I know not how long we sat there; it was probably a matter of hours, and we might have sat for other hours had not something aroused me. It was a vague shadow moving like a tentacle of the darkness about the opening of the lower tunnel.
“Who’s there?” I shouted sharply, and Kahikatea raised his head inquiringly.
The answer to my challenge came from a very long way off; it was the wild and hideous laugh of the wizard. I sprang to my feet and stood looking into the gloom, where all I could see of him was his eyes, which caught and reflected the glare of the fire. He was crouching in the shadows as I advanced towards him.
“Servant of the Vile Brotherhood of Huo,” I said, “you are no longer free to move; you are——”
But the harsh laugh, sounding again nearer than before, cut my words short, and I knew the power of the poison had passed. He was again the powerful agent of evil, a thing to be feared, and, if possible, to be strangled.
“Come out here!” I said, “and I will fight you on equal terms now that your infernal poisoned darts are gone. But, first, what are we to fight about? You have been punished, and Hinauri, the Bright One, is dead—her body lies there.” I pointed to the open space by the fire where Kahikatea sat almost unheeding by the side of his lost love.
The negro came out of the dark at my words and stood before me. I saw his eyes rove quickly over me, and they bore a devilish glint of triumph as he saw that his reed tube was not in my hand.
“We will fight for the body of the Bright One,” he said, “and when I have bound you I will bind your friend there. Then”—he concluded by pointing his skinny finger at the white form of Hinauri.
I ground my teeth, but, before I could spring at him, Kahikatea’s deep voice arrested me.
“Stop!” he cried, springing to his feet and coming forward with fingers crooked and brows let down; “it is my privilege to strangle this black villain, whoever he is.”