would have been glad to have averted a meeting; but as he
desired to lead his party south around the end of the pool, and as it
was hemmed in by the jungle on one side and the water on the other,
there seemed no escape from an encounter.

On the chance that he might avoid a clash, Bradley stepped forward with
upraised hand. "We are friends," he called in the tongue of Ahm, the
Bolu, who had been held a prisoner at the fort; "permit us to pass in
peace. We will not harm you."

At this the hatchet-men set up a great jabbering with much laughter,
loud and boisterous. "No," shouted one, "you will not harm us, for we
shall kill you. Come! We kill! We kill!" And with hideous shouts
they charged down upon the Europeans.

"Sinclair, you may fire," said Bradley quietly. "Pick off the leader.
Can't waste ammunition."

The Englishman raised his piece to his shoulder and took quick aim at
the breast of the yelling savage leaping toward them. Directly behind
the leader came another hatchet-man, and with the report of Sinclair's
rifle both warriors lunged forward in the tall grass, pierced by the
same bullet. The effect upon the rest of the band was electrical. As
one man they came to a sudden halt, wheeled to the east and dashed into
the jungle, where the men could hear them forcing their way in an
effort to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the
authors of this new and frightful noise that killed warriors at a great
distance.

Both the savages were dead when Bradley approached to examine them, and
as the Europeans gathered around, other eyes were bent upon them with
greater curiosity than they displayed for the victim of Sinclair's
bullet. When the party again took up the march around the southern end
of the pool the owner of the eyes followed them--large, round eyes,
almost expressionless except for a certain cold cruelty which glinted
malignly from under their pale gray irises.

All unconscious of the stalker, the men came, late in the afternoon, to
a spot which seemed favorable as a campsite. A cold spring bubbled
from the base of a rocky formation which overhung and partially
encircled a small inclosure. At Bradley's command, the men took up the
duties assigned them--gathering wood, building a cook-fire and
preparing the evening meal. It was while they were thus engaged that
Brady's attention was attracted by the dismal flapping of huge wings.
He glanced up, expecting to see one of the