Argosy (UK), January 1955 — page 30: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

28 JOHAN FABRICIUS pocket of his silk waistcoat. Holding the coin between finger and thumb, he went to the front verandah and peered searchingly out over the starlit compound. It seemed entirely deserted. Until something moved, and from the shadow of the ornamental palms in their tubs along the side wall the shape of a young woman emerged. She first bent down to smooth out the creases in her sarong, which had become rather rumpled, since she had been squatting there for a long time. Then, slowly, she approached him. He waited until she stood before him, eyes timidly cast dowr. Then he asked: ‘‘ What’s your name? ”’ “Negadi, tuan,”’ she whispered, and her lips folded into a smile which was an unspoken promise, and likewise a triumphant verification of Mr. Van Houten’s lost struggle with himself. “ Here, Ngadi,”’ he said, handing her the silver coin. ‘“‘ Here’s something to buy a present for yourself at the fair. I’m sure you'd be glad to go too, just like your uncle and aunt?” She. stared at him, too staggered at first to be able to say anything. While she let his words sink in, she put the money mechani- cally away in her bosom, after first fishing up from it a little purse, with slow, leisurely movements. “ Terima kaseh, tuan,” she thanked him and smiled again, but this time slyly, almost scornfully; she seemed to have a sense of humour. And without haste, masking her humiliation behind a show of indifference, she strolled out of the compound, rolling her hips seductively. In spite of himself, Mr. Van Houten’s eyes remained fixed on that youthful, feminine form. Until it vanished in the darkness. Then he clapped his hands loudly, and called in the direction of the back compound, where the servants’ quarters were: ‘“‘ Ketip! Where have you got to? What’s happened to the carriage? ”’ A moment of silence followed. Then, out of the night, came a hesitating, almost incredulous echo: “ The... carriage, sir? ”’ “Yes, and look sharp about it. I’m standing here waiting! ”’ The voice of Ketip, fully alert again, suddenly sounded zealous and respectful. ‘‘ Coming, tuan!” * Johan Fabricius’s new story, “ Black Magic,” appears in “ Girdle of Emerald,” a collection of his stories to be published shortly by Heinemann. comiclooks.comnn