by Eugène Sue
CHAPTER XVII. THE AJOUPA.
While Rodin despatched his cosmopolite correspondence, from his retreatin the Rue du Milieu des Ursins, in Paris--while the daughters ofGeneral Simon, after quitting as fugitives the White Falcon, weredetained prisoners at Leipsic along with Dagobert--other scenes, deeplyinteresting to these different personages, were passing, almost as itwere at the same moment, at the other extremity of the world, in thefurthermost parts of Asia--that is to say, in the island of Java, notfar from the city of Batavia, the residence of M. Joshua Van Dael, oneof the correspondents of Rodin.
Java! magnificent and fatal country, where the most admirable flowersconceal hideous reptiles, where the brightest fruits contain subtlepoisons, where grow splendid trees, whose very shadow is death--wherethe gigantic vampire bat sucks the blood of its victims whilst itprolongs their sleep, by surrounding them with a fresh and balmy air, nofan moving so rapidly as the great perfumed wings of this monster!
The month of October, 1831, draws near its close. It is noon--an hourwell nigh mortal to him who encounters the fiery heat of the sun, whichspreads a sheet of dazzling light over the deep blue enamel of the sky.
An ajoupa, or hut, made of cane mats, suspended from long bamboos, whichare driven far into the ground, rises in the midst of the bluish shadowscast by a tuft of trees, whose glittering verdure resembles greenporcelain. These quaintly formed trees, rounded into arches, pointinglike spires, overspreading like parasols, are so thick in foliage, soentangled one with the other, that their dome is impenetrable to therain.
The soil, ever marshy, notwithstanding the insupportable heat,disappears beneath an inextricable mass of creepers, ferns, and tuftedreeds, of a freshness and vigor of vegetation almost incredible,reaching nearly to the top of the ajoupa, which lies hid like a nestamong the grass.
Nothing can be more suffocating than the atmosphere, heavily laden withmoist exhalations like the steam of hot water, and impregnated withthe strongest and sharpest scents; for the cinnamon-tree, ginger-plant,stephanotis and Cape jasmine, mixed with these trees and creepers,spread around in puffs their penetrating odors. A roof, formed of largeIndian fig-leaves, covers the cabin; at one end is a square opening,which serves for a window, shut in with a fine lattice-work of vegetablefibres, so as to prevent the reptiles and venomous insects from creepinginto the ajoupa. The huge trunk of a dead tree, still standing, but muchbent, and with its summit reaching to the roof of the ajoupa, rises fromthe midst of the brushwood. From every crevice in its black, rugged,mossy bark, springs a strange, almost fantastic flower; the wing of abutterfly is not of a finer tissue, of a more brilliant purple, of amore glossy black: those unknown birds we see in our dreams, have nomore grotesque forms than these specimens of the orchis--winged flowers,that seem always ready to fly from their frail and leafless stalks. Thelong, flexible stems of the cactus, which might be taken for reptiles,encircle also this trunk, and clothe it with their bunches of silverywhite, shaded inside with bright orange. These flowers emit a strongscent of vanilla.
A serpent, of a brick-red, about the thickness of a large quill, andfive or six inches long, half protrudes its flat head from one of thoseenormous, perfumed calyces, in which it lies closely curled up.
Within the ajoupa, a young man is extended on a mat in a profound sleep.His complexion of a clear golden yellow, gives him the appearance of astatue of pale bronze, on which a ray of sun is playing. His attitudeis simple and graceful; his right arm sustains his head, a little raisedand turned on one side; his ample robe of white muslin, with hangingsleeves, leaves uncovered his chest and arms worthy of the Antoinous.Marble is not more firm, more polished than his skin, the golden hue ofwhich contracts strongly with the whiteness of his garments. Upon hisbroad manly chest a deep scar is visible--the mark of the musket-ball hereceived in defending the life of General Simon, the father of Rose andBlanche.
Suspended from his neck, he wears a medal similar to that in thepossession of the two sisters. This Indian is Djalma.
