On the morning that Bulan set out with his three monstersfrom the deserted long-house in which they had spent the night,Professor Maxon's party was speeding up the river,constantly buoyed with hope by the repeated reports of nativesthat the white girl had been seen passing in a war prahu.

In translating this information to Professor Maxon,von Horn habitually made it appear that the girlwas in the hands of Number Thirteen, or Bulan,as they had now come to call him owing to the natives'constant use of that name in speaking of the strange,and formidable white giant who had invaded their land.

At the last long-house below the gorge, the head ofwhich had witnessed Virginia Maxon's escape from theclutches of Ninaka and Barunda, the searching party wasforced to stop owing to a sudden attack of fever whichhad prostrated the professor. Here they found a womanwho had a strange tale to relate of a remarkable sightshe had witnessed that very morning.

It seemed that she had been straining tapioca in a littlestream which flowed out of the jungle at the rearof the long-house when her attention was attractedby the crashing of an animal through the bushes afew yards above her. As she looked she saw a huge MIASPAPPAN cross the stream, bearing in his arms the dead,or unconscious form of a white-skinned girl with golden hair.

Her description of the MIAS PAPPAN was such as to halfconvince von Horn that she might have seen Number Threecarrying Virginia Maxon, although he could not reconcilethe idea with the story that the two Dyaks had told himof losing all of Bulan's monsters in the jungle.

Of course it was possible that they might have madetheir way over land to this point, but it seemedscarcely credible--and then, how could they have comeinto posession of Virginia Maxon, whom every reportexcept this last agreed was still in the hands ofNinaka and Barunda. There was always the possibilitythat the natives had lied to him, and the more hequestioned the Dyak woman the more firmly convincedhe became that this was the fact.

The outcome of it was that von Horn finally decidedto make an attempt to follow the trail of the creaturethat the woman had seen, and with this plan in viewpersuaded Muda Saffir to arrange with the chiefof the long-house at which they then were to furnishhim with trackers and an escort of warriors,promising them some splendid heads should theybe successful in overhauling Bulan and his pack.

Professor Maxon was too ill to accompany the expedition,and von Horn set out alone with his Dyak allies.For a time after they departed Sing Lee frettedand fidgeted upon the verandah of the long-house.He wholly distrusted von Horn, and from motivesof his own finally decided to follow him.The trail of the party was plainly discernible,and the Chinaman had no difficulty in following them,so that they had gone no great way beforehe came within hearing distance of them.Always just far enough behind to be out of sight,he kept pace with the little column as it marchedthrough the torrid heat of the morning, until a littleafter noon he was startled by the sudden cryof a woman in distress, and the answering shout of a man.

The voices came from a point in the jungle a little tohis right and behind him, and without waiting for thecolumn to return, or even to ascertain if they hadheard the cries, Sing ran rapidly in the directionof the alarm. For a time he saw nothing, but was guidedby the snapping of twigs and the rustling of bushes ahead,where the authors of the commotion were evidently movingswiftly through the jungle.

Presently a strange sight burst upon his astonished vision.It was the hideous Number Three in mad pursuit of a femaleourang outang, and an instant later he saw Number Twelveand Number Ten in battle with two males, while beyondhe heard the voice of a man shouting encouragementto some one as he dashed through the jungle.It was in this last event that Sing's interest centered,for he was sure that he recognized the voice as that of Bulan,while the first cry for help which he had heardhad been in a woman's voice, and Sing knew that its authorcould be none other than Virginia Maxon.

Those whom he pursued were moving rapidly throughthe jungle which was now becoming more and more open,but the Chinaman was no mean runner, and it was not longbefore he drew within sight of the object of his pursuit.

His first glimpse was of Bulan, running swiftly betweentwo huge bull ourang outangs that snapped and tore athim as he bounded forward cutting and slashing at hisfoes with his heavy whip. Just in front of the triowas another bull bearing in his arms the unconsciousform of Virginia Maxon who had fainted at the firstresponse to her cry for help. Sing was armed with aheavy revolver but he dared not attempt to use it forfear that he might wound either Bulan or the girl,and so he was forced to remain but a passive spectatorof what ensued.

Bulan, notwithstanding the running battle the two bullswere forcing upon him, was gaining steadily upon thefleeing ourang outang that was handicapped by the weightof the fair captive he bore in his huge, hairy arms.As they came into a natural clearing in the junglethe fleeing bull glanced back to see his pursuer almostupon him, and with an angry roar turned to meet the charge.

In another instant Bulan and the three bulls were rollingand tumbling about the ground, a mass of flying furand blood from which rose fierce and angry roars and growls,while Virginia Maxon lay quietly upon the sward whereher captor had dropped her.

