www.freeclassicebooks.com

carried in the two great chests which the professor had left upon the Ithaca until

the last moment, Virginia caught a glimpse of the two buildings that had been

erected within this central space--a small, square house which was quite

evidently her father's laboratory, and a long, low thatched shed divided into

several compartments, each containing a rude bunk. She wondered for whom

they could be intended. Quarters for all the party had already been arranged for

elsewhere, nor, thought she, would her father wish to house any in such close

proximity to his workshop, where he would desire absolute quiet and freedom

from interruption. The discovery perplexed her not a little, but so changed were

her relations with her father that she would not question him upon this or any

other subject.

As the two chests were being carried into the central campong, Sing, who was

standing near Virginia, called her attention to the fact that Bududreen was one of

those who staggered beneath the weight of the heavier burden.

"Bludleen, him mate. Why workee alsame lascar boy? Eh?" But Virginia could

give no reason.

I am afraid you don't like Bududreen, Sing," she said. "Has he ever harmed you

in any way?"

"Him? No, him no hurt Sing. Sing poor," with which more or less enigmatical

rejoinder the Chinaman returned to his work. But he muttered much to himself

the balance of the day, for Sing knew that a chest that strained four men in the

carrying could contain but one thing, and he knew that Bududreen was as wise

in such matters as he.

For a couple of months the life of the little hidden camp went on peacefully and

without exciting incident. The Malay and lascar crew divided their time between

watch duty on board the Ithaca, policing the camp, and cultivating a little patch

of clearing just south of their own campong.

There was a small bay on the island's east coast, only a quarter of a mile from

camp, in which oysters were found, and one of the Ithaca's boats was brought

around to this side of the island for fishing. Bududreen often accompanied these

expeditions, and on several occasions the lynx-eyed Sing had seen him returning

to camp long after the others had retired for the night.

Professor Maxon scarcely ever left the central enclosure. For days and nights at a

time Virginia never saw him, his meals being passed in to him by Sing through a

small trap door that had been cut in the partition wall of the "court of mystery" as

von Horn had christened the section of the camp devoted to the professor's

experimentations.

The Monster Men