rried loaded guns discharged them at the bundle of rags,
whereupon Jenks thrust his rifle beyond the edge of the rock and leaned
over.

Three Dyaks fell before the remainder made up their minds to run. Once
convinced, however, that running was good for their health, they moved
with much celerity. The remaining cartridges in the magazine slackened
the pace of two of their number. Jenks dropped the empty weapon and
seized another. He stood up now and sent a quick reminder after the
rearmost pirate. The others had disappeared towards the locality where
their leader and his diminished troupe were gathered, not daring to
again come within range of the whistling Dum-dums. The sailor, holding
his rifle as though pheasant-shooting, bent forward and sought a
belated opponent, but in vain. In military phrase, the _terrain_
was clear of the enemy. There was no sound save the wailing of birds,
the soft sough of the sea, and the yelling of the three wounded men in
the house, who knew not what terrors threatened, and vainly bawled for
succor.

Again Jenks could look at Iris. Her face was bleeding. The sight
maddened him.

"My God!" he groaned, "are you wounded?"

She smiled bravely at him.

"It is nothing," she said. "A mere splash from the rock which cut my
forehead."

He dared not go to her. He could only hope that it was no worse, so he
turned to examine the valley once more for vestige of a living foe.

CHAPTER XII

A TRUCE

Though his eyes, like live coals, glowered with sullen fire at the
strip of sand and the rocks in front, his troubled brain paid
perfunctory heed to his task. The stern sense of duty, the ingrained
force of long years of military discipline and soldierly thought,
compelled him to keep watch and ward over his fortress, but he could
not help asking himself what would happen if Iris were seriously
wounded.

There was one enemy more potent than these skulking Dyaks, a foe more
irresistible in his might, more pitiless in his strength, whose
assaults would tax to the utmost their powers of resistance. In another
hour the sun would be high in the heavens, pouring his ardent rays upon
them and drying the blood in their veins.

Hitherto, the active life of the island, the shade of trees, hut or
cave, the power of unrestricted movement and the possession of water in
any desired quantity, robbed the tropical heat of the day of its chief
terrors. Now all was changed. Instead of working amidst grat