ipulation of the wooden supports,
he failed to dislodge the occupants. Every minute one or more ounces of
lead pitched right into the ledge, damaging the stores and tearing the
tarpaulin, whilst those which struck the wall of rock were dangerous to
Iris by reason of the molten spray.

He could guess what had happened. By lying flat on the sloping plateau,
or squeezing close to the projecting shoulder of the cliff, the Dyaks
were so little exposed that idle chance alone would enable him to hit
one of them. But they must be shifted, or this night bombardment would
prove the most serious development yet encountered.

"Are you all right, Iris?" he called out.

"Yes, dear," she answered.

"Well, I want you to keep yourself covered by the canvas for a little
while--especially your head and shoulders. I am going to stop these
chaps. They have found our weak point, but I can baffle them."

She did not ask what he proposed to do. He heard the rustling of the
tarpaulin as she pulled it. Instantly he cast loose the rope-ladder,
and, armed only with a revolver, dropped down the rock. He was quite
invisible to the enemy. On reaching the ground he listened for a
moment. There was no sound save the occasional reports ninety yards
away. He hitched up the lower rungs of the ladder until they were six
feet from the level, and then crept noiselessly, close to the rock, for
some forty yards.

He halted beside a small poon-tree, and stooped to find something
embedded near its roots. At this distance he could plainly hear the
muttered conversation of the Dyaks, and could see several of them prone
on the sand. The latter fact proved how fatal would be an attempt on
his part to reach the well. They must discover him instantly once he
quitted the somber shadows of the cliff. He waited, perhaps a few
seconds longer than was necessary, endeavoring to pierce the dim
atmosphere and learn something of their disposition.

A vigorous outburst of firing sent him back with haste. Iris was up
there alone. He knew not what might happen. He was now feverishly
anxious to be with her again, to hear her voice, and be sure that all
was well.

To his horror he found the ladder swaying gently against the rock. Some
one was using it. He sprang forward, careless of consequence, and
seized the swinging end which had fallen free again. He had his foot on
the bottom rung when Iris's voice, close at hand and shrill with
terror, shrieked--

"Robert, where a