His features are at once very noble and very beautiful. His hair of ablue black, parted upon his forehead, falls waving, but not curled overhis shoulders; whilst his eyebrows, boldly and yet delicately defined,are of as deep a jet as the long eyelashes, that cast their shadow uponhis beardless cheek. His bright, red lips are slightly apart, and hebreathes uneasily; his sleep is heavy and troubled, for the heat becomesevery moment more and more suffocating.
Without, the silence is profound. Not a breath of air is stirring.Yet now the tall ferns, which cover the soil, begin to move almostimperceptibly, as though their stems were shaken by the slow progressof some crawling body. From time to time, this trifling oscillationsuddenly ceases, and all is again motionless. But, after several ofthese alternations of rustling and deep silence, a human head appearsin the midst of the jungle, a little distance from the trunk of the deadtree.
The man to whom it belonged was possessed of a grim countenance, with acomplexion the color of greenish bronze, long black hair bound about histemples, eyes brilliant with savage fire, and an expression remarkablefor its intelligence and ferocity. Holding his breath, he remained quitestill for a moment; then, advancing upon his hands and knees, pushingaside the leaves so gently, that not the slightest noise could be heard,he arrived cautiously and slowly at the trunk of the dead tree, thesummit of which nearly touched the roof of the ajoupa.
This man, of Malay origin, belonging to the sect of the Lughardars(Stranglers), after having again listened, rose almost entirely fromamongst the brushwood. With the exception of white cotton drawers,fastened around his middle by a parti-colored sash, he was completelynaked. His bronze, supple, and nervous limbs were overlaid with athick coat of oil. Stretching himself along the huge trunk on the sidefurthest from the cabin, and thus sheltered by the whole breadth of thetree with its surrounding creepers, he began to climb silently, withas much patience as caution. In the undulations of his form, in theflexibility of his movements, in the restrained vigor, which fullyput forth would have been alarming, there was some resemblance to thestealthy and treacherous advance of the tiger upon its prey.
Having reached, completely unperceived, the inclined portion of thetree, which almost touched the roof of the cabin, he was only separatedfrom the window by a distance of about a foot. Cautiously advancing hishead, he looked down into the interior, to see how he might best find anentrance.
At sight of Djalma in his deep sleep, the Thug's bright eyes glitteredwith increased brilliancy; a nervous contraction, or rather a mute,ferocious laugh, curling the corners of his mouth, drew them up towardsthe cheekbones, and exposed rows of teeth, filed sharp like the pointsof a saw, and dyed of a shining black.
Djalma was lying in such a manner and so near the door of the ajoupa,which opened inwards, that, were it moved in the least, he must beinstantly awakened. The Strangler, with his body still sheltered by thetree, wishing to examine more attentively the interior of the cabin,leaned very forward, and in order to maintain his balance, lightlyrested his hand on the ledge of the opening that served for a window.This movement shook the large cactus-flowers, within which the littleserpent lay curled, and, darting forth it twisted itself rapidly roundthe wrist of the Strangler. Whether from pain or surprise, the manuttered a low cry; and as he drew back swiftly, still holding by thetrunk of the tree, he perceived that Djalma had moved.
The young Indian, though retaining his supine posture, had half openedhis eyes, and turned his head towards the window, whilst his breastheaved with a deep-drawn sigh, for, beneath that thick dome of moistverdure, the concentrated heat was intolerable.
Hardly had he moved, when, from behind the tree, was heard the shrill,brief, sonorous note, which the bird of paradise titters when it takesits flight--a cry which resembles that of the pheasant. This note wassoon repeated, but more faintly, as though the brilliant bird werealready at a distance. Djalma, thinking he had discovered the cause ofthe noise which had aroused him for an instant, stretched out the armupon which his head had
rested, and went to sleep again, with scarcelyany change of position.
For some minutes, the most profound silence once more reigned in thissolitude, and everything remained motionless.
