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Van De Graaffs
PHOTOGRAPHIC ATLAS
for the

LABORATORY
 Basic Characteristics of Domains Common Classification System of
Domain Domain Domain Some Groups of Living Eukaryotes
Charac teristics Bacteria Archaea Eukarya Unikonta
A111oebozoa
Nuclear envelope No No Yes Phylum A111ocbozoa
encloses genetic Phylum Myxomycota
material (DNA) Opisthokonta
Kingdon, Fungi
Circular chromosomes Yes (usually) Yes No Phylum C hytridiomycota
Phylum Zygomycota
Membrane-enclosed No No Yes Phylum Glomcromycota
organelles Phylum Ascomycota
Phylum Basidiomycota
Rotary flagella Yes Yes No (cilia an d Kingdon, Anin,alia
flagella are Phylum Porifera
undulatory) Phylum C tcnophora
Multicellular No (although some Yes (but Phylum C nidaria
No
.. species" * Protostontia
cyanobacteria could there are also
Lophotrochozoa
be exceptions) unicellular Phylum Rotifcra
eukaryotes) Phylum Platyhelminthes
Cell walls (if present) No Phylum Gastrotricha
Yes No
Phylum Brachiopoda
composed of Phylum Phoronida
peptidoglycan Phylum Nemcrtca
Plasma membrane Yes No (ether Yes Phylum Entoprocta
lipids made of linkages) Phylum Bryozoa
Phylum Annelida
unbranched fatty
Phylum Mollusca
acids bonded to Ecdysozoa
glycerol by este r Phylum Kinorhyncha
bonds Phylum Nematoda
Phylum Nematomorpha
RNA polymerase of No (5 subunits) Yes ( 13) Yes (14+) Phylum Arthropoda
more than 10 subunits Phylum Tardigrada
Number d istinct types 1 1 (closely 3 (Pol I, II, Deuterostontia
of RNA polymerase related to and Ill) Phylum Hemichordata
Phylum Echinodermata
Pot 11) Phylum C hordata
Initiation of translation N-formylmethionine Methionine Methionine Bikonta
(fMet) Excavata
Phylum Euglenozoa
'* Due primarily to thetr prochv1ty for horizontal gene transfer. Bacteria and Eukarya don't Phylum Mctamonada
have speoes m the same sense that most Eukarya do (independently evolving evolutionary Kingdon, Plantae
hneages with unique ongms and fates). Phylum R hodophyta
Green Algae
Phylum C hlorophyta
Phylogenetic Relationships among Land Plants
Phylum Hcpatophyta
the Major Groups of Eukaryotes Phylum Bryophyta
Phylum Anthocerophyta
Bacteria Vascular Plants
Phylum Lycophyta
Phylum Psilotophyta
Archaea Phylum Ptcridophyta
Phylum Equisctophyta
Seed Plants
Amoebozoa Gyn1nospern1s
i-
Phylum Ginkgophyta
Phylum Cycadophyta
- Opistokonta
- Excavata
Phylum
Phylum
Angiospern1s
Pinophyta
Gnctophyta

Phylum Magnoliophyta
(= Anthophyta)
Plantae Rhizaria
Phylum Foramin ifcra
Phylum Cercozoa

.. Rhizaria

Alveolata
Alveolata

Stratnenopila
Phylum Ciliophora

Phylum Hctcmkontophyta
Phylum Oomycota
Stramenopila Phylum Phacophyta

..
vu
 Acknowledgments
Many professional~ have as.~isted in the preparation of Ui11 De Gra~O's Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory, Eighth Edition, and have
shared our enthusiasn1 about its value for students of biology. We are especially appreciative of DanjeJ Huber fro,n Universit)' ofTan1pa,
Judy Nesntith fron1 University of Michigan-Dearborn, Teresa A. Porter from Salem College, Chrissy Sin1n1ons from Southern IUinois
Universit)' Edwardsville, Heidi R ichter from Unjversit)' of the Fraser Valley, Heather Br ient-Johnson from Inver Hill~ Con1n1uruty CoJJege,
Pam Dobbins fro,n Shelton State Community College, and Matthew McClure from La1nar State CoJJege for their detailed review of this
atlas. Ors. Ronald A. Meyers.John F. Mull, and San1uel I. Zeveloff of the Department of Zoology at Weber State University and Dr. Sa,nuel
R . Rushforth and Dr. R obert R . Robbins at U tah Valley Uruversiry were especially helpful and supportive of this project.The radiographs,
CT scans, and MR images have been n1ade pos.~ible through the generosity of Gar)' M .Watts, M.D., and the Department of Radiology at
Utah Valley R egional Medical Center.
We thank Jake Christiansen.James Barrett, and Austen Slade for their specin1en dissections. Others who aided in speci,nen dissections
were Nathan A.Jacobson, D.O., R. Richard Rasmussen, M.D., and Sandra E . Sephton, Ph.D. We are indebted to Douglas Morton and
the personnel at Morton Publislung Co1npany for the opporturury, encouragement, and support to prepare this atlas.

Photo Credits
Many of the photographs of living plants and aru,nals were nude possible because of the cooperation and generosity of the San Diego Zoo,
San Diego Wild Anintal Park, Sea World (San Diego, CA), Hogle Zoo (Salt Lake C ity, UT), and Aquatica (Orem, UT) . We are especially
appreciative to the profes.~ional biologists at these fine institutions.
We are appreciative of Dr.W ilford M. Hess and Dr.William B. Winborn for their help in obtaining photographs and photonticrographs.
T he electron nticrograplL~ are courteS)' of Scott C . MiJJer and James VAllen .
Figures 1.13, 4.22, 4.24, 4.26, 4.27, 4.28, 4.29, and 4.35 from A Photographic Atlas for the Microbiology Laboratory, 3rd Edition, by Michael
J. Leboffe and Burton E. Pierce. © 200 l Morton Publislting.
Figure 1.2 Leica Microsystems
Figures 5.138, 5.139, 5.161, and 5.292 Chan1pion Paper Co.
Figure 6.2 Forrest M;chael Brem
Figure 6.3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Figures 7.12 and 7.101 NOAA (National Ocearuc and Atmospheric Admirustration)
Figure 7.199 Ari Paru
Figure 7.201 NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 20 10
Figure 7.222 (f) Linda Snook, NOAA
Figure 7.247 (a) Louis Porras
Figures 7.214 , 7.217, 7.219, 7.220, 7.221, 8.4, 8 .11, and 8.12 fro,n Comparative Anatomy: 1Wa11ual <if Vertebrate Dissection, 2 nd Edition, by
Dale W Fishbeck and Aurora Sebastian; . © 2008 Morton Publishing.
Figures 8 .110, 8.111, 8.112, 8 .113, 8.11 4, 8.115, 8 .116, 8.117, 8.118, 8.119, and 8.120 from Ma111111alia11 Anatomy: 11,e Cat, 2nd Edition,
b)' Aurora Sebastiani and Dale W Fishbeck. © 2005 Morton Publi~hing.

Book Team
President and CEO: David M. Ferguson
Senior Acqu isitions Editor: Marta R . Pentecost
T)•pography and Text Design:John L. Crawle)'
Developmental Editor: Sarah D.T ho,nas
Editorial Project Managers: Rayna S. Baile)' and Trina Lambert
IUustrations: hnagineering Media Services, Inc.
Cover Design : W ill Kelley

VU J
 Contents
a CHAPTER 1 Cells and Tissues 1
Plant Cells and Tissues 3
Animal Cells and Tissues 7

•a CHAPTER 2 Perpetuation of Life: Mitosis, Meiosis. and Developn,ent

CHAPTER 3 Bacteria and Archaea

17

27

Cl CHAPTER 4 Select Single-Celled Eukaryote Supergroup Phyla ( "Protists") 35

Phylum Heterokontophyta - diatoms and golden algae 37
Phylum Dinoflagellata - dinoflagellates 40
Phylum Amoebozoa - amoebas 41
Phylum Apicomplexa - P/asmodlum 42
Phylum Metamonada and Phylum Euglenozoa - flagellated protozoans 42
Phylum Ciliophora - ciliates and paramecia 43
Phylum Chlorophyta - green algae 44
Phylum Phaeophyta - brown algae and giant kelp 55
Phylum Rhodophyta - red algae 60
Phylum Myxomycota - plasmodial slime molds 63
Phylum Oomycota - water molds, white rusts, and downy mildews 65

CHAPTER 5 Plantae 67
Phylum Marchantiophyta (= Hepatophyta) - liverworts 69
Phylum Anthocerophyta - hornworts 73
Phylum Bryophyta - mosses 74
Phylum Lycophyta (= Lycopodiophyta) - club mosses, quillworts, and spike mosses 78
Phylum Pteridophyta, subphylum Psilophyta (= Psilopsida) - whisk ferns 82
Phylum Pteridophyta, subphylum Equisetophyta - horsetails 85
Phylum Pteridophyta, subphylum Polypodiophyta - ferns 88
Phylum Cycadophyta - cycads 92
Phylum Ginkgophyta - Ginkgo 97
Phylum Pinophyta (= Coniferophyta) - conifers 99
Phylum Magnoliophyta (= Anthophyta) - angiosperms: monocots and dicots 106

