His men recognized his voice immediately and as they knew nothing of the defection of any of their fellows, turned the boat's prow toward shore without waiting for the command from von Horn.The latter, fearing treachery, sprang to his feet with raised rifle, but when one of the paddlers explained that it was the Rajah Muda Saffir who hailed them and that he was alone von Horn permitted them to draw nearer the shore, though he continued to stand ready to thwart any attempted treachery and warned both the professor and Sing to be on guard.
As the prahu's nose touched the bank Muda Saffir stepped aboard and with many protestations of gratitude explained that he had fallen overboard from his own prahu the night before and that evidently his followers thought him drowned, since none of his boats had returned to search for him.Scarcely had the Malay seated himself before von Horn began questioning him in the rajah's native tongue, not a word of which was 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 have no foolishness.You know perfectly well what I mean--it will go far better with you if we work together as friends.I want the girl--if she is unharmed--and Iwill divide the treasure with you if you will help me to 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 me by a rascally panglima, Ninaka," said Muda Saffir, seeing that it would be as well to simulate friendship for the white man for the time being at least--there would always be an opportunity to use a kris upon him in the remote fastness of the interior to which Muda Saffir would 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 he was pushing up the river after the girl and the treasure,"replied the Malay.
"If another should ask you," continued von Horn with a meaningful glance toward Professor Maxon, "it will be well to say that the girl was stolen by this white giant and that you suffered defeat in an attempt to rescue 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 would be a good ally in wreaking vengeance upon the white giant who had caused all his discomfiture-- afterward there was 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 Bulan and his pack into the jungle.He imparted the information to von Horn and both men were delighted that thus their most formidable enemy had been disposed of.
It would be but a question of time before the inexperienced creatures perished in the dense forest--that they ever could retrace their steps to the river was most unlikely, and the chances were that one by one they would be dispatched by head hunters while they slept.
Again the party embarked, reinforced by the two Dyaks who were only too glad to renew their allegiance to Muda Saffir while he was backed by the guns of the white men.On and on they paddled up the river, gleaning from the dwellers in the various long-houses information of the passing of the two prahus with Barunda, Ninaka, and the white girl.
Professor Maxon was impatient to hear every detail that von Horn obtained from Muda Saffir and the various Dyaks that were interviewed at the first long-house and along the stretch of river they covered.The doctor told him that Number Thirteen still had Virginia and was fleeing up the river in a swift prahu.He enlarged upon the valor shown by Muda Saffir and his men in their noble attempt to rescue his daughter, and through it all Sing Lee sat with half closed eyes, apparently oblivious to all that passed before him.What were the workings of that intricate celestial brain none can say.
Far in the interior of the jungle Bulan and his five monsters 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 detours close to the path of the lost creatures, and again it circled far away from them.
As they travelled they subsisted upon the fruits with which they had become familiar upon the island of their creation.They suffered greatly for lack of water, but finally stumbled upon a small stream at which they filled their parched stomachs.Here it occurred to Bulan that it would be wise to follow the little river, since they could be no more completely lost than they 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 grew in size until presently it became a fair sized river, and Bulan had hopes that it might indeed prove the stream that they had ascended from the ocean and that soon he would meet with the prahus and possibly find Virginia Maxon herself.The strenuous march of the six through the jungle had torn their light cotton garments into shreds so that they were all practically naked, while their bodies were scratched and bleeding from countless wounds inflicted by sharp thorns and tangled brambles through which they had forced their way.
Bulan still carried his heavy bull whip while his five companions were armed with the parangs they had taken from the Dyaks they had overpowered upon the island at the mouth of the river.It was upon this strange and remarkable company that the sharp eyes of a score of river Dyaks peered through the foliage.