The Rajah Muda Saffir, tiring of the excuses and delayswhich Bududreen interposed to postpone the fulfillmentof his agreement with the former, whereby he was to deliverinto the hands of the rajah a certain beautiful maiden,decided at last to act upon his own initiative.The truth of the matter was that he had come to suspectthe motives of the first mate of the Ithaca, and notknowing of the great chest attributed them toBududreen's desire to possess the girl for himself.

So it was that as the second mate of the Ithaca withhis six men waded down the bed of the little streamtoward the harbor and the ship, a fleet of ten warprahus manned by over five hundred fierce Dyaks andcommanded by Muda Saffir himself, pulled cautiouslyinto the little cove upon the opposite side of theisland, and landed but a quarter of a mile from camp.

At the same moment von Horn was leading Virginia Maxonfarther and farther from the north campong where resistance,if there was to be any, would be most likely to occur.At his superior's cough Bududreen had signalled silentlyto the men within the enclosure, and a moment latersix savage lascars crept stealthily to his side.

The moment that von Horn and the girl were entirelyconcealed by the darkness, the seven moved cautiouslyalong the shadow of the palisade toward the northcampong. There was murder in the cowardly hearts ofseveral of them, and stupidity and lust in the heartsof all. There was no single one who would not betrayhis best friend for a handful of silver, nor any butwas inwardly hoping and scheming to the end that hemight alone possess both the chest and the girl.

It was such a pack of scoundrels that Bududreen ledtoward the north campong to bear away the treasure.In the breast of the leader was the hope that he hadplanted enough of superstitious terror in their heartsto make the sight of the supposed author of theirimagined wrongs sufficient provocation for his murder;for Bududreen was too sly to give the order for thekilling of a white man--the arm of the white man's lawwas too long--but he felt that he would rest easierwere he to leave the island with the knowledge that onlya dead man remained behind with the secret of his perfidy.

While these events were transpiring Number Thirteenwas pacing restlessly back and forth the length ofthe workshop. But a short time before he had had hisauthor--the author of his misery--within the four wallsof his prison, and yet he had not wreaked the vengeancethat was in his heart. Twice he had been on the pointof springing upon the man, but both times the other'seyes had met his and something which he was not able tocomprehend had stayed him. Now that the other had goneand he was alone contemplation of the hideous wrong thathad been done loosed again the flood gates of his pent rage.

The thought that he had been made by this man--made inthe semblance of a human being, yet denied by themanner of his creation a place among the lowest ofNature's creatures--filled him with fury, but it wasnot this thought that drove him to the verge ofmadness. It was the knowledge, suggested by von Horn,that Virginia Maxon would look upon him in horror,as a grotesque and loathsome monstrosity.

He had no standard and no experience whereby he mightclassify his sentiments toward this wonderful creature.All he knew was that his life would be complete couldhe be near her always--see her and speak with herdaily. He had thought of her almost constantly sincethose short, delicious moments that he had held her inhis arms. Again and again he experienced inretrospection the exquisite thrill that had run throughevery fiber of his being at the sight of her avertedeyes and flushed face. And the more he let his minddwell upon the wonderful happiness that was denied himbecause of his origin, the greater became his wrathagainst his creator.

It was now quite dark without. The door leading toProfessor Maxon's campong, left unlatched earlier inthe evening by von Horn for sinister motives of hisown, was still unbarred through a fatal coincidenceof forgetfulness on the part of the professor.

Number Thirteen approached this door. He laid his handupon the knob. A moment later he was moving noiselesslyacross the campong toward the house in which Professor Maxonlay peacefully sleeping; while at the south gate Bududreenand his six cutthroats crept cautiously within and slunkin the dense shadows of the palisade toward the workshopwhere lay the heavy chest of their desire. At the sameinstant Muda Saffir with fifty of his head-hunting Dyaksemerged from the jungle east of the camp, bent on discoveringthe whereabouts of the girl the Malay sought and bearing heraway to his savage court far within the jungle fastnessof his Bornean principality.

Number Thirteen reached the verandah of the house andpeered through the window into the living room, wherean oil lamp, turned low, dimly lighted the interior,which he saw was unoccupied. Going to the door hepushed it open and entered the apartment. All wasstill within. He listened intently for some slightsound which might lead him to the victim he sought,or warn him from the apartment of the girl or that ofvon Horn--his business was with Professor Maxon. He didnot wish to disturb the others whom he believed to besleeping somewhere within the structure--a low,rambling bungalow of eight rooms.

Cautiously he approached one of the four doors whichopened from the living room. Gently he turned the knoband pushed the door ajar. The interior of theapartment beyond was in inky darkness, but NumberThirteen's greatest fear was that he might havestumbled upon the sleeping room of Virginia Maxon,and that if she were to discover him there, not onlywould she be frightened, but her cries would alarmthe other inmates of the dwelling.

