men falling into this infernal pit?"

I nodded my head. I was unable to speak at that moment.

"Well, the Wizards of the Centipede fixed that! Don't you see? This was
their seat! They leaned out of this place as I leaned out just now, and
they gripped the ankles of any poor devil they had a grouch against. It
was devilish----"

I put my hand across his mouth and he became instantly mute. We held our
breath and listened intently. From above us came the faint sound of
footsteps and a cold perspiration broke out upon us. Some one was
walking slowly along the Ledge of Death!

The sounds ceased when the unknown was immediately above our heads, and
a guilty look came upon Holman's face. The man on the Ledge had
probably heard the youngster's voice, and he was puzzled to know where
the sounds had come from.

We sat without moving a muscle. The silence convinced us that the
unknown was listening. We knew that he hadn't climbed from the Ledge to
the top of the crater. The scratching of his shoes against the rock
would have come to our ears. He was waiting--waiting to discover from
what direction the voice had come that caused him to pause and listen.

The minutes passed like slow-dragging years. The man above wore shoes
and the two men who wore shoes, outside our own party, were Leith and
the one-eyed man. Somehow we felt that Maru and Kaipi had settled with
One Eye, so there was only one person on the Isle of Tears who could
possibly be listening.

Ten minutes passed, then Holman pointed to his own legs. I understood
the sign and gripped his ankles. My head was bursting with the terror
inspired by the thought that our escape might be cut off after the
miraculous manner in which the way out had been shown to us.

Without noise, yet with incredible swiftness, the youngster turned upon
his back and wriggled forward till his head and shoulders were again out
over the pit. His body was tense, every muscle showing as he stiffened
himself. Into my mind flashed a picture of the bloodthirsty Wizards of
the Centipede stretching out in exactly the same manner centuries before
a white man sailed into the Pacific!

The silence seemed to sap my strength. I watched Holman with eyes that
were half-blinded by the perspiration that rolled down my forehead.
There was no movement upon the ledge, and the fingers of the youngster
were reaching slowly--slowly upward.

It was a yell of horror that shattered the awful quiet--a yell that went