Sing was about to rush forward and pick her up, whenhe saw von Horn and his Dyaks leap into the clearing,to which they had been guided by the sounds of the chaseand the encounter. The doctor halted at the sight thatmet his eyes--the prostrate form of the girl and the manbattling with three huge bulls.

Then he gathered up Virginia Maxon, and with a signto his Dyaks, who were thoroughly frightened at themere sight of the white giant of whom they had heardsuch terrible stories, turned and hastened backin the direction from which they had come, leavingthe man to what seemed must be a speedy and horrible death.

Sing Lee was astounded at the perfidy of the act.To Bulan alone was due the entire credit of having rescuedProfessor Maxon's daughter, and yet in the verypresence of his self-sacrificing loyalty and devotionvon Horn had deserted him without making the leastattempt to aid him. But the wrinkled old Chinamanwas made of different metal, and had started forwardto assist Bulan when a heavy hand suddenly fell upon hisshoulder. Looking around he saw the hideous face ofNumber Ten snarling into his. The bloodshot eyes ofthe monster were flaming with rage. He had been tornand chewed by the bull with which he had fought,and though he had finally overcome and killed the beast,a female which he had pursued had eluded him. In afrenzy of passion and blood lust aroused by his wounds,disappointment and the taste of warm blood which stillsmeared his lips and face, he had been seeking thefemale when he suddenly stumbled upon the hapless Sing.

With a roar he grasped the Chinaman as though to breakhim in two, but Sing was not at all inclined to give uphis life without a struggle, and Number Ten was quickto learn that no mean muscles moved beneath that wrinkled,yellow hide.

There could, however, have been but one outcome to theunequal struggle had Sing not been armed with a revolver,though it was several seconds before he could bring itinto play upon the great thing that shook and tossed himabout 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 Professor Maxon's unhappy experimentssank back into the nothingness from which he had conjured it.

Then Sing turned his attention to Bulan and his threesavage assailants, but, except for the dead body of abull ourang outang upon the spot where he had last seenthe four struggling, there was no sign either of thewhite man or his antagonists; nor, though he listenedattentively, could he catch the slightest sound withinthe jungle other than the rustling of the leaves andthe raucous cries of the brilliant birds that flittedamong the gorgeous blooms about him.

For half an hour he searched in every direction, but finally,fearing that he might become lost in the mazes of the unfamiliarforest he reluctantly turned his face toward the riverand the long-house that sheltered his party.

Here he found Professor Maxon much improved--the safereturn of Virginia having acted as a tonic upon him.The girl and her father sat with von Horn upon theverandah of the long-house as Sing clambered up thenotched log that led to it from the ground. At sightof Sing's wrinkled old face Virginia Maxon sprang toher feet and ran forward to greet him, for she had beenvery fond of the shrewd and kindly Chinaman of whomshe had seen so much during the dreary monthsof her imprisonment within the campong.

"Oh, Sing," she cried, "where have you been? We wereall so worried to think that no sooner was one of usrescued than another became lost."

"Sing takee walk, Linee, las all," said the grinning Chinaman."Velly glad see Linee black 'gain," and that was all that Sing Leehad to say of the adventures through which he had just passed,and the strange sights that he had seen.

Again and again the girl and von Horn narrated thestirring scenes of the day, the latter being compelledto repeat all that had transpired from the moment thathe had heard Virginia's cry, though it was apparentthat he only consented to speak of his part in herrescue under the most considerable urging. Very prettymodesty, thought Sing when he had heard the doctor'sversion of the affair.

"You see," said von Horn, "when I reached the spotNumber Three, the brute that you thought was an ape,had just turned you over to Number Thirteen, or, as thenatives now call him, Bulan. You were then in a faint,and when I attacked Bulan he dropped you to defend himself. I had expected a bitter fight from him after the wild talesthe natives have been telling of his ferocity,but it was soon evident that he is an arrant coward,for I did not even have to fire my revolver--a few thumps with the butt of it upon his brainlessskull sent him howling into the jungle with his pack at his heels."

"How fortunate it is, my dear doctor," said Professor Maxon,"that you were bright enough to think of trailing the miscreantinto the jungle. But for that Virginia would still bein his clutches and by this time he would have been beyondall hope of capture. How can we ever repay you, dear friend?"

"That you were generous enough to arrange when we firstembarked upon the search for your daughter," replied von Horn.

"Just so, just so," said the professor, but a shade oftrouble tinged the expression of his face, and a momentlater he arose, saying that he felt weak and tired andwould go to his sleeping room and lie down for a while.The fact was that Professor Maxon regretted the promisehe had made von Horn relative to his daughter.