Cl CHAPTER 6 Fungi 135

Phylum Chytridiomycota - chytrids 135
Phylum Zygomycota - conjugation fungi 136
Phylum Ascomycota - yeasts, molds, morels, and truffles 138
Phylum Basidiomycota - mushrooms, toadstools, rusts, and smuts 142
Lichens (symbiotic associations of fungi and algae) 147

lX
• CHAPTER 7 Animalia

Phylum Porifera - sponges

Phylum Ctenophora - comb jellies
151
153
149

Phylum Cn idaria - hydra, jellyfish, and corals 154

Phylum Platyhelminthes - flatworms 160
Phylum Mollusca - mollusks, chitons, snails, clams, and sq uids 166
Phylum Brachiopoda - lamp shells 172
Phylum Nemertea - proboscis worms 173
Phylum Annelida - segmented worms 173
Phylum Nematoda - roundworms and nematodes 176
Phylum Rotifera - rotifers 178
Phylum Arthropoda - arachnids, crustaceans, and insects 180
Phylum Tardigrada - water bears 193
Phylum Echinodermata - sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers 194
Phylum Hemichordata - acorn worms 199
Phylum Chordata - amphioxus, fishes , amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals 200

a CHAPTER 8 Vertebrate Dissections

Class Chondrichthyes 223
223

Superclass Osteichthyes - Class Actinopterygii 229

Class Amphibia 231
Class Sauropsida (= Reptilia) 239
Class Reptilia - Archosauria - Clade Aves 244
Class Mammalia 246
Rat dissection 246
Fetal pig dissection 250
Cat dissection 255
Mammalian heart and brain dissection 263

• CHAPTER 9 Human Biology

Skeletal System
Muscular System
270
275
267

Nervous System and Sensory Organs 281

Cardiovascular System 286
Respiratory System 288
Digestive System 290
Urogenital System and Development 293

• Glossary 297

• Index 305

x
All organisn1s are con1posed of one or n1ore cells. Cells are the 5. cellular n1arkers (antigens), w luch identify the
basic structural and functional units of organjsn1s. A cell is a blood and tissue type.
nunute, n1en1brane- enclosed, protoplasnuc n1ass consisting of The carbohydrate molecules:
chro1noson1es surrounded by cytoplas,n . Specific organelles are 1. repel negative obj ects d ue to their negative charge;
contained in the cytoplasn1 that function independently but in 2. act as receptors for horn1ones and o ther regulatory
coordination w ith one another. Prokaryotic cells (Fig. 1.1) and n1olecules;
eukaryotic cells (Figs. 1.3 and 1.18) are the t\VO basic types. 3. forn1 specific cell n1arke.rs that enable like cells to
Prokaryotic cells lack a ,nembrane-bo und nucleus, instead attach and aggregate into tissues; and
containing a single strand of 11ucleic acid.These cells contain few 4. en ter into inunune reactions.
organelles. A rigid or senurigid cell ,vall provides shape to the Tiss11es are groups of sinular cells that perforin specific
cell outside the cell (plasma) 111e111bm11e. Bacteria are exan1ples of functions (see Fig. 1.9). A flo,vering plant, for example,
prokaryotic, single- celled organisms. is con1posed of three tissue systen1s:
E11karyofic cells contain a tru e uucleus w ith n1ultiple 1. the ground tissue system, providing support,
chron1oson1es, have several types of specialized organelles, and regeneration, respiration, photosynthesis, and
have a differentially pern1eable cell n1en1brane. Organisn1s storage;
consisting of eukaryotic cells include protozoa, fungi, algae, 2. the 11ascular tissue system, providing conduction
plan t~, and invertebrate and vertebrate ani,nals. pa.ssage,vays throug h me plant; and
Plant cells differ in son1e ways from other eukaryotic 3. the dennal tissue system, providing protection to the
cells in that their cell ,valls contain cellulose for stiffuess (Fig. plant.
1.3). Plant cells also contain vacuoles for ,vater storage and
The tissues of the body of a n1ulticellular anin1al are
men1 brane-bound chloroplasts ,vith pho tosyntl1etic pign1ents for cla.s.sified into four principal types (see Fig. 1.36):
pho tosynthesis. 1. epithelial tissue covers body and organ surfaces, lines
The 11ude11s is the large, sphe.r oid body ,vi thin the eukaryotic body cavities and lununa (hollo,v portions of body
cell that contains the genetic material of the cell.The nucleus is tubes), and forn1s various glands;
enclosed by a double n1en1brane called the 1111dear membra11e, or 2. co1111ective tiss11e binds, supports, and protects body
nuclear eiwelope. The 1111cleolus is a dense, nonn1e1nbranous body parts;
con1posed of protein and RNA molecules. T he chromatin are 3. 11111scle tissue contracts to prod uce n1ove.n1ents; and
fibe.rs of protein and DNA n1olecules mat n1ake up a eukaryotic 4. nervous tissue initiates and transnuts nerve i,npulses.
chron1oson1e. Prior to cellular division, tl1e chron1atin shortens
and coils into rod-shaped c/,romoso111es. Chron1oson1es consist of
DNA and structural proteins called l,istones.
The cytoplasm of the eukaryotic cell is the 1nediun1 bet\veen
the nuclear n1e.n1brane and the cell n1e1nbrane. Organelles are . -t
sn1all n1en1brane-bound structures ,vitlun me cyroplasn1. T he
cellular functions carried out by organelles are referred to :.:....-+;:...- N uckoid
as metabolism. T he structure and function of the nucleus and '' - - -- Ribosomes
pr incipal organelles are listed in Table 1. L In order for cells - - " - Cytoplasm
to ren1ain alive, n1etabolize, and ,naintain hon1eosta.sis, they
must have access to nutrie.n ts and respiratory gases, be able to
elinu nate ,vastes, and be in a constant, protective environinent.
The cell 111e111bra11e is co,nposed of phospholipid, protein, and Plas1na
carbohydrate n1olecules.The cell n1e1nbrane gives forn1 to a cell
and controls me pas.sage of n1aterial into and out of a cell. More
specifically, the proteins in the cell 1ne111brane provide:
Cell wall
1. structural support;
2. a n1echanisn1 of molecule transport across the mcinbranc
n1e1nbrane;
3. enzy,natic control of chenucal reactions;
4. receptors for horino nes and other regulatory Figure 1.1 A generalized prokaryotic cell.
n1olecules; and

1
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

Table 1.1 Structure and Function of Eukar otic Cellular Com onents
Component Structure Function
Cell (plasma) membrane Composed of protein and phospholipid Provides form to cell; controls passage
molecules of materials into and out of cell
Cell wall Cellulose fibrils Provides structure and rigidity to plant cell
Cytoplasm Fluid to jellylike substance Serves as suspending medium for
organelles and dissolved molecules
Endoplasmic reticulum Interconnecting membrane-lined Enables cell transport and processing of
channels metabolic chemicals
Ribosome Granules of nucleic acid (RNA) and protein Synthesizes protein
Mitochondrion Double-membraned sac w ith cristae (chambers) Assembles ATP (cellular respiration)
Golgi complex Flattened membrane-lined chambers Synthesizes carbohydrates and packages
molecules for secretion
Lysosome Membrane-surrounded sac of enzymes Digests foreign molecules and worn cells
Centrosome Mass of protein that may contain rodlike Organizes spindle fibers and assists
centrioles mitosis and meiosis
Vacuole Membranous sac Stores and excretes substances w ithin the
cytoplasm; regulates cellular turgor
pressure
Microfibril and Protein strands and tubes Forms cytoskeleton, supports cytoplasm,
microtubule and transports materials
Cilium and flagellum Cytoplasmic extensions from cell; containing Movements of particles along cell
micro tubules surface, or cell movement
Nuc leus N uclear envelope (membrane), nucleolus, and Contains genetic code that dir ects cell
chromatin (DNA) activity; forms ribosomes
Chloroplast Inner (grana) membrane within outer membrane ll'M)lved in photosynthesis

2
2
Fig ure 1.2 (a) A
3
•
.)
coinpound 111onocular
4 4 microscope, and (b) a
cOJn pound binocular
m1croscopc.
:, 5 1. Eyepiece (ocular)
2. Head
6 3. Arm
7 6 4. N osepiece
8 5. Objective
7
6. Stage clip
9 8
7. Coarse focus
9 adjusnnent knob
10
10 8. Stage
11
9. Condenser
11 10. Fine foc us
12
12 adjust111ent knob
13 7 11 . Collector lens with iris
!,;!,
'13 12. llh uninator (inside)
(a ) 13. Base
(b)

2
 Cells and Tissues
D
c Plant Cells and Tissues )
Figure 1.3 A typical eukaryotic
plant cell.
l. Cell wall
2. Cell (plasma) membrane
3. Rough endoplasmic reticulum
4. N ucleus
5. N ucleolus
6. Nuclear membrane (envelope)
10 7. Lysosome
8. Smooth endoplasmic re ticu)mn
9. Mitochondrion
10. Vacuole
11. Golgi com plex
12. Chloroplast
7- ---'rt'.
8 - -~,;..=.=---____,.,~,:
I1
9 ----1::~~rr,
12

O rg an (leaf)
comprised of
tissues

C ell

Leaf tissues
comprised of cells

Figure 1.4 T he structural levels of plant organization.

3
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

3
1

:,
2 8
4

(a) 430X
Figure 1.5 Live Elodea sp. leaf cells (a) photographed at the center of the leaf and (b) at the edge of the leaf.
1. Cell wall 3. Nucleus 5. Spin~ shaped cell on 6. Nucleus 8. Cd! wall
2. C hloroplasts 4. Vacuole exposed edge of leaf 7. C hloroplasts

Figure 1.6 (a) Cells of a potato, $ola1111m tuberosrm,, showing starch grains at a low magnification, and (b) at a high magnification . Food
is stored as starch in potato cells, which is deposited in organelles called amyloplasts.
1. Cell wall 2. Cytoplasm 3. Starch grains 4. N ucleus

1
4
., ~:
't., .•
~
\> I •
I: ~i
5 2

6
'
7

8
2
3

Figure 1.7 An electron micrograph of a portion of a Figure 1.8 A fractured barley smut spore.
sugarcane leaf cell. 1. Cell wall 2. Cell membrane
1. Mitochondrion 6. Stroma
2. Cell membrane 7. T hylakoid membrane
3. Cell wall 8. C hloroplast envelope
4. Nucleus (outer membrane)
5 . Grana

4
 Cells and Tissues
D
Tenninal bud The apical mcristc111
Apical -----r..~ of the shoot produces
111CTIStCJ11 linear growth and
. .
o f shoot gives n sc to new
foliage, branches, and
flowers.
Leaf:
Veins
M argin
Axillary - - - ; Xylem
bud Lainina MesophyU
(blade) Phloem
S ten1: M idrib
11-- Cortcx
- - Pith
1
11--Xylem Epidermis
Petiole
11-- Phloem

Root:
~ - - - Priinary root
r"""'"'"":- Secondary root Roots
S ten,
Epidermis
!'/;,.---'' r- Xylem
2'.;lii!i<"-~L-....- Phloem
!-'--R oot cap
~ - Cortex
~ ,!,. R oot hairs
Roo t apex (or apical meristcm of root)
Root

Figure 1.9 A diagram illustrating the anatomy and the principal organs and tissues of a typical dicot.

