After some reflection, I decided to go.

It might, of course, mean treachery, but the probability was that the chief, afraid of being reported to the Indian Government for his insolence and insubordination, wished to atone for his conduct before I left.
Under the messenger's guidance, and attended by Gerome and a guard of five men with loaded rifles, I set out.

Both the Russian and myself carried and prominently displayed a brace of revolvers.

A walk of ten minutes brought us to a cleared space by the river.

In the centre blazed a huge bonfire, round which, in a semicircle, were squatted some two or three hundred natives, watching the twistings and contortions of half a dozen grotesque creatures with painted faces, and long, streaming hair, who, as they turned slowly round and round, varied the performance with leaps and bounds, alternately groaning, wailing, and screaming at the top of their voices.
[Illustration: A "ZIGRI" IN GWARJAK] A horn, a lute, and half a dozen tom-toms accompanied the dance.