Once before he had made plans for her marriage only toregret them later; he hoped that he had made no mistakethis time, but he realized that it had scarcely beenfair to Virginia to promise her to his assistantwithout first obtaining her consent. Yet a promisewas a promise, and, again, was it not true that butfor von Horn she would have been dead or worse than deadin a short time had she not been rescued from the clutchesof the soulless Bulan? Thus did the old man justifyhis action, and clinch the determination that he hadbefore reached to compel Virginia to wed von Hornshould she, from some incomprehensible motive, demur.Yet he hoped that the girl would make it easy,by accepting voluntarily the man who had saved her life.

Left alone, or as he thought alone, with the girl inthe growing shadows of the evening, von Horn thoughtthe moment propitious for renewing his suit. He didnot consider the natives squatting about them as ofsufficient consequence to consider, since they wouldnot understand the language in which he addressedVirginia, and in the dusk he failed to note that Singsquatted with the Dyaks, close behind them.

"Virginia," he commenced, after an interval of silence,"often before have I broached the subject nearest tomy heart, yet never have you given me much encouragement.Can you not feel for the man who would gladly give hislife for you, sufficient affection to permit you tomake him the happiest man in the world? I do not askfor all your love at first--that will come later.Just give me the right to cherish and protect you.Say that you will be my wife, Virginia, and we needhave no more fears that the strange vagaries of yourfather's mind can ever again jeopardize your lifeor your happiness as they have in the past."

"I feel that I owe you my life," replied the girlin a quiet voice, "and while I am now positivethat my father has entirely regained his sanity,and looks with as great abhorrence upon the terriblefate he planned for me as I myself, I cannot forgetthe debt of gratitude which belongs to you.

"At the same time I do not wish to be the means of makingyou unhappy, as surely would be the result were I to marryyou without love. Let us wait until I know myself better.Though you have spoken to me of the matter before,I realize now that I never have made any effortto determine whether or not I really can love you.There is time enough before we reach civilization,if ever we are fortunate enough to do so at all.Will you not be as generous as you are brave,and give me a few days before I must make you a final answer?"

With Professor Maxon's solemn promise to insure hisultimate success von Horn was very gentle and graciousin deferring to the girl's wishes. The girl for herpart could not put from her mind the disappointment shehad felt when she discovered that her rescuer was vonHorn, and not the handsome young giant whom she hadbeen positive was in close pursuit of her abductors.

When Number Thirteen had been mentioned she had alwayspictured him as a hideous monster, similar to the creaturethat had seized her in the jungle beside the encampmentthat first day she had seen the mysterious stranger,of whom she could obtain no information either fromher father or von Horn. When she had recently insistedthat the same man had been at the head of her father'screatures in an attempt to rescue her, both von Hornand Professor Maxon scoffed at the idea, until at lastshe was convinced that the fright and the firelighthad conspired to conjure in her brain the likeness of onewho was linked by memory to another time of danger and despair.

Virginia could not understand why it was that the faceof the stranger persisted in obtruding itself in her memory.That the man was unusually good looking was undeniable,but she had known many good looking men, nor was sheespecially impressionable to mere superficial beauty.No words had passed between them on the occasionof their first meeting, so it could have been nothingthat he said which caused the memory of him to clingso tenaciously in her mind.

What was it then? Was it the memory of the momentsthat she had lain in his strong arms--was it the shadowof the sweet, warm glow that had suffused heras his eyes had caught hers upon his face?

The thing was tantalizing--it was annoying. The girlblushed in mortification at the very thought that shecould cling so resolutely to the memory of a total stranger,and--still greater humiliation--long in the secret depthsof her soul to see him again.

She was angry with herself, but the more she triedto forget the young giant who had come into her lifefor so brief an instant, the more she speculated uponhis identity and the strange fate that had brought himto their little, savage island only to snatch him away againas mysteriously as he had come, the less was the approvalwith which she looked upon the suit of Doctor von Horn.

Von Horn had left her, and strolled down to the river.Finally Virginia arose to seek the crude couch whichhad been spread for her in one of the sleeping roomsof the long-house. As she passed a group of nativessquatted nearby one of the number arose and approached her,and as she halted, half in fright, a low voice whispered:

"Lookee out, Linee, dloctor Hornee velly bad man."

"Why, Sing!" exclaimed Virginia. "What in the worlddo you mean by saying such a thing as that?"

"Never mind, Linee; you always good to old Sing.Sing no likee see you sadee. Dloctor Hornee velly bad man,las allee," and without another word the Chinaman turnedand walked away.