The evening world. Newspaper, December 10, 1915, Page 27

nm DING CHAPTERS, ig blatom discovers tbe" mecret of \myattin ‘aninate one ben tO an island o to pertect bts expeciinente. alone im are, Von yy *s yet hie og matron alae aaa Spee een, . Vou Horn falla In jove The profemor 6 jamee. of, numa mrervacares, with, Hie Se era ors cae alt | ees os ae ih sles ate a re CHAPTER X. (Continued,) River and Jungle. HE current caught and swirled her downward and toward the gorge, and at the same nt her fingers touched and closed upon something which swung low above the water, ‘With the last flickering spark of vitality that remained in her poor, @xhausted body Virginia Maxon clung to the frall support that a kind Providence had thrust into nds, How long she hung there she never knew, but finally @ little strength re- turned to her, and presently she realized that it was a pendant creeper banging low from a@ jungle tree upon the bank that had saved her from the river's rapacious maw, Inch by Inch she worked herself up- ward toward the bank, and at last, weak and panting, sunk exhausted to F the cool carpet of grass that grew to the water's edge. Almost immediately nature plunged her into 4 deep sleep. It was daylight when sho awoka, dreaming that the tall voung giaut had resoted her from a band of gemons and was lifting her in his to carry her back to ber father. ‘With a sudden start sho opened her eyes wide to look up Into the hideous face of a giant orang-outang! CHAPTER XI. Among Liars and Beasts. = WE morning following the capture of Virginia Maxon by Muda Saffir, Prof. Maxon, Von Horn, Sing Leo and the sole surviving las- car from the crew of the Ithaca set out across the strait toward the mainland of B.. .» in the small boat which the German had secreted in the Jungle near the herbor, Thoy had scarcely cleared the har- bor when they sighted a ship far out across the strait. Its erratic move- ments riveted their attention upon it, and later, as they drow nearer, they perceived that the strange craft~was &@ good-sized schooner with but a slugle short mast and tiny sail. Von Horn was the first to recognize “Tt is the Ithaca," he sald, “and her yak crew are having a devil of a time managing her. She acts as though she were rudderiess.” . The German ran tho small boat within hailing distance of the dis- masted hulk whoge side was now lined with waving, gesticulating na- tives. They were peaceful fishermen, ‘they explained, whose proas had been wrecked in the recent typhoon. They had barely escaped with their lives by clambering aboard this wreck whieh Allah had been so mer- elful as to place directly in their road. , Would the Tuan Besar be so good as to tell them how to make the big steer? Von Horn ised to help them on condition that they would guide bim and his party to the stronghold of Muda Saffir in the heart of Borneo. The Dyaks willingly agreed ‘and Von Horn worked his smal! boat in close under the Ithaca's stern. ‘A few hours later they had landed, had found the slain ies, and in a ‘proa, taken up the e them on the right bank Muda Saffir still squatted in his hid- Mi ¢, for no friendly proa or sau- ES Lr) passed bis way since dawn, The Lae was nearly opposite bim eo recognized Prof, Maxon and Von Horn as the white men of the little island. He wondered how much they knew of bis part in the raid upon their encampment. Bududréeo had told him much con- cerning the German, and as Muda Safir Wed the fact that Von Horn was anxious to possess himself of both the treasure and the girl he guessed that he would be safe in the man hands so long as he could hold out promises of turning one or the other over to him. So, as he tired of squat- ting upon the uncomfortable bank and was very hungry, he rose and hailed sing boat, re the prow's nose touched the bank Muda Saffir stepped aboard, and with many protestations of gratitude ex- lained that he had fallen overboard the night before and that evidently Is followers thought him drowned, since none of his boats had returned search for him. Boarcely had the Malay seated him- if before Yon Horn began question- him In the raja's native tongue, pt a word of which was intelligible to f. Maxon, Sing, however, was as liar with it as was the German, “Where are the girl and thé treas- 2 He asked. “what girl, Tuan Bosar?” inquired wily Malay, “And what treasure? he white man speaks in riddles.” “Come, come,” cried Von Horn tm- tiently. “Let us have no foolish- . You know perfectly well what mean. It will go far better with you we work together as friends, “I want the girl—if she Is unharmed nd I will divide the treasure with art of either, hall we be friends or enemies?” ') "The girl und the treasure were both stolen from me by a rascally Vanglima, Ninaka," said Muda Safir, ». "What