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At the sight his own dark countenance went ashen, and with trembling lips he
ordered his oarsmen to pull for the open sea. The girl, too, saw the frightful
creatures that surrounded the man upon the deck. She thought that they were
about to attack him, and gave a little cry of warning, but in another instant she
realized that they were his companions, for with him they rushed to the side of
the ship to stand for a moment looking down upon the struggling Dyaks in the
water below.
Two prahus lay directly beneath them, and into these the head hunters were
scrambling. The balance of the flotilla was now making rapid headway under
oars and sail toward the mouth of the harbor, and as Number Thirteen saw that
the girl was being borne away from him, he shouted a command to his misshapen
crew, and without waiting to see if they would follow him leaped into the nearer of
the two boats beneath.
It was already half filled with Dyaks, some of whom were hastily manning the
oars. Others of the head hunters were scrambling over the gunwale. In an
instant pandemonium reigned in the little vessel. Savage warriors sprang toward
the tall figure towering above them. Parangs flashed. The bull whip hissed and
cracked, and then into the midst of it all came a horrid avalanche of fearful and
grotesque monsters--the young giant's crew had followed at his command.
The battle in the prahu was short and fierce. For an instant the Dyaks attempted
to hold their own, but in the face of the snarling, rending horde that engulfed
them terror got the better of them all, so that those who were not overcome dived
overboard and swam rapidly toward shore.
The other prahu had not waited to assist its companion, but before it was entirely
filled had gotten under way and was now rapidly overhauling the balance of the
fleet.
Von Horn had been an excited witness to all that had occurred upon the tranquil
bosom of the little harbor. He had been filled with astonishment at sight of the
inhabitants of the court of mystery fighting under the leadership of Number
Thirteen, and now he watched interestedly the outcome of the adventure.
The sight of the girl being borne away in the prahu of the Malay rajah to a fate
worse than death, had roused in him both keen regret and savage rage, but it
was the life of ease that he was losing that concerned him most. He had felt so
sure of winning Professor Maxon's fortune through either a forced or voluntary
marriage with the girl that his feelings now were as of one whose rightful heritage
has been foully wrested from him. The thought of the girl's danger and suffering
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