and trees and running water beneath. They passed the building
and about five hundred yards beyond the creature alighted on 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.