Although it was not yet fully light he could see the hole in the hill plainly enough and, all desire for sleep now gone, he watched eagerly.
“If he’s got away I’ll never forgive myself,” he thought.
Slowly the light increased until a beam of sunlight touched the top of the hill. He was about to creep back and awake the others when a sound caught his ears and, in another moment, he saw a face framed in the hole. It was not a wicked face but rather grotesque. The nose was long and humped sharply while the eyes were small and set so closely together that the nose seemed crowded between them. The mouth was enormous and the skin looked more like leather than skin.
Although the eyes were small they looked strangely keen and he drew back fearing that they would penetrate his hiding place. After a long glance around the owner of the eyes slowly drew his body out and finally stood in front of the opening. He was a small man, almost a dwarf in fact and Bob could hardly repress a desire to laugh. His arms, abnormally long, hung well below his knees and his legs were so thin that it seemed impossible that they were strong enough to support the body. But what impressed the boy most of all were the massive shoulders, all out of proportion to the rest of his body. He was dressed in an old black sweater torn in many places and a pair of corduroy trousers which reached only to the knees. His feet were bare.
“What a wild man of Borneo he’d make,” Bob thought. “But I’d sure hate to tackle him. I’ll bet he’s stronger than an ox.”
For several minutes the strange creature stood looking about and then, to the consternation of the boy, he darted directly toward him. So sudden was the movement that before Bob had time to even rise the creature was upon him. He tried to defend himself but he quickly realized that his estimate of his strength was far too low. Those arms, though ridiculously thin, were like hands of steel and one of them wrapped around him held him helpless while the other hand sought his throat. But before the long fingers could close about it he had let out a wild shout for help.
Fortunately for him help was close at hand. The huge hand had closed on his wind pipe and everything was beginning to go black when, with a loud shout of encouragement, Jack landed fairly on the diminutive monster’s back and forced him to break his hold. But so great was the strength of the dwarf that it is doubtful if they could have overcome him without Kernertok’s help for he fought with a fury such as they had never encountered. Those long arms seemed absolutely tireless and their strength almost superhuman, and for a time he threw them about as though they were children. But at last the exertion began to tell on him and suddenly, as though realizing that his was a losing fight, he sank down on the ground and, burying his face in his hands, began to whimper for all the world like a whipped dog.
Even Kernertok was panting as the battle ended and both boys were gasping for breath. Bob had two long scratches on one cheek and one of Jack’s eyes was rapidly closing, while their clothes were torn in many places.
“Whew!” Jack gasped holding one hand over his swollen eye. “What is it, a man or a cyclone?”
“Anyhow, he’s some scrapper,” Bob panted.