d during the preceding
hours. They had stopped for some purpose, but that purpose I could not
determine.

"Are they there?" asked Holman.

"Yes," I murmured.

"What are they doing?"

"Sitting in a line staring at the hills."

The youngster gave a grunt, turned his head till he managed to wipe the
mud and blood from his eyes upon my shoulder, then he peered at the
silent three. Their motionless forms fascinated him. It was hard to
connect them with the three bounding devils who had brought us on a
gallop that was more painful than the bareback ride which the Polish
nobleman gave to the intriguing Mazeppa.

"What do you make of it?" he whispered.

"They're resting perhaps."

"Not them! They look as if they're hatching some new villainy."

Minute after minute crept by, but the three remained inactive. They took
no notice of our whispered conversation. No Hindu Yogis ever sat
meditating with the absolute immovability of the three, and as our
wounds stiffened under the cold night air, we became foolishly angry at
the wait. If we had to meet death, it would please us to get it over as
soon as possible.

"If I could have one more fling at them." groaned Holman. "By all that's
holy, Verslun, I feel that I could fight a million if these ropes were
off me."

He endeavoured to get his face down to the bandages on my wrists, but we
had been strapped in such a manner that it was impossible to reach any
of the ropes with our teeth, so we lay quiet and reviewed the legion of
tormenting thoughts that marched through our minds. The jungle, like the
three natives, seemed to be waiting for a happening. The silence was
more horrible than the thunder of an earthquake. It seemed to well out
from the silent three, till we longed with a great longing for some
terrific and prolonged noise to shiver it and send battalions of echoes
to chase it into the hills.

The moon peered above the black cliffs, and the surroundings became more
distinct. We were on the edge of a clearing, and there was something
vaguely familiar about the trees that our cramped position allowed us
to see. We felt certain that we had passed this place on our journey
from the yacht, and each minute that passed strengthened the conviction.

"Seems to me that I've seen that tree before," muttered Holman.

"I hold the same impression," I said.

"And those rocks," remarked the youngster. "Why, we're going back to
_The Waif!_"

The three natives rose together