a man who was a banker once say that he
always mistrusted the man who would not take a vacation. As I take it,
his idea was that the man who knew some danger was nigh, wanted to be
around where he could catch the first intimation of a crash. But then,
too, besides that, there is a sense of comfort in being within walls,
especially with a floor paved as this one was. Besides, it was a change
from the trees with their wild-tangled vines and their snake-like
lianas. So we decided on the temple.

"That night I was a long time getting to sleep. The memory of the old
hag and the bull-roarer was in my mind. I kept thinking of Ista, too. It
was a warmer night than usual, and, after the moon dropped, pitchy dark.
I slept stripped as I generally do, with a light blanket across my legs
so that I could find it if needed without waking up.

"I awoke presently, feeling something run lightly and swiftly across my
face. I thought it was a spider. It seemed to run in a zig-zag. Then
feeling nothing more I set it down to fancy and dropped off to sleep
again, face turned towards that idol. Later, I felt the same kind of
thing run across my neck. I knew it was no fancy then, and my scare
vanished because here was something to do. So I waited with my right
hand poised to grab. I waited a long time, too, but I have lots of
patience. Presently it ran down my body starting at my left shoulder and
I brought down my hand at a venture, claw fashion, and caught the thing
on the blanket. I felt the blanket raise and then fall again, just a
little, of course, as I lifted my hand with the thing in it, and by that
knew that it had claws. Yet bet I held tight. It seemed to be hard and
smooth. It was a wiry, wriggling thing, somewhat like a lizard. But it
was much more vigorous than any lizard. I tried to crush it, but could
not. As to thickness, it seemed to be about the diameter of one of those
lead pencils. It was like this I had it."

Rounds picked up a couple of lead pencils from the desk and took my hand
in his. He told me to close my fist and then placed one pencil
lengthwise so that an end of it was between my first and second finger
and the rubber-tipped end lay across my wrist. The other pencil he
thrust crosswise so that the pointed end stuck out between the second
and third finger and the blunt end between the index finger and thumb.

"There you have it," he said. "That's how I held the little devil. Now
grip hard and try to crush the pen