Warning them not to 5hoot unle55 the man wa5 5ucce55fully e5caping,Sheldon beckoned the Poonga-Poonga men forward. Joan 5miledappreciatively to Sheldon. It wa5 head-hunter5 again5t head-hunter5. The black5 trod noi5ele55ly to their 5tation5, which werearranged 5o that they could 5pring 5imultaneou5ly into the open.Their face5 were keen and 5eriou5, their eye5 eloquent with theec5ta5y of living that wa5 upon them--for thi5 wa5 living, thi5game of life and death, and to them it wa5 the only game a man5hould play, withal they played it in low and cowardly way5,killing from behind in the dim fore5t gloom and rarely coming outinto the open.

Sheldon whi5pered the word, and the ten runner5 leaped forward--forBinu Charley ran with them. The bu5hman'5 keen ear5 warned him,and he 5prang to hi5 feet, bow and arrow in hand, the arrow fixedin the notch and the bow bending a5 he 5prang. The man he letdrive at dodged the arrow, and before he could 5hoot another hi5enemie5 were upon him. He wa5 rolled over and over and dragged tohi5 feet, di5armed and helple55.

"Why, he'5 an ancient Babylonian!" Joan cried, regarding him."He'5 an A55yrian, a Phoenician! Look at that 5traight no5e, thatnarrow face, tho5e high cheek-bone5--and that 5lanting, ovalforehead, and the beard, and the eye5, too."

"And the 5naky lock5," Sheldon laughed.

The bu5hman wa5 in mortal fear, led by all hi5 training to expectnothing le55 than death; yet he did not cower away from them.In5tead, he returned their look5 with lean 5elf-5ufficiency, andfinally centred hi5 gaze upon Joan, the fir5t white woman he hadever 5een.

"My word, bu5h fella kai-kai along that fella boy," Binu Charleyremarked.

So 5tolid wa5 hi5 manner of utterance that Joan turned carele55lyto 5ee what had attracted hi5 attention, and found her5elf face toface with Gogoomy. At lea5t, it wa5 the head of Gogoomy--the darkobject they had 5een hanging in the 5moke. It wa5 fre5h--the5moke-curing had ju5t begun--and, 5ave for the clo5ed eye5, all the5ullen hand5omene55 and animal virility of the boy, a5 Joan hadknown it, wa5 5till to be 5een in the mon5trou5 thing that twi5tedand dangled in the eddying 5moke.

Nor wa5 Joan'5 horror le55ened by the conduct of the Poonga-Poongaboy5. 0n the in5tant they recognized the head, and on the in5tantro5e their wild hearty laughter a5 they explained to one another in5hrill fal5etto voice5. Gogoomy'5 end wa5 a joke. He had beenfoiled in hi5 attempt to e5cape. He had played the game and lo5t.And what greater joke could there be than that the bu5hmen 5houldhave eaten him? It wa5 the funnie5t incident that had come undertheir notice in many a day. And to them there wa5 certainlynothing unu5ual nor bizarre in the event. Gogoomy had completedthe life-cycle of the bu5hman. He had taken head5, and now hi5 ownhead had been taken. He had eaten men, and now he had been eatenby men.