The great chest in the bottom of Rajah Muda Saffir'sprahu had awakened in other hearts as well as his,blind greed and avarice; so that as it had been theindirect cause of his disaster it now proved theincentive to another to turn the mishap to his own profit,and to the final undoing of the Malay.

The panglima Ninaka of the Signana Dyaks who mannedMuda Saffir's war prahu saw his chief disappear beneaththe swift waters of the river, but the word of commandthat would have sent the boat hurriedly back to pick upthe swimmer was not given. Instead a lusty cry forgreater speed ahead urged the sinuous muscles glidingbeneath the sleek brown hides; and when Muda Saffirrose to the surface with a cry for help upon his lipsNinaka shouted back to him in derision, consigning hiscarcass to the belly of the nearest crocodile.

In futile rage Muda Saffir called down the mostterrible curses of Allah and his Prophet upon the headof Ninaka and his progeny to the fifth generation,and upon the shades of his forefathers, and upon the grimskulls which hung from the rafters of his long-house.Then he turned and swam rapidly toward the shore.

Ninaka, now in possession of both the chest and the girl,was rich indeed, but with Muda Saffir dead he scarce knewto whom he could dispose of the white girl for a pricethat would make it worth while to be burdened withthe danger and responsibility of retaining her.He had had some experience of white men in the pastand knew that dire were the punishments meted to thosewho wronged the white man's women. All throughthe remainder of the long night Ninaka ponderedthe question deeply. At last he turned to Virginia.

"Why does the big white man who leads the ourangoutangs follow us?" he asked. "Is it the chesthe desires, or you?"

"It is certainly not the chest," replied the girl."He wishes to take me back to my father, that is all.If you will return me to him you may keep the chest,if that is what you wish."

Ninaka looked at her quizzically for a moment.Evidently then she was of some value. Possibly shouldhe retain her he could wring a handsome ransom from thewhite man. He would wait and see, it were always aneasy matter to rid himself of her should circumstancesrequire. The river was there, deep, dark and silent,and he could place the responsibility for her lossupon Muda Saffir.

Shortly after day break Ninaka beached his prahu beforethe long-house of a peaceful river tribe. The chesthe hid in the underbrush close by his boat, and withthe girl ascended the notched log that led to the verandahof the structure, which, stretching away for three hundredyards upon its tall piles, resembled a huge centipede.

The dwellers in the long-house extended every courtesyto Ninaka and his crew. At the former's requestVirginia was hidden away in a dark sleeping closetin one of the windowless living rooms which openedalong the verandah for the full length of the house.Here a native girl brought her food and water, sitting,while she ate, in rapt contemplation of the white skinand golden hair of the strange female.

At about the time that Ninaka pulled his prahu uponthe beach before the long-house, Muda Saffir from the safetyof the concealing underbrush upon the shore saw a familiarwar prahu forging rapidly up the stream. As it approachedhim he was about to call aloud to those who manned it,for in the bow he saw a number of his own men;but a second glance as the boat came opposite himcaused him to alter his intention and drop furtherinto the engulfing verdure, for behind his men squattedfive of the terrible monsters that had wrought such havocwith his expedition, and in the stern he saw his own Barundain friendly converse with the mad white man who had led them.

As the boat disappeared about a bend in the river RajahMuda Saffir arose, shaking his fist in the direction ithad vanished and, cursing anew and volubly, damned eachseparate hair in the heads of the faithless Barunda andthe traitorous Ninaka. Then he resumed his watch forthe friendly prahu, or smaller sampan which he knew timewould eventually bring from up or down the river to his rescue,for who of the surrounding natives would dare refuse succorto the powerful Rajah of Sakkan!

At the long-house which harbored Ninaka and his crew,Barunda and Bulan stopped with theirs to obtainfood and rest. The quick eye of the Dyak chieftainrecognized the prahu of Rajah Muda Saffir where itlay upon the beach, but he said nothing to his whitecompanion of what it augured--it might be well todiscover how the land lay before he committed himselftoo deeply to either faction.

At the top of the notched log he was met by Ninaka,who, with horror-wide eyes, looked down upon thefearsome monstrosities that lumbered awkwardly upthe rude ladder in the wake of the agile Dyaksand the young white giant.

"What does it mean?" whispered the panglima to Barunda.

"These are now my friends," replied Barunda."Where is Muda Saffir?"

Ninaka jerked his thumb toward the river."Some crocodile has feasted well," he said significantly.Barunda smiled.

"And the girl?" he continued. "And the treasure?"

Ninaka's eyes narrowed. "They are safe," he answered.

