As von Horn and Virginia Maxon walked slowly beneath thedense shadows of the jungle he again renewed his suit.It would please him more to have the girl accompanyhim voluntarily than to be compelled to take her by force,but take her he would one way or another, and that, this very night,for all the plans were made and already under way.

"I cannot do it, Doctor von Horn," she had said."No matter how much danger I may be in here I cannot desertmy father on this lonely isle with only savage lascarsand the terrible monsters of his own creationsurrounding him. Why, it would be little shortof murder for us to do such a thing. I cannot see how you,his most trusted lieutenant, can even give an instant'sconsideration to the idea.

"And now that you insist that his mind is sorely affected,it is only an added reason why I must remain with himto protect him so far as I am able, from himself and his enemies."

Von Horn did not relish the insinuation in the accentwhich the girl put upon the last word.

"It is because I love you so, Virginia," he hastenedto urge in extenuation of his suggested disloyalty."I cannot see you sacrificed to his horrible mania.You do not realize the imminence of your peril.Tomorrow Number Thirteen was to have come to live beneaththe same roof with you. You recall Number One whom thestranger killed as the thing was bearing you awaythrough the jungle? Can you imagine sleeping in thesame house with such a soulless thing? Eating yourthree meals a day at the same table with it? Andknowing all the time that in a few short weeks at themost you were destined to be given to the thing as itsmate? Virginia, you must be mad to consider for amoment remaining within reach of such a terrible peril.

"Come to Singapore with me--it will take but a fewdays--and then we can return with some good medical manand a couple of Europeans, and take your father awayfrom the terrible creatures he has created. You willbe mine then and safe from the awful fate that now liesback there in the camp awaiting you. We can take yourfather upon a long trip where rest and quiet can havean opportunity to restore his enfeebled mentality.Come, Virginia! Come with me now. We can go directlyto the Ithaca and safety. Say that you will come."

The girl shook her head.

"I do not love you, I am afraid, Doctor von Horn, or Ishould certainly be moved by your appeal. If you wishto bring help for my father I shall never cease tothank you if you will go to Singapore and fetch it, butit is not necessary that I go. My place is here, near him."

In the darkness the girl did not see the change thatcame over the man's face, but his next words revealedhis altered attitude with sufficient exactitude tothoroughly arouse her fears.

"Virginia," he said, "I love you, and I intend to have you.Nothing on earth can prevent me. When you know me betteryou will return my love, but now I must risk offending youthat I may save you for myself from the monstrous connectionwhich your father contemplates for you. If you will not comeaway from the island with me voluntarily I consider it my dutyto take you away by force."

"You would never do that, Doctor von Horn!" she exclaimed.

Von Horn had gone too far. He cursed himself inwardlyfor a fool. Why the devil didn't that villain,Bududreen, come! He should have been alongto act his part half an hour before.

"No, Virginia," said the man, softly, after a moment'ssilence, "I could not do that; though my judgment tellsme that I should do it. You shall remain here if youinsist and I will be with you to serve and protect bothyou and your father."

The words were fair, but the girl could not forget theugly tone that had tinged his preceding statement.She felt that she would be glad when she found herselfsafely within the bungalow once more.

"Come," she said, "it is late. Let us return to camp."

Von Horn was about to reply when the war cries of MudaSaffir's Dyaks as they rushed out upon Bududreen andhis companions came to them distinctly through thetropic night.

"What was that?" cried the girl in an alarmed tone.

"God knows," replied von Horn. "Can it be thatour men have mutinied?"

He thought the six with Bududreen were carrying outtheir part in a most realistic manner, and a grim smiletinged his hard face.

Virginia Maxon turned resolutely toward the camp.

"I must go back there to my father," she said, "and somust you. Our place is there--God give that we be nottoo late," and before von Horn could stop her sheturned and ran through the darkness of the jungle inthe direction of the camp.

Von Horn dashed after her, but so black was the nightbeneath the overhanging trees, festooned with theirdark myriad creepers, that the girl was out of sightin an instant, and upon the soft carpet of the rottingvegetation her light footfalls gave no sound.

The doctor made straight for the camp, but Virginia,unused to jungle trailing even by day, veered sharplyto the left. The sounds which had guided her at firstsoon died out, the brush became thicker, and presentlyshe realized that she had no conception of the directionof the camp. Coming to a spot where the trees were less dense,and a little moonlight filtered to the ground,she paused to rest and attempt to regain her bearings.

