he witless one was evidently a
lookout, and it was advisable to wait and see the success of Maru's
expedition before we attempted to move.

It was a long wait. Maru didn't intend to take any chances by closing in
hurriedly, and it was nearly two hours after his departure before we saw
his head rise above a boulder high up over the spot where One Eye was
keeping his vigil. It was evidently not the first time that the native
had stalked a human being, and his fine tactics, which should have
called forth praise, severely tried the small amount of patience that we
possessed. Holman cursed softly beneath his breath as Maru sat for ten
minutes at a time studying the route before attempting to move from a
sheltering rock, and my own nails burrowed into the palms of my hands as
I watched. The Raretongan was a genius in his own particular line, and I
think he took more than ordinary precautions so that his success would
prove to Holman that Barbara Herndon had not overpaid him when she
presented him with the emerald ring as a reward for his desertion from
Leith. Maru had no idea of the sentimental view of the matter which the
youngster took; and he thought that Holman's objections against the
bargain were caused by the thought that no services could be rendered
that would be half as valuable as the trinket. The unsentimental savage
could not imagine that the unstrung lover wanted the ring as a keepsake
of the girl who had won his heart on board _The Waif_.

"Caesar's Ghost! Why doesn't he hurry?" cried Holman. "That madman looks
as if he's going to change his camping ground!"

It looked as if the witless one was really going to move, and Maru had
still some fifty yards to cover before he would be directly above the
other's head. Our nerves were in such a state that we felt inclined to
scream out to the patient stalker. If we could grab the scout we could
probably induce him by gentle persuasion to act as guide, but if he
escaped us, we pictured ourselves stumbling over precipices and through
dark caverns with the same lack of results as had marked our trip to the
place of skulls.

Maru was decreasing the distance by inches. Slowly, very slowly, with
all the serpentlike cunning of the savage, he advanced till he was
almost above the spot where the other stood taking a survey of the
jungle. But it was a farewell glance for One Eye. If Leith had placed
him there to keep watch till he had reached a safe position, the watcher
evi