became of the white man ‘who lod the strange monsters?” asked Von Horn. “He, Killed many of my men, and , T eaw of him he was pushing i suffered defeat in an attempt to res- T up Ahe river after the girl and the treasure," replied the Malay, “If another should ask you,” con- tinued Von Horn with a meaning glance toward Prof. Maxon, “it will be well to say that the girl was stolen by this white giant and that you cue her because of your friendship for us. Do you understand?” Prof. Maxon was impatient to hear every detail that Von Horn obtained from Muda Saffir and the various Dyaks that were interviewed at the first long-house and along the stretch of river they covered, ‘The German told bim that Num- ber Thirteon still had Virginia and was fleeing up the river in a swift proa. Far in the interior of the jungle Bulan and bis five monsters stumbied on in an effort to find the river. It was upon this strange and ro- markable company that the sharp eyes of @ score of river Dyaks peered through the foliage. What prizes those terrible head would be when properly dried and decorated! : Suddenly there was a chorus of sav- age cries close beside Bulan; simul- taneously he found himself in the midst of twenty cutting, slashing parangs, Like lightning his bull-whip flew into action, and to the astonished warriors it was as though @ score of men were upon them {n the person of this mighty white giant. Following the example of ther fead- er, the five creatures at his back leaped upon the nearest warrior, and though they wielded their parangs awkwardly, the superbuman strength back of their cuts and thrusts sent the already blood-stained blades through many a brown body. The Dyaks would gladly have re- treated after the first surprise of thelr initial attack, but Bulan urged his men on after them, and so they were Leave to fight to preserve their lives at all. At last five of them managed to escape into the jungie, but fifteen re- mained quietly upon the earth where they had fallen—victims of their over- confidence, Beside them lay two of Bulan's five, so that now the little party was reduced to four—and the problem that had faced Prof. Maxon was so much closer its own solution. From the bodies of the dead Dyaks Bulan and his three companion: Number Three, Number ‘Ten an Number Twelve, took enough to'n- cloths, caps, war coats, shields and eeepc: to fit them out completely, after discarding the ragged remnants of their cotton pajamas, and now, even more terrible in appearance than before, the rapidly diminishing com- pany of soulless monsters continued their aimless wandering down the river's brim. The next morning found the four ain onthe march ere the sun had scarcely Uighted the dark places of the forest. It must have been close to noon when the young giant's ear caught the sound of the movement of some anl- mal in the jungle a short distance to his right and away from the river. For a dozen yards he advanced without sighting the object of his search, but prese itly his efforts were rewarded by a elimpse of a reddish, hatry body and a pair of close-set, wicked eyes peering at him from be- hind a giant tree. At the same instant a slight move- ment at one side attracted his atten- tion to where another similar figure crouched in the underbrush, and then 5 third, fourth and fifth became evi- ent. Number Ten was grinning broadly, while Number Three advanced cau- tlously toward one of the creatures, making a low guttural noise that could only be interpreted as peaceful and conciliator)—more Hike a feline purr it was than anything else. “What are you doing?” cried Bulan, “Leave them alone. They have not offeyéd to harm us. “They are like us," replied Number Three. ‘They must our own people. I am going with them.” “And 1," said Number Ten, “And 1," echoed Number Twelve, “At last we have found our own, let us all go with them and live with them, far away from the men who would beat us with great whips and cut us with their sharp swords.” “They are not bh claimed Bulan, “W them.” “Neither are we human being: torted Number Twelve, “Has not Von Horn told us 60 many times?” “If 1am not pow a human being,” replied Bulan, “I intend to be on shall not go to live with savage beasts, nor shall you. Come witb me, as | tell you, or you shall again taste the bull-whip.” As he raised bis voice there came on swering cry from a@ little distance ahead—a ery for help, and it was tn the agonized tones of a woman's voice! “Tam coming!" shouted Bulan, Without another glance at his mu- tlnous crew he sprang through the line of menacing orang-outangs, straight for the sound that he had beard. CHAPTER X11, “To the Victor’’ IN the morning that Bulan set out with his three monsters from the deserted long-house in which they had spent the night, Professor