Part 48 (1/2)

It held, and once more they rose to the surface, where the reptile lay lashi+ng the waters in its pain, blood pouring frolad was Otter to be able to breathe again, for during that last rush he had gone near to suffocation He lifted his head, inhaling the air with great gulps, and saw that the banks of the pool were lined with spectators who shouted and surged in their mad excitement After that he did not see much more for a while, since just then it seemed to occur to the crocodile for the first tiside of hi; at least it ed round, causing the waters to boil about its horny sides, and charged his it could not bite, therefore it struck at hi the blows, but the third time he was not so successful, for the reptile followed him into the deep water and dealt him a fearful stroke before he could either sink or rise He felt the rough scales cut into his flesh and a sensation as though every bone in his body was breaking and his eyes were starting froled, but in vain, for now life and sense were leaving hirew black

But suddenly there ca dragged through the water and over rock Then darkness took him, and he remembered noon the floor of the cave, but not alone, for by his side, twisted into a last and hideous contortion, lay the Snake God--dead! The upper part of the double knife had worked itself into its brain, and, with a dying effort, it sought the den where it had lived for centuries, dragging Otter with it, and there expired, hohen he knew not But the dwarf had triumphed

Before him was stretched the ancient terror of the People of the Mist, the symbol and, indeed, the object of their worshi+p, slain by his skill and valour

Otter saw, and, bruised and shaken as he was, his heart swelled with pride, for had he not done a deed single-handed such as was not told of in the stories of his land?

”Oh! that the Baas were here to see this sight!” he said, as he crawled along the length of his dead enemy, and seated himself upon its flat and loathsome snout ”Alas! he cannot,” he added, ”but I pray thatthe song of the slaying of the Devil of the People of the Mist _Wow!_ that was a fight When shall aof the rope about ht of his tail when he smote me with it After all, it is well that the line held, for it served to drag ed me into it, otherwise I had surely drowned there

”See, though, it is nearly done with,” and grasping that end of the cord which hung from the jaws of the crocodile, he broke it with a jerk, for, with the exception of half a strand, it was frayed through by the worn fangs

Then, having rested himself a little, and washed the worst of his hurts ater, Otter set himself to consider the position First, however, he reat knives

Ten men could not have moved them, for the upper blade was driven many inches deep into the bone and muscles of the reptile's massive head But for this chance it would have soon shaken itself clear of the of its jaws had only served to drive the steel deeper--up to the hilt, indeed

Abandoning this attempt, the dwarf crept cautiously to the mouth of the cave and peered at the further banks of the pool, whence he could hear shouts and see reat excitement

”Now I am weary of that pool,” he said to himself, ”and if I am seen in it the Great People will surely shoot at me with arrows and kill me

What shall I do, then? I cannot stay in this place of stinks with the dead devil and the bones of those whoer Yet this water must come from somewhere, therefore it see for the spot where it enters the cave It will be dark walking, but the walls and the floor are s I can return again and strive to escape fro decided upon the adventure, Otter began to carry it out with characteristic pro immersion the water had chilled hi over hile and e the hide ripe about his , he started with an uncertain gait, for he was still very weak

A few steps brought him to that rock on which he had discovered the head of the reptile, and he paused to exa stone--no easy task, for it was se lay the body of that priest who had shared his fall from the head of the colossus

Then he inspected the surface of the rock, and for the first time understood how old that le coeneration, and perhaps from century to century, the hard material orn away to the depth of two feet orstone was a still deeper niche, wherein its head reposed as it lay keeping its sleepless watch on the waters of the pool

Around this depression, and strewn about the floor of the cave itself, were the remains of many victims, a considerable number of whoer bones were broken, and froh it was the custom of this dreadful reptile to crush the life out of all ere thrown to it with a bite of its fangs, yet, like that of other animals, its appetite was limited, and it was only occasionally that it consuht of these reestive that even Otter, who certainly could not be called squeamish, hastened to descend the rock As he passed round it his attention was attracted by the skeleton of a man who, from various indications, must have been alive within the last feeeks The bones were clad in a priest's cloak, of which the dwarf, as tre with cold, hastened to possess hi of tanned ox-hide that doubtless had once been carried by the owner of the cloak

”Perhaps he kept food in this,” thought Otter; ”though what he who cauess At the least it will be bad by now, so I will leave it and be gone Only a vulture would stay for long in this house of the dead” Then he started forward

For a few yards uide his steps, but very soon the darkness became complete; still the cave was not difficult to travel, for everywhere the rock was smooth and the water shallow All that he needed to do was to walk straight on, keeping touch of one side of the tunnel with one hand Indeed he had but two things to fear, that he should fall into soht suddenly encounter another crocodile, ”for doubtless,” thought Otter, ”the devil was married”

But Otter fell into no hole and he saw no crocodile, since, as it chanced, the Water Dweller of the People of the Mist was a bachelor

When the dwarf had travelled up a steep slope for rather ht before him and hurried towards it Presently he reached the further mouth of the cavern that was al which a little water trickled Creeping through an aperture he found himself upon the crest of the impassable precipice at the back of the city, and that before hireen ice stretched upwards, whereon the sun shone gloriously

CHAPTER xxxIII

TRAPPED

It will be reht of day, after his conquest of the reptile God, Leonard found hie bearing the senseless foruided by Soa, whither he knew not

On they went through various tunnels, of the turnings of which Leonard tried to keep count in his th Soa ushered him into a rock-hewn cell that evidently had been prepared for their reception, for on one side of it stood a bed covered with skin blankets, and on the other a table provided with the best food that the country could offer