As she stood listening for some sound which mightindicate the whereabouts of the camp, she detectedthe noise of a body approaching through the underbrush.Whether man or beast she could but conjecture and soshe stood with every nerve taut waiting the thing thatfloundered heavily toward her. She hoped it might bevon Horn, but the hideous war cries which had apprisedher of enemies at the encampment made her fear that fatemight be directing the footsteps of one of these upon her.

Nearer and nearer came the sound, and the girl stoodpoised ready to fly when the dark face of Bududreensuddenly emerged into the moonlight beside her.With an hysterical cry of relief the girl greeted him.

"Oh, Bududreen," she exclaimed, "what has happened at camp?Where is my father? Is he safe? Tell me."

The Malay could scarce believe the good fortune whichhad befallen him so quickly following the soreaffliction of losing the treasure. His evil mindworked quickly, so that he grasped the fullpossibilities that were his before the girlhad finished her questioning.

"The camp was attacked by Dyaks, Miss Maxon," he replied."Many of our men were killed, but your father escapedand has gone to the ship. I have been searching for youand Doctor von Horn. Where is he?"

"He was with me but a moment ago. When we heard thecries at camp I hastened on to discover what calamityhad befallen us--we became separated."

"He will be safe," said Bududreen, "for two of my menare waiting to guide you and the doctor to the ship incase you returned to camp before I found you. Come,we will hasten on to the harbor. Your father will beworried if we are long delayed, and he is anxious tomake sail and escape before the Dyaks discover thelocation of the Ithaca."

The man's story seemed plausible enough to Virginia,although she could not repress a little pang of regretthat her father had been willing to go on to the harborbefore he knew her fate. However, she explained thatby her belief that his mind was unbalanced throughconstant application to his weird obsession.

Without demur, then, she turned and accompanied therascally Malay toward the harbor. At the bank of thelittle stream which led down to the Ithaca's berth theman lifted her to his shoulder and thus bore her thebalance of the way to the beach. Here two of his menwere awaiting him in one of the ship's boats, andwithout words they embarked and pulled for the vessel.

Once on board Virginia started immediately for herfather's cabin. As she crossed the deck she noticedthat the ship was ready to sail, and even as shedescended the companionway she heard the rattle of theanchor chain about the capstan. She wondered if vonHorn could be on board too. It seemed remarkable thatall should have reached the Ithaca so quickly, andequally strange that none of her own people were ondeck to welcome her, or to command the vessel.

To her chagrin she found her father's cabin empty,and a moment's hurried investigation disclosed the factthat von Horn's was unoccupied as well. Now her doubtsturned quickly to fears, and with a little gasp ofdismay at the grim possibilities which surged throughher imagination she ran quickly to the companionway,but above her she saw that the hatch was down, and whenshe reached the top that it was fastened. Futilely shebeat upon the heavy planks with her delicate hands,calling aloud to Bududreen to release her, but therewas no reply, and with the realization of the hopelessnessof her position she dropped back to the deck,and returned to her stateroom. Here she lockedand barricaded the door as best she could,and throwing herself upon the berth awaited in dry-eyedterror the next blow that fate held in store for her.

Shortly after von Horn became separated from Virginiahe collided with the fleeing lascar who had escaped theparangs of Muda Saffir's head hunters at the same timeas had Bududreen. So terror stricken was the fellowthat he had thrown away his weapons in the panic of flight,which was all that saved von Horn from death at the handsof the fear crazed man. To him, in the extremity of his fright,every man was an enemy, and the doctor had a tough scufflewith him before he could impress upon the fellow that he was a friend.

From him von Horn obtained an incoherent account of the attack,together with the statement that he was the only personin camp that escaped, all the others having beencut down by the savage horde that overwhelmed them.It was with difficulty that von Horn persuaded the manto return with him to the campong, but finally,he consented to do so when the doctor with drawn revolver,presented death as the only alternative.

Together they cautiously crept back toward the palisade,not knowing at what moment they might come upon the savageenemy that had wrought such havoc among their forces,for von Horn believed the lascar's story that all had perished.His only motive for returning lay in his desire to preventVirginia Maxon falling into the hands of the Dyaks, or,failing that, rescuing her from their clutches.

