This convinced me, if I had required other proof, that human
beings had to do with the spectacle I saw; and presently my notion was
fully confirmed by seeing the seeming skeletons advance close to the
fire, when I discovered the substantial black bodies of a party of
natives painted over with white lines to resemble the bones of
skeletons.

They continued their strange, weird dance, twisting and turning, some
with their arms akimbo, others resting on their legs. The groan of
relief given by poor Paddy nearly betrayed our presence, of which I
concluded Pullingo had not made them aware. What their object was it
was difficult to say, or what was Pullingo's in bringing us to see them:
possibly, I thought, aware of our presence in the neighbourhood, they
wanted to frighten us from proceeding; or perhaps they were only
performing a corroborree or native dance for their own amusement.

After we had watched them for some time, I pulled Paddy's arm, and got
him, not unwillingly, to retire from the scene.

"Arrah, Misther Godfrey," he said, "sure they're curious crathurs, them
black nagurs; and I confess, your honour, when I first saw them, that I
felt nigh ready to sink into the ground and turn into a skeleton myself!
But why Pullingo brought us to see them, is more than I can make out."

"It puzzles me also," I said. "Perhaps my father or Mr Mudge will be
able to form a conjecture on the subject."

These remarks were not made till we were well out of hearing of the
natives. Before we had got far, Pullingo joined us, and inquired, Paddy
said, what we thought of the performance.

The information we brought to the camp--of the vicinity of so large a
party of natives--was anything but satisfactory, and made my father
resolve to continue the journey next morning, instead of resting a day,
as he had proposed; and my mother declared that she was perfectly able
to travel, provided we could make a shorter stage than on the previous
days. The account we gave of the curious skeleton dance performed by
the blacks made Mudge, Tom, and Harry determine to go and see it.
Burton offered to accompany them; but the rest of the men, after
listening to the description given by Paddy, seemed to think that there
was something weird and supernatural in it, and showed no inclination to
join them. As for Pullingo, he made no attempt to explain matters, and
I could not help suspecting that he had got up the performance himself
for some purpos