The man hesitated. To speak aught than the truth had never occurred to him during his brief existence. He scarcely knew how to lie. To him a question demanded but one manner of reply—the facts. But never before had he had to face a question where so much depended upon his answer. He tried to form the bitter, galling4 words; but a vision of that lovely face suddenly transformed with horror and disgust throttled5 the name in his throat.
"I am Bulan," he said, at last, quietly.
"Bulan," repeated the girl. "Bulan. Why that is a native name. You are either an Englishman or an American. What is your true name?"
Virginia Maxon thought that he must have some good reason of his own for wishing to conceal7 his identity. At first she wondered if he could be a fugitive8 from justice—the perpetrator of some horrid9 crime, who dared not divulge10 his true name even in the remote fastness of a Bornean wilderness11; but a glance at his frank and noble countenance12 drove every vestige13 of the traitorous14 thought from her mind. Her woman's intuition was sufficient guarantee of the nobility of his character.
"Then let me thank you, Mr. Bulan," she said, "for the service that you have rendered a strange and helpless woman."
He smiled.
The girl flushed at the sudden and unexpected use of her given name, and was surprised that she was not offended.
"How do you know my name?" she asked.
Bulan saw that he would get into deep water if he attempted to explain too much, and, as is ever the way, discovered that one deception16 had led him into another; so he determined17 to forestall18 future embarrassing queries19 by concocting20 a story immediately to explain his presence and his knowledge.
"I lived upon the island near your father's camp," he said. "I knew you all—by sight."
"How long have you lived there?" asked the girl. "We thought the island uninhabited."
"All my life," replied Bulan truthfully.
"It is strange," she mused21. "I cannot understand it. But the monsters—how is it that they followed you and obeyed your commands?"
Bulan touched the bull whip that hung at his side.
"Von Horn taught them to obey this," he said.
"He used that upon them?" cried the girl in horror.
"It was the only way," said Bulan. "They were almost brainless—they could understand nothing else, for they could not reason."
"Where are they now—the balance of them?" she asked.
"They are dead, poor things," he replied, sadly. "Poor, hideous23, unloved, unloving monsters—they gave up their lives for the daughter of the man who made them the awful, repulsive24 creatures that they were."
"What do you mean?" cried the girl.
"I mean that all have been killed searching for you, and battling with your enemies. They were soulless creatures, but they loved the mean lives they gave up so bravely for you whose father was the author of their misery25—you owe a great deal to them, Virginia."
"Poor things," murmured the girl, "but yet they are better off, for without brains or souls there could be no happiness in life for them. My father did them a hideous wrong, but it was an unintentional wrong. His mind was crazed with dwelling26 upon the wonderful discovery he had made, and if he wronged them he contemplated27 a still more terrible wrong to be inflicted28 upon me, his daughter."
"I do not understand," said Bulan.
"It was his intention to give me in marriage to one of his soulless monsters—to the one he called Number Thirteen. Oh, it is terrible even to think of the hideousness29 of it; but now they are all dead he cannot do it even though his poor mind, which seems well again, should suffer a relapse."
"Why do you loathe30 them so?" asked Bulan. "Is it because they are hideous, or because they are soulless?"
"Either fact were enough to make them repulsive," replied the girl, "but it is the fact that they were without souls that made them totally impossible—one easily overlooks physical deformity, but the moral depravity that must be inherent in a creature without a soul must forever cut him off from intercourse31 with human beings."
"And you think that regardless of their physical appearance the fact that they were without souls would have been apparent?" asked Bulan.
"I am sure of it," cried Virginia. "I would know the moment I set my eyes upon a creature without a soul."
With all the sorrow that was his, Bulan could scarce repress a smile, for it was quite evident either that it was impossible to perceive a soul, or else that he possessed32 one.
"Just how do you distinguish the possessor of a soul?" he asked.
The girl cast a quick glance up at him.
"You are making fun of me," she said.
"Not at all," he replied. "I am just curious as to how souls make themselves apparent. I have seen men kill one another as beasts kill. I have seen one who was cruel to those within his power, yet they were all men with souls. I have seen eleven soulless monsters die to save the daughter of a man whom they believed had wronged them terribly—a man with a soul. How then am I to know what attributes denote the possession of the immortal33 spark? How am I to know whether or not I possess a soul?"
Virginia smiled.
"You are courageous34 and honorable and chivalrous35—those are enough to warrant the belief that you have a soul, were it not apparent from your countenance that you are of the higher type of mankind," she said.
