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been the cause of sufficient misery and suffering and crime. Let it lie where it is

in the heart of savage Borneo, and pray to God that no man ever finds it, and that

I shall forget forever that which is in it."

On the morning of the third day following the death of von Horn the New Mexico

steamed away from the coast of Borneo. Upon her deck, looking back toward the

verdure clad hills, stood Virginia and Bulan.

Thank heaven," exclaimed the girl fervently, "that we are leaving it behind us

forever."

"Amen," replied Bulan, "but yet, had it not been for Borneo I might never have

found you."

We should have met elsewhere then, Bulan," said the girl in a low voice, "for we

were made for one another. No power on earth could have kept us apart. In your

true guise you would have found me--I am sure of it."

"It is maddening, Virginia," said the man, "to be constantly straining every

resource of my memory in futile endeavor to catch and hold one fleeting clue to

my past. Why, dear, do you realize that I may have been a fugitive from justice,

as was von Horn, a vile criminal perhaps. It is awful, Virginia, to contemplate the

horrible possibilities of my lost past."

No, Bulan, you could never have been a criminal," replied the loyal girl, "but

there is one possibility that has been haunting me constantly. It frightens me

just to think of it--it is," and the girl lowered her voice as though she feared to say

the thing she dreaded most, "it is that you may have loved another--that--that

you may even be married."

Bulan was about to laugh away any such fears when the gravity and importance

of the possibility impressed him quite as fully as it had Virginia. He saw that it

was not at all unlikely that he was already a married man; and he saw too what

the girl now acknowledged, that they might never wed until the mystery of his

past had been cleared away.

There is something that gives weight to my fear," continued Virginia, "something

that I had almost forgotten in the rush and excitement of events during the past

few days. During your delirium your ravings were, for the most part, quite

incoherent, but there was one name that you repeated many times--a woman's

name, preceded by a number. It was 'Nine ninety nine Priscilla.' Maybe she--"

But Virginia got no further. With a low exclamation of delight Bulan caught her

in his arms.

138

The Monster Men