We had not covered a hundred yards of the path when Holman pounced upon
a strip of white bark that waved to us from the thorn of a lawyer-vine
crossing the track. A few pencilled words covered the smooth side of the
strip, and we absorbed them in a single glance.
"'We're prisoners now,' muttered Holman, reading the few words in a
whisper. 'The brute has declared himself. Barbara.'"
The boy turned to me, his face all blood-smeared and haggard, and for a
moment we stared at the strip of bark. There had been no doubt in our
minds concerning Leith's intentions from the time that Kaipi brought us
the message which Soma had dropped, but the knowledge that the brute had
declared himself to the Professor and the two girls brought us a most
horrible feeling. In my own case I had never experienced such a
sensation. The strange rites connected with the "tivo" in the long cave
had laid a foundation upon which my imagination piled skyscrapers of
horror. If I could have fixed my mind upon a definite fate that would be
theirs if they were not rescued from the big brute's clutches, I would
have found relief, but my inability to do that left me a victim to
thoughts that were enough to deprive one of his reason.
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