nd the snake seemed to mingle with that of the
human being. For be it remembered that notwithstanding his veneer of
civilisation, Hans was a savage whose forefathers for countless ages had
preserved themselves alive by means of such attacks and stratagems.

The die having been cast, in the same infinitesimal whispers we made our
arrangements, which were few and simple. They amounted to this--that
we were to creep on to the men and each of us to kill that one who was
opposite to him, I with the axe and Hans with his knife, remembering
that it must be done with a single stroke--that is, if they did not
wake up and kill us--after which we were to get Inez out of her shelter,
dressed or undressed, and make off with her into the darkness where we
were pretty sure of being able to baffle pursuit until we reached our
own camp.

Provided that we could kill the two guards in the proper fashion--rather
a large proviso, I admit--the thing was simple as shelling peas which,
notwithstanding the proverb, in my experience is not simple at all,
since generally the shells crack the wrong way and at least one of the
peas remained in the pod. So it happened in this case, for Janee, whom
we had both forgotten, remained in the pod.

I am sure I don't know why we overlooked her; indeed, the error was
inexcusable, especially as Hans had already experienced her foolishness
and she was lying there before our eyes. I suppose that our minds were
so concentrated upon the guard-killing and the tragic and impressive
Inez that there was no room in them for the stolid and matter-of-fact
Janee. At any rate she proved to be the pea that would not come out of
the pod.

Often in my life I have felt terrified, not being by nature one of those
who rejoices in dangers and wild adventures for their own sake, which
only the stupid do, but who has, on the contrary, been forced to
undertake them by the pressure of circumstances, a kind of hydraulic
force that no one can resist, and who, having undertaken, has been
carried through them, triumphing over the shrinkings of his flesh by
some secret reserve of nerve power. Almost am I tempted to call it
spirit-power, something that lives beyond and yet inspires our frail and
fallible bodies.

Well, rarely have I been more frightened than I was at this moment.
Actually I hung back until I saw that Hans slithering through the grass
like a thick yellow snake with the great knife in his right hand,
was quite a foot