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from the matted jungle they overlooked for the first time the waters of the little
bay and the broader expanse of strait beyond, until their eyes rested at last upon
the blurred lines of distant Borneo.
From other vantage points at the jungle's border two other watchers looked out
upon the scene. One was the lascar whom von Horn had sent down to the Ithaca
the night before but who had reached the harbor after she sailed. The other was
von Horn himself. And both were looking out upon the dismantled wreck of the
Ithaca where it lay in the sand near the harbor's southern edge.
Neither ventured forth from his place of concealment, for beyond the Ithaca ten
prahus were pulling gracefully into the quiet waters of the basin.
Rajah Muda Saffir, caught by the hurricane the preceding night as he had been
about to beat across to Borneo, had scurried for shelter within one of the many
tiny coves which indent the island's entire coast. It happened that his haven of
refuge was but a short distance south of the harbor in which he knew the Ithaca
to be moored, and in the morning he decided to pay that vessel a visit in the hope
that he might learn something of advantage about the girl from one of her lascar
crew.
The wily Malay had long refrained from pillaging the Ithaca for fear such an act
might militate against the larger villainy he purposed perpetrating against her
white owner, but when he rounded the point and came in sight of the stranded
wreck he put all such thoughts from him and made straight for the helpless hulk
to glean whatever of salvage might yet remain within her battered hull.
The old rascal had little thought of the priceless treasure hidden beneath the
Ithaca's clean swept deck as he ordered his savage henchmen up her sides while
he lay back upon his sleeping mat beneath the canopy which protected his vice-
regal head from the blistering tropic sun.
Number Thirteen watched the wild head hunters with keenest interest as they
clambered aboard the vessel. With von Horn he saw the evident amazement
which followed the opening of the hatch, though neither guessed its cause. He
saw the haste with which a half dozen of the warriors leaped down the
companionway and heard their savage shouts as they pursued their quarry
within the bowels of the ship.
A few minutes later they emerged dragging a woman with them. Von Horn and
Number Thirteen recognized the girl simultaneously, but the doctor, though he
ground his teeth in futile rage, knew that he was helpless to avert the tragedy.
Number Thirteen neither knew nor cared.
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