The
exhibition chilled us. There was a devilish suggestiveness in the
proceeding. In some indescribable manner it brought up mental pictures
that were nauseating, and it required something of an effort to watch
the performance. The mystery of the silent night, the thoughts of the
danger which threatened the two girls, and the glimpses of the
astounding performance within the cavern brought a dazed mental
condition that made us doubt our sanity.
I felt Holman's hand reach out across my shoulder as the procession
moved down upon us, and instinctively I understood the movement. The
cold barrel of a revolver had slipped by my face, and I gripped his
wrist and forced the hand downward. The manner in which Soma and the
one-eyed man walked in front of the big brute made it impossible to
shoot with telling effect, and Leith was the person we desired to kill
at that moment. The others seemed to be but creatures of his will, and
he stood up in our minds as a devil whose existence was a menace to
everything that was pure and clean.
The three newcomers moved to the side of the cavern, so that nothing
except their bare feet were visible, and backward and forward in front
of those feet moved the human serpents with a regularity that was
stupefying.
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