her again she struck him full in the face with one small,
clenched fist.

Directly behind the Malay lay the heavy chest
of Professor Maxon. As the man stepped backward
to recover his equilibrium both feet struck the obstacle.
For an instant he tottered with wildly waving arms
in an endeavor to regain his lost balance, then,
with a curse upon his lips, he lunged across the box
and over the side of the prahu into the dark waters
of the river.



10

DESPERATE CHANCE


The great chest in the bottom of Rajah Muda Saffir's
prahu had awakened in other hearts as well as his,
blind greed and avarice; so that as it had been the
indirect cause of his disaster it now proved the
incentive to another to turn the mishap to his own profit,
and to the final undoing of the Malay.

The panglima Ninaka of the Signana Dyaks who manned
Muda Saffir's war prahu saw his chief disappear beneath
the swift waters of the river, but the word of command
that would have sent the boat hurriedly back to pick up