Hassan said something to one of his
men, who, with a single blow, chopped off the rajah's head.
"Send to chiefs," Hassan said. "If not see, not think dead. Much
afraid of him. When know he dead, not fight any more; make peace
quick."
One of the men asked a question, and the lads' limited knowledge
of the language was sufficient to tell them that he was asking
whether they should fire the village. Hassan shook his head. "Many
men," he said, waving his arm to the forest, "see fire; come fight.
Plenty of fight been; no need for more." For a time he stood with
them in front of the pool. A series of splashes in the water told
what was going on. The prahu was being cleared of its load of dead
bodies; then several men filled buckets with water, and handed
them up to the deck. The boys knew that an attempt was being made
to wash away the blood. The process was repeated a dozen times.
While this was going on, the pool was agitated in every direction.
The lads shuddered as they looked, and remembered that they had
proposed to wade along the edge. The place swarmed with alligators,
who scrambled and fought for the bodies thrown over, until the
number was so great that all were satisfied, and the pool became
comparatively quiet, although fresh monsters, guided by the smell
of blood, kept arriving on the scene.
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