1
1

2
3

Figure 1.10 A longitudinal section thro ugh the :\')'km Figure 1.11 Longimdinal section through the :\')'k m of a
of a pine, Pilms, showing tracheid cells w ith prominent squash stc 111, CumrbUa maxima. T he vcssd clc111ents shown here
bordered pits. have several ditfcrent patter ns of wall thickenings.
1. Bordered pits 3. Cell wall 1. Parench)'lna 3. Helical vessel clements
2. Tracheid cell 2. Annular vessel clements 4. Pitted vessel clements

5
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

2
2

1
3

430X
Figure 1.12 A section through a leaf of the vcnus Oytrap, Figure 1.13 An astrosclcrcid in the petiole of a pond lily, N11plwr.
Diorwea r,msdpula, showing cpidenna) cells with a digestive gland. 1. Astrosclereid 3. Crystals in cell wall
The gland is composed of secretory parenchytna cells. 2. Parenchytna cell
1. Epidermis 2. Gland

Figure 1.14 A transverse section through the leaf of a Figure 1.15 A section through the endosper m tissue of a
yucca, Yr,ua brevifolia, showing a vascular bundle (vein). persimmon, Diospyros virginiarw. Thes.c thick- walled cells arc
Note the prominent sclcrenchynu tissue forming caps actually parcnchyma cells. Cytoplas111ic connections, o r
on both sides of the bundle. plasmodcsmata, arc evident between cclJs.
l . Leaf parcnchy111a 3. Xylem 1. Plasmodcsmata 2. Cell lumen (interior space)
2. Leaf sckrcnchyma 4. Phloem
(bundle cap) 5. Bundle cap

Figure 1.16 A transverse section through the stem of flax, Figure 1.17 A section through the stem of a wax plant, Hoya
U1111111. Note the thick- walled 6bers as compared to the camosa. Thick- walled sdcrcid~ {stone cells) arc evident.
thin- walled parenchyma cells. 1. Parcnchyma cell 2. Sclereid (stone cell)
1. Fibers 2. Parenchyma cell containing starch g rains

6
 Cells and Tissues
D
c Animal Cells and Tissues )
Cytoskdeton:
Secretory Nucleus:
vesicle~ ,-,,,;,,= - -- -- C hromatin
Microtubulc &'-';-:.-:::-- - - Nuclear

Ccntroson1c:
Pcriccntriolar
111atcrial
Ccntriolcs

Plasma~ Rough
mcn1branc endoplasmic
reticulum
Lysosmnc
Ribosmnc
Smooth
cndoplas1nic Golgi complex
reticulum
Pcroxisomc

Mitochondrion
Figure 1.18 A sectional view
Microtubulc of a typical animal cell.

1
1

Figure 1 . 19 An electron micrograph of a An dcctron micrograph of various organ elles.

freeze- fractured nuclear envelope showing the 1. N ucleus 3. M itochondr ion
nuclear pores. 2. Ccntr iolcs 4. Golgi complex
1. N uclear pores
7
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

2 Figure 1.22 An electron micrograph of lysosomes.

1. Nucleus 2. Lysosomes

Figure 1.21 An electron micrograph of ccntrioles. The

ccntrio ]es arc positioned at right ang les to o ne ano ther.
1. Centriolc (shown in trans- 2 . Centriolc (shown in
verse section) lo ngitudinal section)

1
2000X
Figure 1.24 An electron micrograph of cilia (tr.mswrse
section) showing the char.,crcristic "9 + 2" arrangement of
microrubu1es in the traJ1svcrsc sections.
1. Microtubules

2000X
Figure 1.23 An electron micrograph of a mitochondrion. 2000X
1. O uter mcinbranc 3. Crista Figure 1.25 An electron micrograph showing the
2 . IUner meinbranc difference between a microvillus and a cilium.
1. C ilium 2. M icmvillus

8
 Cells and Tissues
D
1

Figure 1.26 An electron nucrograph Figure 1.27 An electron Figure 1.28 An electron n ticrograph
of smooth endoplas,nic reticulu,n &on, nucrograph of rough endoplasntic of rough endoplasntic reticulum secreting
the testis. reticulum . collagenotL~ filarnen~ to the outside of the cell.
1. Riboso111es 1. N u cleus 3. Collagenous
2 . Cisternae 2 . R ough filan1ents
endoplasnuc 4. Cell men1brane
retic ulunt

Figure 1.29 An epithelial cell from a check Figure 1.30 An electron nucrograph of a human erythrocyte
scrapmg. (red blood cell).
1. N ucleus
2. Cytoplas111
3. Cell membrane

9
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

( 1)
2

--
(2) JJl90X
Figure 1.31 Types of leukocytes. N ote that each photo
contains several erythrocytes; these cell~ lack nuclei.
Figure 1.32 An electron micrograph of a capillary containing
an erythrocyte.
1. Neutrophil 4. Lym phocyte 1. Lumen of capillary 3. Endothelial cell
2. Basophil 5. Monocyte 2. Nucleus of endothelial cell 4. Erythrocyte
3. Eosinophil
3

Figure 1.33 An electron

micrograph of a skeletal
muscle myofibril, showing
the striations.
1. M itochondria
2. Z line
4 3. A band
4. l band
5. T- rubule
6. Sarcoplasmic rcticulu111
7. M line
8. Sarco111erc

1
A l
2
4
2
•
.)

• 4
3
400
Figure 1.34 An electron micrograph of an ostcocytc Figure 1.35 A neuron smear.
(bone cell) in cortical bone n1atrix. 1. Nuclei of sur rounding neuroglial cells
'I . Bone matrix 3 . Lacuna 2. Nucleus of neuron
2. Canaliculi 4. Osteocyte 3. Nucleolus of neuron
4 . Dendrites of neuron
10
 Cells and Tissues
D
Epithelial Tissue Connective Tissue
Epithelial tis.~ue covers the outside of Connective tis.~ue fu nctions as a binding
the body and Jines all organs. Its printar y and supportive tissue for all other tissues
function is to provide protection. in the organism.

Simple squamous epithelium

Dense regular connective tissue
~ / Nucleus

.Y Cell
- - - - 111cmbranc

Basement
/ r-- - - - 111cmbranc
Simple cuboidal epithelium (Jantina)
-I Fat droplet

;:;-----__ Cytoplasm
1

Adipose tissue

O stcocytc
!-- Matrix

Simple columnar epithelium

Bone tissue

Muscle Tissue Nervous Tissue

Muscle ti.~sue is a tis.~ue adapted to contract. N ervous tissue functions- to receive
Muscles provide n1oven1ent and functionality sti,n uli and trans,rtits signals fron1 one
to the orgartism. part of the organism to another.

Schwann ccU
(ncurolc1nmocytc)
+ - - Striation
- - Nuc1cus
\
Axon
Skeletal muscle

Tcnninal
button

Neuron
Cardiac muscle

Nucleus

Smooth muscle

figure 1.36 Some examples of animal tissue>. Neurological cell

11
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

1
1

-
- - -
-
-
Figure 1.37 Simple squamous epithelium.
1. Single layer of flattened cells with elliptical nuclei
300

Figure 1.38 Simple cuboidal epithelium .

1. Single layer of cdls with round nuclei

300X
Figure 1.39 Simple colmnnar epithelium. Figure 1.40 Stratified squamous epithelium.
l . Single layer of cells with oval nuclei 1. Mttlriplc lay,:rs of cells that arc flattened at the upper layer

2
3

~•
- _......_ -
Figure 1.41 Stratified columnar epithelium. Figure 1.42 Pscudostrati6cd columnar epithelium.
1. Cells are balloon-like at surface 1. Cilia
2. Goblet cell
3. Pscudostratificd columnar epithelium
4 . Base111ent mc111brane

12
 Cells and Tissues
D

Figure 1.43 Adipose connective tissue. Figure 1.44 Loose com1ectivc tissue stained for fibers.
1. Adipocytcs (adipose cdls) 1. Elastic fibers (black)
2. Collagen fibers (pink)

-- --
-
- 1

.
~.. . .
........,'11>,.~.
.
' '11.;~···
'

- - ..
-- -
- 2

Figure 1.45 Dense regular connective tissue. Figure 1.46 Dense irregular connective tissue.
1. N uclei of fibroblasts arranged in parallel rows between 1. Epider mis
pink- stained collagen fibers 2. Dense irregular connective tissue (rcticttlar layer of dermis)

Figure 1.47 An electron micrograph of dense irregttlar Figure 1.48 Reticular connective tissue.
connecnvc ttssuc. 1. Reticular fibers
1. Collagcnous fibers

13
a A Photographic Atlas for the Biology Laboratory

2
1
2

Figure 1.49 Hyaline cartilage. Figure 1.50 Elastic cartilage.