Maxon's party was speeding up the river, con- stantly buoyed with hope by the re peated reports of natives that the white girl had been seen passing in a war-proa. Professor Maxon was too ill to ac- company the expedition, and Von Horn” set out alone with bis Dyak allies, For a time after they departed Sing Leo fretted and fidgeted upon the yeranda of the long-house, He wholly distrusted the German, and from mo- tives of his own finally decided to fol- low him, He had not gone tar when he heard @ woman's cry, He dashed forward, For a time he saw nothing, but was guided by the snapping of twigs and the rustling of bushes ahead, where the authors of the commotion were evidently moving swiftly through the jungle. Presently a strange sight bursteupon bis astonished vision, HURRY UP WITH Your HAT. THE TAX! (S WAITING HURRY UP WE _ARE STOP FOOLING WITH YouR. HAT. AND Come on | NS It was the hideous Number Three in mad pursutt of a female orang-outang and an instant later he saw. Number Twelve and Number Ten in battle with two males, while beyond he heard the voice of a man shouting en- couragement to some one as he dashed through the jungie, It was in this lust event that Sing’s interest centred, for he was sure yank he recognized the voice as that o} Bulan, while the first cry for help which he had beard had been in a woman's voice, and Sing knew that ts author could be none other than Virginia Maxon, Those whom he pursued were mov- ing rapidly through the jungle, which was now becomi more and more open, but the Chinaman io mean rnnner, and It was not long before he drew within sight of the object of his pursuit, His first glimpse was of Bulan, running swiftly between two huge bull orang-outangs that snapped and tore at him as be bounded forward, cutting and slashing at his foes with his heavy whip. Just in front of the trio was another bull pearing in his arms the uneonsclous form of Vir- ginia Maxon, who had fainted at the first response to her cry for help. Sing was armed with a heavy re- volver, but he dared not attempt to use it for fear that he might woind either Bulan or’ the girl, so he was forced to remain but a passive spec- tator of what ensued. Bulan, notwithstanding the fact of the running battle the two bulls were forcing upon him, was gaining stead- fly upon the fleeting orang-outang, handicapped by the weight of the captive he bore im his hatry arms. As they came into the natural cle: Ing in the jungle the fleeing bi glanced back to see his pursuer al- most upon him, and with an angry roar turned to meet the charge. In another instant Bulan and the three bulls were rolling and tumbling about the ground, a mass of flying fur and blood from which rose fierce and angry roars and growls, while Virginia Maxon lay quietly upon the sward where her captor had dropped her. Sing was about to rush forward and pick ber up, when he saw Von Horn and his Dyaks leap into the clearing, to: which they had been gulded by the sounds of the chase and the encounter. The German halted at the sight that met his eyes—the prostrate form of the girl, and the man battling with the three buge and terrible bulls, Then he gathered up Virginia Maxon, and with a sign to his Dy- aks, who were thoroughly frightened at the mere sight of the white giant of which they had heard such ter- rible stories, turned and hastened back in the direction from which they had come, leaving the man to What seemed must be a speedy ani horrible death, Sing Lee was astounded at the per- fidy of the act. To Bulan alone was dua the entire credit of having res- cued Prof. Maxon's daughter, and yet in the very presence of his self-sacri~ Neing loyalty and devotion Von Horn had deserted him without making the least attempt to aid him. But the wrinkled old Chinaman was made of different metal, and had started forward to assist Bulan when ® heavy hand suddenly fell upon his shoulder, Looking around, he saw the hideous face of Number Ten snarting Inte his. ‘he bloodshot eyes of the monater Naming we with rage, He had been he Evening World Daily “Magazine, torn and chewed by the bull witb which be had fought, and though he had finally overcome and killed the beast, a female which be had pursued had eluded him, In a frenzy of pas- sion and blood-lust roused by his wounds, disappointment, and tho taste of warm blood which still smeared his lips and face, he had been seeking the female when he Hiesipead stumbled uponethe hapless Sing. With a roar he grasped the China- man as thoigh to break him in two, but Sing was not at all inclined .to give up his life without a struggle, and Number Ten was quick to learn that no mean muscle moved beneath that wrinkled, yellow bide There could, however, have been but one outcome to the unequal struggle had Sing not been with