shake off the
terrifying suggestion that _some one_ or _something_ had entered the
cave while she was asleep and now stood in the shadows watching her,
perhaps waiting for an opportunity to attack her.

The more she thought of the possibility of such a thing, the more
alarmed she became, and her nervousness increased each minute until she
was bathed in perspiration from head to foot. She tried to reason with
herself, to shake off the impression, and with an exclamation of
impatience at her own childishness she turned over and again closed her
eyes. But as she moved _It_ moved also. Her alert ear caught the sound
of a slow and cautious movement, as if _some one_ or _something_ were
creeping on all fours toward her. Petrified with fright, her heart in
her mouth, she called out:

"Who's there?"

There was no answer, but the sound ceased.

Something was there, that was certain. At any moment it might spring
upon her. She shook with terror, her teeth chattered. She dare not make
a movement. Her ears were strained for sounds of further moves. Almost
rigid with fright, each passing moment seemed a century. If only she
could flee from there and reach the open. She was sorry now that
Armitage had left her alone. What would she not give to be able to call
him now to her aid!

Suddenly the bed moved as though _something_ had accidentally stumbled
against it. She distinctly heard a rustling sound as if _something_ had
grazed the branches of which her couch was built. The _Thing_, whatever
it was, man or beast, was close to her. The suspense was more than she
could bear. Almost swooning from terror she sprang up, and, leaning over
the side, peered into the darkness. What she beheld made the blood
freeze in her veins.

A long, slimy-looking, sinuous thing, almost as thick as a man's arm
and nearly six feet in length, was gliding slowly and aimlessly about in
the shadow. In the faint glimmer of light that struggled in from the
entrance to the cave was plainly discernible a pair of glistening eyes
set in a squat, flat head, and a cruel mouth with fanglike teeth in
which a forked tongue darted rapidly back and forth. It was a huge
hooded cobra, the deadliest of all the venomous serpents inhabiting
tropical Asia.

Panic-stricken, Grace opened her mouth to scream, but no sound issued
forth. She tried to flee, but some irresistible power held her rooted to
the spot. Every faculty, every muscle in her was paralyzed by
unspeakable