1. C hondrocytcs 1. C hondrocytes 3. Elastic fibers
2. Hyaline cartilage 2 . Lacunae

Figure 1.51 Fibrocartilage. Figure 1.52 A transverse section of two osteons

1. C hondrocytes arranged in a row in co111pact bone tissue.
1. Lacunae containing osteocytes 3. Lamcllae
2. Central (Haversian) canals
ar::-.,,-..--- ~ ·
•
1~
' .. .,.
•. I
,' ,. .~
•• ..
-
>' ~
•
, ..
, • .
,
\,
,
r •
•

'~ ;,,; •
.. ..,.... ~
, ......
.,..' .
•

•
•,
Figure 1.53 An electron micrograph of bone tissue. Figure 1.54 An electron micrograph o f bone tissue fo rmation.
1. Interstitial laine llae 4 . Lacunae 1. Bone min eral (calcium salts stain black)
2. Lainellae 5. Ostcon (Haversian 2. Collagenous filament (distinct banding pattern)
3. Central canal system) 3. Collagen-secreting ostcoblasts
(H avcrsian canal)
14
Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 "Know him! Know him! I worked for him at the Essex hacienda----
"

"Essex hacienda!"

"Yes, he gave it that name because he love it. 'All my family, Paz,'
he say to me one day when I was painting the name on waggon--'all
my family come from Essex many, many long years. All born there--
grandmother, father, mother, myself, and daughter Isobel, Paz. All;
every one. Oh! Paz,' he say to me, 'England always been good
enough for us till my turn come. Then I very bad young man--very
dis--dis--dis--something he say. Now, he say, I have to be the first
exile of family, I and poor little Isobel. No Leigh ever have to live
abroad before!"

"Did he say all that, Paz? Is this the truth?"

"Truff, sir! Sir, my father Spanish gentleman, my mother Carib

lady. Very fine lady."

"All right. I beg your pardon. Never mind, I did not mean that.
And so you remember when this Mr. Ritherdon was born, eh? Did
the old gentleman seem pleased?"

"He very pleased about the son--very sad about the poor wife. He
weep much, oh! many weeps. But he give us all money to drink
Sebastian's health, and he tell us that as his poor wife dead. Mam
Carmaux come keep the house and bring up little boy."

"Did he?" said Julian, and then lapsed into silence as they rode
along. Yet, to himself he said continually: "What is this mystery?
What is the root of it all? What is at the bottom? Somehow I feel as
certain as that I am alive that I was this son--yet--yet--he was
pleased--gave money--oh! shall I ever unravel it all?"
 CHAPTER XVI.

A DROP OF BLOOD

They were drawing near the coast now as the sun sank slowly
away over the crest of the Cockscomb mountains towards
Guatemala; and already there were signs that the night--the swift
night that comes to all spots which lie betwixt Capricorn and Cancer-
-was drawing near.

The sun, although now hidden behind the topmost ridge of the
Cockscombs, was still an hour above the blue horizon, yet
nevertheless the signs were apparent that he would soon be gone
altogether. The parrots and the monkeys were becoming still and
quiet in the branches--that is to say, as still and quiet as these
screeching and chattering creatures ever do become in their native
state--in dark and shade places where now the evening glow scarce
penetrated, the fireflies gleamed little sparks and specks of molten
gold; while, above all, there rose now from the earth that true
tropical sign of coming night, the incense exuded by countless
flowers and shrubs, as well as the cool damp of the earth when
refreshed by the absence of the burning sun. Sometimes, too, across
their path, an unmade one, or only made by the tracks of wild deer
or the mountain cow, two or three of the former would glide swiftly
and gracefully, seeking their lair, or the iguana would scuttle before
their animals into the nearest copse, while the quash and gibonet
were often visible.

They rode slowly, not only because of the heat, but also because
none could progress at a swift rate through those tangled copses,
the trees of which were often hung with masses of wild vines whose
tendrils met and interlaced with each other, so that sometimes
almost a wall of network was encountered. Also they rode slowly,
because Desolada was but a mile or so off now, and they would be
within its precincts ere the sun was quite gone for the day. And as
they did so in silence, Julian was acknowledging to himself that, with
every fresh person he encountered and every fresh question he
asked, his bewilderment was increased.

For now, by his side, rode this man, half Spaniard, half Indian,
named Ignacio Paz, who not only had been present at the birth of
Mr. Ritherdon's son, but also had known that son's mother before
she was married. And, Julian asked himself, how did the knowledge
now proclaimed by this man--this man who, if he possessed any
feelings towards Sebastian possessed only those of hatred--this man
who had prophesied for him a violent death as the reward of his
brutality and cruelty--how did that knowledge make for or against
the story told by George Ritherdon? Let him see.

It served above all to corroborate, to establish, Sebastian's

position as the true son and inheritor of Charles Ritherdon. So truly
an acknowledged son and inheritor that, undoubtedly no contrary
proof could ever be brought of sufficiently powerful nature to
overwhelm all that the evidence of the last twenty-five or twenty-six
years affirmed. Had not this man, Paz, been one of those who had
received money from Mr. Ritherdon to drink Sebastian's health?
Surely--surely, therefore, the old man was satisfied that this was his
son. And if he, Sebastian, was his son, who then was he, Julian?

On the other hand, the half-breed proved by old Mr. Leigh's

conversation that there was some inaccuracy--perhaps an intentional
inaccuracy--in Sebastian's statement that Miriam Carmaux, or
Gardelle, was a relative of Isobel Leigh. That was undoubted! There
was an inaccuracy. Old Leigh had definitely said that he was the first
of his family who had ever been forced to earn a living in exile--yet
she, this woman, with a French maiden, as well as married, name,
was a native of New Orleans, was a Frenchwoman. Was it not
enormous odds, therefore, against her being any connection of the
English girl with the fair, wheat-coloured hair, the peachlike
complexion, and the blue eyes who had been brought as an infant
from Essex to Honduras?

Also, was it not immeasurably unlikely that, even if then the

women were connected by blood, such coincidences should have
occurred that both should have come to the colony at almost an
identical time; that Mr. Ritherdon's wandering heart should have
chanced to be captivated by each of those women; that he should
have jilted the one for the other, and that eventually one, the jilted
woman, should have dropped into the place of mistress of the
household which death had caused the other to resign? What would
the doctrine of chances say in connection with these facts, he would
like to know?

"One other thing perplexes me, too," he thought to himself, as

now they reached an open glade across which the swift departing
sun streamed horizontally, "perplexes me marvellously. Does
Sebastian know, does he dream, that against his position and
standing such a story has been told as that narrated to me in
England by my uncle--as still I believe him to be. And if--if there is
some chicanery, some dark secret in connection with his and my
birth, does he know of it--or is he inno----"

He paused, startled now at an incident that had happened, an

incident that drove all reflection from his mind.

Across that glade there had come trotting easily, and evidently
without any fear on its part, one of the red deer common enough in
British Honduras. Only this deer was not as those are which
sportsmen and hunters penetrate into the forests and the mountains
to shoot and destroy; instead, it was one which Julian had himself
seen roaming about the parklike grounds and surroundings of
Desolada, the territory of which began on the other side of the open
glade.
 Yet this was not the incident, nor the portion of the incident which
startled both him and Paz. Not that, but something else more serious
than a tame deer crossing an open grassland a few hundred yards in
diameter each way. There was nothing to startle in that--though
much to do so in what followed.

What followed being that as the deer, still slowly trotting over the
broad-leaved grass, which here forms so luxurious a pasture for all
kinds of cattle, came into line with Julian and Paz riding almost side
by side, though with the latter somewhat ahead of the former--there
came from out of the mangrove trees on the other side of the little
opening, a spit of flame, a puff of smoke, and the sharp crack of a
rifle, while, a second later, from off the side of a logwood tree close
by them there fell a strip of bark to the ground.

"By Jove!" exclaimed Julian, his accustomed coolness not

deserting him even at this agitating moment, "the gallant sportsman
is a reckless kind of gentleman. One would think we were the game
he is after and not the deer which, by-the-bye, has departed like a
streak of greased lightning. I say, Paz, that bullet passed about three
inches behind your head and not many more in front of my nose.
People don't go out shooting human beings here as they do
partridges at home, do they?" and he turned his eyes on his
companion.

If, as an extra excitement to add to the incident, he had desired

to observe now a specimen of native-born ferocity, he would have
been gratified as he thus regarded Paz. For the man in whose veins
ran the hot blood of a Spaniard, mixed with the still more hot and
tempestuous blood of the Indian, seemed almost beside himself now
with rage and fury. His dark coffee-hued skin had turned livid, his
eyes glared like those of a maddened wolf, and his hands, which
were now unstrapping the rifle that he too carried slung to his
saddle, resembled masses of vibrating cords. Yet they became calm
enough as, the antique long-barrelled weapon being released, he
raised that rifle quickly, brought it to the shoulder and fired towards
the exact spot whence they had observed the flame and smoke of
the previous rifle to come.

"Are you mad?" exclaimed Julian, horrified at the act. "Great

Heavens! Do you want to commit a murder? If the person who let
drive at that deer has not moved away yet, you have very likely
taken a human life."

But Paz, who seemed now to have recovered his equanimity and
to have relieved his feelings entirely by that savage idea of
retaliation, which had been not only sprung into his mind, but had
also been instantly put into practice, only shrugged his shoulders
indifferently while he restrapped his rifle. Then he pointed a long
lean finger at the spot across the glade where the first discharge had
taken place, directing the digit next to the spot where the deer had
been, after which he pointed next to their heads and then to the
tree, in which they could see the hole where the bullet was buried
two or three inches. Having done all which, he muttered:

"Fired at the deer. At the deer! The deer was there--there--there,"

and he directed his eyes to a spot five yards off the line which would
be drawn between the other side of the glade whence the fire had
come and the deer, "and we are here. Tree here, too."

"What do you suspect?" Julian asked, white to the lips now

himself--appalled at some hitherto unsuspected horror. "What?
Whom?" And as he spoke his lips seemed to take the form of a
name which, still, he hesitated to give utterance to.

