www.freeclassicebooks.com

He was now confident that he was following the wrong direction, and with the

intention in view of discovering the tracks of the party which had rescued or

captured Virginia after he had been forced to relinquish her, he set out in a

totally new direction away from the river. His small woodcraft and little

experience in travelling resulted in his becoming completely confused, so that

instead of returning to the spot where he had last seen the girl, as he wished to

do, he bore far to the northeast of the place, and missed entirely the path which

von Horn and his Dyaks had taken from the long-house into the jungle and back.

All that day he urged his reluctant companions on through the fearful heat of the

tropics until, almost exhausted, they halted at dusk upon the bank of a river,

where they filled their stomachs with cooling draughts, and after eating lay down

to sleep. It was quite dark when Bulan was aroused by the sound of something

approaching from up the river, and as he lay listening he presently heard the

subdued voices of men conversing in whispers. He recognized the language as

that of the Dyaks, though he could interpret nothing which they said.

Presently he saw a dozen warriors emerge into a little patch of moonlight. They

bore a huge chest among them which they deposited within a few paces of where

Bulan lay. Then they commenced to dig in the soft earth with their spears and

parangs until they had excavated a shallow pit. Into this they lowered the chest,

covering it over with earth and sprinkling dead grass, twigs and leaves above it,

that it might present to a searcher no sign that the ground had recently been

disturbed. The balance of the loose earth which would not go back into the pit

was thrown into the river.

When all had been made to appear as it was before, one of the warriors made

several cuts and scratches upon the stem of a tree which grew above the spot

where the chest was buried; then they hastened on in silence past Bulan and

down the river.

As von Horn stood by the river's bank after his conversation with Virginia, he

saw a small sampan approaching from up stream. In it he made out two natives,

and the stealthiness of their approach caused him to withdraw into the shadow of

a large prahu which was beached close to where he had been standing.

When the men had come close to the landing one of them gave a low signal, and

presently a native came down from the long-house.

Who is it comes by night?" he asked. "And what want you?"

News has just reached us that Muda Saffir is alive," replied one of the men in the

boat, "and that he sleeps this night in your long-house. Is it true?"

108

The Monster Men