a revolver, though it was sev- eral seconds before he could bring It into play upon the great thing that shook and tossed him about as though he had been a rat in the mouth of a terrier. But suddenly there was the sharp report of a firearm, and another of Prof, Maxon’s unhappy experiments sank back into the nothingness from which he had conjured it. Theo Sing turned his attention to Bulan and his three antagonists, but for the exception of the dead Body of a bull orang-outang upon the spot where he had seen the four bis gling there was no sign either of t white man or his antagonists; nor, though he listened attentively, cou! he catch the slightest sound within the jungle other than the rustling of the leaves and the raucous cries o: the brilliant birds that filtted among the gorgeous blooms about blm. For half an hour he searched In every direction, but finally, fearing, that he might become lost in the mazes of tho unfamiliar forest, he reluctantly turned his face toward the river and the long-house that sheltered his party. Here he found Prof. Maxon much improved—the safe return of Virginia having acted as a tonic upon him, ‘The girl and her father sat with Von Horn upon the veranda of the long- house as Sing clambered up the notched log that led to it from the ground, At sight of Sing’s wrinkled old face Virginia Maxon sprang to her feet and ran forward to greet hii for she had been very fond of th sbrewd Chinaman of whom she had seen 60 much during the dreary months-of her imprisonment withio the eampong, “Oh, Sing,” she cried, “where have you been? We have all been so wor- ried to think that no sooner was one of us rescued than another became lost.” “Sing takeo walk," sald the grin- ning Chinam "Velly glad see you black 'gatn,” And that was all that Sing Lee had to say of the adventures through which he had just passed and the strange sights that he had seen. t It you like to read the red-blooded romance of a red-blooded hero, don’t miss | THE FI By ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE It Is Next Week's Complete Novel in The Evening World, And It Is the Kind of Story You Like, READ IT, Again and again the girl and Von Horo narrated the stirring scenes of the day, the to repeat all from the moment that he Virginia's cry, though ft was appar- ent that he only consented to 6; of his part in her rescue under the most considerable urging. Very pretty modesty, thought Sing, when nb had heard the Doctor's ver- sion of the affair, “You see," said Von Horn, “whoa L reached the spot Number Three, the brute that you thought was an ape had just turned you over to Number Thirteen, or, a# the natives now call him, Bulan, You were then in a faint, and when | attacked Bulan he dropped you to defend himaelf, “I had expected @ bitter fight from him after the wild tales the nativeu have been telling of bis ferocity, but it was soon evident that be ‘as ay arrant coward, for I did not ev have to fire my revolver. A fow thumps with the butt end of it upon his brainiess skull sent him howling into the jungle with his pack at h's heels, inan being compel! that had transpired w fortunate it 1s, my dear Doc- tol said Prof. Maxon, “that you were bright enough to think of trall- ing the miscreant {nto the jungle. But for that Virginia would still be in hig clutches, and by this time he would have been beyond all hope «t capture. How can we ever repay you, dear friend?” “That you were E saigg hind enough to arrange wl we first embarked upon the search for your daughter,” replied Von Horn, “Just so, Just so," said the professor. A shade of trouble tinged the ex- ression of his face, and a moment ter he rose, saying that he felt weak and ured and would go to hia sleep- ing room and tie down for @ while. ‘The fact was that Prof. Maxon re- Eee the promise he had made Von orn relative to hig daughter. Once before he had made plans for her marriage, only to regret them later. He hoped that he had made no mistake this time, but he realized that It had scarcely been fair to Virginta to promise her to the German without first obtaining her consent. Yet a promise wea a promise, and, again, was it not true that but for Von Horn she would have been dead or worse than dead in a short Ume had she not been rescued from the clutches of the soulless Bulan? Thus did the old man fustify hie action and clinch the determination that he had before reached to sonipe Virginia to wed Von Horn should she, from some mprehensible motive, demur, Still hoped that the girl would make it easy by accepting vol- untarily the man who had saved ber Ufe. Left alone, or as he thought alone, with the girl in the growing shadows of the evening, Von Horn thought the moment propitious for renewing sult, He did not consider the natives squatting about them