Whatever faults and vices were Carl von Horn'scowardice was not one of them, and it was without aninstant's hesitation that he had elected to return tosuccor the girl he believed to have returned to camp,although he entertained no scruples regarding thefurther pursuit of his dishonorable intentions towardher, should he succeed in saving her from her other enemies.

As the two approached the campong quiet seemed to haveagain fallen about the scene of the recent alarm.Muda Saffir had passed on toward the cove with theheavy chest, and the scrimmage in the bungalow was over.But von Horn did not abate his watchfulness as he stolesilently within the precincts of the north campong, and,hugging the denser shadows of the palisade, crept toward the house.

The dim light in the living room drew him to one of thewindows which overlooked the verandah. A glance withinshowed him Sing and Number Thirteen bending over thebody of Professor Maxon. He noted the handsome faceand perfect figure of the young giant. He saw thebodies of the dead lascars and Dyaks. Then he saw Singand the young man lift Professor Maxon tenderly intheir arms and bear him to his own room.

A sudden wave of jealous rage swept through the man'svicious brain. He saw that the soulless thing withinwas endowed with a kindlier and more noble nature thanhe himself possessed. He had planted the seed ofhatred and revenge within his untutored heart withoutavail, for he read in the dead bodies of Bududreen'smen and the two Dyaks the story of Number Thirteen'sdefense of the man von Horn had hoped he would kill.

Von Horn was quite sure now that Virginia Maxon was notwithin the campong. Either she had become confused andlost in the jungle after she left him, or had falleninto the hands of the wild horde that had attacked thecamp. Convinced of this, there was no obstacle tothwart the sudden plan which entered his malign brain.With a single act he could rid himself of the man whomhe had come to look upon as a rival, whose physicalbeauty aroused his envy and jealousy; he could remove,in the person of Professor Maxon, the parental obstaclewhich might either prevent his obtaining the girl,or make serious trouble for him in case he took herby force, and at the same time he could transfer tothe girl's possession the fortune which was nowher father's--and he could accomplish it all withouttainting his own hands with the blood of his victims.

As the full possibilities of his devilish schemeunfolded before his mind's eye a grim smile curled hisstraight, thin lips at the thought of the fate which itentailed for the creator of the hideous monsters of thecourt of mystery.

As he turned away from the bungalow his eye fell uponthe trembling lascar who had accompanied him to theedge of the verandah. He must be rid of the fellow insome way--no eye must see him perpetrate the deed hehad in mind. A solution quickly occurred to him.

"Hasten to the harbor," he said to the man in alow voice, "and tell those on board the ship thatI shall join them presently. Have all in readiness to sail.I wish to fetch some of my belongings--all within thebungalow are dead."

No command could have better suited the sailor.Without a word he turned and fled toward the jungle.Von Horn walked quickly to the workshop. The doorhung open. Through the dark interior he strode straight tothe opposite door which let upon the court of mystery.On a nail driven into the door frame hung a heavy bull whip.The doctor took it down as he raised the strong barwhich held the door. Then he stepped through intothe moonlit inner campong--the bull whip in his right hand,a revolver in his left.

A half dozen misshapen monsters roved restlessly aboutthe hard packed earth of the pen. The noise of thebattle in the adjoining enclosure had aroused them fromslumber and awakened in their half formed brains vaguequestionings and fears. At sight of von Horn severalof them rushed for him with menacing growls, but aswift crack of the bull whip brought them to a suddenrealization of the identity of the intruder, so thatthey slunk away, muttering and whining in rage.

Von Horn passed quickly to the low shed in which theremainder of the eleven were sleeping. With viciouscuts from the stinging lash he lay about him upon thesleeping things. Roaring and shrieking in pain andanger the creatures stumbled to their feet and lumberedawkwardly into the open. Two of them turned upon theirtormentor, but the burning weapon on their ill protectedflesh sent them staggering back out of reach, and inanother moment all were huddled in the center of the campong.

As cattle are driven, von Horn drove the miserablecreatures toward the door of the workshop. At thethreshold of the dark interior the frightened thingshalted fearfully, and then as von Horn urged them onfrom behind with his cruel whip they milled as cattleat the entrance to a strange corral.

Again and again he urged them for the door, but eachtime they turned away, and to escape the whip beat andtore at the wall of the palisade in a vain effort tobatter it from their pathway. Their roars and shriekswere almost deafening as von Horn, losing what littleremained of his scant self-control, dashed among themlaying to right and left with the stern whip and thebutt of his heavy revolver.

