ght see that
this was not the Shepherdess. Otter stood up upon his feet, and kicking
the stool on which he had sat off the platform, he watched its flight.
It flew into the water, never touching the rock, and then the dwarf knew
that he had planned well.

Now Nam and one priest seized the fainting form of Francisco and the
other two stepped towards Otter. The dwarf waited till their hands were
outstretched to grasp him, then suddenly he sprang at the man upon his
right, and shouting "Come thou with me," he gripped him about the middle
in his iron grasp, and, putting out all his strength, hurled himself and
his burden into sheer space beneath.

The priest shrieked aloud, and a gasp of wonder went up from the
watching thousands as the dwarf and his victim rushed downward like a
stone. They cleared the edge of the pool by an inch or two--no more, and
struck the boiling waters, sinking through them till Otter thought they
would never rise again. But at last they did rise. Then Otter loosed the
dead or senseless priest, and at that moment the body of Francisco, cast
thither by Nam, struck the water beside him and straightway vanished for
ever.

Otter loosed his grip, and diving beneath the surface swam hard for the
north side of the pool, for there he had noticed that the current was
least strong, and there also the rock bank overhung a little. He reached
it safely, and rising once more grasped a knob of rock with one hand,
and lay still where in the shadow and the swirl of waters he could not
be discovered by any watching from above. He breathed deeply and moved
his limbs; it was well, he was unhurt. The priest whom he had taken with
him, being heaviest, had met the water first, so that though the leap
was great the shock had been little.

"Ha!" said Otter to himself, "thus far my Spirit has been with me, and
here I could lie for hours and never be seen. But there is still the
Snake to contend with," and hastily he seized the weapon that he had
constructed out of the two knives, and unwound a portion of the cord
that was fast about his middle. Then again he looked across the surface
of the waters. Some ten fathoms from him, in the exact centre of the
whirlpool, the body of the priest was still visible, for the vortex bore
it round and round, but of Francisco there was nothing to be seen. Only
thirty feet above him Otter could see lines of heads bending over the
rocky edges of the pool and gazing at the priest as he was