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Ka and heavy cloak He stood there in the flaht, broad-chested, beautifullyman Naked he was, save for his loin-cloth And still he smiled

Stern likewise stripped away his own cloak Clad only like the chief, he faced hioes! And may the best man win!"

Ka the great pit to southward of the flaht, fro of the black waters in its depths Oddly enough, even at that ht nicked into his consciousness--the h tereat pressure, the water rees to seethe like that

He, too, sht he "The hotter, the sooner it's all over for the ed torches Stern got confused glierness hich they now anticipated this inevitable tragedy of at least one huer saw Where was she? He knew not But in a long, last cry of farewell he raised his voice Then, with Ka pit in the sh the tensely eager throng In their hands they bore each a golden jar, curiously shaped and chiseled, and bearing a whimsical resemblance to a coffee-urn

"What the devil noondered Stern, eager to be at work He saw at once theof the jars One of the bearers approached Kamrou The other caonists' bare bodies poured a thin, war oil All over the skin they rubbed it, till the bodies glistened strangely in the flaht Then, with muttered words he could not catch, they withdrew

All seees and pictures see and heat, the rising strea of the flame, and over all the throb-throb-throb of those infernal copper drums worked powerfully on his senses

Already he seele, the sudden plunge into the vat of scalding death

With a strong effort he flung off these fancies and faced his sneering foe, who now--his red-wealed face puckered into a