A royal smuggler

“News from Uncle Adam!” cried my brother Martin, as the maid, one morning, placed upon the breakfast-table a letter, bearing a foreign postmark; and the words are still fresh in...

To my father, in his then feeble state of health, the news of his brother’s death proved so great a shock, that he was unable to leave his room for a whole week. During that tim...

I must now, as rapidly as possible, sketch the events of two years--events that led to our becoming wanderers in the wilds of Java. Well, about a month after our father’s funera...

A fortnight had elapsed since Mynheer had taken Marie from our room. His Javanese highness had left about a week, and we had been kept from both sight and speech with our cousin...

Being of a more nervous temperament than my brother, I could not, like him, sleep at will, and that, too, upon the very eve of so important an enterprise. No! I lay awake, ponde...

Our voyage along the north coast was very tedious, for the wind slackened towards the evening, and we had no other amusement than watching the doings, as well as we could in the...

Delicious the climate, enchanting the scenery, of the islands of the Indian Archipelago! crowded as they are, from the water’s edge to their very summit, with luxuriant foliage,...

“Why, our necks, to be sure. You call them property, don’t you?” But at that moment Prabu came to tell us the native gatherers were ready to set out for the caves.

How shall I describe my feelings when returning consciousness first made me fully aware that some terrible accident had happened! I opened my eyes wide, stretched them wider sti...

Very warm was the welcome I received from our host, the head-man of the village, and his daughter, the “handsome one.” They met us at the door of their house, and were both very...

“Ah! I see,” he replied, thoughtfully. “It _is_, then, as I imagined; they _are_ the nest-robbers you saw in the cave. I knew that a fellow who had never been guilty of a falseh...

Very affectionate was the leave-taking between Prabu and the chief’s family--nay, even Martin and I shared in the kind words and presents of fruits and rice-bread. It seemed, in...

There could be no greater proof of the value of our cargo than the extraordinary demand we found for it at Singapore. The news of its arrival in the harbor ran through the town...

“I have told the sahibs how greatly I venerate the memory of the Counselor Black, their uncle; as Allah knows, it is with reason. When a little slave-boy, he bought me from a ha...

When, after a three weeks’ run along the coast, we arrived at the mouth of the River Progo--which, rising in the mountains of Kadu, in the interior of Java, empties itself into...

When our new acquaintance had exhausted his expressions of gratitude to Kati, and gratified his spite upon the body of the dead reptile, he told us that he was a servant of the...

I felt very drowsy, as if suddenly awakened from a deep sleep. The story of the murder of Jayeng Rono was still ringing in my ears; the cunning leer of the Chinese was present t...

We fully experienced the difficulty a hostile army might have in effecting a landing upon the shores of Bali; for we were a full week prowling along the coast, with all our eyes...

The tragic end of the late Chief delayed us more than a week, for, as a matter of courtesy, we were obliged to remain till after the funeral. As, however, like his ancestors, he...

The death of the Queen brought about a sad disappointment to Prabu, for, the day after those terrible rites, the Rajah caused it to be given out that he would give no audiences,...

“But _how_, Martin? It would be to look for a needle in a haystack; for the house and grounds of the Chief Mahomed are well-nigh as large and intricate as those of the Rajah’s k...

That night the heavy rains commenced, and for three days we were kept within doors, for in those islands it literally “never rains but it pours”--nay, falls in torrents, which d...

As day broke we examined our position. The island--which had, in all probability, at some distant period, formed a promontory of the mainland, until cut off by the channel which...

Being forced far out of our intended course by the Dutch grab, and along the coast of those provinces of Java known to be ruled by chiefs or princes in the interest of the Europ...

Onward, onward, for days, weeks; nay, more than two months we traveled through forests so dense, that without immense toil and a cunning guide they would have been impassable. G...

However, in a very short time we had finished our breakfast, and with our rifles (which, by the way, the chief of Mojopahit had thoughtfully provided for us) slung across our ba...

Upon his return to the palace, to which place we accompanied him, the Pangeran gave Marie permission to choose her day of departure, further promising to send an escort with her...