Most of the monsters scattered and turned back into thecenter of the enclosure, but three of them were forcedthrough the doorway into the workshop, from thedarkness of which they saw the patch of moonlightthrough the open door upon the opposite side. Towardthis they scurried as von Horn turned back into thecourt of mystery for the others.

Three more herculean efforts he made before he beat thelast of the creatures through the outer doorway of theworkshop into the north campong.

Among the age old arts of the celestials none is morestrangely inspiring than that of medicine. Odd herbsand unspeakable things when properly compounded undera favorable aspect of the heavenly bodies are potentto achieve miraculous cures, and few are the Chinamenwho do not brew some special concoction of their owndevising for the lesser ills which beset mankind.

Sing was no exception in this respect. In variousqueerly shaped, bamboo covered jars he maintaineda supply of tonics, balms and lotions. His first thoughtwhen he had made Professor Maxon comfortable upon thecouch was to fetch his pet nostrum, for there burnedstrong within his yellow breast the same powerfulyearning to experiment that marks the greatest of theprofession to whose mysteries he aspired.

Though the hideous noises from the inner campong rosethreateningly, the imperturbable Sing left the bungalowand passed across the north campong to the little lean-tothat he had built for himself against the palisade thatseparated the north enclosure from the court of mystery.

Here he rummaged about in the dark until he had foundthe two phials he sought. The noise of the monstersupon the opposite side of the palisade had now assumedthe dimensions of pandemonium, and through it all theChinaman heard the constant crack that was the sharpvoice of the bull whip.

He had completed his search and was about to returnto the bungalow when the first of the monsters emergedinto the north campong from the workshop. At the doorof his shack Sing Lee drew back to watch, for he knewthat behind them some one was driving these horriblygrotesque creatures from their prison.

One by one they came lumbering into the moonlight untilSing had counted eleven, and then, after them, came awhite man, bull whip and revolver in hand. It was vonHorn. The equatorial moon shone full upon him--therecould be no mistake. The Chinaman saw him turn andlock the workshop door; saw him cross the campong tothe outer gate; saw him pass through toward the jungle,closing the gate.

Of a sudden there was a sad, low moaning through thesurrounding trees; dense, black clouds obscured theradiant moon; and then with hideous thunder and vividflashes of lightning the tempest broke in all its furyof lashing wind and hurtling deluge. It was the firstgreat storm of the breaking up of the monsoon, andunder the cover of its darkness Sing Lee scurriedthrough the monster filled campong to the bungalow.Within he found the young man bathing Professor Maxon'shead as he had directed him to do.

"All gettee out," he said, jerking his thumb in thedirection of the court of mystery. "Eleven devils.Plenty soon come bung'low. What do?"

Number Thirteen had seen von Horn's extra bull whiphanging upon a peg in the living room. For answerhe stepped into that room and took the weapon down.Then he returned to the professor's side.

Outside the frightened monsters groped through theblinding rain and darkness in search of shelter.Each vivid lightning flash, and bellowing of booming thunderbrought responsive cries of rage and terror from theirhideous lips. It was Number Twelve who first spied thedim light showing through the bungalow's living roomwindow. With a low guttural to his companions hestarted toward the building. Up the low steps to theverandah they crept. Number Twelve peered through the window.He saw no one within, but there was warmth and dryness.

His little knowledge and lesser reasoning facultiessuggested no thought of a doorway. With a blow heshattered the glass of the window. Then he forced hisbody through the narrow aperture. At the same moment agust of wind sucking through the broken panes drew openthe door, and as Number Thirteen, warned by the soundof breaking glass, sprang into the living room he wasconfronted by the entire horde of misshapen beings.

His heart went out in pity toward the miserable crew,but he knew that his life as well as those of the twomen in the adjoining room depended upon the force andskill with which he might handle the grave crisis whichconfronted them. He had seen and talked with mostof the creatures when from time to time they had beenbrought singly into the workshop that their creator mightmitigate the wrong he had done by training the poor mindswith which he had endowed them to reason intelligently.

