aniacal ring in his voice. He felt as though
he must rush right at this thing of fear. Was he really going mad? Well,
it began to look like it.

But the effect was prompt. The awful vampire, gathering its horrible
legs under it, sprang clear of the carcass. It stood for a moment in
rigid immobility, then ere the maniacal echoes of that shout had
quavered into silence among the cliffs, it shoggled over the ridge and
was lost to view.

The night wore through somehow, and if ever mortal eyes were rejoiced by
the light of dawn, assuredly they were those of Laurence Stanninghame,
as once more he found himself the sole living tenant of that ghastly
place of death. Yet, to what end? One more dreary day in his rock
prison, another night of horror--and--the same brooding fate awaiting!
He could not remain awake forever. Even though the sound of his voice
thus unexpectedly lifted up had alarmed the vampire, it would not always
do so. Still, with the light of the new-born day after the night of
terror came some medium of relief.

Once more he drew upon his provision stores. While repacking them his
gaze rested on the native blanket with the wild idea of manufacturing
therefrom a cord. But to do this he needed a knife. The stuff was of
material too stout for tearing.

A knife! Ha! With the thought came another. It was not worth much, but
it was something,--and with that came a hard, fierce, desperate hope.
The broad gold bracelet which still encircled Lutali's skeleton
wrist--could not that be banged and flattened into something sharp and
serviceable? It was hard metal, anyway.

Still the grim horror lurked within its cave--still it came not forth.
It was waiting until another night should embolden it to seize its
defenceless human prey. He glanced upwards. There were still from two to
three hours of daylight. In a very few moments he had reached the
skeleton of the Arab, and, snapping off the bony wrist without
hesitation, the bracelet was within his grasp.

But as he looked around for some means of flattening it, there flashed
in upon him another idea--a perfectly heaven-sent idea, grisly under
ordinary circumstances, as it might be. The bracelet was large and
massive, and for it a new use suggested itself. Critically examining the
skeletons, he selected two with the largest and strongest leg-bones.
These he soon wrenched off, and, running one through the gold bracelet,
he jammed the latter fast against the thicker end--bi