long Nanea slept she did not know, but at length she was awakened by
a sound as of guttural human voices talking in a language that she could
not understand. Rising to her knees she peered out of the hole in the
tree. It was night, but the stars shone brilliantly, and their light
fell upon an open circle of ground close by the edge of the river. In
this circle there burned a great fire, and at a little distance from the
fire were gathered eight or ten horrible-looking beings, who appeared to
be rejoicing over something that lay upon the ground. They were small in
stature, men and women together, but no children, and all of them were
nearly naked. Their hair was long and thin, growing down almost to the
eyes, their jaws and teeth protruded and the girth of their black bodies
was out of all proportion to their height. In their hands they held
sticks with sharp stones lashed on to them, or rude hatchet-like knives
of the same material.

Now Nanea's heart shrank within her, and she nearly fainted with fear,
for she knew that she was in the haunted forest, and without a doubt
these were the _Esemkofu_, the evil ghosts that dwelt therein. Yes, that
was what they were, and yet she could not take her eyes off them--the
sight of them held her with a horrible fascination. But if they were
ghosts, why did they sing and dance like men? Why did they wave those
sharp stones aloft, and quarrel and strike each other? And why did they
make a fire as men do when they wish to cook food? More, what was it
that they rejoiced over, that long dark thing which lay so quiet upon
the ground? It did not look like a head of game, and it could scarcely
be a crocodile, yet clearly it was food of some sort, for they were
sharpening the stone knives in order to cut it up.

While she wondered thus, one of the dreadful-looking little creatures
advanced to the fire, and taking from it a burning bough, held it over
the thing that lay upon the ground, to give light to a companion who
was about to do something to it with the stone knife. Next instant Nanea
drew back her head from the hole, a stifled shriek upon her lips. She
saw what it was now--it was the body of a man. Yes, and these were no
ghosts; they were cannibals of whom when she was little, her mother had
told her tales to keep her from wandering away from home.

But who was the man they were about to eat? It could not be one of
themselves, for his stature was much greater. Oh! now she knew; it m