The morning following the capture of Virginia Maxonby Muda Saffir, Professor Maxon, von Horn, Sing Leeand the sole surviving lascar from the crew of the Ithacaset out across the strait toward the mainland of Borneoin the small boat which the doctor had secreted in thejungle near the harbor. The party was well equippedwith firearms and ammunition, and the bottom of theboat was packed full with provisions and cookingutensils. Von Horn had been careful to see thatthe boat was furnished with a mast and sail, and now,under a good breeze the party was making excellent timetoward the mysterious land of their destination.

They had scarcely cleared the harbor when they sighteda ship far out across the strait. Its erraticmovements riveted their attention upon it, and later,as they drew nearer, they perceived that the strangecraft was a good sized schooner with but a single shortmast and tiny sail. For a minute or two her sail wouldbelly with the wind and the vessel make headway, thenshe would come suddenly about, only to repeat the sametactics a moment later. She sailed first this way andthen that, losing one minute what she had gained theminute before.

Von Horn was the first to recognize her.

"It is the Ithaca," he said, "and her Dyak crew arehaving a devil of a time managing her--she acts asthough she were rudderless."

Von Horn ran the small boat within hailing distance ofthe dismasted hulk whose side was now lined with waving,gesticulating natives. They were peaceful fishermen,they explained, whose prahus had been wreckedin the recent typhoon. They had barely escapedwith their lives by clambering aboard this wreck which Allahhad been so merciful as to place directly in their road.Would the Tuan Besar be so good as to tell them how to makethe big prahu steer?

Von Horn promised to help them on condition that theywould guide him and his party to the stronghold ofRajah Muda Saffir in the heart of Borneo. The Dyakswillingly agreed, and von Horn worked his small boatin close under the Ithaca's stern. Here he found thatthe rudder had been all but unshipped, probably as thevessel was lifted over the reef during the storm, but asingle pintle remaining in its gudgeon. A half hour'swork was sufficient to repair the damage, and then thetwo boats continued their journey toward the mouth ofthe river up which those they sought had passed thenight before.

Inside the river's mouth an anchorage was found for theIthaca near the very island upon which the fierce battlebetween Number Thirteen and Muda Saffir's forces had occurred.From the deck of the larger vessel the deserted prahuwhich had borne Bulan across the strait was visible,as were the bodies of the slain Dyaks and themisshapen creatures of the white giant's forces.

In excited tones the head hunters called von Horn'sattention to these evidences of conflict, and thedoctor drew his boat up to the island and leaped ashore,followed by Professor Maxon and Sing. Here they foundthe dead bodies of the four monsters who had fallenin an attempt to rescue their creator's daughter,though little did any there imagine the real truth.

About the corpses of the four were the bodies of adozen Dyak warriors attesting to the ferocity of theencounter and the savage prowess of the unarmedcreatures who had sold their poor lives so dearly.

"Evidently they fell out about the possessionof the captive," suggested von Horn. "Let us hopethat she did not fall into the clutches of Number Thirteen--any fate would be better than that."

"God give that that has not befallen her," moanedProfessor Maxon. "The pirates might but hold her forransom, but should that soulless fiend possess her myprayer is that she found the strength and the means totake her own life before he had an opportunity to havehis way with her."

"Amen," agreed von Horn.

Sing Lee said nothing, but in his heart he hoped thatVirginia Maxon was not in the power of Rajah Muda Saffir.The brief experience he had had with Number Thirteenduring the fight in the bungalow had rather warmedhis wrinkled old heart toward the friendless young giant,and he was a sufficiently good judge of human natureto be confident that the girl would be comparativelysafe in his keeping.

It was quickly decided to abandon the small boatand embark the entire party in the deserted war prahu.A half hour later saw the strangely mixed expeditionforging up the river, but not until von Horn hadboarded the Ithaca and discovered to his dismaythat the chest was not on board her.

Far above them on the right bank Muda Saffir stillsquatted in his hiding place, for no friendly prahuor sampan had passed his way since dawn. His keen eyesroving constantly up and down the long stretch of riverthat was visible from his position finally sighted awar prahu coming toward him from down stream. As itdrew closer he recognized it as one which had belongedto his own fleet before his unhappy encounter with thewild white man and his abhorrent pack, and a moment laterhis heart leaped as he saw the familiar faces of severalof his men; but who were the strangers in the stern,and what was a Chinaman doing perched there upon the bow?

