not black. Eyes grayish green. Chief distinguishing marks
are the green eyes, a broken nose--caused by being struck in the face by
a baseball--and a patch of snow-white hair the size of a thumb ball, two
inches above the left ear. Accustomed to having his own way, not at all
considerate of others. Yet not a bad fellow as men go--merely a man
spoiled by too much mothering in boyhood and by the fact that he never
had to work. This is he."

From a breast pocket he drew a small grain-leather notebook, from which
he extracted an unmounted photograph. The superintendent looked into the
pictured face of a full-cheeked, wide-mouthed, square-jawed man with a
slightly blase expression and a half-cynical smile. After studying it a
minute he nodded and handed it back.

"As you say, senhor, a man who never has had to work."

"Exactly. For five years this man has been regarded as dead. It was his
habit to start off suddenly for any place where his whims drew him,
notifying nobody of his departure. But a few days later he would always
write, cable, or telegraph his relatives, so that his general
whereabouts would soon become known. On his last trip he sent a radio
message from a steamer, out at sea, saying he was bound for Rio Janeiro.
That was the last ever heard from him."

"Rio is far from here," suggested the Brazilian.

"Just so. We look for Rand at the headwaters of the Amazon, instead of
in Rio, because Rio yields no clew and because of one other thing which
I shall speak of presently.

"It has been learned that he reached Rio safely, but there his trail
ended. As he had several thousand dollars on his person, it was
concluded that he was murdered for his money and his body disposed of.
This belief has been held until quite recently, when a new book of
travel was published--_The Mother of Waters_, by Dwight Dexter, an
explorer of considerable reputation."

The Brazilian's brows lifted.

"Senhor Dexter? I remember Senhor Dexter. He stopped here for a short
time, ill with fever. So he has published a book?"

"Yes. It deals mainly with his travels and observations in Peru, along
the Maranon, Huallaga, and Ucayali. But it includes a short chapter
regarding the Javary, and in that chapter occurs the following, which I
have copied verbatim."

From the notebook he read:

"'It falls to the lot of the explorer at times to meet not only hitherto
unclassified species of fauna and flora, but also strange specimens of
the _gen