, but dashed blindly at me. The crevice in which I stood
and which was the only way through to the ledge where Harry had taken
Desiree, was not more than two feet wide. With unarmed savages for
foes, one man could have held it against a million.

But they came and I met them. I stood within the crevice, some three
or four feet from its end, and when one appeared in the opening I let
him have the spear. Another rushed in and fell on top of the first.

As I say, they appeared to be deprived of the power to reason. In five
minutes the mouth of the crevice was completely choked with bodies,
some, who were merely wounded, struggling and squirming to extricate
themselves from the bloody tangle.

I heard Harry's voice at my back:

"How about it? Want some help?"

"Not unless they find some gunpowder," I answered. "The idiots eat
death as though it were candy. We're safe; they can never break
through here."

"Are they still coming?"

"They can't; they've blocked the way with their smelly black carcasses.
How is Desiree?"

"Better; she's awake. I've been bathing her ankle with cold water.
She has a bad sprain; how the deuce she ever managed to hobble on it
even two steps is beyond me."

"A sprain? Are you sure?"

"I think so; it's badly swollen. Maybe only a twist; a few hours will
tell."

I heard him return to the ledge back of me; I dared not turn my head.

Thinking I heard a sound above, I looked up; but there was nothing to
fear in that direction. The boulders which formed the sides of the
crevice extended straight up to the roof of the cavern. We appeared,
in fact, to be fortified against any attack.

With one exception--hunger. But there would be plenty of time to think
of that; for the present we had our fish, which was sufficient for the
three of us for a month, if we could keep it fresh that long. And the
water was at our very feet.

The bodies wedged in the mouth of the crevice began to disappear,
allowing the light from the urns to filter through; they were removing
their dead. I could see the black forms swaying and pulling not five
feet away. But I stood motionless, saving my spear and my strength for
any who might try to force an entrance.

Soon the crevice was clear, and from where I stood I commanded a view
of something like three-quarters of the ledge. It was one mass of
black forms, packed tightly together, gazing at our retreat.

They looked particularly silly and helples