The prahu was nearly opposite him before he recognizedProfessor Maxon and von Horn as the white men of thelittle island. He wondered how much they knew of hispart in the raid upon their encampment. Bududreen hadtold him much concerning the doctor, and as Muda Saffirrecalled the fact that von Horn was anxious to possesshimself of both the treasure and the girl he guessedthat he would be safe in the man's hands so long as hecould hold out promises of turning one or the otherover to him; and so, as he was tired of squatting uponthe uncomfortable bank and was very hungry, he aroseand hailed the passing prahu.

His men recognized his voice immediately and as theyknew nothing of the defection of any of their fellows,turned the boat's prow toward shore without waitingfor the command from von Horn. The latter, fearingtreachery, sprang to his feet with raised rifle,but when one of the paddlers explained that it wasthe Rajah Muda Saffir who hailed them and that he was alonevon Horn permitted them to draw nearer the shore,though he continued to stand ready to thwart anyattempted treachery and warned both the professorand Sing to be on guard.

As the prahu's nose touched the bank Muda Saffirstepped aboard and with many protestations of gratitudeexplained that he had fallen overboard from his ownprahu the night before and that evidently his followersthought him drowned, since none of his boats hadreturned to search for him. Scarcely had the Malayseated himself before von Horn began questioning himin the rajah's native tongue, not a word of whichwas intelligible to Professor Maxon. Sing, however,was as familiar with it as was von Horn.

"Where are the girl and the treasure?" he asked.

"What girl, Tuan Besar?" inquired the wily Malay innocently."And what treasure? The white man speaks in riddles."

"Come, come," cried von Horn impatiently. "Let us haveno foolishness. You know perfectly well what I mean--it will go far better with you if we work together asfriends. I want the girl--if she is unharmed--and Iwill divide the treasure with you if you will help meto obtain them; otherwise you shall have no part of either.What do you say? Shall we be friends or enemies?"

"The girl and the treasure were both stolen from meby a rascally panglima, Ninaka," said Muda Saffir,seeing that it would be as well to simulate friendshipfor the white man for the time being at least--there wouldalways be an opportunity to use a kris upon him in theremote fastness of the interior to which Muda Saffirwould lead them.

"What became of the white man who led the strange monsters?"asked von Horn.

"He killed many of my men, and the last I saw of him hewas pushing up the river after the girl and the treasure,"replied the Malay.

"If another should ask you," continued von Horn with ameaningful glance toward Professor Maxon, "it will bewell to say that the girl was stolen by this whitegiant and that you suffered defeat in an attempt torescue her because of your friendship for us.Do you understand?"

Muda Saffir nodded. Here was a man after his own heart,which loved intrigue and duplicity. Evidently he wouldbe a good ally in wreaking vengeance upon the white giantwho had caused all his discomfiture-- afterward therewas always the kris if the other should become inconvenient.

At the long-house at which Barunda and Ninaka had halted,Muda Saffir learned all that had transpired,his informants being the two Dyaks who had led Bulanand his pack into the jungle. He imparted the informationto von Horn and both men were delighted that thustheir most formidable enemy had been disposed of.It would be but a question of time before theinexperienced creatures perished in the dense forest--that they ever could retrace their steps to the riverwas most unlikely, and the chances were that one by onethey would be dispatched by head hunters while they slept.

Again the party embarked, reinforced by the two Dyakswho were only too glad to renew their allegiance toMuda Saffir while he was backed by the guns of thewhite men. On and on they paddled up the river,gleaning from the dwellers in the various long-housesinformation of the passing of the two prahus withBarunda, Ninaka, and the white girl.

Professor Maxon was impatient to hear every detailthat von Horn obtained from Muda Saffir and the variousDyaks that were interviewed at the first long-house andalong the stretch of river they covered. The doctortold him that Number Thirteen still had Virginia andwas fleeing up the river in a swift prahu. He enlargedupon the valor shown by Muda Saffir and his men intheir noble attempt to rescue his daughter, and throughit all Sing Lee sat with half closed eyes, apparentlyoblivious to all that passed before him. What were theworkings of that intricate celestial brain none can say.

