washed down by the rain or melting snows from
slopes above. This donga was bordered on the farther side by a cliff,
perhaps fifty feet in height, in which we could see no opening.

Still we descended the place, that was dark and rugged; pervaded,
moreover, by an extraordinary gloom, and as we went perceived that its
lava floor was sprinkled over with a multitude of white objects. Soon we
came to the first of these and found that it was the skeleton of a
human being. Here was a veritable Valley of Dead Bones, thousands upon
thousands of them; a gigantic graveyard. It seemed as though some great
army had perished here.

Indeed, we found afterwards that this was the case, for on one of those
occasions in the far past when the people of Kaloon had attacked the
Mountain tribes, they were trapped and slaughtered in this gully,
leaving their bones as a warning and a token. Among these sad skeletons
we wandered disconsolately, seeking a path up the opposing cliff, and
finding none, until at length we came to a halt, not knowing which way
to turn. Then it was that we met with our first strange experience on
the Mountain.

The gulf and its mouldering relics depressed us, so that for awhile
we were silent, and, to tell the truth, somewhat afraid. Yes, even
the horse seemed afraid, for it snorted a little, hung its head and
shivered. Close by us lay a pile of bones, the remains evidently of a
number of wretched creatures that, dead or living, had been hurled down
from the cliff above, and on the top of the pile was a little huddled
heap, which we took for more bones.

"Unless we can find a way out of this accursed charnel-house before
long, I think that we shall add to its company," I said, staring round
me.

As the words left my lips it seemed to me that from the corner of my eye
I saw the heap on the top of the bones stir. I looked round. Yes, it
was stirring. It rose, it stood up, a human figure, apparently that of
a woman--but of this I could not be sure--wrapped from head to foot in
white and wearing a hanging veil over its face, or rather a mask with
cut eye-holes. It advanced towards us while we stared at it, till the
horse, catching sight of the thing, shied violently and nearly threw me.
When at a distance of about ten paces it paused and beckoned with its
hand, that was also swathed in white like the arm of a mummy.

"What the devil are you?" shouted Leo, and his voice echoed drearily
among those naked rocks. But t