THE BULL WHIP
As Horn and Virginia Maxon walked slowly the of the he again his suit. It would him more to have the girl him than to be to take her by force, but take her he would one way or another, and that, this very night, for all the plans were and already under way.
"I cannot do it, Doctor Horn," she had said. "No how much I may be in here I cannot my father on this with only and the terrible of his own him. Why, it would be little of for us to do such a thing. I cannot see how you, his most lieutenant, can give an instant's to the idea.
"And now that you that his mind is affected, it is only an added why I must with him to protect him so as I am able, from himself and his enemies."
Von Horn did not the in the which the girl put upon the last word.
"It is I love you so, Virginia," he to in of his disloyalty. "I cannot see you to his mania. You do not the of your peril. Tomorrow Number Thirteen was to have come to live the same with you. You Number One the killed as the thing was you away through the jungle? Can you sleeping in the same house with such a thing? Eating your three a day at the same table with it? And all the time that in a at the most you were to be to the thing as its mate? Virginia, you must be to for a moment of such a terrible peril.
"Come to Singapore with me—it will take but a days—and then we can return with some good medical man and a of Europeans, and take your father away from the terrible he has created. You will be mine then and safe from the that now there in the you. We can take your father upon a long where and can have an opportunity to his mentality. Come, Virginia! Come with me now. We can go directly to the Ithaca and safety. Say that you will come."
The girl her head.
"I do not love you, I am afraid, Doctor Horn, or I should be moved by your appeal. If you wish to help for my father I shall to thank you if you will go to Singapore and it, but it is not necessary that I go. My place is here, near him."
In the the girl did not see the that came over the man's face, but his next his with to her fears.
"Virginia," he said, "I love you, and I to have you. Nothing on earth can prevent me. When you know me you will return my love, but now I must you that I may save you for myself from the which your father for you. If you will not come away from the with me I it my to take you away by force."
"You would do that, Doctor Horn!" she exclaimed.
Von Horn had gone too far. He himself for a fool. Why the didn't that villain, Bududreen, come! He should have been along to act his part an hour before.
"No, Virginia," said the man, softly, after a moment's silence, "I not do that; though my tells me that I should do it. You shall here if you and I will be with you to and protect you and your father."
The were fair, but the girl not the that had his statement. She that she would be when she herself safely the once more.
"Come," she said, "it is late. Let us return to camp."
Von Horn was about to reply when the of Muda Saffir's Dyaks as they out upon Bududreen and his came to them through the night.
"What was that?" the girl in an tone.
"God knows," Horn. "Can it be that our men have mutinied?"
He the six with Bududreen were out their part in a most manner, and a his hard face.
Virginia Maxon toward the camp.
"I must go there to my father," she said, "and so must you. Our place is there—God give that we be not too late," and Horn stop her she and ran through the of the in the direction of the camp.
Von Horn after her, but so black was the night the trees, with their dark creepers, that the girl was out of in an instant, and upon the soft of the her light gave no sound.
The doctor for the camp, but Virginia, to by day, to the left. The which had her at soon died out, the thicker, and presently she that she had no of the direction of the camp. Coming to a spot where the trees were less dense, and a little moonlight to the ground, she paused to and attempt to her bearings.
As she for some which might the of the camp, she the noise of a through the underbrush. Whether man or she but and so she with every nerve waiting the thing that toward her. She it might be Horn, but the which had her of at the her that might be the of one of these upon her.
Nearer and nearer came the sound, and the girl to when the dark of Bududreen into the moonlight her. With an of the girl him.
"Oh, Bududreen," she exclaimed, "what has at camp? Where is my father? Is he safe? Tell me."
The Malay the good which had him so the of the treasure. His mind quickly, so that he the full possibilities that were his the girl had her questioning.
"The was by Dyaks, Miss Maxon," he replied. "Many of our men were killed, but your father and has gone to the ship. I have been for you and Doctor Horn. Where is he?"
"He was with me but a moment ago. When we the at I on to what had us—we separated."
"He will be safe," said Bududreen, "for two of my men are waiting to you and the doctor to the ship in case you returned to I you. Come, we will on to the harbor. Your father will be if we are long delayed, and he is to make sail and the Dyaks the of the Ithaca."
The man's to Virginia, although she not a little of that her father had been to go on to the he her fate. However, she that by her that his mind was through to his obsession.
Without demur, then, she and the Malay toward the harbor. At the bank of the little which to the Ithaca's the man her to his and thus her the of the way to the beach. Here two of his men were him in one of the ship's boats, and without they and for the vessel.
Once on Virginia started for her father's cabin. As she the she noticed that the ship was to sail, and as she the she the of the about the capstan. She if Horn be on too. It that all should have the Ithaca so quickly, and that none of her own people were on to welcome her, or to the vessel.
