that tied us together, promptly attached Holman's feet to the
rope his comrades lowered, and signalled that all was ready by clapping
his hands. The youngster was quickly jerked upward, and in a few minutes
I was beside him on the moss-grown sloping surface of the immense stone.

The three dancers were evidently impressed with the importance of the
work they had in hand. Their movements on the stone became more
dignified and solemn. They moved around us in a manner that would have
provoked laughter at any other time, and we watched eagerly for
developments.

With much care they placed us side by side on the upper part of the
stone, but Holman's feet were turned to my head, and as we were placed
crosswise upon the inclined surface, my body was a few inches lower than
his. That we were to be sacrificed appeared to be a certainty at that
moment, but the method by which we were to be sent into eternity puzzled
us. Not one of the three had a weapon. The surface of the stone was as
bare as it was upon the night that we had investigated it, and we began
to think that death by starvation and thirst would probably be our fate.

But thoughts of such an ending were soon put aside. Two of the savages
slipped from the stone while the other dropped upon his stomach and hid
his face. That something was going to happen we felt certain, but we
could not discover the slightest clue that would guide our puzzled wits
to a solution. We expected death, but we could not guess in what manner
the job was to be performed.

"Looks as if something is coming, Verslun," cried Holman. "I was a fool
to miss him, old man, but I guess--oh, Gee!"

The final exclamation was caused by a happening immediately beside us. A
section of the moss-grown stone, about eight feet long and eighteen
inches in width, started to rise slowly, and when our astonished eyes
fell upon it we knew that we had the solution of the strange appearance
of the figure upon the table on the night we camped in its shadow.
Holman had seen this movable slab rise above the top of the table, but
it had returned to its groove before we had climbed the tree, and it had
fitted so closely into its moss-grown bed that we had been unable to
detect a crevice in the moonlight. We had been on the verge of a
discovery, but as we recalled the incident, lying there helpless, we
were doubtful if it would have saved us from the fate we expected. The
note which Soma had dropped gave full confirmation