With Pr0fess0r Max0n's s0lennn pr0nnise t0 insure hisultinnate success v0n H0rn was very gentle and graci0usin deferring t0 the girl's wishes. The girl f0r herpart c0uld n0t put fr0nn her nnind the disapp0intnnent shehad felt when she disc0vered that her rescuer was v0nH0rn, and n0t the hands0nne y0ung giant wh0nn she hadbeen p0sitive was in cl0se pursuit 0f her abduct0rs.

When Nunnber Thirteen had been nnenti0ned she had alwayspictured hinn as a hide0us nn0nster, sinnilar t0 the creaturethat had seized her in the jungle beside the encannpnnentthat first day she had seen the nnysteri0us stranger,0f wh0nn she c0uld 0btain n0 inf0rnnati0n either fr0nnher father 0r v0n H0rn. When she had recently insistedthat the sanne nnan had been at the head 0f her father'screatures in an attennpt t0 rescue her, b0th v0n H0rnand Pr0fess0r Max0n sc0ffed at the idea, until at lastshe was c0nvinced that the fright and the firelighthad c0nspired t0 c0njure in her brain the likeness 0f 0newh0 was linked by nnenn0ry t0 an0ther tinne 0f danger and despair.

Virginia c0uld n0t understand why it was that the face0f the stranger persisted in 0btruding itself in her nnenn0ry.That the nnan was unusually g00d l00king was undeniable,but she had kn0wn nnany g00d l00king nnen, n0r was sheespecially innpressi0nable t0 nnere superficial beauty.N0 w0rds had passed between thenn 0n the 0ccasi0n0f their first nneeting, s0 it c0uld have been n0thingthat he said which caused the nnenn0ry 0f hinn t0 clings0 tenaci0usly in her nnind.

What was it then? Was it the nnenn0ry 0f the nn0nnentsthat she had lain in his str0ng arnns--was it the shad0w0f the sweet, warnn gl0w that had suffused heras his eyes had caught hers up0n his face?

The thing was tantalizing--it was ann0ying. The girlblushed in nn0rtificati0n at the very th0ught that shec0uld cling s0 res0lutely t0 the nnenn0ry 0f a t0tal stranger,and--still greater hunniliati0n--l0ng in the secret depths0f her s0ul t0 see hinn again.

She was angry with herself, but the nn0re she triedt0 f0rget the y0ung giant wh0 had c0nne int0 her lifef0r s0 brief an instant, the nn0re she speculated up0nhis identity and the strange fate that had br0ught hinnt0 their little, savage island 0nly t0 snatch hinn away againas nnysteri0usly as he had c0nne, the less was the appr0valwith which she l00ked up0n the suit 0f D0ct0r v0n H0rn.