146 LIFE IN JAVA.
peared like the ravings of a maniac, or the sense- less talk of an intoxicated man, at first listened in- credulously, and treated the warning lightly, but when the soldier persisted in the truth of what he had said, and insisted on the necessity for losing no time, she began to think there might be some foundation for his extraordinary statement ; and as he would not leave until he had fully convinced her of the truth of what he had revealed, she pro- mised to dispatch a servant immediately to the Residency.
The Resident, on receiving the message, care- fully concealed its purport from all his guests, ex- cept the officers from the fort. To these he com- municated without delay the knowledge of the peril in which they stood, advising them to proceed as cautiously as possible, in order to secure the persons of the rebels before they could have the slightest idea that their intended victims had been made acquainted with the murderous design.
�� �
