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Chapter Sixteen. Into the Blue |
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(137) The calls of the envoys again ring to and fro. It is a riddle to me how they can make out the shouting at this distance, but Chingmak has understood, and explains that the Pangsha men want to talk to us. Mills tells him to assure them a safe conduct and ask them to meet us half-way. They seem to understand his answer, for almost immediately they begin to move upwards, and we plunge into the jungle once more. It is not long before our advance guard meets the Pangsha men, and escorts them to Mills. It is a peculiar feeling to have the enemy before us at last, or rather the envoys of the enemy. They are not imposing figures, though they are probably the most important members of the village, these three middle-aged and one old man. Rather short and insignificantly dressed in faded clothes, they compare unfavourably with our magnificently turned out Chang scouts. Yet their features betray a little of that energy and cold-bloodedness that have made them the dreaded overlords of the whole district. One of them leads a goat on a string, and another carries a chicken in a small basket. |
