Above,
the sun, growing hourly more cruel; ahead, more plague-twisted
rocks and the scars dancing like running water; and all around
the swooning stillness of the tropics.
"The night sounds of the jungle had ceased, giving place to the
ceaseless humming of insects. North, south, east, and west lay
that haze of heat, like a moving mantle clothing hills and
valleys. The sound of falling water remained perceptible.
"And now, gentlemen, I must relate a discovery which I had made
in the act of removing Vadi's clothing. Upon his right forearm
was branded a mark resembling the apparition which I had
witnessed in the night, namely, a little torch, or flambeau,
surmounted by a tongue of fire. Even in the light of the morning,
amid that oppressive stillness, I could scarcely believe in my
own safety, for that to Vadi the duty of assassinating me had
been assigned by this ever-watchful, secret organization, whose
stronghold I had dared to approach, was a fact beyond dispute.
"Since I seemed to be quite alone on the plateau, I could only
suppose that the issue had been regarded as definitely settled,
that no doubt had been entertained by Vadi's instructors
respecting his success. The plateau upon which I stood was one of
a series of giant steps, and on the west was a sheer descent to a
dense jungle, where banks of rotten vegetation, sun-dried upon
the top, lay heaped about the tree stems.
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