Our little expedition to the stone table had passed the Fijian soon
after the trinity had taken us in tow, and Kaipi's eyes had mistaken the
biggest of the three natives for Soma. Revenge for Toni's death being
the one motive that inspired him, he had followed the procession,
watched from the bushes till the other two dancers had left Soma's
double with us on the top of the table, and had then climbed quietly up
and knifed the officiating wizard while that person was exhorting the
stone centipede to make a good job of Holman and me. The matter of our
rescue had been an afterthought. Strictly speaking, he deserved no great
amount of praise for dragging us out of danger, as he frankly admitted
that he was waiting for a good chance to attack the person who resembled
Soma, without having any particular worry whether the stone slab would
descend before the opportunity arrived.
"Never mind, Kaipi," said Holman, peering cautiously over the edge of
the table, "I'm satisfied that you were handy at the moment without
considering whether you came to help us or for some other purpose.
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