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Chapter 7 - THE BULL WHIP
As von Horn and Virginia Maxon walked slowly beneath the dense shadows of the
jungle he again renewed his suit. It would please him more to have the girl
accompany him voluntarily than to be compelled to take her by force, but take
her he would one way or another, and that, this very night, for all the plans were
made and already under way.
"I cannot do it, Doctor von Horn," she had said. "No matter how much danger I
may be in here I cannot desert my father on this lonely isle with only savage
lascars and the terrible monsters of his own creation surrounding him. Why, it
would be little short of murder for us to do such a thing. I cannot see how you,
his most trusted lieutenant, can even give an instant's consideration to the idea.
"And now that you insist that his mind is sorely affected, it is only an added
reason why I must remain with him to protect him so far as I am able, from
himself and his enemies."
Von Horn did not relish the insinuation in the accent which the girl put upon the
last word.
"It is because I love you so, Virginia," he hastened to urge in extenuation of his
suggested disloyalty. "I cannot see you sacrificed to his horrible mania. You do
not realize the imminence of your peril. Tomorrow Number Thirteen was to have
come to live beneath the same roof with you. You recall Number One whom the
stranger killed as the thing was bearing you away through the jungle? Can you
imagine sleeping in the same house with such a soulless thing? Eating your
three meals a day at the same table with it? And knowing all the time that in a
few short weeks at the most you were destined to be given to the thing as its
mate? Virginia, you must be mad to consider for a moment remaining within
reach of such a terrible peril.
"Come to Singapore with me--it will take but a few days--and then we can return
with some good medical man and a couple of Europeans, and take your father
away from the terrible creatures he has created. You will be mine then and safe
from the awful fate that now lies back there in the camp awaiting you. We can
take your father upon a long trip where rest and quiet can have an opportunity to
restore his enfeebled mentality. Come, Virginia! Come with me now. We can go
directly to the Ithaca and safety. Say that you will come."
The girl shook her head.
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