for the vision. She came forth, her white hand in the great broad palm
of King Pootoo, and she smiled gloriously upon the man who stood below
and waited for her to come to him. Together they were to approach the
circle. The priests were there to receive them--Hugh first and then his
bride; the people were shouting, the instruments were jangling with a
fiercer fervor, the sun was passing across the line with his fairest
smile and wedding bells were ringing in two red, full hearts.

But even as she came up to him and touched his arm, outside the temple
doors, the hand of Fate was lifted and a rigid finger stayed them on
the verge.

A mighty intonation, sharp and deafening, came to their ears like a clap
of thunder from a clear sky!

Paralysis, stupefaction, fell upon the multitude. There was a silence as
of death. Every sound ceased, every heart stood still and every sense
was numb. It seemed an hour before Hugh Ridgeway's stiff lips muttered:

"A gun! A ship's gun!"



CHAPTER XXXII

_THE CRUISER "WINNETKA"_

A moment later pandemonium broke loose. The ceremony was forgotten in
the panic that seized the startled savages. There was a rush, a stampede
of terror and the great temple was emptied as if by magic. Hugh and his