was near, the touch of his hand guiding her feet on to
the rungs of the ladder, sustained her. They had almost reached the
level when a loud exclamation and the crash of a heavy blow caused
Jenks to halt and look downwards.

A Dyak, lying at the foot of one of the scaling ladders, and severely
wounded by a shell splinter, witnessed their descent. In his left hand
he grasped a parang; his right arm was bandaged. Though unable to rise,
the vengeful pirate mustered his remaining strength to crawl towards
the swaying ladder. It was Taung S'Ali, inspired with the hate and
venom of the dying snake. Even yet he hoped to deal a mortal stroke at
the man who had defied him and all his cut-throat band. He might have
succeeded, as Jenks was so taken up with Iris, were it not for the
watchful eyes of Mir Jan. The Mahommedan sprang at him with an oath,
and gave him such a murderous whack with the butt of a rifle that the
Dyak chief collapsed and breathed out his fierce spirit in a groan.

At the first glance Jenks did not recognize Taung S'Ali, owing to his
change of costume. Through the thinner smoke he could see several
sailors running up.

"Look out, there!" he cried. "There is a lady here. If any Dyak moves,
knock him on the head!"

But, with the passing of the chief, their last peril had gone. The next
instant they were standing on the firm ground, and a British naval
lieutenant was saying eagerly--

"We seem to have turned up in the nick of time. Do you, by any chance,
belong to the _Sirdar_?"

"We are the sole survivors," answered the sailor.

"You two only?"

"Yes. She struck on the north-west reef of this island during a
typhoon. This lady, Miss Iris Deane, and I were flung ashore--"

"Miss Deane! Can it be possible? Let me congratulate you most heartily.
Sir Arthur Deane is on board the _Orient_ at this moment."

"The _Orient_!"

Iris was dazed. The uniforms, the pleasant faces of the English
sailors, the strange sensation of hearing familiar words in tones other
than those of the man she loved, bewildered her.

"Yes," explained the officer, with a sympathetic smile. "That's our
ship, you know, in the offing there."

It was all too wonderful to be quite understood yet. She turned to
Robert--

"Do you hear? They say my father is not far away. Take me to him."

[Illustration: "WE ARE THE SOLE SURVIVORS," ANSWERED THE SAILOR.]

"No need for that, miss," interrupted a warrant officer. "Here he is
coming ash