Page 161 - Malay sketches

THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN

through that last danger and watches his enemies'
efforts to get back into their places.
Malays do not pine for manual labour, they had
v
already had more than enough of it, and as they
were now being towed idly along, they lay down to
sleep, vaguely wondering, in that moment of tired
but delicious drowsiness, what occult powers this
leader possessed to secure at such a moment the
powerful help of this great leviathan, under whose
green and shady sails they were being wafted to
"
and the haven where
safety they would be."
A day or two of pleasant coasting, a walk across
country, and Penglima Prang Semaun, with Haji
Ali and a considerable booty, arrived safely at Blanja
and received the congratulations of his master, the
Raja Bendahara.
We read that when it was the fashion for
knights
to devote themselves to the service of distressed
damsels, they wrought many startling deeds, which
cannot always be satisfactorily explained without
recognising that devotion in so good a cause was
sometimes supernaturally aided.
Unfortunately, the practice has fallen into desue-
tude let us hope it is because the damsels of the
;
nineteenth century are never in distress, want no
or that of the mere man.
assistance, despise
K
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