didn't try conclusions with their
knives in that fight in the dark," said Denviers, as I got close to him
and the Arab. Then, observing the latter's injured arm, he added: "You
seem to have got the worst of the encounter with one of them,
Hassan----"

"Not so, by the Koran!" answered the Arab, promptly. "He who dealt that
blow felt the edge of my sword, and lived but a second after he did it."

"Where are we being taken to, do you think, Hassan?" I asked, looking in
surprise at the changing colours of the walls of the passage, which just
there were tinted a bluish-grey, then crimsoned a little further on,
until the long cave seemed to terminate in an enormous hollow
surrounded by blood-red rocks which rose precipitously upwards.

"The sahib will soon see for himself," answered the Arab. "The savage
tribe has chosen a safe retreat where none would expect to find living
people, for, see! before us is the jagged side of a crater!"

We emerged from the cave to observe in front of us the cause of the
intense heat which had been so oppressive while we were in it. A white
cloud of smoke rose from the funnel-like hollow, and occasionally
flickering red flames shot up and turned this to the same hue, while at
times the cloud wore a blue colour, matching the changing tints of the
lake of fire below. Round the interior of the great crater in which we
were ran a rugged path of broken masses of rock, between which streams
of lava lay, and over them we had to pass. Even as we went along,
scarcely able to breathe, we saw a huge fragment of rock crash down into
the depths below. This was followed by a grinding sound and a rumble
like thunder; then high above us shot a shower of red-hot lava and
stones, while we crouched under a projecting shelf of black basalt, and
forgot that we were prisoners in the midst of such an impressive scene.
When the stream of fire which darted upwards had somewhat subsided, our
captives urged us forward, and on we went, tumbling and slipping over
the dangerous rocks, which threatened every instant to give way beneath
our feet. Even the savages became exceedingly cautious as we wound our
way around the crater, and seemed to be getting nearer and nearer still
to the molten fire below.

[Illustration: "HE FELL HEAD FIRST."]

As he turned round for a moment to see if we were following, the
foremost of our captors missed his footing, and, bound as we were, none
of us could make an attempt to save him. Utte