could not comprehend why it
was that this savage brute did not turn upon me and rend me.

I wasted a long time there trying to persuade Goork to accept me at my
own valuation, but he was too canny. The best he would do was to give
us food, which he did, and direct me as to the safest portion of the
is-land upon which to attempt a landing, though even as he told me I am
sure that he thought my request for information but a blind to deceive
him as to my true knowledge of the insular stronghold.

At last I turned away from them--rather disheartened, for I had hoped
to be able to enlist a considerable force of them in an attempt to rush
Hooja's horde and rescue Dian. Back along the beach toward the hidden
canoe we made our way.

By the time we came to the cairn I was dog-tired. Throwing myself upon
the sand I soon slept, and with Raja stretched out beside me I felt a
far greater security than I had enjoyed for a long time.

I awoke much refreshed to find Raja's eyes glued upon me. The moment I
opened mine he rose, stretched himself, and without a backward glance
plunged into the jungle. For several minutes I could hear him crashing
through the brush. Then all was silent.

I wondered if he had left me to return to his fierce pack. A feeling
of loneliness overwhelmed me. With a sigh I turned to the work of
dragging the canoe down to the sea. As I entered the jungle where the
dugout lay a hare darted from beneath the boat's side, and a well-aimed
cast of my javelin brought it down. I was hungry--I had not realized
it before--so I sat upon the edge of the canoe and devoured my repast.
The last remnants gone, I again busied myself with preparations for my
expedition to the island.

I did not know for certain that Dian was there; but I surmised as much.
Nor could I guess what obstacles might confront me in an effort to
rescue her. For a time I loitered about after I had the canoe at the
water's edge, hoping against hope that Raja would return; but he did
not, so I shoved the awkward craft through the surf and leaped into it.

I was still a little downcast by the desertion of my new-found friend,
though I tried to assure myself that it was nothing but what I might
have expected.

The savage brute had served me well in the short time that we had been
together, and had repaid his debt of gratitude to me, since he had
saved my life, or at least my liberty, no less certainly than I had
saved his life when he was i