Between Snow and Fire — page 202: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

194 ‘TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE. eu :" had already began to look upon Ngcenika with decreased ‘a respect. Vudana, suffering as a wizard, had spat in her ; face, accompanying the act with a prophecy and a curse. : On no consideration would they run the risk of exposing themselves to like treatment. : _ Eustace, forced to be a spectator of this blood-curdling scene, felt his head swim with horror and disgust. The chastened gloom of the forest, the gibing crowd of armed savages, the weird shrillsinging of the witch-doctress, and the frightful contortions and beast-like roars of the miser- — able victim, who was being literally devoured alive, made up a picture likely to haunt aman in his dreams for the rest of his life, to start him suddenly awake in a cold sweat of terror. Still he remembered that any exhibition of feeling would be in the highest degree dangerous, and controlled himself accordingly. All this had taken some time and now the frantic struggles of the sufferer had subsided. A convulsive shudder would now and then run through his limbs, and his sightless eye- balls would rollin a manner hideous to behold, and ever ; the disgusting insects swarmed over him in a horrible mov- | ing mass, now red with blood, and smothered beneath gouts of saliva which had flown from the maniac’s lips. Upon his violent struggles had followed exhaustion—mercifully, the exhaustion of approaching death. “He is dying!” cried several, bending over the victim. “ Hau! A man like Vudana should-have taken much longer to die.” This was said in a disappointed tone. The barbarous appetite of these savages was thoroughly roused—whetted for further atrocities. A shout arose, “The white man! The white man! What shall we do with him?” Well might Eustace start, in horror and dismay, But a glance served to show that the object of attention was not himself, but somebody at the other end of the crowd, in which direction all heads were turned. Then as the crowd _ parted a moment he caught a glimpse of something—some- body rather—which evoked a second start, this time one of very unequivocal amazement. Could he believe his eyes ? comicbooks. com