"The white man wants the girl," remarked Barunda. "He doesnot suspect that you are one of Muda Saffir's people.If he guessed that you knew the whereabouts of the girlhe would torture the truth from you and then kill you.He does not care for the treasure. There is enoughin that great chest for two, Ninaka. Let us be friends.Together we can divide it; otherwise neither of us willget any of it. What do you say, Ninaka?"

The panglima scowled. He did not relish the idea ofsharing his prize, but he was shrewd enough to realizethat Barunda possessed the power to rob him of it all,so at last he acquiesced, though with poor grace.

Bulan had stood near during this conversation, unable,of course, to understand a single word of the native tongue.

"What does the man say?" he asked Barunda. "Has heseen anything of the prahu bearing the girl?"

"Yes," replied the Dyak. "He says that two hours agosuch a war prahu passed on its way up river--he saw thewhite girl plainly. Also he knows whither they are bound,and how, by crossing through the jungle on foot, you mayintercept them at their next stop."

Bulan, suspecting no treachery, was all anxiety to beoff at once. Barunda suggested that in case of somepossible emergency causing the quarry to return downthe river it would be well to have a force remain atthe long-house to intercept them. He volunteered toundertake the command of this party. Ninaka, he said,would furnish guides to escort Bulan and his menthrough the jungle to the point at which they mightexpect to find Muda Saffir.

And so, with the girl he sought lying within fifty feetof him, Bulan started off through the jungle with twoof Ninaka's Dyaks as guides--guides who had been wellinstructed by their panglima as to their duties.Twisting and turning through the dense maze ofunderbrush and close-growing, lofty trees the littleparty of eight plunged farther and farther into thebewildering labyrinth.

For hours the tiresome march was continued, until atlast the guides halted, apparently to consult eachother as to the proper direction. By signs they madeknown to Bulan that they did not agree upon the rightcourse to pursue from there on, and that they haddecided that it would be best for each to advance alittle way in the direction he thought the right onewhile Bulan and his five creatures remained where they were.

"We will go but a little way," said the spokesman,"and then we shall return and lead you in the proper direction."

Bulan saw no harm in this, and without a shade ofsuspicion sat down upon a fallen tree and watched histwo guides disappear into the jungle in oppositedirections. Once out of sight of the white man the twoturned back and met a short distance in the rear of theparty they had deserted--in another moment they wereheaded for the long-house from which they had started.

It was fully an hour thereafter that doubts began toenter Bulan's head, and as the day dragged on he cameto realize that he and his weird pack were alone and lostin the heart of a strange and tangled web of tropical jungle.

No sooner had Bulan and his party disappeared in thejungle than Barunda and Ninaka made haste to embarkwith the chest and the girl and push rapidly on up theriver toward the wild and inaccessible regions of theinterior. Virginia Maxon's strong hope of succor hadbeen gradually waning as no sign of the rescue partyappeared as the day wore on. Somewhere behind her uponthe broad river she was sure a long, narrow nativeprahu was being urged forward in pursuit, and that in command of it was the young giant who was now neverfor a moment absent from her thoughts.

For hours she strained her eyes over the stern of thecraft that was bearing her deeper and deeper into thewild heart of fierce Borneo. On either shore theyoccasionally passed a native long-house, and the girlcould not help but wonder at the quiet and peace whichreigned over these little settlements. It was asthough they were passing along a beaten highway in thecenter of a civilized community; and yet she knew thatthe men who lolled upon the verandahs, puffing indolentlyupon their cigarettes or chewing betel nut, were all head hunters,and that along the verandah rafters above them hungthe grisly trophies of their prowess.

Yet as she glanced from them to her new captors shecould not but feel that she would prefer captivity inone of the settlements they were passing--there atleast she might find an opportunity to communicate withher father, or be discovered by the rescue party as itcame up the river. The idea grew upon her as the dayadvanced until she spent the time in watching furtivelyfor some means of escape should they but touch theshore momentarily; and though they halted twice hercaptors were too watchful to permit her the slightestopportunity for putting her plan into action.

Barunda and Ninaka urged their men on, with briefrests, all day, nor did they halt even after nighthad closed down upon the river. On, on the swift prahusped up the winding channel which had now dwindledto a narrow stream, at intervals rushing strongly betweenrocky walls with a current that tested the strengthof the strong, brown paddlers.

Long-houses had become more and more infrequent untilfor some time now no sign of human habitation hadbeen visible. The jungle undergrowth was scantier andthe spaces between the boles of the forest trees more open.Virginia Maxon was almost frantic with despair as theutter helplessness of her position grew upon her.Each stroke of those slender paddles was driving her fartherand farther from friends, or the possibility of rescue.Night had fallen, dark and impenetrable, and with ithad come the haunting fears that creep in when the sunhas deserted his guardian post.