Far in the interior of the jungle Bulan and his fivemonsters stumbled on in an effort to find the river.Had they known it they were moving parallel with the stream,but a few miles from it. At times it wound in wide detoursclose to the path of the lost creatures, and again it circledfar away from them.

As they travelled they subsisted upon the fruits withwhich they had become familiar upon the island of theircreation. They suffered greatly for lack of water,but finally stumbled upon a small stream at which theyfilled their parched stomachs. Here it occurred to Bulanthat it would be wise to follow the little river,since they could be no more completely lost thanthey now were no matter where it should lead them,and it would at least insure them plenty of fresh water.

As they proceeded down the bank of the stream it grewin size until presently it became a fair sized river,and Bulan had hopes that it might indeed prove thestream that they had ascended from the ocean and thatsoon he would meet with the prahus and possibly findVirginia Maxon herself. The strenuous march of the sixthrough the jungle had torn their light cotton garmentsinto shreds so that they were all practically naked,while their bodies were scratched and bleeding fromcountless wounds inflicted by sharp thorns and tangledbrambles through which they had forced their way.

Bulan still carried his heavy bull whip while his fivecompanions were armed with the parangs they had takenfrom the Dyaks they had overpowered upon the islandat the mouth of the river. It was upon this strangeand remarkable company that the sharp eyes ofa score of river Dyaks peered through the foliage.The head hunters had been engaged in collecting camphorcrystals when their quick ears caught the noisy passageof the six while yet at a considerable distance,and with ready parangs the savages crept stealthilytoward the sound of the advancing party.

At first they were terror stricken at the hideousvisages of five of the creatures they beheld, but whenthey saw how few their numbers, and how poorly armedthey were, as well as the awkwardness with which theycarried their parangs, denoting their unfamiliarity withthe weapons, they took heart and prepared to ambush them.

What prizes those terrible heads would be when properlydried and decorated! The savages fairly trembledin anticipation of the commotion they would causein the precincts of their long-house when they returnedwith six such magnificent trophies.

Their victims came blundering on through the dense jungleto where the twenty sleek brown warriors lay in wait for them.Bulan was in the lead, and close behind him in single filelumbered his awkward crew. Suddenly there was a chorusof savage cries close beside him and simultaneouslyhe found himself in the midst of twenty cutting, slashing parangs.

Like lightning his bull whip flew into action, and tothe astonished warriors it was as though a score of menwere upon them in the person of this mighty white giant.Following the example of their leader the five creaturesat his back leaped upon the nearest warriors,and though they wielded their parangs awkwardlythe superhuman strength back of their cuts and thrustssent the already blood stained blades through many a brown body.

The Dyaks would gladly have retreated after the firstsurprise of their initial attack, but Bulan urged hismen on after them, and so they were forced to fightto preserve their lives at all. At last five of themmanaged to escape into the jungle, but fifteen remainedquietly upon the earth where they had fallen--the victimsof their own over confidence. Beside them lay twoof Bulan's five, so that now the little party was reducedto four--and the problem that had faced Professor Maxonwas so much closer to its own solution.

From the bodies of the dead Dyaks Bulan and his threecompanions, Number Three, Number Ten, and Number Twelve,took enough loin cloths, caps, war-coats, shields and weaponsto fit them out completely, after discarding the ragged remnantsof their cotton pajamas, and now, even more terrible in appearancethan before, the rapidly vanishing company of soulless monsterscontinued their aimless wandering down the river's brim.

The five Dyaks who had escaped carried the news of theterrible creatures that had fallen upon them in the jungle,and of the awful prowess of the giant white man who led them.They told of how, armed only with a huge whip, he had beena match and more than a match for the best warriors of the tribe,and the news that they started spread rapidly down the riverfrom one long-house to another until it reached the broad streaminto which the smaller river flowed, and then it travelled upand down to the headwaters above and the ocean far belowin the remarkable manner that news travels in the wildplaces of the world.

So it was that as Bulan advanced he found the long-housesin his path deserted, and came to the larger riverand turned up toward its head without meetingwith resistance or even catching a glimpseof the brown-skinned people who watched himfrom their hiding places in the brush.

