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"What do you mean, Sing?" asked the girl in a low voice. "How perfectly weird
and mysterious you are. Why you make the cold chills run up my spine," she
ended, laughing. But Sing did not return her smile as was his custom.
"
You no lememba tallee Lajah stand up wavee lite clothee in plilate boat, ah?" he
urged.
"Oh, Sing," she cried, "I do indeed! But unless you had reminded me I should
never have thought to connect him with our visitor of today--they do look very
much alike, don't they?"
"
Lookeelike! Ugh, they all samee one man. Sing know. You lookee out, Linee,"
which was the closest that Sing had ever been able to come to pronouncing
Virginia.
"
"
Why should I look out? He doesn't want me," said the girl, laughingly.
Don't you bee too damee sure 'bout lat, Linee," was Sing's inelegant but
convincing reply, as he turned toward his galley.
The following morning the party, with the exception of three Malays who were left
to guard the Ithaca, set out for the new camp. The journey was up the bed of the
small stream which emptied into the harbor, so that although fifteen men had
passed back and forth through the jungle from the beach to the camp every day
for two weeks, there was no sign that human foot had ever crossed the narrow
strip of sand that lay between the dense foliage and the harbor.
The gravel bottom of the rivulet made fairly good walking, and as Virginia was
borne in a litter between two powerful lascars it was not even necessary that she
wet her feet in the ascent of the stream to the camp. The distance was short, the
center of the camp being but a mile from the harbor, and less than half a mile
from the opposite shore of the island which was but two miles at its greatest
breadth, and two and a quarter at its greatest length.
At the camp Virginia found that a neat clearing had been made upon a little
tableland, a palisade built about it, and divided into three parts; the most
northerly of which contained a small house for herself and her father, another for
von Horn, and a common cooking and eating house over which Sing was to
preside.
The enclosure at the far end of the palisade was for the Malay and lascar crew
and there also were quarters for Bududreen and the Malay second mate. The
center enclosure contained Professor Maxon's workshop. This compartment of
the enclosure Virginia was not invited to inspect, but as members of the crew
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