"I hope that you will never change your opinion of me, Virginia," said the man; but he knew that there lay before her a severe shock, and before him a great sorrow when they should come to where her father was and the girl should learn the truth concerning him.
That he did not himself tell her may be forgiven him, for he had only a life of misery to look forward to after she should know that he, too, was equally a soulless monster with the twelve that had preceded him to a merciful death. He would have envied them but for the anticipation36 of the time that he might be alone with her before she learned the truth.
As he pondered the future there came to him the thought that should they never find Professor Maxon or von Horn the girl need never know but that he was a human being. He need not lose her then, but always be near her. The idea grew and with it the mighty37 temptation to lead Virginia Maxon far into the jungle, and keep her forever from the sight of men. And why not? Had he not saved her where others had failed? Was she not, by all that was just and fair, his?
Did he owe any loyalty38 to either her father or von Horn? Already he had saved Professor Maxon's life, so the obligation, if there was any, lay all against the older man; and three times he had saved Virginia. He would be very kind and good to her. She should be much happier and a thousand times safer than with those others who were so poorly equipped to protect her.
As he stood silently gazing out across the jungle beneath them toward the new sun the girl watched him in a spell of admiration39 of his strong and noble face, and his perfect physique. What would have been her emotions had she guessed what thoughts were his! It was she who broke the silence.
"Can you find the way to the long-house where my father is?" she asked.
Bulan, startled at the question, looked up from his reverie. The thing must be faced, then, sooner than he thought. How was he to tell her of his intention? It occurred to him to sound her first—possibly she would make no objection to the plan.
"You are anxious to return?" he asked.
"Why, yes, of course, I am," she replied. "My father will be half mad with apprehension40, until he knows that I am safe. What a strange question, indeed." Still, however, she did not doubt the motives41 of her companion.
"Suppose we should be unable to find our way to the long-house?" he continued.
"Oh, don't say such a thing," cried the girl. "It would be terrible. I should die of misery and fright and loneliness in this awful jungle. Surely you can find your way to the river—it was but a short march through the jungle from where we landed to the spot at which you took me away from that fearful Malay."
The girl's words cast a cloud over Bulan's hopes. The future looked less roseate with the knowledge that she would be unhappy in the life that he had been mapping for them. He was silent—thinking. In his breast a riot of conflicting emotions were waging the first great battle which was to point the trend of the man's character—would the selfish and the base prevail, or would the noble?
With the thought of losing her his desire for her companionship became almost a mania42. To return her to her father and von Horn would be to lose her—of that there could be no doubt, for they would not leave her long in ignorance of his origin. Then, in addition to being deprived of her forever, he must suffer the galling mortification43 of her scorn.
It was a great deal to ask of a fledgling morality that was yet scarcely cognizant of its untried wings; but even as the man wavered between right and wrong there crept into his mind the one great and burning question of his life—had he a soul? And he knew that upon his decision of the fate of Virginia Maxon rested to some extent the true answer to that question, for, unconsciously, he had worked out his own crude soul hypothesis which imparted to this invisible entity2 the power to direct his actions only for good. Therefore he reasoned that wickedness presupposed a small and worthless soul, or the entire lack of one.
That she would hate a soulless creature he accepted as a foregone conclusion. He desired her respect, and that fact helped him to his final decision, but the thing that decided44 him was born of the truly chivalrous nature he possessed—he wanted Virginia Maxon to be happy; it mattered not at what cost to him.
The girl had been watching him closely as he stood silently thinking after her last words. She did not know the struggle that the calm face hid; yet she felt that the dragging moments were big with the question of her fate.
"Well?" she said at length.
"We must eat first," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone, and not at all as though he was about to renounce45 his life's happiness, "and then we shall set out in search of your father. I shall take you to him, Virginia, if man can find him."
"I knew that you could," she said, simply, "but how my father and I ever can repay you I do not know—do you?"
"Yes," said Bulan, and there was a sudden rush of fire to his eyes that kept Virginia Maxon from urging a detailed46 explanation of just how she might repay him.
In truth she did not know whether to be angry, or frightened, or glad of the truth that she read there; or mortified47 that it had awakened48 in her a realization49 that possibly an analysis of her own interest in this young stranger might reveal more than she had imagined.
The constraint50 that suddenly fell upon them was relieved when Bulan motioned her to follow him back down the trail into the gorge51 in search of food. There they sat together upon a fallen tree beside a tiny rivulet52, eating the fruit that the man gathered. Often their eyes met as they talked, but always the girl's fell before the open worship of the man's.
