They coughed incessantly, and nearly choked, for the Dyaks had thrown wet seaweed on top of the burning pile of dry wood.

Mir Jan, born in interior India, knew little about the sea or its products, and when the savages talked of seaweed he thought they meant green wood.

Fortunately for him, the ascending clouds of smoke missed the cave, or infallibly he must have been stifled.
"Lie flat on the rock!" gasped Jenks.

Careless of waste, he poured water over a coat and made Iris bury her mouth and nose in the wet cloth.

This gave her immediate relief, and she showed her woman's wit by tying the sleeves of the garment behind her neck.