Alan lay back upon his cushions full of wonder, almost of awe.

It was a marvellous thing that he should have lived to reach this secret place hidden in the heart of Africa and defended by swamps, mountains and savages to which, so far as he knew, only one white man had ever penetrated.

And to think of it! That white man, his own uncle, had never even held it worth while to make public any account of its wonders, which apparently had seemed to him of no importance.

Or perhaps he thought that if he did he would not be believed.

Well, there they were before and about him, and now the question was, what would be his fate in this Gold House where the great fetish dwelt with its priestess?
Ah! that priestess! Somehow he shivered a little when he thought of her; it was as though her influence were over him already.