regard. By
midnight the moon would illumine nearly the whole of Prospect Park. If
the Mahommedan were slain in front of the cavern his soul would travel
to the next world attended by a Nizam's cohort of slaughtered slaves.

Even if the man succeeded in eluding the vigilance of his present
associates, where was the water to come from? There was none on the
island save that in the well. In all likelihood the Dyaks had a store
in the remaining sampans, but the native ally of the beleaguered pair
would have a task of exceeding difficulty in obtaining one of the jars
or skins containing it.

Again, granting all things went well that night, what would be the
final outcome of the struggle? How long could Iris withstand the
exposure, the strain, the heart-breaking misery of the rock? The future
was blurred, crowded with ugly and affrighting fiends passing in
fantastic array before his vision, and mouthing dumb threats of madness
and death.

He shook restlessly, not aware that the girl's sorrowful glance,
luminous with love and pain, was fixed upon him. Summarily dismissing
these grisly phantoms of the mind, he asked himself what the Mahommedan
exactly meant by warning him against the trees on the right and the
"silent death" that might come from them. He was about to crawl forth
to the lip of the rock and investigate matters in that locality when
Iris, who also was busy with her thoughts, restrained him.

"Wait a little while," she said. "None of the Dyaks will venture into
the open until night falls. And I have something to say to you."

There was a quiet solemnity in her voice that Jenks had never heard
before. It chilled him. His heart acknowledged a quick sense of evil
omen. He raised himself slightly and turned towards her. Her face,
beautiful and serene beneath its disfigurements, wore an expression of
settled purpose. For the life of him he dared not question her.

"That man, the interpreter," she said, "told you that if I were given
up to the chief, he and his followers would go away and molest you no
more."

His forehead seamed with sudden anger.

"A mere bait," he protested. "In any event it is hardly worth
discussion."

And the answer came, clear and resolute--

"I think I will agree to those terms."

At first he regarded her with undisguised and wordless amazement. Then
the appalling thought darted through his brain that she contemplated
this supreme sacrifice in order to save him. A clammy sweat bede