing nearer to them, still luumming a song, and with a half smule upon his face. They allowed him to come abreast of them, to stroll past them, still unsuspicions of danger; but no pity for him moved them. All had been injured in too deadly a fashion by this callous, light-hearted libertine, who now went to the death he knew not of with a smile on his face and the stave of a song upon his lips.