The Strangler, by his skillful imitation of the bird, had repaired theimprudence of that exclamation of surprise and pain, which the reptilebite had forced from him. When he thought all was safe, he againadvanced his head, and saw the young Indian once more plunged in sleep.Then he descended the tree with the same precautions, though his lefthand was somewhat swollen from the sting of the serpent, and disappearedin the jungle.
At that instant a song of monotonous and melancholy cadence was heardin the distance. The Strangler raised himself, and listened attentively,and his face took an expression of surprise and deadly anger. The songcame nearer and nearer to the cabin, and, in a few seconds, an Indian,passing through an open space in the jungle, approached the spot wherethe Thug lay concealed.
The latter unwound from his waist a long thin cord, to one of the endsof which was attached a leaden ball, of the form and size of an egg;having fastened the other end of this cord to his right wrist, theStrangler again listened, and then disappeared, crawling through thetall grass in the direction of the Indian, who still advanced slowly,without interrupting his soft and plaintive song.
He was a young fellow scarcely twenty, with a bronzed complexion, theslave of Djalma, his vest of blue cotton was confined at the waist by aparti-colored sash; he wore a red turban, and silver rings in his earsand about his wrists. He was bringing a message to his master, who,during the great heat of the day was reposing in the ajoupa, which stoodat some distance from the house he inhabited.
Arriving at a place where two paths separated, the slave, withouthesitation took that which led to the cabin, from which he was nowscarce forty paces distant.
One of those enormous Java butterflies, whose wings extend six or eightinches in length, and offer to the eye two streaks of gold on a groundof ultramarine, fluttering from leaf to leaf, alighted on a bush of Capejasmine, within the reach of the young Indian. The slave stopped in hissong, stood still, advanced first a foot, then a hand, and seized thebutterfly.
Suddenly he sees a dark figure rise before him; he hears a whizzingnoise like that of a sling; he feels a cord, thrown with as muchrapidity as force, encircle his neck with a triple band; and, almost inthe same instant, the leaden ball strikes violently against the back ofhis head.
This attack was so abrupt and unforseen, that Djalma's servant could noteven utter a single cry, a single groan. He tottered--the Strangler gavea vigorous pull at the cord--the bronzed countenance of the slave becamepurple, and he fell upon his knees, convulsively moving his arms. Thenthe Strangler threw him quite down, and pulled the cord so violently,that the blood spurted from the skin. The victim struggled for amoment--and all was over.
During his short but intense agony, the murderer, kneeling before hisvictim, and watching with ardent eye his least convulsions, seemedplunged into an ecstasy of ferocious joy. His nostrils dilated, theveins of his neck and temples were swollen, and the same savage laugh,which had curled his lips at the aspect of the sleeping Djalma, againdisplayed his pointed black teeth, which a nervous trembling of the jawsmade to chatter. But soon he crossed his arms upon his heaving breast,bowed his forehead, and murmured some mysterious words, which soundedlike an invocation or a prayer. Immediately after, he returned to thecontemplation of the dead body. The hyena and the tiger-cat, who, beforedevouring, crouch beside the prey that they have surprised or hunteddown, have not a wilder or more sanguinary look than this man.
But, remembering that his task was not yet accomplished tearing himselfunwillingly from the hideous spectacle, he unbound the cord from theneck of his victim, fastened it round his own body, dragged the corpseout of the path, and, without attempting to rob it of its silver rings,concealed it in a thick part of the jungle.
Then the Strangler again began to creep on his knees and belly, till hearrived at the cabin of Djalma--that cabin constructed of mats suspendedfrom bamboos. After listening attentively, he drew from his girdle aknife, the sharp-pointed blade of which was wrapped in a fig-leaf, andmade in the matting an incision of three feet in length. This was donewith such quickness, and with so fine a blade, that the light touch ofthe diamond cutting glass would have made more noise. Seeing, by meansof this opening, which was to serve him for a passage, that Djalma wasstill fast asleep, the Thug, with incredible temerity, glided into thecabin.
