was made of human hair, and some among its long strands could
have come only from the flaxen-haired head of a European child. This
fact, though ghastly enough, confirmed him in his theory that it was
impossible to think of temporizing with these human fiends. Unhappily
such savage virtues as they possess do not include clemency to the weak
or hospitality to defenceless strangers. There was nothing for it but a
fight to a finish, with the law of the jungle to decide the terms of
conquest.

That morning, of course, he had not been able to visit Summit Rock
until after his cautious survey of the island. Once there, however, he
noticed that the gale two nights earlier had loosened two of the
supports of his sky sign. It was not a difficult or a long job to
repair the damage. With the invaluable axe he cut several wedges and
soon made all secure.

Now, during each of the two daily examinations of the horizon which he
never omitted, he minutely scrutinized the sea between Rainbow Island
and the distant group. It was, perhaps, a needless precaution. The
Dyaks would come at night. With a favorable wind they need not set sail
until dusk, and their fleet sampans would easily cover the intervening
forty miles in five hours.

He could not be positive that they were actual inhabitants of the
islands to the south. The China Sea swarms with wandering pirates, and
the tribe whose animosity he had earned might be equally noxious to
some peaceable fishing community on the coast. Again and again he
debated the advisability of constructing a seaworthy raft and
endeavoring to make the passage. But this would be risking all on a
frightful uncertainty, and the accidental discovery of the Eagle's Nest
had given him new hope. Here he could make a determined and prolonged
stand, and in the end help _must_ come. So he dismissed the
navigation project, and devoted himself wholly to the perfecting of the
natural fortress in the rock.

That night they finished the rope-ladder. Indeed, Jenks was determined
not to retire to rest until it was placed _in situ_; he did not
care to try a second time to carry Iris to that elevated perch, and it
may be remarked that thenceforth the girl, before going to sleep,
simply changed one ragged dress for another.

One of the first things he contemplated was the destruction, if
possible, of the point on the opposite cliff which commanded the ledge.
This, however, was utterly impracticable with the appliances at