"No," the half-caste said in reply, his quick intelligence grasping

without the aid of any speech the identity of the man to whom
Julian's expression pointed. "No. He is in Belize by now. He must be
there. He has money--much money--to pay to lawyer this morning.
Not him. Not him." After which the mysterious creature laughed in a
manner that set Julian's mind reflecting on how he had heard the
Indians of old laughed at the tortures endured by their victims.
 "Come," he said now, feeling suddenly cold and chilled, as he had
felt once or twice before in Desolada and its surroundings. "Come,
let us go ho----back to the house," and he started the mustang
forward on the route they had been following.

"No," Paz exclaimed, "however, not that way now. Other way.
Quite as near. Also," and his dark eyes glistened strangely as he
fastened them on Julian, "lead to hacienda. To Desolada. Come. We
go through wood--over glade. Very nice wood."

"What do you expect to do there?" Julian asked, divining all the

same.

"Oh! oh!" Paz said, his face alight with a demoniacal gleam. "Oh!
oh! Perhaps find a body. Who knows? Gunny he shoot very straight.
Perhaps a wounded man. Who knows?"

So they crossed the glade, making straight for the spot whence
the murderous belch of flame had sprung forth, and, pushing aside
flowering cacti and oleanders as well as other lightly knitted together
shrubs and bushes, looked all around them. But, except that there
were signs of footmarks on the bruised leaves of some of the
greater shrubs and also that the undergrowth was a little trodden
down, they saw nothing. Certainly nobody lay there, struck to death
by Paz's bullet.

The keen eyes of the half-caste--glinting here and there and

everywhere--and looking like dark topazes as the rays of the evening
sun danced in them--seemed, however, to penetrate each inch of the
surrounding shrubbery. And, at last, Julian heard him give a little
gasp--it was almost a bleat--and saw him point with his finger at
something about three feet from the ground.

At a leaf--a leaf of the wild oleander--on which was a speck that

looked like a ladybird. Only--it was not that! But, instead, a drop of
blood. A drop that glistened, as his eyes had glistened in the sun; a
drop that a step or two further onward had a fellow. Then--nothing
further.

"I hit him," Paz said, "somewhere. Only--did not kill." While,
instantly he wheeled round and gazed full into Julian's eyes--his face
expressing a very storm of demoniacal hate against the late owner
of that drop.

"That," he almost hissed, "will keep. For a later day. When I know
him."

They went now toward the house, each intent on his own
meditations and with hardly a word spoken between them; or, at
least, but a few words: Julian requesting Paz to say nothing of the
incident, and the latter replying that by listening and not talking was
the way to discover a secret.

"Ha! the gentle lady," said the half-breed now, as they observed
Madame Carmaux seated on the veranda arranging some huge lilies
in a glass bowl, while the form of Zara was observed disappearing
into the house. "Ha! the gracious ruler and mistress." Then, as they
drew near and stepped on to the veranda, Paz began bowing and
scraping before the former with extraordinary deference. Yet, all the
same, Julian observed that his eyes were roving everywhere around,
and all over the boards near where Madame Carmaux sat, so that he
wondered what it was for which the half-breed sought!

CHAPTER XVII.

"SHE HATES HIM BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM."

 "It would be folly," said Julian to himself that night, "not to
recognise at once that each moment I spend in this house, or,
indeed in this locality, is full of danger to me. Therefore, from this
moment I commence to take every precaution that is possible. Now
let us think out how to do it."

On this occasion he was the sole occupant of the lower veranda,

in spite of its being quite early in the evening, and owing to the fact
that Sebastian was passing the night in Belize, while Madame
Carmaux, having announced that she had a severe headache, had
taken herself off to her own room before supper, he had partaken of
that meal alone. So that he sat there quite by himself now, smoking;
and, as a matter of fact, he was not at all sorry to do so.

He recognised that any attempt at conversation with the "gentle

lady" as Paz had termed her--in an undoubtedly ironical and subacid
manner--was the veriest make-believe; while, as to Sebastian, when
he was at home--well, his conversation was absolutely uninteresting.
He never talked of anything but gambling and the shortness of ready
money, diversified occasionally by a torrent of questions as to what
George Ritherdon had done and what he had said during the whole
time of his life in England. While, as Julian reflected, or, indeed, now
felt perfectly sure, that even this wearisome talk was but assumed
as a mask or cloak to the other's real thoughts, it was not likely that
Sebastian's absence to-night could be a cause of much regret.

"Let me think out how to do it," he said again, continuing his

meditations; "let me regard the whole thing from its proper aspect. I
am in danger. But of what at the worst? Well, at the worst--death.
There is, it is very evident, a strong determination on the part of
some people in this place to relieve the colony of my interesting
presence. First, Sebastian tries to break my neck with an untrained
horse; next, some one probably places a coral snake in my bed;
while, thirdly, some creature of his endeavours to shoot me. Paz--
who seems to have imbibed many ancient ideas from his Spanish
and savage ancestors--appears, however, if I understand him, to
imagine he was the person shot at, his wild and barbaric notions
about the sacredness of the guest making him suppose, apparently
that my life could not be the one aimed at. Well, let him think so. At
any rate, his feelings of revenge and hatred are kept at boiling-pitch
against some unknown enemy.

"Now," he went on, with still that light and airy manner of looking
at difficulties (even difficulties that at this time seemed to be
assuming a horrible, not to say, hideous, aspect) which had long
since endeared him to countless comrades in the wardroom and
elsewhere. "Now, I will take a little walk in the cool of the evening.
Dear Madame Carmaux's headache has deprived her of the pearls of
my conversation, wherefore I will, as her countrymen say, 'go and
take the air.'"

Upon which he rose from his seat, and, pushing aside the wicker
table on which stood a bottle of Bourbon whisky, a syphon, and also
a pen and ink with some writing-paper, he took from off it a letter
directed and stamped, and dropped it into the pocket of his white
jacket.

"The creole negro--as they call those chaps here--passes the foot
of the garden in five minutes' time," he said to himself, looking at a
fine gold watch which he had gained as a prize at Greenwich, "and
he will convey this to Spranger's hands. Afterwards, from to-night, I
will make it my business to send one off from All Pines every day. I
should like Spranger and Beat--I mean Miss Spranger--to receive a
daily bulletin of my health henceforth.

"Sebastian," he continued to reflect, as now he made his way

beneath the palms towards where the road ran, far down at the foot
of the garden, "has meditations about being my heir--well, so have I
about being his. Yet I think, I do really think, I would rather be
Sebastian's if it's all the same to him. Nevertheless, in case anything
uncomfortable should happen to me, I should like Spranger and
Beat--Miss Spranger, to be acquainted with the fact. It might make
the succession easier to--Sebastian."

He heard the "creole negro's" cart coming along, even as he

reached the road; he heard also the chuckles and whoops with
which the conveyer of her Majesty's mails urged on the flea-bitten,
raw-boned creature that carried them; and then, the cart drew into
sight and was pulled up suddenly as Julian emerged into the road.

"Hoop! Massa Sebastian, you give me drefful fright," the sable

driver began, "thought it was your ghost, as I see you in Belize this
berry morning----"

"So it would have been his ghost," remarked Julian, as he came

close to the cart with the letter in his hand, "if you had happened to
see him now. Meanwhile, kindly take this letter and put it in your
mail-bag."

"Huah! huah!" grunted the negro, while he held out his great
black hand for the missive and, opening the mouth of the bag which
was in the cart behind him, thrust it in on the top of all the others he
had collected on his route along the coast; "he get there all right
about two o'clock this morning. But, massa, you berry like Massa
Sebastian. In um white jacket you passy well for um ghost or
brudder."

"So they tell me," Julian answered lightly. "But, you see, we
happen to be cousins, and, sometimes, cousins are as much alike as
brothers. My friend," he said, changing the subject, "are you a
teetotaller?"

"Hoop! Huah! Teetotallum. Huah! Teetotallum! Yes, massa, when

I've no money. Then berry good teetotallum. Berry good."

"Well, now see, here is some money," and he gave the man a
small piece of silver. "Take a drink at All Pines as you go by; it will
keep this limekiln sort of air out of your throat--or wash it down. Off
with you, only take two drinks. Have the second when you get to
Belize."

Profuse in thanks, the darkey drove off, wishing Julian good-night,

while the latter's cheery, "Good-night, fair nymph," seemed to him
so exquisite a piece of humour that, for some paces along the road,
the former could hear him chuckling and murmuring in his musical
bass: "Fair nymph. Hoah! Fair nymph. Hoah! Fair nymph. That's me."

"Now," Julian said to himself as he strolled along the road, "we

shall see if Spranger comes to meet me as he said he would if I
wanted his assistance. If he doesn't, then bang goes this one into
the All Pines post-box to-morrow;" the "this one" being an exact
duplicate of the letter which the negro postman had at that moment
in his mail-bag.

"I'm getting incredibly cunning," Julian murmured to himself,

"shockingly so. Yet, what is one to do? One must meet ruse with
ruse and cunning with cunning, and I do believe Sebastian is as
artful as a waggon-load of monkeys. However, if things go wrong
with me, if I should get ill--Sebastian says the climate is bad and
lays a good deal of stress on the fact, although other people say it's
first-rate---or disappear, or furnish a subject for a first-class funeral,
there is one consolation. Spranger, on not hearing from me, will
soon begin to make inquiries and, as the novelists say, 'I shall not
die unavenged.' That's something."

