by Tommy, barking, leaving us alone with the two dead men.

"It was time to teach them a lesson," said Bickley as he replaced the
empty cartridge, and, seizing the dead man, rolled him into the burning
pit.

"Yes," I answered; "but presently, when they have got over their fright,
they will come back to teach us one."

Bastin said nothing; he seemed too dazed at the turn events had taken.

"What do you suggest?" asked Bickley.

"Flight," I answered.

"Where to--the ship? We might hold that."

"No; that is what they expect. Look! They are cutting off our road
there. To the island in the lake where they dare not follow us, for it
is holy ground."

"How are we going to live on the island?" asked Bickley.

"I don't know," I replied; "but I am quite certain that if we stay here
we shall die."

"Very well," he said; "let us try it."

While we were speaking I was cutting Bastin's bonds. "Thank you," he
said. "It is a great relief to stretch one's arms after they have been
compressed with cords. But at the same time, I do not know that I am
really grateful. The martyr's crown was hanging above me, so to speak,
and now it has vanished into the pit, like that man whom Bickley
murdered."

"Look here," exclaimed the exasperated Bickley, "if you say much more,
Bastin, I'll chuck you into the pit too, to look for your martyr's
crown, for I think you have done enough mischief for one morning."

"If you are trying to shift the responsibility for that unfortunate
man's destruction on to me--"

"Oh! shut it and trot," broke in Bickley. "Those infernal savages are
coming with your blessed converts leading the van."

So we "trotted" at no mean pace. As we passed it, Bastin stooped down
and picked up the head of the image of Oro, much as Atalanta in Academy
pictures is represented as doing to the apples, and bore it away in
triumph.

"I know it is scorched," he ejaculated at intervals, "but they might
trim it up and stick it on to a new body as the original false god. Now
they can't, for there's nothing left."

As a matter of fact, we were never in any real danger, for our pursuit
was very half-hearted indeed. To begin with, now that their first rage
was over, the Orofenans who were fond of us had no particular wish to do
us to death, while the ardour of their sorcerers, who wished this very
much, had been greatly cooled by the mysterious annihilation of their
idol and the violent deaths of two of their companions, whi