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Updated: June 3, 2025
He was holding a tiny gourd, no larger than a monkey-nut, suspended from a necklace of polished crocodile teeth. His disappointed eyes met Ganassi's, still studying him. "Are you not satisfied, Piang? Are you then unworthy of the great honor bestowed upon you? Do you think that to be of value a thing must sparkle and shine?"
There was no turning back, however, for that sentinel continued to slip and slide across the opening, and Piang bravely faced the two miles that lay between him and the other end of the underground passage. The air was heavy and moldy; the sides of the cave wet and slippery. Once his hand touched something that moved, and he almost fainted.
Silently the two bent to the task, every moment increasing the distance between them and their enemies. "Will they catch us, Piang?" "Of course not, my Papita. Piang, the charm boy comes to rescue you." The proud head went up with arrogant superiority. "But there are many hidden cut-offs and creeks between us and the river, Piang; Sicto will surely trap us."
"I go to find the sultan to-morrow, sir?" asked Piang. "Him at Isabella, and I must give him Kali Pandapatan's message." "Well, Piang, I am with you. I'm going to face that old codger and tell him what I think of his fiendish tricks of killing us off by this beastly juramentado, when he claims to be at peace with America."
Thoroughly exasperated, he tried to argue through Piang, but finding it hopeless, he told the boy to finish Kali Pandapatan's business with the sultan as quickly as possible. Discouraged, he started back through the jungle, wondering how many more fanatics had broken loose during his absence.
Prosperity and honor had come to Dato Kali Pandapatan and his people under the rule of General Beech and Governor Findy, and Piang had been raised to the post of official interpreter. Sicto, the disturber, had been seized in Zamboanga on the charge of complicity in the plot on Governor Findy's life; he had attempted to escape, and there were varying reports as to the results.
The outraged bridegroom had returned from his meditations to find himself brideless. "How will they come, Piang?" Papita's voice trembled. "Some by water, some by land. Work, Papita." And so the deadly tropic night closed about them. The little nut-shell sped down the river, past snags, skulking crocodiles, and many unseen dangers.
How surprised the dato would be when Piang advanced against the enemy from the other side of the Big Bend! He laughed softly, hugging himself in boyish delight. Away he pattered toward some men who were apparently in difficulty. "Halamantek!" They were pulling the slothful creatures off each other, but as soon as they freed themselves from the pests, more fell from above or crept up from the mud.
This hole soon closes, confining the spirit within. When death comes to a household in Moroland, have you not seen the master of the house mount to the roof and remain there through the night? Well, that is to prevent the evil spirit, Bal-Bal, from entering. The soul of this deceased never reaches heaven. Your charm, Piang, will ward him off." The boy sat, mouth open, eyes staring.
The sun did not burn at this altitude, and Piang took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp air. A flapping of wings startled him, and before he could prevent, a brilliant mina-bird circled his head and gently lighted on his shoulder. A soft white mist was floating around and below him. The clouds! He was in them, "the breath of the wind," and he thought that this must be fairyland. "Piang!"
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