n. One side of the clearing lay wholly in shadow. He waited and, as
the light brightened, he saw the thing he sought--trampled bracken, a
broken bush.... He followed the trail with a slow certitude of which
ordinarily he would have been incapable.... It did not lead very
far. The trees thinned abruptly. A rounded moss-covered rock rose up
between him and the moon ... and on the rock, grotesque and darkly
clear, a crouching figure--looking down....

A curious sound broke from Spence's throat. He stooped and sprang. But
quick as he was, the figure on the rock was quicker. It slipped aside.
Spence heard a guttural exclamation and caught a glimpse of a yellow
face.

"Li Ho!"

The Chinaman pulled him firmly back from the edge of the moss-covered
rock.

"All same Li Ho," he said. "You come click--but not too dam click."

"I know. Where is he?"

It was the one thing which held interest for Bern's Spence now.

Li Ho stepped gingerly to the edge of the rounded rock. In the clear
light, Spence could see how the moss had been scraped from the margin.

"Him down there," said Li Ho. "Moon-devil push 'um. Plenty stlong
devil!" Li Ho shrugged.

Spence's clenched hands relaxed.

"Dead?" he asked dully.

"Heap much dead," said Li Ho. "Oh, too much squash!" He made a gesture.

Benis was not quite sure what happened then. He remembers leaning
against a tree. Presently he was aware of a horrible smell--the smell
of some object which Li Ho held to his nostrils.

"Plenty big smell," said Li Ho. "Make 'urn sit up."

Benis sat up.

"Where is--" he began. But his throat closed upon the question. He
could not ask.

"Missy in tent," said Li Ho stolidly. "Missy plenty tired. Sleep velly
good."

Spence tried to take this in ... tent ... sleep ...

"Li Ho tell missy house no so-so," went on the China-man, pressing his
evil-smelling salts closer to his victim's face. "Missy say 'all
light'--sleep plenty well in tent; velly fine night."

Benis tried feebly to push the abomination away from his nose.

"Desire ... alive?" he whispered.

"Oh elite so. Velly much. Moon-devil velly smart but Li Ho much more
clever. Missy she no savey--all light."

Spence began to laugh. It was dangerous laughter--or so at least Li Ho
thought, for he promptly smothered it with his "velly big smell." The
measure proved effective. The professor decided not to laugh. He held
himself quiet until control came back and then stood up.

"I thought she