ou begotten son of evil. I say that thou
shalt encompass this woman with thy might, and then offer her in
sacrifice to Kali, the Goddess of Death. I say that thou _shalt_."

It was a case of will pitted against will, for the old man knew that
the younger would not dare raise hand against him for fear of
everlasting damnation.

And Madhu Krishnaghar girded himself for the battle by putting his love
for the white woman in the forefront of his mind.

And as they fought, desperately, with one last terrific pull which
caused the hide to cut down to the wrist bone, Jan Cuxson wrenched the
ring he had loosened from the wall, and stood swaying, sick with pain.
Sweat poured down his face and bare chest, and blood flowed from his
wrists while his burst finger-tips fumbled clumsily with the deep
embedded thongs.

"I did it--I did it," he kept on repeating savagely, as his knees
trembled and his body turned cold in agony. "I did it--I did it--God
grant I am in time--in time."

Free at last, smothered in blood, dragging his heavily booted feet with
difficulty, he sought and found the broken blade, staggered across the
floor, stooped, and entered the passage of the gods where the imprint
of his beloved's bare feet marked the dust of ages.

And Leonie lay quite still; to all appearance dead, with her open eyes
turned back beneath the lids and her mouth half open showing her even
teeth.

Not a word passed between the two men as they fought for her, one for
her life, the other for her death. This way and that they moved; the
one trying to escape from the direct range of the relentless
will-power, and yet keep himself between the girl and the religious
fanatic; the other striving to press his opponent back even to the
altar stone.

Like iron to a magnet Madhu's hand was closed about the dagger hilt,
and try as he would he could not relax the grasp nor fling the knife
far back into the shadows; neither could he keep his footing, for
strive as he would the priest's magnetic power, developed and trained
through years and years of study and practice, drove him back inch by
inch towards the god who looked down upon them with her fish-shaped
eyes.

A glint of triumph shone in the eyes of the priest, and twisted the
corner of his mouth as the heel of his enemy thudded against the stone
upon which lay the white girl; and he concentrated every ounce of his
strength for the last moment when, by sheer force of his will, the
knife s