Page:Doughty--Mirrikh or A woman from Mars.djvu/40

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
36
MIRRIKH

Nagkon Wat. I reiterate this in order that the situation may be more fully understood. We, let it be remembered, were standing on the middle one, and I now raised my hand and pointed in triumph toward the summit of the lower tower, on our right.

He was there!

Standing upon the topmost platform, leaning against the balustrade we all saw him. His eyes were directed toward the rising sun.

“Amazing!” cried Philpot.

But Maurice was to be satisfied by no simple expression of astonishment.

“Hello! Hello, there!” he shouted.

Then I saw him look toward us, but at so great a distance the expression of the visible portion of his face could not be discerned.

As if in answer to Maurice’s shout he waved his hand, turned, entered the low doorway behind him and disappeared.




CHAPTER V.

JUNGLE ADVENTURES.

It seems to me that I have now rendered tolerably clear the perplexed frame of mind in which Maurice De Veber and I found ourselves at the beginning of our fourth day at Angkor.

Day succeeded day and our perplexity was in no way diminished—rather increased.

Not that the mysterious Mr. Mirrikh manifested himself again.

Quite the contrary. We saw nothing of him, and just there the mystery lay.

Immediately upon our descent from the central tower of the ruined temple, the Reverend Miles Philpot set himself the task of finding “that man.”

Briefly, he did not succeed; and that with every opportunity for success; for Philpot among his other accomplishments—and they were certainly many—numbered a very