me in such fashion lest I lay the stress of my will upon
you."

He looked so frail, that for an instant the white man had been tempted
to fling himself upon him, and find deliverance for himself and his
beloved by choking the wizened neck, or cracking the old pate against
the stones.

But one is rather at a disadvantage when thoughts are liable to be
read, and plans disclosed before they are even matured; and he walked
submissively towards the ring in the wall, and seated himself
abjectedly upon the floor, just as a handful of plaster inserted itself
between his neck and the open collar of his shirt, and the back of his
head bumped the wall.

"Something like a slight----"

"Haste, sahib! I must away to placate Kali, the Goddess of
Destruction. There is not long now to wait for the great sacrifice for
which she has waited all these weary years; and then, and only then,
shall the plague, and the pestilence, and the famine be ended, and the
people of India return to their old-time happiness."

He never once removed his eyes from those of the man beneath him, and
Cuxson sighed with relief, well content that the glaring eyes should
not move beyond his face.

Having knotted the thongs tightly, the old man straightened himself,
and smiled up at the silvery heavens in the ecstasy of his worship.

"Such sacrifice, O Mother, as thou hast longed for, and which has long
been forbidden thee through the might of the white man who rules us.
The temple is strewn with flowers, and the flames of hundreds of lights
shine in thy fish-shaped eyes, thou daughter of the eternal snows." He
looked down suddenly to Cuxson, and bending, whispered in his ear.
"The white woman approaches, O _feringhee_, even she who has caused
this land to travail in agony all these years. And you shall see her,
she shall come to you and know you not, and you shall hear her voice
upraised in worship as she lies upon the altar at her Mother's feet
while you are bound to the ring in the wall. She has done well in
worship, even in sacrifice, but it is in her rich warm blood that Kali
the Terrible would lave her hands. Struggle not, for behold, although
I have lifted my will from you that you should be tormented even as my
race has been tormented by a woman of your land, yet will the ring and
the hide hold you fast."

Like some huge bird of prey he ran swiftly back across the flags and
disappeared behind the mass of stones, and Cuxson, not daring to mov