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"A light! a light!" screamed Tooloowee, as he dragged the insensible Sicto away, and, out of a nearby hut dashed a slender, graceful figure in response to the call, a fresh torch streaming its smoke and sparks around her head. "Quick, Papita," urged Tooloowee, and the girl came fearlessly to the aid of Piang. "Piang!" she wailed. "Why didn't you let it have Sicto!"
The early light showed the ocean in the distance, and at the same moment sounds behind made Piang listen anxiously. "They are coming, Papita; we must hide." As Piang headed for the bank, he noticed a thin stream of smoke trembling above Bongao. He paused and trained his eye on the blur. Suddenly he dug his paddle into the water. "Papita, quick! The Sabah is coming!"
"I see the ocean! Oh, I saw it first!" cried Papita, nearly upsetting the banco in her glee. "Piang, do stop being so solemn and look over there through the trees!" "I saw the ocean long ago, Papita," answered the boy with exaggerated dignity. With a sigh the girl turned away, despairing of drawing him into sociability.
Sicto slunk off into the shadow, muttering maledictions against Piang, whom he blamed primarily for his downfall. Papita, Piang, which would win? Breathlessly the audience followed the agile movements of the two; eagerly they claimed the honors for their favorite. The music ceased abruptly.
The terrified expression in the girl's soft eyes touched Piang's heart. "Have no fear, Papita. Let Sicto overtake us and he will be sorry. Put your ear to the baskets." As the girl bent over the two baskets, lying in the bottom of the vinta, a frown puckered her brow. A dull hum, like a caged wind protesting in faint whispers, rose from them.
After many hours the priestess led the way to the water and Ynoch placed Papita in her gala vinta and pushed her out into the stream. He got into another, and the two boats nosed each other while the crowd showered them with oils and perfumes. When the command came to part, each boat shot off in an opposite direction.
A maiden and a bridegroom are each supposed to meditate for the last time on the advisability of the union before the final ceremony; so reads the Dyak marriage laws. As indifferently as a queen, Papita plied her paddle, paying no heed to the unfriendly eyes and mutterings of the Dyaks; she seemed in no haste and managed her vinta with amazing skill for one so small.
That Papita had been dragged to the barrio, Piang now had no doubt, and his nimble wits began to look about for a way of escape. He was near the banks of a creek that led to the Cotabato River and thinking that the most likely escape, he wormed his way toward it. Along the bank were canoes of every description.
Satisfied that he could escape through its waters, Piang began to cut rushes, and, squatting in the protecting undergrowth, busily worked while he indignantly listened to the loquacious Sicto telling his followers that Papita was no slave, but a maiden of royal Bogobo birth.
At first the news of the fiesta failed to rouse the people from the lethargy into which they had sunk, but gradually their pleasure-loving natures responded, and preparations were begun for the three days' play. "Goody-goody!" exclaimed Papita, the little slave girl, dancing about, clapping her hands. "We are to have the macasla fiesta, Piang. Just think, we are to go to the ocean to-morrow!"
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