structure. Within its compartments a number of deformed monsters squatted upon their haunches, or lay prone upon the native mats that covered the floor. 

 As the man entered they looked furtively at the bull whip which trailed from his right hand, and then glanced fearfully at one another as though questioning which was the malefactor on this occasion. 

 Von Horn ran his eyes over the hideous assemblage. 

 “Where is Number One?” he asked, directing his question toward a thing whose forehead gave greater promise of intelligence than any of his companions. 

 The one addressed shook his head. 

 Von Horn turned and made a circuit of the campong. There was no sign of the missing one and no indication of any other irregularity than the demolished portion of the roof. With an expression of mild concern upon his face he entered the workshop. 

 “Number One has escaped into the jungle, Professor,” he said. 

 Professor Maxon looked up in surprise, but before he had an opportunity to reply a woman’s scream, shrill with horror, smote upon their startled ears. 

 Von Horn was the first to reach the campong of the whites. Professor Maxon was close behind him, and the faces of both were white with apprehension. The enclosure was deserted. Not even Sing was there. Without a word the two men sprang through the gateway and raced for the jungle in the direction from which that single, haunting cry had come. 

 Virginia Maxon, idling beneath the leafy shade of the tropical foliage, became presently aware that she had wandered farther from the campong than she had intended. The day was sultry, and the heat, even in the dense shade of the jungle, oppressive. Slowly she retraced her steps, her eyes upon the ground, her mind absorbed in sad consideration of her father’s increasing moodiness and eccentricity. 

 Possibly it was this very abstraction which deadened her senses to the near approach of another. At any rate the girl’s first intimation that she was not alone came when she raised her eyes to look full into the horrid countenance of a fearsome monster which blocked her path toward camp. 

 The sudden shock brought a single involuntary scream from her lips. And who can wonder! The thing thrust so unexpectedly before her eyes was hideous in the 

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