It is permissible for those who record veracious chronicles such as

this present one, to do many things that in ordinary polite society
would not be tolerated. Thus, we have accompanied Julian to his
bedchamber on more than one occasion, and now we will look over
his shoulder as, an hour before this period, he indited the letter to
Mr. Spranger (which at the present moment is in the Belize post-
cart), and afterwards made a copy of it for posting the next day at
All Pines.
 It was not a lengthy document--since the naval officer generally
writes briefly, succinctly and to the purpose--and simply served to
relate the various startling "incidents" which had occurred after he
had returned to Desolada. And he told Mr. Spranger that,
henceforth, a letter would be posted for him at All Pines every day,
which, so long as it conveyed no tidings of ill news, required no
answer; but that, if such letter should fail to come, then Spranger
might imagine that he stood in need of succour. It concluded by
saying that if this gentleman had a few hours to spare next day and
could meet him half-way betwixt Belize and Desolada--say, opposite
a spot called Commerce Bight--he would take it as a favour--would
meet him, say, in the early morning, about ten o'clock, before the
heat was too great.

"Sebastian," the letter ended, "seems to harp more, now, on the

fact that he's my heir than on anything else. He evidently imagines
that I have more to leave than I have. But, however that may be, I
don't want him to inherit yet."

He was thinking about this letter, and its duplicate which was to
follow to-morrow, if the first one did not bring his friend from Belize,
when he heard voices near him--voices that were pitched low and
coming closer with every step he took, and then, suddenly, he came
upon the girl, Zara, and the man, Ignacio Paz, walking along the
road side by side.

"Well, my Queen of Night," he said to the former, "and how are

you? You heard that I found the snake after all, I suppose?"

"Yes, I heard," the girl said, her dark slumbrous eyes gleaming at
him in the light of the stars. "I heard. Better always look. This is a
dangerous land. Very dangerous to white men."

"So Sebastian tells me. Thank you, Zara. Henceforth I will be sure
to look. I am going to take a great deal of care of my precious
health while I am in this neighbourhood."
 "That is well," the girl said; then, having noticed his bantering
manner, she added, "you may laugh--make joke, but it is no joke.
Take care," and a moment later she was gone swiftly up to the
house, leaving him and his companion of the morning standing
together in the dusty road.

"I wonder why Zara is such a good friend of mine?" Julian asked
meditatively now, looking into the eyes of Paz, which themselves
gleamed brightly.

"You wonder?" the half-caste said, with that bleating little laugh
which always sounded so strangely in Julian's ears. "Do you wonder?
Can't you guess? Do you wonder, too, why I'm a friend of yours?"

"You, Paz! Why we've only known each other about fifteen hours.
Though I'm glad to hear it, all the same."

"Friends long enough to nearly get killed together to-day," the

man replied. "That's one reason."

"And the other--Zara's reasons? What are they?"

Again the man's eyes glistened in the starlight; then he put out
his long lithe finger, which, Indianlike, he used to emphasize most of
his remarks.

"She hates him. So do I."

"You I can understand. He beat you this morning. But--Zara! I

thought she was his faithful adherent."

"She hates him because," the man replied laconically, "she loves
him."

"Loves him. And he? Well--what?"

"Not love her. He love 'nother. English missy. You know her."
 "I do," Julian answered emphatically. "I do. Now, I'll add my share
to this little love story. She, the English missy, does not love him."

"Zara think she do. Thinks he with her now. Go Belize, see her."

"Bah! Bosh! The English missy wouldn't--why, Paz," he broke off

suddenly, "what's this in your hand? Haven't you had enough sport
to-day--or are you going out shooting the owls to-night for a
change?" while as he spoke he pointed to a small rifle the half-caste
held in his hand. "Though," he added, "one doesn't shoot birds with
rifles."

"No," the other replied, with again the bleat, and with, now, his
eyes blazing--"no. Shoot men with him. Nearly shoot one to-day. I
find him near where I find drop of blood this afternoon. Hid away
under ferns. I take a little walk this evening in the cool. Then I find
him."

CHAPTER XVIII.

SEBASTIAN IS DISTURBED

"This knoll is becoming historic," Julian said to himself the next

morning, as he halted the mustang where twice he had halted it
before, when he had been journeying the other way from that which
he had now come. "When, some day, the life and adventures of
Admiral Ritherdon, K.C.B., and so forth, are given to an admiring
world, it must figure in them. Make a pretty frontispiece, too, with its
big shady palms and the blue sea beyond the mangroves down
below."

In spite, however, of his bright and buoyant nature, which refused

to be depressed or subdued by the atmosphere of doubt or
suspicion--to give that atmosphere no more important name--he
recognised very clearly that matters were serious with him. He
knew, too, that the calamities which had approached, without
absolutely overwhelming him--so far--were something more than
coincidences; natural enough as each by itself might have been in a
country which, even now, can scarcely be called anything else than a
wild and unsettled one.

"I was once flung off a horse, a buckjumper," he reflected, "in

Western Australia when I was a 'sub'; I found a snake in my bed in
Burmah; and a chap shot at me once in Vera Cruz--but--but," and he
nodded his head meditatively over his recollections, "the whole lot
did not happen together in Australia or Burmah or Vera Cruz. If they
had done so, it would have appeared rather pointed. And--well--they
have all happened together here. That looks rather pointed, too."

"All the same," Julian went on reflectively, as now he tethered the

mustang to a bush where it could stand in the shade, and also drew
himself well under the spreading branches of the palms--"all the
same, I can't and won't believe that Sebastian sees danger to his
very firmly-established rights by my presence here. He said on that
first night to Madame Carmaux, 'Knowledge is not proof,' and what
proof have I against him? This copy of my baptism at New Orleans
which I possess can't outweigh that entry of his birth which
Spranger has seen in Belize. And there is nothing else. Nothing!
Except George Ritherdon's statement to me, which nobody would
believe. My own opinion is," he concluded, "that Sebastian, who at
the best is a rough, untutored specimen of the remote colonist, with
very little knowledge of the world beyond, thinks that if anything
happened to me he would only have to put in a claim to whatever I
have in England, prove his cousinship, and be put in possession of
my few thousands. What a sublime confidence he must have in the
simplicity of the English laws!"

Even, however, as he thought all this, there came to him a

recollection, a revived memory, of something that had struck him
after George Ritherdon's death--something that, in the passage of so
many other stirring events, had of late vanished from his mind.

"He said," Julian murmured to himself--"my uncle said in the letter

I received when we got back to Portsmouth, that he had
commenced to write down the error, the crime of his life, in case he
did not live to see me. And--and--later--after he had told me all, on
the next day, he remarked that the whole account was written
down; that when--poor old fellow! he was gone I should find it in his
desk; that it would serve to refresh my memory. But--I never did find
it, and, I suppose, he thought it was best destroyed. I wish,
however, he hadn't done it; even his handwriting would have been
some corroboration of the statement. At least it would have shown,
if I ever do make the statement public, that I had not invented it."

While he had been indulging in these meditations he had kept his

eyes fixed on the long, white, dusty road that stretched from where
the knoll was on which he sat toward Belize; a road which, through
this flat country, could be traced for two or three miles, it looking like
a white thread lying on a dark green carpet the colour of which had
been withered by the sun.

And now, as he looked, he saw upon the farthest end of that

thread a speck, even whiter than itself--a speck, that is to say, white
above and black beneath--which was gradually travelling along the
road, coming nearer and growing bigger each moment.

"It may be Mr. Spranger," he thought to himself, still watching the

oncoming party-coloured patch as it continued to loom larger;
"probably is. Yet for a man of his time of life, and in such a baker's
oven as that road is, he is a bold rider. I hope he won't get a
sunstroke or a touch of heat apoplexy in his efforts to come and
meet me."

At last, however, the person, whoever it was, drew so near that

the rider's white tropical jacket stood out quite distinct from the
black coat of the animal he bestrode; while, also, the great white
sombrero on the man's head was distinctly visible.

"That's not Spranger," Julian said to himself, "but a much younger

man. By Jove!" he exclaimed, "it's Sebastian. And I might have
expected it to be him. Of course. It is about the time he would be
returning to Desolada."

His recognition of his cousin was scarcely accomplished beyond all

doubt, when Sebastian's horse began to slow down in its stride,
owing to having commenced the ascent of the incline that led up to
the knoll where Julian sat, and in a very few more moments the
animal, emitting great gusts from its nostrils, had brought its rider
close to where he was. While, true to his determination to exhibit no
outward sign of anything he might suspect concerning Sebastian's
designs toward him, as well as to resolve to assume a light and
cheerful manner, and also a friendly one, Julian called out
pleasantly:

"Halloa, Sebastian! How are you this fine morning? Rather a hot
ride from Belize, isn't it?"

If, however, he had expected an equally cordial greeting in return,

or, to put it in other and more appropriate words, a similar piece of
acting on Sebastian's part, he was very considerably mistaken. For,
instead of his cousin returning his cheerful salutation in a
corresponding manner, his reception of it betokened something that
might very well have been considered to be dismay. Indeed, he
reined his horse up so suddenly as almost to throw the panting
creature on its haunches, in spite of the ascent it was making; while
his face, sunbrowned and burned as it was, seemed to grow nearly
livid behind the bronze. His eyes also had in them the startled
expression which might possibly be observed in those of a man who
had suddenly been confronted by a spectre.

"Why!" he said, a moment later, after peering about and around

and into all the rich luxuriant vegetation which grew on the knoll, as
though he might have expected to see some other person sitting
among the wild allamandas or ixoras--"why, what on earth are you
doing here, Julian? I--I thought you were at Desolada, or--or
perhaps out shooting again. By the way, I had left Desolada before
you were up yesterday morning; what sort of a day did you have of
it?"

"Most exciting," Julian replied, himself as cool as ice. "Quite a

field-day." And then he went on to give his cousin, who had by now
dismounted and was sitting near him, a résumé of the whole day's
adventures--not forgetting to tell him also of the interesting
discovery of the coral snake in his bed.

"If," he thought to himself, "he wants to see how little he can

frighten one of her Majesty's sailors, he shall see it now."

He had, however, some slight hesitation in narrating the

retaliation of Paz upon the unknown, would-be assassin--for such
the person must have been who had fired at where the deer was
not--he being in some doubt as to how this fact would be received.

