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the Malay first mate, Bududreen, accompanied Professor Maxon in search of a

suitable location for a permanent camp.

The cook, a harmless old Chinaman, and Virginia were left in sole possession of

the Ithaca.

Two hours after the departure of the men into the jungle Virginia heard the fall of

axes on timber and knew that the site of her future home had been chosen and

the work of clearing begun. She sat musing on the strange freak which had

prompted her father to bury them in this savage corner of the globe; and as she

pondered there came a wistful expression to her eyes, and an unwonted sadness

drooped the corners of her mouth.

Of a sudden she realized how wide had become the gulf between them now. So

imperceptibly had it grown since those three horrid days in Ithaca just prior to

their departure for what was to have been but a few months' cruise that she had

not until now comprehended that the old relations of open, good-fellowship had

gone, possibly forever.

Had she needed proof of the truth of her sad discovery it had been enough to

point to the single fact that her father had brought her here to this little island

without making the slightest attempt to explain the nature of his expedition. She

had gleaned enough from von Horn to understand that some important scientific

experiments were to be undertaken; but what their nature she could not imagine,

for she had not the slightest conception of the success that had crowned her

father's last experiment at Ithaca, although she had for years known of his keen

interest in the subject.

The girl became aware also of other subtle changes in her father. He had long

since ceased to be the jovial, carefree companion who had shared with her her

every girlish joy and sorrow and in whom she had confided both the trivial and

momentous secrets of her childhood. He had become not exactly morose, but

rather moody and absorbed, so that she had of late never found an opportunity

for the cozy chats that had formerly meant so much to them both. There had

been too, recently, a strange lack of consideration for herself that had wounded

her more than she had imagined. Today there had been a glaring example of it in

his having left her alone upon the boat without a single European companion--

something that he would never have thought of doing a few months before.

As she sat speculating on the strange change which had come over her father her

eyes had wandered aimlessly along the harbor's entrance; the low reef that

protected it from the sea, and the point of land to the south, that projected far out

The Monster Men