plunged head first into the pool.

A cry of "Allah! Allah!" went up from ten thousand throats as the
Bagree shot from view, smothered in the foam of the ruffled stream.
And beyond the waters were churned by huge ghoulish forms that the
blood of goats had gathered there. Five yards from the bank the ugly
head of Hunsa appeared; a brown arm flashed once, in the fingers
clutched a knife that seemed red with fresh blood. The water was
lashed to foam; the tail of a giant _mugger_ shot out and struck flat
upon the surface of the river like the crack of a pistol. Again the
head, and then the shoulders, of the swimmer were seen; and as if
something dragged the torso below, two legs shot out from the water,
gyrated spasmodically, and disappeared.

Barlow waited, his soul full of horror, but there was nothing more;
just a little lower down in the basin of the sluggish pool two bulbous
protrusions above the water where some crocodile, either gorged or
disappointed, floated lazily.

A ghastly silence reigned--no one spoke; ten thousand eyes stared out
across the pool.

Then the voice of Kassim was heard, solemn and deep, saying: "The
covenant has been kept and Allah has avenged the death of Amir Khan!"




CHAPTER XXV