"They have never dared."
"Are the men enemies of theirs?"
This question again was not answered as promptly as the others. The reply came at last that the men were not exactly enemies, but there was the Eye.
"What does he mean? What is the Eye?" Forrester asked.
"What is the Eye?"
The Naga repeated the question. The villager hesitated. At this moment there was a slight rumble of thunder in the distance, and the man started backward, spreading his arms. A second and a louder rumble followed, and then a lightning flash. The man and his companions bent forward, till their heads touched the ground, covering their eyes with their hands. In tones of awe a few words fell from their lips.
"What do they say?" Forrester asked.
"That is the Eye, sahib," Sher Jang replied, after questioning the Naga.
Then the thunder pealed directly overhead, clap succeeding clap, and sheets of lightning moment by moment threw a blinding glare over the clearing.
The women fled screaming into their huts, the men cowered on the ground, and showed signs of abject terror, uttering piteous cries which the white men, though they did not understand the words, recognised as appeals for mercy. The little spokesman addressed a word or two to the Naga interpreter, then rushed back across the clearing with his friends. All disappeared into their dwellings.