ining hand on her
shoulder, for the Dyaks quickly discovering that the hut was empty, ran
towards the cave and thus came in full view.

As well as Jenks could judge, the foremost trio of the yelping horde
were impaled on the bayonets of the _cheval de frise_, learning
too late its formidable nature. The wounded men shrieked in agony, but
their cries were drowned in a torrent of amazed shouts from their
companions. Forthwith there was a stampede towards the well, the cliff,
the beaches, anywhere to get away from that awesome cavern where ghosts
dwelt and men fell maimed at the very threshold. The sailor, leaning as
far over the edge of the rock as the girl's expostulations would
permit, heard a couple of men groaning beneath, whilst a third limped
away with frantic and painful haste.

"What is it?" whispered Iris, eager herself to witness the tumult.
"What has happened?"

"They have been routed by a box of matches and a few dried bones," he
answered.

There was no time for further speech. He was absorbed in estimating the
probable number of the Dyaks. Thus far, he had seen about fifty.
Moreover, he did not wish to acquaint Iris with the actual details of
the artifice that had been so potent. Her allusion to the box of
water-sodden Taendstickors gave him the notion of utilizing as an active
ally the bleached remains of the poor fellow who had long ago fallen a
victim to this identical mob of cut-throats or their associates. He
gathered the principal bones from their resting-place near the well,
rubbed them with the ends of the matches after damping the sulphur
again, and arranged them with ghastly effect on the pile of rubbish at
the further end of the cave, creeping under the _cheval de frise_
for the purpose.

Though not so vivid as he wished, the pale-glimmering headless skeleton
in the intense darkness of the interior was appalling enough in all
conscience. Fortunately the fumes of the sulphur fed on the bony
substance. They endured a sufficient time to scare every Dyak who
caught a glimpse of the monstrous object crouching in luminous horror
within the dismal cavern.

Not even the stirring exhortations of the chief, whose voice was raised
in furious speech, could induce his adherents to again approach that
affrighting spot. At last the daring scoundrel himself, still wielding
his naked sword, strode right up to the very doorway. Stricken with
sudden stupor, he gazed at the fitful gleams within. He prodded the