colored stones and priceless gems, while thick upon the hides
that covered the walls were golden ornaments similar to those
worn by the girl and those which had filled the chests he had
examined in the storeroom of Fosh-bal-soj, leading the Englishman
to the conviction that all such were spoils of war or theft,
since each piece seemed made for personal adornment, while in so
far as he had seen, no Wieroo wore ornaments of any sort.

And also as they advanced the more numerous became the Wieroos
moving hither and thither within the temple. Many now were the
solid red robes and those that were slashed with blue--a
veritable hive of murderers.

At last the party halted in a room in which were many Wieroos who
gathered about Bradley questioning his captors and examining him
and his apparel. One of the party accompanying the Englishman
spoke to a Wieroo that stood beside a door leading from the room.
"Tell Him Who Speaks for Luata," he said, "that Fosh-bal-soj we
could not find; but that in returning we found this creature
within the temple, hiding. It must be the same that Fosh-bal-soj
captured in the Sto-lu country during the last darkness.
Doubtless He Who Speaks for Luata would wish to see and question
this strange thing."

The creature addressed turned and slipped through the doorway,
closing the door after it, but first depositing its curved blade
upon the floor without. Its post was immediately taken by
another and Bradley now saw that at least twenty such guards
loitered in the immediate vicinity. The doorkeeper was gone but
for a moment, and when he returned, he signified that Bradley's