Many were the men who had looked in admiration at Virginia Maxon in the past, but never, she felt, with eyes so clean and brave and honest. There was no guile53 or evil in them, and because of it she wondered all the more that she could not face them.
"What a wonderful soul those eyes portray," she thought, "and how perfectly54 they assure the safety of my life and honor while their owner is near me."
And the man thought: "Would that I owned a soul that I might aspire55 to live always near her—always to protect her."
When they had eaten the two set out once more in search of the river, and the confidence that is born of ignorance was theirs, so that beyond each succeeding tangled56 barrier of vines and creepers they looked to see the swirling57 stream that would lead them to the girl's father.
On and on they trudged58, the man often carrying the girl across the rougher obstacles and through the little streams that crossed their path, until at last came noon, and yet no sign of the river they sought. The combined jungle craft of the two had been insufficient59 either to trace the way that they had come, or point the general direction of the river.
As the afternoon drew to a close Virginia Maxon commenced to lose heart—she was confident that they were lost. Bulan made no pretence60 of knowing the way, the most that he would say being that eventually they must come to the river. As a matter-of-fact had it not been for the girl's evident concern he would have been glad to know that they were irretrievably lost; but for her sake his efforts to find the river were conscientious61.
When at last night closed down upon them the girl was, at heart, terror stricken, but she hid her true state from the man, because she knew that their plight62 was no fault of his. The strange and uncanny noises of the jungle night filled her with the most dreadful forebodings, and when a cold, drizzling64 rain set in upon them her cup of misery was full.
Bulan rigged a rude shelter for her, making her lie down beneath it, and then he removed his Dyak war-coat and threw it over her, but it was hours before her exhausted65 body overpowered her nervous fright and won a fitful and restless slumber66. Several times Virginia became obsessed67 with the idea that Bulan had left her alone there in the jungle, but when she called his name he answered from close beside her shelter.
She thought that he had reared another for himself nearby, but even the thought that he might sleep filled her with dread63, yet she would not call to him again, since she knew that he needed his rest even more than she. And all the night Bulan stood close beside the woman he had learned to love—stood almost naked in the chill night air and the cold rain, lest some savage man or beast creep out of the darkness after her while he slept.
The next day with its night, and the next, and the next were but repetitions of the first. It had become an agony of suffering for the man to fight off sleep longer. The girl read part of the truth in his heavy eyes and worn face, and tried to force him to take needed rest, but she did not guess that he had not slept for four days and nights.
At last abused Nature succumbed68 to the terrific strain that had been put upon her, and the giant constitution of the man went down before the cold and the wet, weakened and impoverished69 by loss of sleep and insufficient food; for through the last two days he had been able to find but little, and that little he had given to the girl, telling her that he had eaten his fill while he gathered hers.
It was on the fifth morning, when Virginia awoke, that she found Bulan rolling and tossing upon the wet ground before her shelter, delirious70 with fever. At the sight of the mighty figure reduced to pitiable inefficiency71 and weakness, despite the knowledge that her protector could no longer protect, the fear of the jungle faded from the heart of the young girl—she was no more a weak and trembling daughter of an effete72 civilization. Instead she was a lioness, watching over and protecting her sick mate. The analogy did not occur to her, but something else did as she saw the flushed face and fever wracked body of the man whose appeal to her she would have thought purely73 physical had she given the subject any analytic74 consideration; and as a realization of his utter helplessness came to her she bent75 over him and kissed first his forehead and then his lips.
"What a noble and unselfish love yours has been," she murmured. "You have even tried to hide it that my position might be the easier to bear, and now that it may be too late I learn that I love you—that I have always loved you. Oh, Bulan, my Bulan, what a cruel fate that permitted us to find one another only to die together!"
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1
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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entity
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| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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galling
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| adj.难堪的,使烦恼的,使焦躁的 | |
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throttled
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| v.扼杀( throttle的过去式和过去分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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9
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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divulge
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| v.泄漏(秘密等)；宣布，公布 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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traitorous
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| adj. 叛国的, 不忠的, 背信弃义的 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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forestall
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| vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止 | |
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queries
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| n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问 | |
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concocting
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hideousness
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loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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47
mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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48
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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49
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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50
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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51
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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52
rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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53
guile
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| n.诈术 | |
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54
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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56
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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57
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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58
trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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59
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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60
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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64
drizzling
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| 下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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65
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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68
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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69
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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70
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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71
inefficiency
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| n.无效率，无能；无效率事例 | |
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effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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analytic
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| adj.分析的，用分析方法的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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