wanting.  But Job could not be got to understand this, and, so far from accepting a natural explanation of the matter, which was after all, though strange enough in all conscience, nothing more than an instance of glorified and perfected telepathy, he set the whole thing down as a manifestation of the blackest magic.  I shall never forget the howl of terror which he uttered when he saw the more or less perfect portraits of his long-scattered brethren staring at him from the quiet water, or the merry peal of laughter with which Ayesha greeted his consternation.  As for Leo, he did not altogether like it either, but ran his fingers through his yellow curls, and remarked that it gave him the creeps.

After about an hour of this amusement, in the latter part of which Job did not participate, the mutes by signs indicated that Billali was waiting for an audience.  Accordingly he was told to “crawl up,” which he did as awkwardly as usual, and announced that the dance was ready to begin if She and the white strangers would be pleased to attend.  Shortly afterwards we all rose, and, Ayesha having thrown a dark cloak (the same, by the way, that she had worn when I saw her cursing by the fire) over her white wrappings, we started.  The dance was to be held in the open air, on the smooth rocky plateau in front of the great cave, and thither we made our way.  About fifteen paces from the mouth of the cave we found three chairs placed, and here we sat and waited, for as yet no dancers were to be seen.  The night was almost, but not quite, dark, the moon not having risen as yet, which made us wonder how we should be able to see the dancing.

“Thou wilt presently understand,” said Ayesha, with a little laugh, when Leo asked her; and we certainly did.  Scarcely were the words out of her mouth when from every point we saw dark forms rushing up, each bearing with him what we at first took to be an enormous flaming torch.  Whatever they were, they were burning furiously, for the flames stood out a yard or more behind each bearer.  On they came, fifty or more of them, carrying their flaming burdens and looking like so many devils from hell.  Leo was the first to discover what these burdens were.

“Great heaven!” he said, “they are corpses on fire!”

I stared and stared again—­he was perfectly right—­the torches that were to light our entertainment were human mummies from the caves!

On rushed the bearers of the flaming corpses, and, meeting at a spot about twenty paces in front of us, built their ghastly burdens crossways into a huge bonfire.  Heavens! how they roared and flared!  No tar barrel could have burnt as those mummies did.  Nor was this all.  Suddenly I saw one great fellow seize a flaming human arm that had fallen from its parent frame, and rush off into the darkness.  Presently he stopped, and a tall streak of fire shot up into the air, illumining the gloom, and also the lamp from which it sprang.  That lamp was the mummy