," he whispered earnestly. "You must not come. I
will take no risk whatever. If you remain here you can warn me
instantly. With both of us on the ground we will incur real danger. I
want you to keep a sharp lookout towards Turtle Beach in case the Dyaks
come that way. Those who are crossing the island will not reach us for
a long time."

She yielded, though unwillingly. She was tremulous with anxiety on his
account.

He vanished without another word. She next saw him in the moonlight
near the well. He was rustling among the shrubs, and he returned to the
rock with something white in his arms, which he seemingly deposited at
the mouth of the cave. He went back to the well and carried another
similar burthen. Then he ran towards the house. The doorway was not
visible from the ledge, and she passed a few horrible moments until a
low hiss beneath caught her ear. She could tell by the creak of the
rope-ladder that he was ascending. At last he reached her side, and she
murmured, with a gasping sob--

"Don't go away again. I cannot stand it."

He thought it best to soothe her agitation by arousing interest. Still
hauling in the ladder with one hand, he held out the other, on which
luminous wisps were writhing like glow-worms' ghosts.

"You are responsible," he said. "You gave me an excellent idea, and I
was obliged to carry it out."

"What have you done?"

"Arranged a fearsome bogey in the cave."

"But how?"

"It was not exactly a pleasant operation, but the only laws of
necessity are those which must be broken."

She understood that he did not wish her to question him further.
Perhaps curiosity, now that he was safe, might have vanquished her
terror, and led to another demand for enlightenment, but at that
instant the sound of an angry voice and the crunching of coral away to
the left drove all else from her mind.

"They are coming by way of the beach, after all," whispered Jenks.

He was mistaken, in a sense. Another outburst of intermittent firing
among the trees on the north of the ridge showed that some, at least,
of the Dyaks were advancing by their former route. The appearance of
the Dyak chief on the flat belt of shingle, with his right arm slung
across his breast, accompanied by not more than half a dozen followers,
showed that a few hardy spirits had dared to pass the Valley of Death
with all its nameless terrors.

They advanced cautiously enough, as though dreading a surprise. The
chief carried a b