zen yards away, indeed, was a kind of little tent, also made of fur
rugs or blankets, which doubtless sheltered Inez. Indeed, this was
evident from the fact that at the mouth of it, wrapped up in something,
lay none other than her maid, Janee, for her face being towards us, was
recognised by us both in the flare of the flaming branch. One more thing
we noted, namely, that two of the cannibals, evidently a guard, were
sleeping between us and the little tent. Of course they ought to have
been awake, but fatigue had overcome them and there they slumbered,
seated on the ground, their heads hanging forward almost upon their
knees.

An idea came to me. If we could kill those men without waking the others
in that gloom, it might be possible to rescue Inez at once. Rapidly I
weighed the _pros_ and _cons_ of such an attempt. Its advantages, if
successful, were that the object of our pursuit would be carried through
without further trouble and that it was most doubtful whether we should
ever get such a chance again. If we returned to fetch the others and
attacked in force, the probability was that those Amahagger, or one of
them, would hear some sound made by the advance of a number of men, and
fly into the darkness; or, rather than lose Inez, they might kill her.
Or if they stood and fought, she might be slain in the scrimmage. Or,
as after all we had only about a dozen effectives, for the Strathmuir
bearers could not be relied upon, they might defeat and kill us whom
they outnumbered by two or three to one.

These were the arguments for the attempt. Those for not making it were
equally obvious. To begin with it was one of extraordinary risk; the two
guards or someone else behind them might wake up--for such people, like
dogs, mostly sleep with one eye open, especially when they knew that
they are being pursued. Or if they did not we might bungle the business
so that they raised an outcry before they grew silent for ever, in which
case both of us and perhaps Inez also would probably pay the penalty
before we could get away.

Such was the horned dilemma upon one point or other of which we ran the
risk of being impaled. For a full minute or more I considered the matter
with an earnestness almost amounting to mental agony, and at last all
but came to the conclusion that the danger was too enormous. It would be
better, notwithstanding the many disadvantages of that plan, to go back
and fetch the others.

But then it was that I m