At first it was listened to in silence, Sebastian only testifying how

much he was impressed at the recountal by the manner in which he
kept his eyes fixed on Julian--and also by the whiteness of his lips,
to which the circulation seemed unable to find its way. Also, it
seemed as though, when he heard of the drop of blood upon the
leaf, once more the blood in his own veins was impeded--and as if
his heart was standing still. Then, when the recital was concluded,
he said:
 "Paz did right. It was a cowardly affair. I wish he had killed the
villain. I suppose it was some enemies of his. Some fellow half-caste.
Paz has enemies," he added.

"Probably," said Julian quietly.

"And," went on Sebastian now in a voice of considerable

equanimity, though still his bronze and sunburn were not what they
usually were; "and how did you leave Madame Carmaux? Was she
not horrified at such a dastardly outrage?"

"I did not have much time with her. Not time enough indeed to
tell her. She went to bed directly I got back----"

"Went to bed! Why?"

"She was not well. Said she had a headache, or rather sent word
to that effect. Nor did she come down to breakfast. Rather slow, you
know, all alone by myself, so I thought I'd come on here for a ride.
Must do something with one's time."

"Of course! Of course! I told you Desolada was Liberty Hall. Went
to bed, eh? I hope she is not really ill. I don't know what I should do
without her," and as he spoke Julian observed that, if anything, he
was whiter than before. Evidently he was very much distressed at
Madame Carmaux's suffering from even so trifling an ailment as a
headache.

"I think I'll get on now," Sebastian said, rising from where he was
sitting. "If she is laid up I shall have a good deal of extra work to do,
I suppose it really is a headache."

"I suppose it is," Julian said, "it is not likely to be much else. She
was arranging flowers in a vase when Paz and I returned."

"Was she!" Sebastian exclaimed, almost gleefully; "was she! Oh,

well! then there can't be much the matter with her, can there? I am
glad to hear that. But, anyhow, I'll go on now. You'll be back by
sundown, I suppose. You know it's bad to be out just at sunset. The
climate is a tricky one."

"So I have heard you say. Never mind, I'll be back in the evening,
or before. Meanwhile I may wander into the woods and shoot a
monkey or so."

"Shoot! Why! you haven't got a gun with you," Sebastian

exclaimed, looking on the ground and at the mustang's back where,
probably, such a thing would have been strapped.

"No, I haven't. But I've always got this," and he showed the
handle of his revolver in an inside pocket.

"You're a wise man. Though, if you knew the colony better, you'd
understand there isn't much danger to human life here."

"There was yesterday. And Paz has taught me a trick or two. If

any one fired at me now I should do just what he did, and, perhaps,
I too might find a leaf with a drop of blood on it afterwards."

"You're a cool fish!" exclaimed Sebastian after bursting out into a

loud laugh which, somehow, didn't seem to have much of the ring of
mirth in it. "Upon my word you are. Well, so long! Don't go
committing murder, that's all."

"No, I won't. Bye-bye. I'll be back to-night."

After which exchange of greetings, Sebastian got on his horse

and prepared to continue his journey to Desolada.

"By the way," he said, however, before doing so, "about that
snake! How could it have got into your bed?"

"I don't know," Julian replied with a half laugh. "How should I?
The coral snake is a new acquaintance, though I've known other
specimens in my time. It got there somehow, didn't it?"

"Of course! They love warmth, you know. Perhaps it climbed up

the legs of the bed and crept in where it would be covered up."

"It was rather rude to do such a thing in a visitor's bed though,

wasn't it? It isn't as though I was one of the residents. And it must
have been a clever chap, too, because it got in without disarranging
the mosquito curtains the least little bit. That was clever, when you
come to think of it!"

At which Sebastian gave a rather raucous kind of laugh, and then

set his horse in motion.

"Au revoir!" said Julian. "I hope you'll find Madame Carmaux
much better when you get back."

CHAPTER XIX.

A PLEASANT MEETING

The morning was drawing on and it was getting late--that is, for
the tropics--namely, it was near nine o'clock, and soon the sun
would be high in the heavens, so that it was not likely along the
dusty white road from Belize any sign of human life would make it
appearance until sunset was close at hand.

"If Mr. Spranger doesn't come pretty soon," Julian said

consequently to himself, "he won't come at all, and has, probably,
important business to attend to in the city. Wherefore I shall have to
pass to-day alone here, or have a sunstroke before I can get as far
back as All Pines for a meal. I ought to have brought some lunch
with me."

"Halloa, my friend," he remarked a moment later to the mustang,

which had commenced to utter little whinnies, and seemed to be
regarding him with rather a piteous sort of look, "what's the matter
with you? You don't want to start back and get a sunstroke, do you?
Oh! I know. Of course!" and he rose from his seat and, going further
into the bushes behind the knoll, began to use both his eyes and his
ears. For it had not taken him a moment to divine--he who had been
round the world three times! that the creature required that which in
all tropical lands is wanted by man and animal more than anything
else--namely, the wherewithal to quench their thirst.

Presently, he heard the grateful sound of trickling water, which in

British Honduras is bountifully supplied by Providence, and
discovered a swift-flowing rivulet on its way to the sea below--it
being, in fact, a little tributary of Mullin's River--when, going back for
the creature, he led it to where the water was, while, tying its bridle
to some reeds, he left it there to quench its thirst. After which he
returned to the summit of the knoll to continue his lookout along the
road from Belize.

But now he saw that, during his slight absence, some signs of
other riders had appeared, there being at this present moment two
black-and-white blurs upon the white dusty thread. Two that
progressed side by side, and presented a duplicate, party-coloured
imitation of that which, earlier, Sebastian Ritherdon and his steed
had offered to his view.

"If that's Mr. Spranger," Julian thought to himself, "he has brought
a companion with him, or has picked up a fellow traveller. By Jove
though! one's a darkey and, well! I declare, the other's a woman.
Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly, joyfully too; "it's Miss Spranger. Here's
luck!" and with that, regardless of the sun's rays and all the
calamities that those rays can bring in such a land, he jumped into
the road and began waving his handkerchief violently.

The signal, he saw, was returned at once; from beneath the huge
green umbrella held over the young lady's head--and his own--by
the negro accompanying her, he observed an answering
handkerchief waved, and then the mass of white material which
formed a veil thrown back, as though she was desirous that he who
was regarding her should not be in any doubt as to who was
approaching. Yet, she need not have been thus desirous. There is
generally one form (as the writer has been told by those who know)
which, when we are young, or sometimes even, no longer boys and
girls, we recognise easily enough, no matter how much it may be
disguised by veils or dust-coats or other similar impediments to our
sight.

Naturally, Beatrix and her sable companion rode slowly--to ride

fast here on such a morning means death, or something like it--but
they reached the knoll at last, and then, after mutual greetings had
been exchanged and Julian had lifted Miss Spranger off her horse--
one may suppose how tenderly!--she said:

"Father was sorry, but he could not come. So I came instead. I

hope you don't mind."

"Mind!" he said, while all the time he was thinking how pretty she
looked in her white dress, and how fascinating the line which
marked the distinction between the sunburn of her face and the
whiteness of her throat made her appear--"mind!" Then, words
seeming somehow to fail him (who rarely was at a loss for such
things, either for the purpose of jest or earnest) at this moment, he
contented himself with a glance only, and in preparing for her a
suitable seat in the shade. Yet, all the same, he was impelled directly
afterwards to tell her again and again how much he felt her
goodness in coming at all.
 "Jupiter," she said to the negro now, "bring the horses in under
the shade and unsaddle and unbridle them. And, find some 'water
for them. I am going to stay quite a time, you know," she went on,
addressing Julian. "I can't go back till sunset, or near sunset, so you
will have to put up with my company for a whole day. I suppose you
didn't happen to think of bringing any lunch or other provisions?"

"The mere man is forgetful," he replied contritely, finding his

tongue once more, "so----"

"So I am aware. Therefore, I have brought some myself. Oh! yes,

quite enough for two, Mr. Ritherdon; therefore you need not begin to
say you are not hungry or anything of that sort. Later, Jupiter shall
unpack it. Meanwhile, we have other things to think and talk about.
Now, please, go on with that," and she pointed to the pipe in his
hand which he had let go out in her presence, "and tell me
everything. Everything from the time you left us."

Obedient to her orders and subject to no evesdropping by the

discreet Jupiter--who, having been told by Julian where the rivulet
was, had conducted the two fresh horses there and was now seated
on the bank crooning a mournful ditty which, the former thought,
might have been sung by some African sorcerer to his barbaric
ancestors--he did tell her everything. He omitted nothing, from the
finding of the coral-snake in his bed to his last meeting with
Sebastian half an hour ago.

While the girl sitting there by his side, her pure clear eyes
sometimes fixed on the narrator's face and sometimes gazing
meditatively on the sapphire Caribbean sparkling a mile off in front
of them, listened to and drank in and weighed every word.

"Lieutenant Ritherdon," she said, when he had concluded, and

placing her hand boldly, and without any absurd false shame, upon
his sleeve, "you must give me a promise--a solemn promise--that
you will never go back to that place again."
 "But!" he exclaimed startled, "I must go back. I cannot leave and
give up my quest like that. And," he added, a little gravely,
"remember I am a sailor, an officer. I cannot allow myself to be
frightened away from my search in such a manner."

"Not for----" she began interrupting.

"Not for what?" he asked eagerly, feeling that if she said, "not for
my sake?" he must comply.

"Not for your life? Its safety? Not for that?" she concluded, almost
to his disappointment. "May you not retreat to preserve your life?"