as of sufficient consequence to consider, since they GHTER had heard thi Decemb er 10, | the would not understand the language in which he addressed Virginia, and in ed the dusk he failed to note that Sing squatted with the Dyaks close behind e m, “Virginia,” he commenced, after an interval of silence, “often before have I broached the subject nearest to my heart, yet n have you given me much ‘encouragement. Can you not feel for the man who would glad- ly give his life for you suflicient affec- tion to permit you to make him the happiest man in the world? “I do not ask for all your love at first—that will come later. Just give me the right to cherish and protect uu, Say that you will be my wife, virrinia, and we need have no more fears that the strange vagaries of your father’s mind can ever again jeopard- ize your life or your happiness as they have in the past.” “I feel that I owe you my life,” ro- plied the girl in # quiet voice, “and while I am now positive that my father has entirely regained hie sanity, and looks with as great abhorrence upon the terrific fate he planned for me as 1 myself, 1 cannot forget the deht of gratitude which belongs to yeu. “At the same time I do not wish to be the means of making you unhappy, as surely would be the result were I to marry without love. Let us wait until | know myself better. “Though you have spoken to me of the matter before, 1 realize now that I never have made any effort to deter- mine whether or not I really can love you. There ts time enough before w reach civilization, if ever we are for- tunate enough to do #o at all. Will you not be as generous as you are brave, and give me a few days I must make you a final answer?” With Prof. Maxon's solemn promise to Insure his ullimate success Von Horn was very gracious and gentle in deferring to the girl's wishes The rl for her part could not put from er mind the disappointment she had felt when she discovered that her res- euer was Von Horn and not the hand- some young giant who she had been positive was in close pursuit of her abductors, When Number Thirteen had been pictured him as a hideous monster, similar to the creature that bad seized her in the the encampment that had recently insisted that man had been at the head of her father's creatures in an attempt to resoue her, both Von Horn and Prof. Maxon scoffed at the idea, until at last she Was convinced that the tright and the firelight had conspired to conjure in her brain the likeness of one who was linked by memory to an« other time of danger and despair. Virginia could not understand why it was that the face of the stranger persisted in obtruding itself in her memory, That the man was unusually “looking was undeniable, but she ad known inany Kood-looking men, he expecially impressionable uperticial beauty, No words had passed between them on the occa- sion of their first meeting, so it could have been nothing that he said which caused the memory of him to cling 60 tenaciously in her mind. hat Was it, then? Was It the memory of the moments that she had lain in his strong arms? Was it the shadow of the glow that had suffused hor as his eyes had caught hers myo his face? The thing wes tantalising—anno~ 1915 Lokebodobades hep aaasonnone * 3 ing. Tho girl blushed tn mortification @t the very thought that she could cling so tenaclously to the memory of tal stranger, and—still greater hu- jation—long in the secret depths of her sovt to seo him again Sho was angry with herséif, but the more she tried to forget the young «ant who had come into her life for so brief an instant the more her mind persisted in dwelling upon him, and more she speculated upon his identity and the strange fate that had brought him to their little, savage island, only to snatch him away again ag mysteriously as he had come—and the less the approval. with which she waae upon the suit of Dr. Cari orn, Von Horn had left her and strolled down to the river, and finally Vir- ginia rose to seek the crude couch which had been spread for her in one of the sleeping rooms of the long- house. As she passed @ group @f natives squatted near by one of the number rose and approached her, and as she halted, half in fright, a low voice whispered: “Lookee out, Dioctor Horn velly bad mea.” ‘Why, Sing!” exclaimed Virginia, “What in the world do you mean by saying such a thing as that “Never mind, you always good to old Sin Sing no likes see you sad, Dioctor Horn velly bad man.” Without another word the China- man turned and walked away. CHAPTER XIII. Jungle Treasure. FTER the escape of tho girl Barunda and Ninaka bad fallen out over that affair and the division of the treasure, with the result that th Panglima had slipped a knife between the ribs of his companion and dropped the body overboard. Barunda’s