Sorais turned and whispered to the officer
of the royal bodyguard, and then with a rending sound the whole
of the brazen flooring slid from before our feet, and there in
its place was suddenly revealed a smooth marble shaft terminating
in a most awful raging furnace beneath the altar, big enough
and hot enough to heat the iron stern-post of a man-of-war.
With a cry of terror we sprang backwards, all except the wretched
Alphonse, who was paralysed with fear, and would have fallen
into the fiery furnace which had been prepared for us, had not
Sir Henry caught him in his strong hand as he was vanishing and
dragged him back.
Instantly there arose the most fearful hubbub, and we four got
back to back, Alphonse dodging frantically round our little circle
in his attempts to take shelter under our legs. We all had our
revolvers on -- for though we had been politely disarmed of our
guns on leaving the palace, of course these people did not know
what a revolver was. Umslopogaas, too, had his axe, of which
no effort had been made to deprive him, and now he whirled it
round his head and sent his piercing Zulu war-shout echoing up
the marble walls in fine defiant fashion. Next second, the priests,
baffled of their prey, had drawn swords from beneath their white
robes and were leaping on us like hounds upon a stag at bay.
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