To her she her father's empty, and a moment's the that Horn's was as well. Now her to fears, and with a little of at the possibilities which through her she ran to the companionway, but above her she saw that the was down, and when she the top that it was fastened. Futilely she upon the with her hands, calling to Bududreen to her, but there was no reply, and with the of the of her position she to the deck, and returned to her stateroom. Here she locked and the door as best she could, and herself upon the in dry-eyed terror the next that in store for her.
Shortly after Horn from Virginia he with the who had the of Muda Saffir's at the same time as had Bududreen. So terror was the that he had away his in the panic of flight, which was all that saved Horn from death at the hands of the man. To him, in the of his fright, every man was an enemy, and the doctor had a with him he upon the that he was a friend.
From him Horn an account of the attack, together with the that he was the only person in that escaped, all the others having been cut by the that them. It was with that Horn the man to return with him to the campong, but finally, he to do so when the doctor with revolver, presented death as the only alternative.
Together they toward the palisade, not at what moment they might come upon the enemy that had such among their forces, for Horn the lascar's that all had perished. His only for returning in his to prevent Virginia Maxon into the hands of the Dyaks, or, that, her from their clutches.
Whatever and were Carl Horn's was not one of them, and it was without an instant's that he had elected to return to the girl he to have returned to camp, although he no the of his toward her, should he succeed in saving her from her other enemies.
As the two approached the to have again about the of the alarm. Muda Saffir had passed on toward the with the chest, and the in the was over. But Horn did not his as he the of the north campong, and, the of the palisade, toward the house.
The light in the room him to one of the which the verandah. A him Sing and Number Thirteen over the of Professor Maxon. He noted the and perfect of the giant. He saw the of the and Dyaks. Then he saw Sing and the man Professor Maxon in their arms and him to his own room.
A of through the man's brain. He saw that the thing was with a and more nature than he himself possessed. He had planted the of and his without avail, for he read in the of Bududreen's men and the two Dyaks the of Number Thirteen's defense of the man Horn had he would kill.
Von Horn was sure now that Virginia Maxon was not the campong. Either she had and in the after she left him, or had into the hands of the wild that had the camp. Convinced of this, there was no to the plan which entered his brain. With a single act he himself of the man he had come to look upon as a rival, physical his and jealousy; he remove, in the person of Professor Maxon, the which might either prevent his the girl, or make trouble for him in case he took her by force, and at the same time he transfer to the girl's the which was now her father's—and he it all without his own hands with the blood of his victims.
As the full possibilities of his his mind's a his straight, thin at the of the which it for the of the of the of mystery.
As he away from the his upon the who had him to the of the verandah. He must be of the in some way—no must see him the he had in mind. A to him.
"Hasten to the harbor," he said to the man in a low voice, "and tell those on the ship that I shall join them presently. Have all in to sail. I wish to some of my belongings—all the are dead."
No have the sailor. Without a word he and toward the jungle. Von Horn walked to the workshop. The door open. Through the dark he to the opposite door which let upon the of mystery. On a into the door a whip. The doctor took it as he the which the door. Then he through into the campong—the in his right hand, a in his left.
A dozen about the hard packed earth of the pen. The noise of the in the had them from and in their and fears. At of Horn of them for him with growls, but a of the them to a of the identity of the intruder, so that they away, and in rage.
Von Horn passed to the low in which the of the eleven were sleeping. With from the he about him upon the sleeping things. Roaring and in pain and anger the to their and into the open. Two of them upon their tormentor, but the on their protected sent them out of reach, and in another moment all were in the center of the campong.
As are driven, Horn the toward the door of the workshop. At the of the dark the fearfully, and then as Horn them on from with his they as at the entrance to a corral.
Again and again he them for the door, but each time they away, and to the and at the of the in a to it from their pathway. Their and were almost as Horn, what little of his self-control, among them to right and left with the and the of his revolver.
Most of the and into the center of the enclosure, but three of them were through the into the workshop, from the of which they saw the of moonlight through the open door upon the opposite side. Toward this they as Horn into the of for the others.
Three more he he the last of the through the of the into the north campong.
Among the age old of the none is more than that of medicine. Odd and when properly under a of the are to cures, and are the Chinamen who do not some special of their own for the which mankind.
Sing was no in this respect. In shaped, he a supply of tonics, and lotions. His when he had Professor Maxon upon the was to his nostrum, for there his yellow the same powerful to that marks the of the to he aspired.
Though the from the rose threateningly, the Sing left the and passed across the north to the little lean-to that he had for himself against the that the north from the of mystery.
Here he about in the dark until he had the two he sought. The noise of the upon the opposite of the had now the of pandemonium, and through it all the Chinaman the that was the voice of the whip.
