of an animal through the bushes
a few yards above her. As she looked she saw a huge MIAS PAPPAN cross
the stream, bearing in his arms the dead, or unconscious form of a
white-skinned girl with golden hair.

Her description of the MIAS PAPPAN was such as to half convince von
Horn that she might have seen Number Three carrying Virginia Maxon,
although he could not reconcile the idea with the story that the two
Dyaks had told him of losing all of Bulan's monsters in the jungle.

Of course it was possible that they might have made their way over land
to this point, but it seemed scarcely credible--and then, how could
they have come into possession of Virginia Maxon, whom every report
except this last agreed was still in the hands of Ninaka and Barunda.
There was always the possibility that the natives had lied to him, and
the more he questioned the Dyak woman the more firmly convinced he
became that this was the fact.

The outcome of it was that von Horn finally decided to make an attempt
to follow the trail of the creature that the woman had seen, and with
this plan in view persuaded Muda Saffir to arrange with the chief of
the long-house at which they then were to furnish him with trackers and
an escort of warriors, promising them some splendid heads should they
be successful in overhauling Bulan and his pack.

Professor Maxon was too ill to accompany the expedition, and von Horn
set out alone with his Dyak allies. For a time after they departed
Sing Lee fretted and fidgeted upon the verandah of the long-house. He
wholly distrusted von Horn, and from motives of his own finally decided
to follow him. The trail of the party was plainly discernible, and the
Chinaman had no difficulty in following them, so that they had gone no
great way before he came within hearing distance of them. Always just
far enough behind to be out of sight, he kept pace with the little
column as it marched through the torrid heat of the morning, until a
little after noon he was startled by the sudden cry of a woman in
distress, and the answering shout of a man.

The voices came from a point in the jungle a little to his right and
behind him, and without waiting for the column to return, or even to
ascertain if they had heard the cries, Sing ran rapidly in the
direction of the alarm. For a time he saw nothing, but was guided by
the snapping of twigs and the rustling of bushes ahead, where the
authors of the commotion were evidently moving