considered that the danger
I ran of receiving a bullet from Holman was more than counterbalanced by
the protection that the dancer's costume would give me if I ran against
the groping hands of Leith or his gang.

After a wearisome crawl I touched the wall of the cavern, and standing
upright I debated for a moment whether I should move to the right or the
left. I had no definite idea as to the position of the opening through
which we had entered the place, and I dreaded the weary circuit of the
cavern which I would be compelled to make if I turned in the wrong
direction. It was possible that the corridor was within a few yards of
me, and if I turned away from it I might get lost in other passages
leading to the long gallery where the dance of death had taken place.

I decided to move to the right, and with one hand upon the cold wall I
stumbled forward. If Holman was still a prisoner, Edith Herndon and her
sister were entirely unprotected, and my tormenting imagination made me
throw prudence to the winds. I had to reach the camp before Leith or any
of his evil bodyguard arrived, and, becoming reckless of the terrors of
the dark, I ran blindly in my desperate desire to find the path into the
open air.

I cannoned into a man who was standing with his back to the wall of the
cave, and before I could lift my arm his fingers had gripped my throat.
For a second we struggled, then he released his grip and murmured some
words in a dialect that I did not understand. His hand had touched the
parrot-feather mat that I had drawn about my shoulders, and he was
convinced that I was one of his own companions.

Still holding my shoulder he pushed me a pace or two forward, and
instinctively I knew that I was in the corridor. The faintest tremor
disturbed the heavy air, and a wild surge of joy rushed through my
being. The place of skulls had brought a terror upon me that swept away
my reason, but the knowledge that I was on the way to the open, where I
could fill my lungs with God's pure air, acted as a powerful
restorative.

As my guide's fingers slipped from my shoulder, I stood still and
listened. His heavy breathing was distinctly audible, and with a prayer
to Providence to guide my right hand, I brought the butt of the heavy
revolver down through the darkness. It must have caught him squarely
upon the crown, for he dropped without a groan.

"Holman!" I shrieked. "Where are you, Holman? The passage is here! This
way, quick!"