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From him von Horn obtained an incoherent account of the attack, together with

the statement that he was the only person in camp that escaped, all the others

having been cut down by the savage horde that overwhelmed them. It was with

difficulty that von Horn persuaded the man to return with him to the campong,

but finally, he consented to do so when the doctor with drawn revolver, presented

death as the only alternative.

Together they cautiously crept back toward the palisade, not knowing at what

moment they might come upon the savage enemy that had wrought such havoc

among their forces, for von Horn believed the lascar's story that all had perished.

His only motive for returning lay in his desire to prevent Virginia Maxon falling

into the hands of the Dyaks, or, failing that, rescuing her from their clutches.

Whatever faults and vices were Carl von Horn's cowardice was not one of them,

and it was without an instant's hesitation that he had elected to return to succor

the girl he believed to have returned to camp, although he entertained no

scruples regarding the further pursuit of his dishonorable intentions toward her,

should he succeed in saving her from her other enemies.

As the two approached the campong quiet seemed to have again fallen about the

scene of the recent alarm. Muda Saffir had passed on toward the cove with the

heavy chest, and the scrimmage in the bungalow was over. But von Horn did not

abate his watchfulness as he stole silently within the precincts of the north

campong, and, hugging the denser shadows of the palisade, crept toward the

house.

The dim light in the living room drew him to one of the windows which overlooked

the verandah. A glance within showed him Sing and Number Thirteen bending

over the body of Professor Maxon. He noted the handsome face and perfect figure

of the young giant. He saw the bodies of the dead lascars and Dyaks. Then he

saw Sing and the young man lift Professor Maxon tenderly in their arms and bear

him to his own room.

A sudden wave of jealous rage swept through the man's vicious brain. He saw

that the soulless thing within was endowed with a kindlier and more noble nature

than he himself possessed. He had planted the seed of hatred and revenge within

his untutored heart without avail, for he read in the dead bodies of Bududreen's

men and the two Dyaks the story of Number Thirteen's defense of the man von

Horn had hoped he would kill.

Von Horn was quite sure now that Virginia Maxon was not within the campong.

Either she had become confused and lost in the jungle after she left him, or had

fallen into the hands of the wild horde that had attacked the camp. Convinced of

The Monster Men