the Saigon , as the other members of the party came out for their breakfast. Itzl Cha sat silent and sullen, eating very little, for she had lost her appetite. Janette Laon came and sat beside de Groote, and Penelope Leigh looked at them down her nose.
'Is Patricia up yet, Janette?' asked the Colonel
Janette looked around the company. 'Why, yes,' she said, 'isn't she here? She was gone when I woke up.'
'Where in the world can that girl be?' demanded Penelope Leigh.
'Oh, she must be nearby,' said the Colonel, but, as he called her name aloud, it was evident that he was perturbed.
'And that creature is gone too!' exclaimed Mrs. Leigh. 'I knew that something terrible like this was going to happen sooner or later, William, if you permitted that man to remain in camp.'
'Now, just what has happened, Penelope?' asked the Colonel.
'Why he's abducted her, that's what's happened.'
Lum Kip, who was putting a platter of rice on the table, overheard the conversation and volunteered, 'Tarzan, she, go that way,' pointing toward the northeast; 'Plateecie, him go that way,' and pointed in the same direction.
'Maybe Pat abducted him,' suggested Algy.
'Don't be ridiculous, Algernon,' snapped Mrs. Leigh. 'It is quite obvious what happened—the creature enticed her into the jungle.'
'They talked long,' said Itzl Cha, sullenly. 'They go different times; they meet in jungle.'
'How can you sit there, William, and permit that Indian girl to intimate that your niece arranged an assignation in the jungle with that impossible creature.'
'Well,' said the Colonel, 'if Pat's in the jungle, I pray to high heaven that Tarzan is with her.'
Pat followed a stream that ran for a short distance in a northeasterly direction, and when it turned southeast, she continued to follow it, not knowing that Tarzan had taken to the trees and was swinging rapidly through them almost due east toward the other side of the island. The ground rose rapidly now, and the little stream tumbled excitedly down toward the ocean. Pat realized that she was being a stubborn fool, but, being stubborn, she decided to climb the mountain a short distance to get a view of the island. It was a hard climb, and the trees constantly shut out any view, but the girl kept on until she came to a level ledge which ran around a shoulder of the mountain. As she was pretty well winded by this time, she sat down to rest.
'I should think some of you men would go out and look for Patricia,' said Mrs. Leigh.
'I'll go,' said Algy, 'but I don't know where to look for the old girl.'
'Who's that coming along the beach?' said Dr. Crouch.
'Why it's Krause and Schmidt,' said Dolton . 'Yes, and Oubanovitch and the Arab are with him.' Almost automatically the men loosened their pistols in their holsters and waited in silence as the four approached.
The men about the breakfast table had all risen and were waiting expectantly. Krause came to the point immediately. 'We've come to ask you to let us come back and camp near you,' he said. 'We have no firearms and no protection where we are. Two of our men have gone into the jungle and never returned, and two have been taken right out of camp by lions at night. You certainly must have a heart, Colonel; you certainly won't subject fellow men to such dangers needlessly. If you will take us back, we promise to obey you and not cause any trouble.'
'I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble when Tarzan returns and finds you here,' said the Colonel.
'You should let them remain, William,' said Mrs. Leigh. 'You are in command here, not that Tarzan creature.'
'I really think it would be inhuman to send them away,' said Dr. Crouch.
'They were inhuman to us,' said Janette Laon bitterly.
'Young woman,' exploded Penelope, 'you should be taught your place; you have nothing to say about this. The Colonel will decide.'
Janette Laon shook her head hopelessly and winked at de Groote. Penelope saw the wink and exploded again. 'You are an insolent baggage,' she said; 'you and the Indian girl and that Tarzan creature should never have been permitted in the same camp with gentlefolk.'
'If you will permit me, Penelope,' said the Colonel stiffly, 'I think that I can handle this matter without assistance or at least without recrimination.'
'Well, all that I have to say,' said Penelope, 'is that you must let them remain.'
'Suppose,' suggested Crouch, 'that we let them remain anyway until Tarzan returns; then we can discuss the matter with him—they are more his enemies than ours.'
'They are enemies to all of us,' said Janette.
'You may remain, Krause,' said the Colonel, 'at least, until Tarzan returns; and see that you behave yourselves.'
'We certainly shall, Colonel,' replied Krause, 'and thank you for letting us stay.'
Patricia got a view of the ocean from the ledge where she was sitting, but she could see nothing of the island; and so, after resting, she went on a little farther. It was far more open here and very beautiful, orchids clung in gorgeous sprays to many a tree, and ginger and hibiscus grew in profusion; birds with yellow plumage and birds with scarlet winged from tree to tree. It was an idyllic, peaceful scene which soothed her nerves and obliterated the last vestige of her anger.
She was glad that she had found this quiet spot and was congratulating herself, and planning that she would come to it often, when a great tiger walked out of the underbrush and faced her. The tip of his tail was twiching nervously, and his snarling muscles had drawn his lips back from his great yellow fangs.
Patricia Leigh-Burden breathed a silent prayer as she threw her rifle to her shoulder and fired twice in rapid succession.
Chapter XXI
'I certainly do not like the idea of having those men around here all the time,' said Janette; 'I am afraid of them, especially Krause.'
'I'll look after him,' said de Groote. 'Let me know if he ever makes any advances.'
'And now look!' exclaimed Janette, pointing along the beach. 'Here come all those Lascars back, too. Those fellows give me the creeps.'
As she ceased speaking, the report of two rifle shots came faintly but distinctly to their ears. 'That must be Patricia!' exclaimed the Colonel. 'She must be in trouble.'
'She has probably had to shoot that creature,' said Penelope hopefully.
The Colonel had run to his hut and gotten his rifle; and when he started in the direction from which the sound of the shot had come, he was followed by de Groote, Algy, Crouch, and Bolton .
As the foliage of the jungle closed about Bolton 's back, Schmidt turned to Krause and grinned. 'What's funny?' demanded the latter.
'Let's see what we can find in the way of rifles and ammunition,' said Schmidt to the other three men. 'This looks like our day.'
'What are you men doing?' demanded Penelope Leigh. 'Don't you dare go into those huts.'
Janette started to run toward her hut to get her rifle, but Schmidt overtook her and hurled her aside. 'No funny business,' he warned.
The four men collected all the remaining firearms in the camp and then, at pistol points forced the Lascars to load up with such stores as Schmidt desired.
'Pretty good haul,' he said to Krause. 'I think we've got about everything we want now.'
'Maybe you have, but I haven't,' replied the animal collector; then he walked over to Janette. 'Come along, sweetheart,' he said; 'we're going to start all over again right where we left off.'
'Not I,' said Janette, backing away.
Krause seized one of her arms. 'Yes, you; and if you know what's good for you, you'd better not make any
