right hand was raised and in the act of poising a javelin to hurl
at the white man; but the latter, with an incredibly quick movement,
brought his Winchester to a level and fired.

The bronze skull was shattered as though it were a rotten apple, and
the Murhapa, with a resounding shriek, went backward in the darkness.

A slight rustling at the other window drew the white man's attention
thither, and, without lowering his weapon, he let fly at a group who
were simply peering within, evidently believing there was no call to
use their javelins.

Another screech told that the bullet had found its mark, and the other
faces vanished.

Then Grimcke stepped out from the wall to gain a view of the opening
which answered for a door. A rustling there told him a crowd were
gathering, but they had taken warning just in time to avoid a third
shot. Then he slipped a couple more cartridges from his belt into the
magazine, so as to keep it full, and awaited the next step in this
extraordinary business.

"I've about a hundred left," he reflected, "and that's enough to keep
things on a jump, if I can dodge their javelins."

Meanwhile, Jared Long was not idle. He had but the opening at the rear
to watch, and he did the duty well. Almost at the moment that his
comrade fired his first shot, he descried the figure of a Murhapa
trying to steal into the apartment without detection; but just enough
of the moonlight that was shut from the front doors and windows,
reached the rear of the building, to disclose the outlines of the head
and shoulders, as he began stealthily creeping into the building.

Bippo had discovered the peril at the same moment, and clutched the arm
of his master with a nervous intensity of terror. Long impatiently
shook him off, and, with the same cool quickness of Professor Grimcke,
drove a bullet through the head of the dusky miscreant, who was slain
so suddenly that he rolled convulsively backward, without any outcry.

Almost at the same instant, a second native emitted a wild shout. He
was directly behind the first and the latter lurched against him,
causing such fright that he leaped back several feet with the
involuntary cry fully understood by all whose ears it reached.

Long stood as rigid as a statue for several minutes, waiting for
another chance, but none presented. Then he reflected that his
position was much more favorable than Grimcke's, for not only had he
but the single opening to guard, but h