night before, and his eyes were starving
for the vision. She came forth, her white hand in the great broad palm
of King Pootoo, and she smiled gloriously upon the man who stood below
and waited for her to come to him. Together they were to approach the
circle. The priests were there to receive them--Hugh first and then his
bride; the people were shouting, the instruments were jangling with a
fiercer fervor, the sun was passing across the line with his fairest
smile and wedding bells were ringing in two red, full hearts.

But even as she came up to him and touched his arm, outside the temple
doors, the hand of Fate was lifted and a rigid finger stayed them on
the verge.

A mighty intonation, sharp and deafening, came to their ears like a clap
of thunder from a clear sky!

Paralysis, stupefaction, fell upon the multitude. There was a silence as
of death. Every sound ceased, every heart stood still and every sense
was numb. It seemed an hour before Hugh Ridgeway's stiff lips muttered:

"A gun! A ship's gun!"

CHAPTER XXXII

_THE CRUISER "WINNETKA"_

A moment later pandemonium broke loose. The ceremony was forgotten in
the panic that seized the startled savages. There was a rush, a stampede
of terror and the great temple was emptied as if by magic. Hugh and his
fair companion stood alone in the little plain, staring at the distant
gateposts, over which a faint cloud of smoke was lifting, coming up from
the sea beyond. The terrified savages had fled to their homes in
wildest alarm.

Minutes passed before Hugh could speak again. Power of comprehension
seemed to have left them. They were looking dumbly into each
other's eyes.

"It _was_ a gun--a big gun. Our flag."

Without knowing what they did the two started across the plain, their
eyes glued to the great rocks that screened the mystery.

"Can it be the Oolooz men?" she asked.

"The whole Oolooz army, dead or alive, couldn't have made a noise like
that. It might have been a volcano breaking through the rocks."

"Then we must not venture down there," she cried, holding back. He threw
his big right arm around her waist and broke into a brisk run, taking
her along resistlessly.

Together they walked and ran across the plain and through the pass which
led to the sea. Far behind straggled a few of the villagers, emboldened
by curiosity.

"The rocks seem to be all right," he said, as if a pet theory had been
destroyed.

By this time they had passed over