Once more he drew upon his provision stores. While repacking them his gaze rested on the native blanket with the wild idea of manufacturing therefrom a cord. But to do this he needed a knife. The stuff was of material too stout for tearing. A knife! Ha! With the thought came another. It was not worth much, but it was something,--and with that came a hard, fierce, desperate hope. The broad gold bracelet which still encircled Lutali's skeleton wrist--could not that be banged and flattened into something sharp and serviceable? It was hard metal, anyway. Still the grim horror lurked within its cave--still it came not forth. It was waiting until another night should embolden it to seize its defenceless human prey. He glanced upwards. There were still from two to three hours of daylight. In a very few moments he had reached the skeleton of the Arab, and, snapping off the bony wrist without hesitation, the bracelet was within his grasp. But as he looked around for some means of flattening it, there flashed in upon him another idea--a perfectly heaven-sent idea, grisly under ordinary circumstances, as it might be. The bracelet was large and massive, and for it a new use suggested itself. Critically examining the skeletons, he selected two with the largest and strongest leg-bones. These he soon wrenched off, and, running one through the gold bracelet, he jammed the latter fast against the thicker end--binding it as tightly as he could to the bulging joint with a strip torn from his clothing. With a thrill of unutterable joy he realized that he was no longer unarmed. He had manufactured a tolerably effective mace. He swung it through the air two or three times with all his force. Such a blow would strike a human enemy dead;--was this thing so heavily armour-plated as to be proof against a similar stroke? With one idea came another. These bones might be further utilized, they might be splintered and sharpened into daggers. No sooner thought of than carried out. And now the skeletons underwent the most ruthless desecration. Several were wrenched asunder ere he had selected half a dozen of the most serviceable--and these he hammered to the required size with his newly constructed mace--sharpening them on the rough face of the rock. And then, as with a glow of satisfaction he sat down to rest and contemplate his handiwork--he almost laughed over the grim whimsicality of it. Did ever mortal man go into close conflict armed in such fashion--he wondered--with club and dagger manufactured out of the bones of men?