He had his search and was about to return to the when the of the into the north from the workshop. At the door of his Sing Lee to watch, for he that them some one was these from their prison.
One by one they came into the moonlight until Sing had eleven, and then, after them, came a white man, and in hand. It was Horn. The moon full upon him—there be no mistake. The Chinaman saw him turn and lock the door; saw him the to the gate; saw him pass through toward the jungle, the gate.
Of a there was a sad, low through the trees; dense, black clouds the moon; and then with and of the in all its of wind and deluge. It was the great of the up of the monsoon, and under the of its Sing Lee through the to the bungalow. Within he the man Professor Maxon's as he had him to do.
"All out," he said, his thumb in the direction of the of mystery. "Eleven devils. Plenty soon come bung'low. What do?"
Number Thirteen had Horn's upon a in the room. For answer he into that room and took the down. Then he returned to the professor's side.
Outside the through the rain and in search of shelter. Each flash, and of of and terror from their lips. It was Number Twelve who the light through the bungalow's room window. With a low to his he started toward the building. Up the low steps to the they crept. Number Twelve through the window. He saw no one within, but there was and dryness.
His little knowledge and no of a doorway. With a he the of the window. Then he his through the narrow aperture. At the same moment a of wind through the open the door, and as Number Thirteen, by the of glass, into the room he was by the entire of beings.
His out in toward the crew, but he that his life as well as those of the two men in the room upon the and skill with which he might the which them. He had and talked with most of the when from time to time they had been into the that their might the he had done by the minds with which he had them to intelligently.
A were imbeciles, unable to more than the of their when food was them; yet these were with strength; and when the more for the very of their brainlessness. Others, like Number Twelve, were of a higher order of intelligence. They spoke English, and, after a fashion, in a of way. These were by the most dangerous, for as the power of is the of reasoning, so they were able to their with that of the other men they had seen, and with the help of Horn to the that had been done them.
Von Horn, too, had let them know the identity of their creator, and thus in their the of revenge. Envy and were there as well, and of all beings other than themselves. They the and of the old and his assistant, and the for the of the and the of the revolver; and so as they were to them the of the great world of which they be a part, their and and of these men the entire which they represented.
It was such that Number Thirteen as he from the professor's apartment.
"What do you want here?" he said, Number Twelve, who a little in of the others.
"We have come for Maxon," the creature. "We have been up long enough. We want to be out here. We have come to kill Maxon and you and all who have us what we are."
"Why do you wish to kill me?" asked the man. "I am one of you. I was in the same way that you were made."
Number Twelve opened his in astonishment.
"Then you have already killed Maxon?" he asked.
"No. He was by a enemy. I have been helping to make him well again. He has me as much as he has you. If I do not wish to kill him, why should you? He did not to us. He that he was doing right. He is in trouble now and we should and protect him."
"He lies," another of the horde. "He is not one of us. Kill him! Kill him! Kill Maxon, too, and then we shall be as other men, for it is these men who keep us as we are."
The started toward Number Thirteen as he spoke, and moved by the of the others came on with him.
"I have spoken to you," said Number Thirteen in a low voice. "If you cannot here is something you can understand."
Raising the above his the among the and about him with that put to the with which Horn had been to out to the poor, of the of mystery.
For a moment they his attack, but after two had with him and been to the they gave up and out into the of the tempest.
In the him Sing Lee had been waiting the outcome of the and to a hand were it required. As the two men into the professor's room they saw that the man's were open and upon them. At of Number Thirteen a look came into his eyes.
"What has happened?" he asked of Sing. "Where is my daughter? Where is Dr. Horn? What is this doing out of his pen?"
The of the upon the professor's had his mind into the path of sanity. It had left him with a clear of the past, other than the in the room—that was a blank—and it had him a of the plans he had been for so long relative to this creature.
The that to his mind as he saw Number Thirteen him was of his to give his to such a thing. With the came a and of this and the other of his experimentations.
Presently he that his questions had not been answered.
"Sing!" he shouted. "Answer me. Where are Virginia and Dr. Horn?"
"All gonee. Me no know. All gonee. Maybeso dead."
"My God!" the man; and then his again upon the in the doorway, "Out of my sight," he shrieked. "Out of my sight! Never let me see you again—and to think that I would have my only to a thing like you. Away! Before I go and you."
Slowly the color to the and of the giant—then it receded, him as as death. His great hand the stock of the whip. A single was all that would have been needed to Professor Maxon forever. There was in the heart. The man took a step into the room, and then something his to a spot upon the just above Professor Maxon's shoulder—it was a photograph of Virginia Maxon.
Without a word Number Thirteen upon his and passed out into the storm.
