reeds, which they
had cut at the time when he had bidden them gather fuel, several of the
thickest, and to one of these he bound a great mass of the dry weed;
whereupon the men, divining his intention, did likewise with the others,
and so we had each of us the wherewithal for a mighty torch.

So soon as we had completed our preparations, we took each man his weapon
and, plunging our torches into the fires, set off along the track which
had been made by the devil-things and the body of poor Job; for now that
we had suspicion that harm had come to him, the marks in the sand, and
the slime, were very plain to be seen, so that it was a wonder that we
had not discovered them earlier.

Now the bo'sun led the way, and, finding the marks led direct to the
valley, he broke into a run, holding his torch well above his head. At
that, each of us did likewise; for we had a great desire to be together,
and further than this, I think with truth I may say, we were all fierce
to avenge Job, so that we had less of fear in our hearts than otherwise
had been the case.

In less than the half of a minute we had reached the end of the valley;
but here, the ground being of a nature not happy in the revealing of
tracks, we were at fault to know in which direction to continue. At that,
the bo'sun set up a loud shout to Job, perchance he might be yet alive;
but there came no answer to us, save a low and uncomfortable echo. Then
the bo'sun, desiring to waste no more time, ran straight down towards the
center of the valley, and we followed, and kept our eyes very open about
us. We had gotten perhaps halfway, when one of the men shouted that he
saw something ahead; but the bo'sun had seen it earlier; for he was
running straight down upon it, holding his torch high and swinging his
great cutlass. Then, instead of smiting, he fell upon his knees beside
it, and the following instant we were up with him, and in that same
moment it seemed to me that I saw a number of white shapes melt swiftly
into the shadows further ahead: but I had no thought for these when I
perceived that by which the bo'sun knelt; for it was the stark body of
Job, and no inch of it but was covered with the little ringed marks that
I had discovered upon my throat, and from every place there ran a trickle
of blood, so that he was a most horrid and fearsome sight.

At the sight of Job so mangled and be-bled, there came over us the sudden
quiet of a mortal terror, and in that space