followers, however, had been highly enraged at the act, and in the ensuing battle which they waged for revenge of their murdered chief, Ninaka and bis crew had been forced to take to the shore and hide in the Jungle. With ditfoulty they had saved the chest and dragged it after them into the mazes of the underbrush. Finally, the angry enemy and took up their march through the interior to the head of another river which would lead them to the sea by a different route, it being Ninaka’s intention to dispose of the contents of the chest as quickly 48 possible through the assistance of a Kerggea 4 Malay who dwelt at Gunung — whet ne bs > with the coast, ut presently it became aj that he had not #0 easily aped the fruits of his villainy as had sup- posed, for upon the evening of the first day the rear of his little column was attacked by some of Barunda’s warriors who had forged ahead of their fellows, with the result that the head of Ninaka’s brother went to tn- crease the prestige and glory of the house of the enemy. Ninaka was panto-stricken, since he knew that, hampered as he wi the heavy chest, he could neither fight nor run to advantage, and ad, upon a dark night near the head- water of the river he sought, he buried the treasure at the foot of a mighty buttress tree. With his pa- rang he made certain cabalistic signa upon the bole whereby he might identify the spot when It was safe to return and disinter his booty, Then, with his men, he toned down the stream until they reached the head of proa navigation, where they stole a oraft and paddled awiftly on toward the sea. When the three bull orang-outangs closed upon Bulan he felt no fear as to the outcome of the battle, for never In his experience had ped with any muscles that his own mighty thews could not overcome. But the battle continued he real. ized that there might bi limit to the number of antagonists which he could successfully withstand, since could @oarcely hope with only two nds to reach the throats of three enemica, or ward off the blows and clutches of six powerful hands and the gnashing of three sets of dripping fangs. When the truth dawned upon him that he waa being killed the instinct of self-preservation was born in him, ‘The ferocity with which he had pre- viously fought paled into tnsignifi- cance beside the mad fury with which he now attacked the three creatures upon him, Shaking himself lke a great Iton, he freed his arms for a moment from the clinging embrace of his foemen, and seizing the neck of the nearest In his mighty clutch wrenched the head completely round upon the short neck, There was one awful shriek of agony fiom the tortured brute—the vertebrae parted with a snap, and Bulan’s antagonists were reduced to and further into the jungle beyond t! clearing, With mighty blows the man buffeted the beasts to right and left, but ever they returned in bestial rage to renew the encounter, Bulan was ning rapidly now under the terrific strain to which he had been subjected, and from loss of the blood which flowed from a hun. dred wounds, yet he was slowly mas. tering the foaming brutes, who them- selves were torn and bleeding and ex- hausted, Weaker and weaker became the strugglings of them all, when a sud den misstep sent Bulan stumblin, headforemost against the stem of a tree, where, stunned, he sank uncon- scious and at the mercy of the relent. bulla, They had already sprung upon the prostrate form of their victim to fin- Ish what the accident had com menced, when upon thetr startled ears smote the loud report of Sing’s mr volver as the Chinaman’s bullet buried itself in the heart of Number Ten, Never had the orang-outangs hoard the sound of a firearm, and the noise, coming aa it did apparently at their very sides, filled them with such ter- ror that on the Instant they forgot all else than this new fear, Headlong they vo jungle, leaving Bulan lying where he had fallen, Bo Ht was that though Sing passed $09006000004 THE FIGHTER however, they succeeded in eluding i I leaped away tnto 2 f t ebeuedeeeeet within a few pacea of the unco: man he neither saw nor heard of him or his antagonis When Bulan returned to consciows- ness the day was drawing to a close, He was stiff and sore and weak. His head ached horribly. He thou that he must, indeed, be dying, for could one who suffered so survive? hut at last he managed to to his feet, and finally to reach stream along which he bad been teav- elling eariler in the day. Here he quenched hia thirat and bathed his wounds, and as darkness came down to sleep upon a bed of wrasaes, The next morning found bim re- freshed and conalderably less pain, for the powers of recuperation which belonged to his perfect health and mighty physique had already worked an almost miraculous transformation in him. While he