into
the other room and could hear from beyond it a muffled roar--the voices
of Targo and his men. Hardly were they hidden when the door opened a
little. It struck against the bales the Very Young Man had piled against
it. For a moment it held, but with the united efforts of the men pushing
from the other side, it slowly yielded and swung open.

Targo stepped into the room. To the Very Young Man he seemed nearly a
hundred feet high. Only his feet and ankles were visible at first, from
where the Very Young Man was watching. Three other men came with him.
They stamped back and forth for a time, moving some of the bales and
boxes. Luckily they left undisturbed those nearest the fugitives; after
a moment they left, leaving the door open.

The Very Young Man breathed a long sigh of relief. "Gosh, I'm glad
that's over." He spoke in a low tone, although the men in the other room
seemed so far away they would hardly have heard him if he had shouted at
the top of his voice.

Alone with the girl now in this great silent room, the Very Young Man
felt suddenly embarrassed. "I am one of your brother's friends," he
said. "My name's Jack; is yours Aura?"

"Lylda's sister I am," she answered quietly. "My father told me about
you----" Then with a rush came the memory of her father's death, which
the startling experiences of the past half-hour had made her forget. Her
big, soft eyes filled with tears and her lips quivered. Involuntarily
the Very Young Man put his arm about her again and held her close to
him. She was so little and frail--so pathetic and so wholly adorable.
For a long time they sat in silence; then the girl gently drew away.

At the doorway they stood and listened; Targo and his followers were
still in the adjoining room, talking earnestly. "Loto they have
captured," Aura whispered suddenly. "Others of Targo's men have taken
him--in a boat--to Orlog. To-morrow they send a messenger to my brother
to demand he give up these drugs--or Loto they will kill."

The Very Young Man waited, breathless. Suddenly he heard Targo laugh--a
cruel, cynical laugh. Aura shuddered.

"And when he has the drug, all of us will he kill. And all in the land
too who will not do as he bids."

The men were rising, evidently in preparation to leave. Aura continued:
"They go--now--to Orlog--all but Targo. A little way from here, up the
lake shore, a boat is waiting. It will take them there fast."

With a last look around, Targo and his follo