“He made me without a soul,” he repeated over and over again to
himself, “but I have found a soul—she shall be my soul. Von Horn could
not explain to me what a soul is. He does not know. None of them knows.
I am wiser than all the rest, for I have learned what a soul is. Eyes
cannot see it—fingers cannot feel it, but he who possess it knows that
it is there for it fills his whole breast with a great, wonderful love
and worship for something infinitely finer than man’s dull senses can
gauge—something that guides him into paths far above the plain of
soulless beasts and bestial men.
“Let those who will say that I have no soul, for I am satisfied with
the soul I have found. It would never permit me to inflict on others
the terrible wrong that Professor Maxon has inflicted on me—yet he
never doubts his own possession of a soul. It would not allow me to
revel in the coarse brutalities of von Horn—and I am sure that von Horn
thinks he has a soul. And if the savage men who came tonight to kill
have souls, then I am glad that my soul is after my own choosing—I
would not care for one like theirs.”
The sudden equatorial dawn found the man still musing. The storm had
ceased and as the daylight brought the surroundings to view Number
Thirteen became aware that he was not alone in the campong. All about
him lay the eleven terrible men whom he had driven from the bungalow
the previous night. The sight of them brought a realization of new
responsibilities. To leave them here in the campong would mean the
immediate death of Professor Maxon and the Chinaman. To turn them into
the jungle might mean a similar fate for Virginia Maxon were she
wandering about in search of the encampment— Number Thirteen could not
believe that she was dead. It seemed too monstrous to believe that he
should never see her again, and he knew so little of death that it was
impossible for him to realize that that beautiful creature ever could
cease to be filled with the vivacity of life.
The young man had determined to leave the camp himself—partly on
account of the cruel words Professor Maxon had hurled at him the night
before, but principally in order that he might search for the lost
girl. Of course he had not the remotest idea where to look for her, but
as von Horn had explained that they were upon a small island he felt
reasonably sure that he should find her in time.
As he looked at the sleeping monsters near him he determined that the
only solution of his problem was to take them all with him. Number
Twelve lay closest to him, and stepping to his side he nudged him with
the butt of the bull whip he still carried. The creature opened his
dull eyes.
“Get up,” said Number Thirteen.
Number Twelve rose, looking askance at the bull whip.
“We are not wanted here,” said Number Thirteen. “I am going away and
you are all going with me. We shall find a place where we may live in
peace and freedom. Are you not tired of always being penned up?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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