the roof of a square,
blue building surmounted by seven poles bearing seven skulls. This
then, thought Bradley, is the Blue Place of Seven Skulls.

Over the opening in the roof was a grated covering, and this the Wieroo
removed. The thing then tied a piece of fiber rope to one of Bradley's
ankles and rolled him over the edge of the opening. All was dark below
and for an instant the Englishman came as near to experiencing real
terror as he had ever come in his life before. As he rolled off into
the black abyss he felt the rope tighten about his ankle and an instant
later he was stopped with a sudden jerk to swing pendulumlike, head
downward. Then the creature lowered away until Bradley's head came in
sudden and painful contact with the floor below, after which the Wieroo
let loose of the rope entirely and the Englishman's body crashed to the
wooden planking. He felt the free end of the rope dropped upon him and
heard the grating being slid into place above him.

Chapter 3

Half-stunned, Bradley lay for a minute as he had fallen and then slowly
and painfully wriggled into a less uncomfortable position. He could
see nothing of his surroundings in the gloom about him until after a
few minutes his eyes became accustomed to the dark interior when he
rolled them from side to side in survey of his prison.

He discovered himself to be in a bare room which was windowless, nor
could he see any other opening than that through which he had been
lowered. In one corner was a huddled mass that might have been almost
anything from a bundle of rags to a dead body.

Almost immediately after he had taken his bearings Bradley commenced
working with his bonds. He was a man of powerful physique, and as from
the first he had been imbued with a belief that the fiber ropes were
too weak to hold him, he worked on with a firm conviction that sooner
or later they would part to his strainings. After a matter of five
minutes he was positive that the strands about his wrists were
beginning to give; but he was compelled to rest then from exhaustion.

As he lay, his eyes rested upon the bundle in the corner, and presently
he could have sworn that the thing moved. With eyes straining through
the gloom the man lay watching the grim and sinister thing in the
corner. Perhaps his overwrought nerves were playing a sorry joke upon
him. He thought of this and also that his condition of utter
helplessness might still further have stimulat