THE HIDDEN FORCE A Story of Modern Java by LOUIS COUPERUS translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Jonathan Cape Eleven Gower Street London First published 1922 All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh TRANSLATOR'S NOTE The Hidden Force gives a picture of life in the Dutch East Indies in the last year of the nineteenth and the first year of the twentieth century. Conditions have altered slightly since then--Dutch ladies no longer wear "sarong" and "kabaai" so generally, and there are other minor changes--but the relations between the Europeans and the natives remain very much as they were. I have translated nearly all the Malay and Javanese words scattered through the text, agreeing with my publisher that the sense of colour throughout the book is strong enough without insisting on these native terms, and I have done my best to reduce foot-notes to a minimum. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Chelsea, 20th November 1921 CONTENTS Page Translator's Note 5 Chapter One 9 Chapter Two 19 Chapter Three 26 Chapter Four 39 Chapter Five 46 Chapter Six 54 Chapter Seven 59 Chapter Eight 69 Chapter Nine 78 Chapter Ten 94 Chapter Eleven 102 Chapter Twelve 111 Chapter Thirteen 116 Chapter Fourteen 123 Chapter Fifteen 129 Chapter Sixteen 140 Chapter Seventeen 150 Chapter Eighteen 153 Chapter Nineteen 165 Chapter Twenty 174 Chapter Twenty-one 188 Chapter Twenty-two 193 Chapter Twenty-three 204 Chapter Twenty-four 214 Chapter Twenty-five 225 Chapter Twenty-six 234 Chapter Twenty-seven 244 Chapter Twenty-eight 251 Chapter Twenty-nine 258 Chapter Thirty 275 Chapter Thirty-one 287 Chapter Thirty-two 294 CHAPTER ONE