"No," he answered a moment later. "No, not even for that. For my
own self-respect, my own self-esteem I must not do so. Miss
Spranger," he continued, speaking almost rapidly now, "I know well
enough that I shall do no good there; I have come to understand at
last that I shall never discover the truth of the matter. Yet I do
believe all the same that George Ritherdon was my uncle, that
Charles Ritherdon was my father, that Sebastian Ritherdon is a--well,
that there is some tricking, some knavery in it all. But," he continued
bitterly, "the trickery has been well played, marvellously well
managed, and I shall never unearth the method by which it has
been done."

"Yet, thinking this, you will not retreat! You will jeopardize your
life?"

"I have begun," he said, "and I cannot retreat, short of absolute,

decisive failure. Of certain failure! And, oh! you must see why, you
must understand why, I can not--it is because my life is in jeopardy
that I cannot do so. I embarked on this quest expecting to find no
difficulties, no obstacles in my way; I came to this country and, at
once, I learned that my appearance here, at Desolada, meant deadly
peril to me. And, because of that deadly peril, I must, I will, go on. I
will not draw back; nor be frightened by any danger. If I did I should
hate myself forever afterwards; I should know myself unworthy to
ever wear her Majesty's uniform again. I will never draw back," he
repeated emphatically, "while the danger continues to exist."

As he had spoken, Julian Ritherdon--the bright, cheery

Englishman, full of joke and quip, had disappeared: in his place had
come another Julian--the Englishman of stern determination, of iron
nerve; the man who, because peril stared him in the face and
environed his every footstep, was resolute to never retreat before
that danger.

While she, the girl sitting by his side, her eyes beaming with
admiration (although he did not see them), knew that, as he had
said, so he would do. This man--fair, young, good-looking, and
insouciant--was, beneath all that his intercourse with the world and
society had shaped him into being, as firm as steel, as solid as a
rock.

What could she answer in return?

"If you are so determined," she said now, controlling her voice for
fear that, through it, she should betray her admiration for his
strength and courage, "you will, at least take every measure for your
self-preservation. Write every day, as you have said you will in your
letter to my father, be ever on your guard--by night and day. Oh!"
she went on, thrusting her hands through the beautiful hair from
which she had removed her large Panama hat for coolness while in
the shade, "I sicken with apprehension when I think of you alone in
that mournful, mysterious house."

"You need not," he said, and now he too ventured to touch her
sleeve as she had previously touched his--"you need not do so.
Remember, it is man to man at the worst; Sebastian Ritherdon--if he
is Sebastian Ritherdon--against Julian. And I, at least, am used to
facing risks and dangers. It is my trade."

"No," she answered, almost with a shudder, while her lustrous

eyes expressed something that was very nearly, if not quite, horror--
"no! it is not. It is a man and a woman--and that a crafty, scheming
woman--against a man. Against you. Lieutenant Ritherdon," she
cried, "can you doubt who--who----"

"Hush," he said, "hush. Not yet. Let us judge no one yet. Though
I--believe me--I doubt nothing. I, too, can understand. But," he
went on a little more lightly now, "remember, Sebastian is not the
only one possessed of a female auxiliary, of female support.
Remember, I have Zara."

"Zara," she repeated meditatively, "Zara. The girl with whom he

amused himself by making believe that he loved her; made her
believe that, when this precious Madame Carmaux should be
removed, she might reign over his house as his wife."

"Did he do that?"

"He did. If all accounts are true he led her to believe he loved her
until he thought another woman--a woman who would not have let
him serve her as a groom--might look favourably on his
pretensions."

"Therefore," said Julian, ignoring the latter part of her remark,

though understanding not only it, but the deep contempt of her
tone, "therefore, now she hates him. May she not be a powerful ally
of mine, in consequence. That is, if she does hate him, as my other
ally--Paz--says."

"Yes, yes," Beatrix said, still musing, still reflectively. "Yet, if so,
why those mysterious visits to your bedroom window, why that
haunting the neighbourhood of your room at midnight?"

"I understand those visits now, I think I understand them, since

the episode of the coral snake. I believe she was constituting herself
a watch, a guard over me. That she knows much--that--that she
suspects more. That she will at the worst, if it comes, help me to--to
thwart him."
 "Ah! if it were so. If I could believe it."

"And Paz, too. Sebastian told me to-day that Paz has enemies.
Well! doubtless he has--only, I would rather be Paz than one of
those enemies. You would think so yourself if you had seen the blaze
of the man's eyes, the look upon his face, when that shot was fired,
and, later, when he showed me the rifle which he had found close by
the spot. No; I should not like to be one of Paz's enemies nor--a
false lover of Zara's."

"If I could feel as confident as you!" Beatrix exclaimed. "Oh! if I

could. Then--then--" but she could find no ending for her sentence.

CHAPTER XX.

LOVE'S BLOSSOM

A fortnight had elapsed since that meeting on the palm-clad knoll,

and Julian was still an inmate of Desolada. But each day as it came
and went--while it only served to intensify his certainty that some
strange trickery had been practised at the time when he was gone
and when George Ritherdon had stolen him from his dying, or dead,
mother's side--served also to convince him that he would never find
out the manner in which the deceit had been practised, nor unravel
the clue to that deceit. He had, too, almost decided to take his
farewell of Desolada and its inmates, to shake the dust of the place
off his shoes, and to abandon any idea of endeavouring to obtain
further corroboration of his uncle's statement.
 For he had come to believe, to fear, that no corroboration was to
be found. Every one in British Honduras regarded Sebastian as the
undoubted child and absolute heir of the late Charles Ritherdon,
while, in addition, there were still scores of persons alive, black and
white and half-caste, who remembered the birth of the boy, though
not one individual could be discovered who had heard even a
whisper of any kidnapping having ever taken place. Once, Julian had
thought that a journey to New Orleans and a verification of the copy
of his baptismal certificate with the original might be of some use,
but on reflection he had decided that this, as against the certificate
of Sebastian's baptism in Belize, would be of no help whatever.

"It is indeed a dead wall, a solid rock, against which I am

pushing, as Mr. Spranger said," he muttered to himself again and
again. "And it is too firm for me. I shall have to retreat--not because
I fear my foe, but because that foe has no tangible shape against
which to contend."

He had not returned to Desolada on the night that followed his

meeting with, first, Sebastian on the knoll and then with Beatrix; he
making his appearance at that place about dawn on the following
morning. The reason whereof was, that, after passing the whole day
with Miss Spranger on that spot (the lunch she had brought with her
being amply sufficient to provide an afternoon, or evening, meal), he
had insisted on escorting her back to her father's house.

At first she protested against his doing this, she declaring that
Jupiter was quite sufficient cavalier for her, but he would take no
denial and was firm in his resolve to do so. He did not tell her,
though (as perhaps, there was no necessity for him to do, since, if
all accounts are true, young ladies are very apt at discovering the
inward workings of those whom they like and by whom they are
liked), that he regarded this opportunity as a most fortuitous one,
and, as such, not to be missed. Who is there amongst us all who,
given youth and strength and the near presence of a woman whom
we are fast beginning to love with our whole heart, would not
sacrifice a night's rest to ride a score of miles by her side? Not one
who is worthy to win that woman's love!

So through the tropical night--where high above them blazed the

constellations of the Southern Crown, the Peacock, and the Archer,
with their incandescentlike glow--those two rode side by side; the
negro on ahead and casting many a glance of caution around at
bush and shrub and clump of palm and mangrove. Of love they did
not speak, for a sufficient reason; each knew that it was growing
and blossoming in the other's heart--that it was there! The man's
love there--in his heart, not only because of the girl's winsome
beauty; but born and created also by the knowledge that she went
hand in hand with him in all that he was endeavouring to
accomplish; the woman's love engendered by her recognition of his
bravery and strength of character. If she had not come to love him
before, she did so when he exclaimed that, because the danger was
near to and threatening him, he would never desist from the task on
which he had embarked.

But love often testifies its existence otherwise than in words, and
it did so now--not only in the subdued tones of their voices as they
fell on the luscious sultry air of the night, but also in the
understanding which they came to as to how they should be in
constant communication with each other in the future, so that, if
aught of evil befell Julian at Desolada, Beatrix might not be long
unaware of the evil.

"Perhaps," Julian said, as now they were drawing near Belize--

"perhaps it will not be necessary that I should apprise you each day
of my safety, of the fact that everything is all right with me.
Therefore----"

"I must know frequently! hear often," Beatrix said, turning her
eyes on him. "I must. Oh! Mr. Ritherdon, forty-eight hours will
appear an eternity to me, knowing, as I shall know, that you are in
that dreadful house. Alone, too, and with none to help you. What
may they not attempt against you next!"

"Whatever they attempt," he replied, "will, I believe, be thwarted.

I take Paz and Zara--especially Zara, now that you tell me she is a
jilted woman--against Sebastian and Madame Carmaux. But, to
return to my communications with you."

"Yes," she said, with an inward catching of her breath--"yes, your

communications with me.

"Let it be this way. If you do not hear from me at the end of every
forty-eight hours, then begin to think that things may be going
wrong with me; while if, at the end of a second forty-eight hours,
you have still heard nothing from me, well! consider that they have
gone very wrong indeed. Shall it be like that?"

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed with almost a gasp, "I am appalled.

Appalled even at the thought that such an arrangement, such
precautions, should have to be made."

"Of course, they may not be necessary," he said; "after all, we

may be misjudging Sebastian."

"We are not," she answered emphatically. "I feel it; I know it. I
mistrust that man--I have always disliked him. I feel as sure as it is
possible to be that he meditates harm to you. And--and--" she
almost sobbed, "what is to be done if the second forty-eight hours
have passed, and still I have heard nothing from or of you."

"Then," he said with a light laugh--"then I think I should warn

some of those gentry whom we have seen loafing about Belize in a
light and tasteful uniform--the constabulary, aren't they?--that a little
visit to Desolada might be useful."

"Oh!" Beatrix cried again now, "don't make a joke of it, Mr.
Ritherdon! Don't, pray don't. You cannot understand how I feel, nor