The flame of the
campfire flickered sneers, drawn torture, red and green shadows in the
staring faces of the men who lay upon the ground, and the figures of
the stranglers glowed red in its light, like devils who danced in hell.
Hunsa had turned the merchant upon his back and his evil gorilla face
was thrust into the face of his victim. No breath passed the thick
protruding lips upon which was a froth of death.
As the Jamadar tore the keys from the waist-band, snapping a silver
chain that was about the body, he said: "Sookdee, be quick. Have the
bodies carried to the pits. Do not forget to drive a spear through
each belly lest they swell up and burst open the earth."
"You have the keys to the chest, Hunsa?" Sookdee said, with suspicion
in his voice.
"Yes, Jamadar; I will open it. We will empty it, and place the iron
box on top of the bodies in a pit, for it is too heavy to carry, and if
we are stopped it might be observed."
"Take the dead," Sookdee commanded the Bagrees; "lay them out; take
down the tents that are over the pits, and by that time I will be there
to count these dead things in the way of surety that not one has
escaped with the tale.
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