that he
believed that the treacherous brute was one of the three that were
approaching behind the bobbing lamp.

The bodies of the dancers, or at least the parts that we could see,
became tense and rigid. A soft hiss went round the circle, and once
again the wriggling movement started. But this time the six went forward
instead of backward. They broke out of the circular formation, and in a
long glistening line moved up the cavern toward the three approaching.
The lamp halted, then it was raised high in the air as the crawling half
dozen approached, and Holman gave a curious little gurgle as the light
fell upon the three newcomers. Wrapped in parrot feathers and a white
mask, the lamp bearer stood revealed as Soma. Immediately behind him was
a tall white man in the same outlandish garb, while the last of the
three, barearmed and barelegged, and wearing an immense headdress of
plumes, was Leith!

The snaky six circled the three at a respectful distance, then, again
breaking into a single file formation, they turned toward the end of the
cave nearest our spyhole, and behind the length of creeping bodies,
Soma, the tall white who had only one eye, and Leith came slowly.

Holman's breath came faster as the procession approached. The
exhibition chilled us. There was a devilish suggestiveness in the
proceeding. In some indescribable manner it brought up mental pictures
that were nauseating, and it required something of an effort to watch
the performance. The mystery of the silent night, the thoughts of the
danger which threatened the two girls, and the glimpses of the
astounding performance within the cavern brought a dazed mental
condition that made us doubt our sanity.

I felt Holman's hand reach out across my shoulder as the procession
moved down upon us, and instinctively I understood the movement. The
cold barrel of a revolver had slipped by my face, and I gripped his
wrist and forced the hand downward. The manner in which Soma and the
one-eyed man walked in front of the big brute made it impossible to
shoot with telling effect, and Leith was the person we desired to kill
at that moment. The others seemed to be but creatures of his will, and
he stood up in our minds as a devil whose existence was a menace to
everything that was pure and clean.

The three newcomers moved to the side of the cavern, so that nothing
except their bare feet were visible, and backward and forward in front
of those feet moved the human ser