r arms--and now we had nothing but our bare
hands with which to do combat with a pair of dancers. But we thought we
could do a lot with bare hands when we glanced at the spot where the
stone centipede had crashed back to its bed, A vision of that devilish
carving standing above one in the moonlight was enough to stimulate a
person to herculean tasks when he understood that failure would bring
him again under its ghastly shadow.

For about twenty minutes we waited patiently. Kaipi had asserted that
the two savages had slipped into the jungle growth after they had left
the table, and it was evident that they had gone to some underground
passage that connected with one of the pillars of the altar, through
which the crude mechanism for lifting the stone slab had been operated.
With one eye always to the dramatic, the wizards of the long ago had
built the altar so that the common worshippers surrounding the place on
days when the centipede was called upon to mash some unfortunate victim
could not see how the slab was lifted, and would thus put the uplifting
of the thing down to supernatural agency. It was the tribal Houdin who
laid the foundation of many a strange belief amongst savage races.

"Must be waiting for him to come to them," said Holman. "We'll give them
a few minutes longer."

It was Kaipi's sharp eyes that made the discovery. The pair came
cautiously out of the bushes immediately underneath the tree which
Holman and I had climbed to obtain a view of the surface of the table
two nights before, and they crossed the clearing with hesitating steps.
They evidently expected the officiating wizard to announce in sporting
phraseology that the centipede had won the engagement with one swift
blow to the body, and when no news was forthcoming they were puzzled.

They confabbed in the centre of the clearing, and then hailed the table
in the strange tongue. Receiving no answer, they again debated with
much vigour, and, finally taking their courage in their hands, they came
forward with quickened steps.

We crept close to the edge, careful not to peer over while the pair were
climbing up. As far as I was aware we had no plans made for their
reception. Holman and I had no weapons, neither had the two dancers;
Kaipi had the ugly short-bladed knife with which he had dispatched
Soma's double.

The puffing of the climbing pair came to us. They came near and nearer.
A black arm came up over the edge of the table and clawed at