That night they slept in the long-house near the bankof the greater stream, while its rightful occupantsmade the best of it in the jungle behind. The nextmorning found the four again on the march ere the sunhad scarcely lighted the dark places of the forest,for Bulan was now sure that he was on the right trailand that the new river that he had come to was indeed thesame that he had traversed in the Prahu with Barunda.

It must have been close to noon when the young giant'sears caught the sound of the movement of some animalin the jungle a short distance to his right and awayfrom the river. His experience with men had taught himto be wary, for it was evident that every man's hand wasagainst him, so he determined to learn at once whetherthe noise he heard came from some human enemy lurkingalong his trail ready to spring upon him with nakedparang at a moment that he was least prepared,or merely from some jungle brute.

Cautiously he threaded his way through the mattedvegetation in the direction of the sound. Although aparang from the body of a vanquished Dyak hung at hisside he grasped his bull whip ready in his right hand,preferring it to the less accustomed weapon of thehead hunter. For a dozen yards he advanced withoutsighting the object of his search, but presently hisefforts were rewarded by a glimpse of a reddish,hairy body, and a pair of close set, wicked eyespeering at him from behind a giant tree.

At the same instant a slight movement at one sideattracted his attention to where another similar figurecrouched in the underbrush, and then a third, fourthand fifth became evident about him. Bulan looked inwonderment upon the strange, man-like creatures who eyedhim threateningly from every hand. They stood fullyas high as the brown Dyak warriors, but their bodieswere naked except for the growth of reddish hair whichcovered them, shading to black upon the face and hands.

The lips of the nearest were raised in an angry snarlthat exposed wicked looking fighting fangs, but thebeasts did not seem inclined to initiate hostilities,and as they were unarmed and evidently but engaged upontheir own affairs Bulan decided to withdraw withoutarousing them further. As he turned to retrace his stepshe found his three companions gazing in wide-eyed astonishmentupon the strange new creatures which confronted them.

Number Ten was grinning broadly, while Number Threeadvanced cautiously toward one of the creatures,making a low guttural noise, that could only be interpretedas peaceful and conciliatory--more like a feline purrit was than anything else.

"What are you doing?" cried Bulan. "Leave them alone.They have not offered to harm us."

"They are like us," replied Number Three. "They mustbe our own people. I am going with them."

"And I," said Number Ten.

"And I," echoed Number Twelve. "At last we have foundour own, let us all go with them and live with them,far away from the men who would beat us with great whips,and cut us with their sharp swords."

"They are not human beings," exclaimed Bulan. "We cannotlive with them."

"Neither are we human beings," retorted Number Twelve."Has not von Horn told us so many times?"

"If I am not now a human being," replied Bulan, "I intendto be one, and so I shall act as a human being should act.I shall not go to live with savage beasts, nor shall you.Come with me as I tell you, or you shall again taste the bull whip."

"We shall do as we please," growled Number Ten, baringhis fangs. "You are not our master. We have followedyou as long as we intend to. We are tired of foreverwalking, walking, walking through the bushes that tearour flesh and hurt us. Go and be a human being if youthink you can, but do not longer interfere with us orwe shall kill you," and he looked first at Number Threeand then at Number Twelve for approval of his ultimatum.

Number Three nodded his grotesque and hideous head--he was so covered with long black hair that he morenearly resembled an ourang outang than a human being.Number Twelve looked doubtful.

"I think Number Ten is right," he said at last."We are not human. We have no souls. We are things.And while you, Bulan, are beautiful, yet you are as mucha soulless thing as we--that much von Horn taught us well.So I believe that it would be better were we to keep foreverfrom the sight of men. I do not much like the thoughtof living with these strange, hairy monsters,but we might find a place here in the junglewhere we could live alone and in peace."

"I do not want to live alone," cried Number Three."I want a mate, and I see a beautiful one yonder now.I am going after her," and with that he again startedtoward a female ourang outang; but the lady bared herfangs and retreated before his advance.

"Even the beasts will have none of us," cried Number Ten angrily."Let us take them by force then," and he started after Number Three.

"Come back!" shouted Bulan, leaping after the two deserters.

As he raised his voice there came an answering cryfrom a little distance ahead--a cry for help,and it was in the agonized tones of a woman's voice.

"I am coming!" shouted Bulan, and without anotherglance at his mutinous crew he sprang through the lineof menacing ourang outangs.