The thought of the horror that his presence wouldarouse within her, the knowledge that she would lookupon him as a terrifying monstrosity, added new fuelto the fires of hate that raged in his bosom againstthe man who had created him. With clenched fists,and tight set jaws the great, soulless giant moved acrossthe dark chamber with the stealthy noiselessness of a tiger.Feeling before him with hands and feet he made the circuitof the room before he reached the bed.

Scarce breathing he leaned over and groped across thecovers with his fingers in search of his prey--the bedwas empty. With the discovery came a sudden nervousreaction that sent him into a cold sweat. Weakly,he seated himself upon the edge of the bed.Had his fingers found the throat of Professor Maxonbeneath the coverlet they would never have releasedtheir hold until life had forever left the bodyof the scientist, but now that the highest tideof the young man's hatred had come and gonehe found himself for the first time assailed by doubts.

Suddenly he recalled the fact that the man whose lifehe sought was the father of the beautiful creature he adored.Perhaps she loved him and would be unhappy were he takenaway from her. Number Thirteen did not know, of course,but the idea obtruded itself, and had sufficient weightto cause him to remain seated upon the edge of thebed meditating upon the act he contemplated.He had by no means given up the idea of killingProfessor Maxon, but now there were doubtsand obstacles which had not been manifest before.

His standards of right and wrong were but half formed,from the brief attempts of Professor Maxon and von Hornto inculcate proper moral perceptions in a mind entirelydevoid of hereditary inclinations toward either good or bad,but he realized one thing most perfectly--that to bea soulless thing was to be damned in the estimationof Virginia Maxon, and it now occurred to him thatto kill her father would be the act of a soulless being.It was this thought more than another that caused himto pause in the pursuit of his revenge, since he knewthat the act he contemplated would brand him thevery thing he was, yet wished not to be.

At length, however, he slowly comprehended that no actof his would change the hideous fact of his origin;that nothing would make him acceptable in her eyes,and with a shake of his head he arose and stepped towardthe living room to continue his search for the professor.

In the workshop Bududreen and his men had easilylocated the chest. Dragging it into the north campongthe Malay was about to congratulate himself upon theease with which the theft had been accomplished whenone of his fellows declared his intention of going tothe house for the purpose of dispatching ProfessorMaxon, lest the influence of his evil eye shouldovertake them with some terrible curse when the lossof the chest should be discovered.

While this met fully with Bududreen's plans he urgedthe man against any such act that he might havewitnesses to prove that he not only had no hand in thecrime, but had exerted his authority to prevent it;but when two of the men separated themselves from the partyand crept toward the bungalow no force was interposedto stop them.

The moon had risen now, so that from the dark shadowsof the palisade Muda Saffir and his savages watched theparty with Bududreen squatting about the heavy chest,and saw the two who crept toward the house. To MudaSaffir's evil mind there was but one explanation.Bududreen had discovered a rich treasure, and havingstolen that had dispatched two of his men to bring himthe girl also.

Rajah Muda Saffir was furious. In subdued whispers hesent a half dozen of his Dyaks back beneath the shadowof the palisade to the opposite side of the bungalowwhere they were to enter the building, killing allwithin except the girl, whom they were to carrystraight to the beach and the war prahus.

Then with the balance of his horde he crept alone inthe darkness until opposite Bududreen and the watchersabout the chest. Just as the two who crept toward thebungalow reached it, Muda Saffir gave the word for theattack upon the Malays and lascars who guarded thetreasure. With savage yells they dashed upon theunsuspecting men. Parangs and spears glistened in themoonlight. There was a brief and bloody encounter,for the cowardly Bududreen and his equally cowardly crewhad had no alternative but to fight, so suddenly hadthe foe fallen upon them.

In a moment the savage Borneo head hunters had addedfive grisly trophies to their record. Bududreen andanother were racing madly toward the jungle beyondthe campong.

As Number Thirteen arose to continue his search forProfessor Maxon his quick ear caught the shuffling ofbare feet upon the verandah. As he paused to listenthere broke suddenly upon the still night the hideouswar cries of the Dyaks, and the screams and shrieks oftheir frightened victims in the campong without.Almost simultaneously Professor Maxon and Sing rushedinto the living room to ascertain the cause of thewild alarm, while at the same instant Bududreen's assassinssprang through the door with upraised krisses, to bealmost immediately followed by Muda Saffir's six Dyaksbrandishing their long spears and wicked parangs.

In an instant the little room was filled with howling,fighting men. The Dyaks, whose orders as well asinclinations incited them to a general massacre,fell first upon Bududreen's lascars who, corneredin the small room, fought like demons for their lives,so that when the Dyaks had overcome them two of their ownnumber lay dead beside the dead bodies of Bududreen's henchmen.

Sing and Professor Maxon stood in the doorway to theprofessor's room gazing upon the scene of carnage insurprise and consternation. The scientist was unarmed,but Sing held a long, wicked looking Colt in readinessfor any contingency. It was evident the celestial wasno stranger to the use of his deadly weapon, nor to themoments of extreme and sudden peril which demanded its use,for he seemed no more perturbed than had he been buthanging out his weekly wash.