A few were hopeless imbeciles, unable to comprehendmore than the rudimentary requirements of filling theirbellies when food was placed before them; yet eventhese were endowed with superhuman strength; and whenaroused battled the more fiercely for the very reasonof their brainlessness. Others, like Number Twelve,were of a higher order of intelligence. They spokeEnglish, and, after a fashion, reasoned in a crude sortof way. These were by far the most dangerous, for asthe power of comparison is the fundamental principle ofreasoning, so they were able to compare their lot withthat of the few other men they had seen, and with thehelp of von Horn to partially appreciate the horriblewrong that had been done them.

Von Horn, too, had let them know the identity of theircreator, and thus implanted in their malformed brainsthe insidious poison of revenge. Envy and jealousywere there as well, and hatred of all beings otherthan themselves. They envied the ease and comparativebeauty of the old professor and his assistant, andhated the latter for the cruelty of the bull whip andthe constant menace of the ever ready revolver; and soas they were to them the representatives of the greathuman world of which they could never be a part, theirenvy and jealousy and hatred of these men embraced theentire race which they represented.

It was such that Number Thirteen faced as he emergedfrom the professor's apartment.

"What do you want here?" he said, addressing NumberTwelve, who stood a little in advance of the others.

"We have come for Maxon," growled the creature."We have been penned up long enough. We want to be outhere. We have come to kill Maxon and you and all whohave made us what we are."

"Why do you wish to kill me?" asked the young man."I am one of you. I was made in the same way that youwere made."

Number Twelve opened his mismated eyes in astonishment.

"Then you have already killed Maxon?" he asked.

"No. He was wounded by a savage enemy. I have beenhelping to make him well again. He has wronged me asmuch as he has you. If I do not wish to kill him, whyshould you? He did not mean to wrong us. He thoughtthat he was doing right. He is in trouble now and weshould stay and protect him."

"He lies," suddenly shouted another of the horde."He is not one of us. Kill him! Kill him! Kill Maxon,too, and then we shall be as other men, for it is thesemen who keep us as we are."

The fellow started forward toward Number Thirteen as hespoke, and moved by the impulse of imitation the otherscame on with him.

"I have spoken fairly to you," said Number Thirteen ina low voice. "If you cannot understand fairness hereis something you can understand."

Raising the bull whip above his head the young giantleaped among the advancing brutes and lay about himwith mighty strokes that put to shame the comparativelyfeeble blows with which von Horn had been wont to dealout punishment to the poor, damned creatures of thecourt of mystery.

For a moment they stood valiantly before his attack,but after two had grappled with him and been hurledheadlong to the floor they gave up and rushed incontinentlyout into the maelstrom of the screaming tempest.

In the doorway behind him Sing Lee had been standingwaiting the outcome of the encounter and ready to lenda hand were it required. As the two men turned backinto the professor's room they saw that the woundedman's eyes were open and upon them. At sight of NumberThirteen a questioning look came into his eyes.

"What has happened?" he asked feebly of Sing. "Whereis my daughter? Where is Dr. von Horn? What is thiscreature doing out of his pen?"

The blow of the parang upon the professor's skull hadshocked his overwrought mind back into the path ofsanity. It had left him with a clear remembranceof the past, other than the recent fight in theliving room--that was a blank--and it had given hima clearer perspective of the plans he had been entertainingfor so long relative to this soulless creature.

The first thought that sprang to his mind as he sawNumber Thirteen before him was of his mad intention togive his daughter to such a monstrous thing. With therecollection came a sudden loathing and hatred of thisand the other creatures of his unholy experimentations.

Presently he realized that his questions had not been answered.

"Sing!" he shouted. "Answer me. Where are Virginiaand Dr. von Horn?"

"All gonee. Me no know. All gonee. Maybeso allee dead."

"My God!" groaned the stricken man; and then his eyesagain falling upon the silent giant in the doorway,"Out of my sight," he shrieked. "Out of my sight!Never let me see you again--and to think that I wouldhave given my only daughter to a soulless thing likeyou. Away! Before I go mad and slay you."

Slowly the color mounted to the neck and face of the giant--then suddenly it receded, leaving him as ashen as death.His great hand gripped the stock of the bull whip.A single blow was all that would have been neededto silence Professor Maxon forever. There was murderin the wounded heart. The man took a step forwardinto the room, and then something drew his eyes to aspot upon the wall just above Professor Maxon's shoulder--it was a photograph of Virginia Maxon.

Without a word Number Thirteen turned upon his heeland passed out into the storm.