Barunda and Ninaka were whispering together in lowgutturals, and to the girl's distorted and fear excitedimagination it seemed possible that she alone must bethe subject of their plotting. The prahu was glidingthrough a stretch of comparatively quiet and placidwater where the stream spread out into a little basinjust above a narrow gorge through which they had justforced their way by dint of the most laboriousexertions on the part of the crew.

Virginia watched the two men near her furtively.They were deeply engrossed in their conversation.Neither was looking in her direction. The backs of thepaddlers were all toward her. Stealthily she rose to astooping position at the boat's side. For a momentshe paused, and then, almost noiselessly, dove overboardand disappeared beneath the black waters.

It was the slight rocking of the prahu that causedBarunda to look suddenly about to discover the reasonfor the disturbance. For a moment neither of the menapprehended the girl's absence. Ninaka was the firstto do so, and it was he who called loudly to thepaddlers to bring the boat to a stop. Then theydropped down the river with the current, and paddledabout above the gorge for half an hour.

The moment that Virginia Maxon felt the waters closeabove her head she struck out beneath the surface forthe shore upon the opposite side to that toward whichshe had dived into the river. She knew that if any hadseen her leave the prahu they would naturally expectto intercept her on her way toward the nearest shore,and so she took this means of outwitting them,although it meant nearly double the distance to be covered.

After swimming a short distance beneath the surface thegirl rose and looked about her. Up the river a fewyards she caught the phosphorescent gleam of water uponthe prahu's paddles as they brought her to a suddenstop in obedience to Ninaka's command. Then she sawthe dark mass of the war-craft drifting down toward her.

Again she dove and with strong strokes headed for the shore.The next time that she rose she was terrified to seethe prahu looming close behind her. The paddlerswere propelling the boat slowly in her direction--it was almost upon her now--there was a shoutfrom a man in the bow--she had been seen.

Like a flash she dove once more and, turning, struck outrapidly straight back beneath the oncoming boat.When she came to the surface again it was to find herselfas far from shore as she had been when she first quittedthe prahu, but the craft was now circling far below her,and she set out once again to retrace her way towardthe inky mass of shore line which loomed apparently nearand yet, as she knew, was some considerable distance from her.

As she swam, her mind, filled with the terrors of the night,conjured recollection of the stories she had heard of the fiercecrocodiles which infest certain of the rivers of Borneo.Again and again she could have sworn that she felt some huge,slimy body sweep beneath her in the mysterious watersof this unknown river.

Behind her she saw the prahu turn back up stream,but now her mind was suddenly engaged with a new danger,for the girl realized that the strong current wasbearing her down stream more rapidly than she hadimagined. Already she could hear the increasing roarof the river as it rushed, wild and tumultuous, throughthe entrance to the narrow gorge below her. How farit was to shore she could not guess, or how far to thecertain death of the swirling waters toward which shewas being drawn by an irresistible force; but of onething she was certain, her strength was rapidly waning,and she must reach the bank quickly.

With redoubled energy she struck out in one last mightyeffort to reach the shore. The tug of the current wasstrong upon her, like a giant hand reaching up out ofthe cruel river to bear her back to death. She felther strength ebbing quickly--her strokes now werefeeble and futile. With a prayer to her Maker shethrew her hands above her head in the last effortof the drowning swimmer to clutch at even thin airfor support--the current caught and swirled her downwardtoward the gorge, and, at the same instant her fingerstouched and closed upon something which swung low abovethe water.

With the last flickering spark of vitality that remainedin her poor, exhausted body Virginia Maxon clung to the frailsupport that a kind Providence had thrust into her hands.How long she hung there she never knew, but finallya little strength returned to her, and presentlyshe realized that it was a pendant creeper hanginglow from a jungle tree upon the bank that had saved herfrom the river's rapacious maw.

Inch by inch she worked herself upward toward the bank,and at last, weak and panting, sunk exhausted to thecool carpet of grass that grew to the water's edge.Almost immediately tired, Nature plunged her into adeep sleep. It was daylight when she awoke,dreaming that the tall young giant had rescued herfrom a band of demons and was lifting her in his armsto carry her back to her father.

Through half open lids she saw the sunlight filteringthrough the leafy canopy above her--she wondered at therealism of her dream; full consciousness returned andwith it the conviction that she was in truth being heldclose by strong arms against a bosom that throbbedto the beating of a real heart.

With a sudden start she opened her eyes wide to look upinto the hideous face of a giant ourang outang.