Every night Johannes the Armenian
and Sabat the Arab got out their Bibles, and far into the night Sabat
would explain their meaning to Johannes.
_The Prince from Sumatra_
One day all Penang was agog with excitement because a brown Prince
from Acheen, a Malay State in the island of Sumatra, had suddenly
sailed into the harbour. He was in flight from his own land, where
rebels had attacked him. The people of Acheen were wild and ferocious;
many of them were cannibals.
"I will join you in helping to recover your throne," said Sabat to the
fugitive Prince. "I am going," said Sabat to Colonel MacInnes, "to see
if I can carry the message of Christianity to this fierce people."
So Sabat and the Prince, with others, went aboard a sailing ship and
crossed the Strait of Malacca to Sumatra. They landed, and for long
the struggle with the rebels swayed from side to side. The Prince was
so pleased with Sabat that he made him his Prime Minister. But the
struggle dragged on and on; there seemed to be no hope of triumph. At
last Sabat decided to go back to Penang. One day he left the Prince
and started off, but soldiers of the rebel-chief Syfoolalim captured
him.
Great was the joy of the rebels--their powerful enemy was in their
hands! They bound him, threw him into a boat, hoisted him aboard a
sailing ship and clapped him in the stifling darkness of the hold.
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