the swimmer was not given. Instead a lusty cry for
greater speed ahead urged the sinuous muscles gliding
beneath the sleek brown hides; and when Muda Saffir
rose to the surface with a cry for help upon his lips
Ninaka shouted back to him in derision, consigning his
carcass to the belly of the nearest crocodile.

In futile rage Muda Saffir called down the most
terrible curses of Allah and his Prophet upon the head
of Ninaka and his progeny to the fifth generation,
and upon the shades of his forefathers, and upon the grim
skulls which hung from the rafters of his long-house.
Then he turned and swam rapidly toward the shore.

Ninaka, now in possession of both the chest and the girl,
was rich indeed, but with Muda Saffir dead he scarce knew
to whom he could dispose of the white girl for a price
that would make it worth while to be burdened with
the danger and responsibility of retaining her.
He had had some experience of white men in the past
and knew that dire were the punishments meted to those
who wronged the white man's women. All through
the remainder of the long night Ninaka pondered
the question deeply. At last he turned to Virginia.

"Why does the big white man who leads the ourang
outangs follow us?" he asked. "Is it the chest
he desires, or you?"

"It is certainly not the chest," replied the girl.