e
many abrasions that we had come by during the towing process to which we
had been subjected made Kaipi's efforts to restore circulation by
rubbing a species of torture that would surely have earned the
commendation of Torquemada if it had been brought under his notice.

"Narrow squeak, Verslun," remarked Holman, as he endeavoured to get to
his knees. "I wonder where those two other devils went to work the
machinery."

"They must be close," I whispered. "Drag us over to the edge, Kaipi.
They'll surely come up to see how the job was done or to see what is
delaying their pal."

Kaipi helped us over to the edge of the table, and while he was doing so
he related briefly how he came to be on hand at the opportune moment.
Our little expedition to the stone table had passed the Fijian soon
after the trinity had taken us in tow, and Kaipi's eyes had mistaken the
biggest of the three natives for Soma. Revenge for Toni's death being
the one motive that inspired him, he had followed the procession,
watched from the bushes till the other two dancers had left Soma's
double with us on the top of the table, and had then climbed quietly up
and knifed the officiating wizard while that person was exhorting the
stone centipede to make a good job of Holman and me. The matter of our
rescue had been an afterthought. Strictly speaking, he deserved no great
amount of praise for dragging us out of danger, as he frankly admitted
that he was waiting for a good chance to attack the person who resembled
Soma, without having any particular worry whether the stone slab would
descend before the opportunity arrived.

"Never mind, Kaipi," said Holman, peering cautiously over the edge of
the table, "I'm satisfied that you were handy at the moment without
considering whether you came to help us or for some other purpose."

"Toni all the same brother to me," muttered the Fijian, dimly
understanding the meaning of the remark; "me kill Soma pretty damn
soon."

"Quite so," murmured Holman. "We'll give our consent to that operation,
but keep quiet for the present till our two friends come back to see how
neatly the old centipede fixed us."

We remained silent, but not inactive. As we waited for the missing pair
we rubbed our limbs carefully, and at the end of ten minutes we began to
feel alive. Our revolvers had been lost from our pockets during the mad
rush through the night--Leith had been too intent on kicking us to order
his guard to search us fo