The Rajah's Fortress — page 78: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE RAJAH'S FORTRESS. 69 and then turned his attention to his wounded arm. A fold of linen from his turban was converted into a neat bandage. The knife blade had cut his finger severely, and to stop the bleeding he trailed his hand in the water for a little while and then tied it up also. The idol drifted slowly along, for the river was now running sluggishly, and winding among nu- merous small islands. Dale made no attempt to hasten its speed, but balanced himself very coolly on the log, keeping a sharp lookout ahead as he neared the bend of the river. It was a very long and sweeping curve, and as the Indian on his strange raft reached the apex, and saw the clear open stretch before him, marked by the silvery trail of the moon, he gave a start, for directly in the center of the channel and barely half a mile below him lay the black hull of the other steamer, swaying to and fro in the wavy re- flection of the lanterns that dangled from the upper deck. His first action was astrangeone. Witha quick movement of his hands and feet he checked the progress of the idol. One thing was now evident, in connection with the cold-blooded murder of Forbes, Dalo’s object was to prevent the message for assistance from reaching the steamer. No other cause could well exist for the crime, yet what COLUM 1OOO SS co