As Number Thirteen watched the two men from the darkshadows of the room in which he stood, he saw that bothwere calm--the Chinaman with the calmness of perfectcourage, the other through lack of full understandingof the grave danger which menaced him. In the eyes ofthe latter shone a strange gleam--it was the wild lightof insanity that the sudden nervous shock of the attackhad brought to a premature culmination.

Now the four remaining Dyaks were advancing upon thetwo men. Sing levelled his revolver and fired atthe foremost, and at the same instant Professor Maxon,with a shrill, maniacal scream, launched himself full upona second. Number Thirteen saw the blood spurt from asuperficial wound in the shoulder of the fellow whoreceived Sing's bullet, but except for eliciting a howlof rage the missile had no immediate effect. Then Singpulled the trigger again and again, but the cylinderwould not revolve and the hammer fell futilely upon theempty cartridge. As two of the head hunters closedupon him the brave Chinaman clubbed his weapon and wentdown beneath them beating madly at the brown skulls.

The man with whom Professor Maxon had grappled had noopportunity to use his weapons for the crazed man heldhim close with one encircling arm while he tore andstruck at him with his free hand. The fourth Dyakdanced around the two with raised parang watching foran opening that he might deliver a silencing blow uponthe white man's skull.

The great odds against the two men--their bravery inthe face of death, their grave danger--and last andgreatest, the fact that one was the father of thebeautiful creature he worshipped, wrought a suddenchange in Number Thirteen. In an instant he forgotthat he had come here to kill the white-haired man,and with a bound stood in the center of the room--an unarmed giant towering above the battling four.

The parang of the Dyak who sought Professor Maxon'slife was already falling as a mighty hand grasped thewrist of the head hunter; but even then it was too lateto more than lessen the weight of the blow, and thesharp edge of the blade bit deep into the forehead ofthe white man. As he sank to his knees his otherantagonist freed an arm from the embrace which hadpinioned it to his side, but before he could deal theprofessor a blow with the short knife that up to now hehad been unable to use, Number Thirteen had hurled his manacross the room and was upon him who menaced the scientist.

Tearing him loose from his prey, he raised him farabove his head and threw him heavily against theopposite wall, then he turned his attention towardSing's assailants. All that had so far saved theChinaman from death was the fact that the two savageswere each so anxious to secure his head for theverandah rafters of his own particular long-housethat they interfered with one another in theconsummation of their common desire.

Although battling for his life, Sing had not failed tonote the advent of the strange young giant, nor thepart he had played in succoring the professor, so thatit was with a feeling of relief that he saw thenewcomer turn his attention toward those who wererapidly reducing the citadel of his own existence.

The two Dyaks who sought the trophy which nature hadset upon the Chinaman's shoulders were so busily engagedwith their victim that they knew nothing of the presenceof Number Thirteen until a mighty hand seized each bythe neck and they were raised bodily from the floor,shaken viciously for an instant, and then hurledto the opposite end of the room upon the bodiesof the two who had preceded them.

As Sing came to his feet he found Professor Maxon lyingin a pool of his own blood, a great gash in his forehead.He saw the white giant standing silently looking downupon the old man. Across the room the four stunned Dyakswere recovering consciousness. Slowly and fearfullythey regained their feet, and seeing that no attentionwas being paid them, cast a parting, terrified look at themighty creature who had defeated them with his bare hands,and slunk quickly out into the darkness of the campong.

When they caught up with Rajah Muda Saffir near the beach,they narrated a fearful tale of fifty terrible white menwith whom they had battled valiantly, killing many, beforethey had been compelled to retreat in the face of terrific odds.They swore that even then they had only returned because the girlwas not in the house--otherwise they should have brought herto their beloved master as he had directed.

Now Muda Saffir believed nothing that they said, but hewas well pleased with the great treasure which had sounexpectedly fallen into his hands, and he decided tomake quite sure of that by transporting it to his own land--later he could return for the girl. So the ten war prahusof the Malay pulled quietly out of the little coveupon the east side of the island, and bending their waytoward the south circled its southern extremityand bore away for Borneo.

In the bungalow within the north campong Sing andNumber Thirteen had lifted Professor Maxon to his bed,and the Chinaman was engaged in bathing and bandagingthe wound that had left the older man unconscious.The white giant stood beside him watching his every move.He was trying to understand why sometimes men killedone another and again defended and nursed. He wascurious as to the cause of his own sudden change insentiment toward Professor Maxon. At last he gave theproblem up as beyond his powers of solution, and atSing's command set about the task of helping to nursethe man whom he considered the author of his unhappinessand whom a few short minutes before he had come to kill.

As the two worked over the stricken man their earswere suddenly assailed by a wild commotion from thedirection of the workshop. There were sounds ofbattering upon wood, loud growls and roars, mingledwith weird shrieks and screams and the strange,uncanny gibbering of brainless things.

Sing looked quickly up at his companion.

"Whallee mallee?" he asked.

The giant did not answer. An expression of pain crossedhis features, and he shuddered--but not from fear.