I saw
I shall never forget, nor to this day have I been able to explain the
means by which the illusion was produced.

"Moving downward toward me through the jungle darkness, slowly, evenly,
but at a height above the ground of what I judged to be about fifteen
feet, was a sort of torch or flambeau, visible because it was faintly
luminous; and surmounting it was a darting tongue of blue flame!

"At the moment that I set eyes upon this apparently supernatural
spectacle the bearers, crying some word in Hindustani which I did not
understand, rose and fled in a body.

"I may say here that I never saw any of them again; although,
considering that they took nothing with them, how they regained the
nearest village is a mystery which I have never solved.

"Gentlemen, I know the East as few of my fellow-citizens know it. I know
something of the powers which are latent in some Orientals and active in
others. That my Brahmin guide was a hypnotist and an illusionist, I have
since thought.

"For, even as the pattering footsteps of the bearers grew faint in the
distance, the fiery torch disappeared as if by magic, and a silken cord
was about my throat!

"As I began a desperate fight for life, I realized that, whatever else
Vadi might be, he was certainly an expert thug. The jungle, the rocks,
seemed to swim around me as I crashed to the ground and felt the
Brahmin's knee in the small of my back."

CHAPTER XXXI. STORY OF THE CITY OF FIRE (CONTINUED)

"How I managed to think of any defense against such an attack, and
especially in the circumstances, is a matter I have often wondered
about since. How, having thought of it, I succeeded in putting it into
execution, is probably more wonderful still. But I will just state what
happened.

"You may observe that I have large hands. Their size and strength served
me well on this occasion. At the moment that the rope tightened about
my throat I reached up and grasped the Brahmin's left thumb. Desperation
gave me additional strength, and I snapped it like a stick of candy.

"Just in the nick of time I felt the cord relax, and, although the veins
in my head seemed to be bursting, I managed to get my fingers under that
damnable rope. To this very hour I can hear Vadi's shriek of pain as I
broke his thumb, and it brings the whole scene back to me.

"Clutching the rope with my left hand, I groaned and lay still. The
Brahmin slightly shifted his position, which was what I wanted him t