was hunting in the Jungle for his breakfast he came aad denly upon Number Three and Num- ber Twelve similarly employed, At aight of bim the two e1 started fo run away, but he called to them reasauringly, and they returned. On closer inspection Bulan saw that both were covered with terrible wounds, and after questigning them learned that they had fared almost as badly at the hands of the drang- outangs as had he. “Even the beasts loathe ust” ex- claimed Number Three, “What are we to dom! “Leave the beasta alone, as I told ou," replied Bulan, “Human beings hate us also,” per- sisted Number Three, “Then let us live by ourselves,” suggested Number Three, “We hate each other,” retorted Number Twelve, “There is no place for us in the world, and nd compan- lonahip. We are but soulless things.” “Stop!" cried Bulan. “I am no} 4 soulless thing, [ am a man, within me is as fine anf pure a soul as any man may own,” To his mind’s eye came the vision of a fair face surmounted by a mass of loonely waving, golden hair. Bu the brainless ones could not stand, and only subject. When the three had aatisfied the cravings of their again, in master, would not permit it, and foreed them to accom- pany hi in his seemingly futile search for the girl who had disap- Peared sv mystetiousis after he Tad rexcued her frem the orang-outangs. Both Number Twelve and Num Three had assured him that the beasts had not recaptured her, for thoy had seen the entire band flee madly through the Jungle after hearing the report of the single shot which had eo terrorized Butan's antagonists. Bulan did not know what to make of this occurrence which he had not himself heard, the shot having come after ho had lost consciousness at ] foot of the tree; but from the de- scription of the noise given him by Number Twelve he felt sure that it must have been the r ort of a gun, and hoped that it Letokened the presence of Virginia Maxon's friends, and that she was now safe in their keeping. Nevertheless he did not relinquish his determination to continue his search for her, since it was quite i sible that the gun had been fired by @ native, manyeof whom possessed fire~ arms. His firat concern for the girl's welfare, which spo joquently for the chivalry of his eharacter, and though he wished to see her for the sure that it would give him, the ope of serving her was ever the first consideration in his mind. ’ He was now confident that he wap following the wrong direction, with the intention In view of di of the ary, which ued or captured hab io) had been forced to relinqu! her, he set out in a totally new di-~ rection away from the river. His woodoraft and little ex- small perience in travelling resulted in hie | being completely confused, so that hie had inst een the git, aa he wished he e ae tc do, he bore far to the northeast the place, and mised ent the which Von Horn and his taken from the long-house into Jungle and return. minesiion e Munreugh the: teartul companions on 1 heat of the tropics until, almost ex- hausted, they halted at dusk the bank of a river, where ge thelr romance Sie esate drafts, and Lor eating wi, Tt was quite dark when roused by thie sound of something preaching from up the river, and as @ lay listening he presently heard the subdued voices of men conversing, Presen saw a dozen warriors emerge into a little pateh of moon- Ugbt, They bore a huge chest among them, which they deposited within a few paces of where Bulan a Then they commenced to dig in the soft earth with their spears and angs until they had excavated a 6! low pit. Into this they 10 chest, covering it over with earth and sprinkling dead grass, twiga and leaves above it, ‘When all had been made to appear as it was before, one of the warriors made severa) cuts and scratches upon the stem of a tree which grew above the spot where the chest was buried; then they hastented on in silence pasi Bulan and down the river, As Von Horn stood by the river's banks after his conversation with Vir- ginfa he saw a small sampan ap- Proaching from up river. When the men had come close to the landing, one of them gave a low signal, and Preven, @ native came down from the the long-house tn res- ponse, “Who is it comes by night?” he ask’ nd what want rou ‘Ne’ has just reached us that Muda Saffir is alive,” replied one of the men tn the boat, “and that he sleeps this night in your long-house, Is it true?” “Yes,” answered the man on shore, “What do you wish of the Raja Muda Safir?” “We men are of his company and we have news for him," returned the spéaker in the sampan, “Tell him tl we must speak to him at once.” The native on shore returned to the long-house without replying. Von ered what the tmportant for Muda Saffir might be, am Re vereainee as he had been co) ind the (fo Be Continued.) ig i Nl lc