MALAY SKETCHES
you doing in my house at this time? Come down on to the ground."
Mat Nuh was alone and Měgat Râja was accompanied by two other men, but the youth unsheathed his kris and went down ready to accept the chances of a hand-to-hand struggle.
Seeing that Mat Nuh would defend himself, and knowing that he was no contemptible adversary, the three men hesitated. What was of more account in their minds was that Che Nuh belonged to a powerful family, and his father was one of the principal chiefs in the country. There was, therefore, the certainty of retaliation should they kill him, and the uncertainty of his guilt, for Měriam was not the only woman in the house. As the men stood mutually on the defensive, Měgat Râja asked him whom he had come to see, and Che Nuh replied that it was a girl in the house. Thinking to assure himself on this point, the husband entered the house and questioned one of the servant-women, but dissatisfied with what he heard he dashed out again determined to attack Che Nuh.
The latter had, however, taken advantage of Měgat Râja's momentary absence to get outside the gare of the palisade, and once there he shouted for help and was soon surrounded by his friends.
114
