robisher repressed a shiver of horror, and with one bound flung himself
upon the traitor, dropping sword and revolver as he did so. This was a
case for the use of bare hands alone, man to man; the discharge of a
pistol might only complete Hsi's work for him, and Frobisher did not
feel that he could cut the man down from behind, in cold blood, richly
as he deserved it, and as the man himself would undoubtedly have done,
had the positions been reversed. He gripped the sacred person of the
Prince round the body, and endeavoured to hurl him to the floor and so
stun him; but Hsi was a powerful man, and although taken at a
disadvantage, managed to twist himself so that Frobisher's superior
strength expended itself in vain.

Then, with a mighty effort, he wrenched one arm free and seized the
Englishman by the throat, sinking in his fingers with a fury that
testified all too plainly to the intensity of his hatred.

Do what he might, Frobisher could not wrench the traitor's fingers away;
and although with his left hand he managed to prevent Hsi from drawing
the knife suspended from his belt, he knew that unless he could release
himself from that bulldog grip, he must very soon lose consciousness,
for already his eyes were beginning to protrude, the dim light of the
magazine seemed full of flashing stars and blazing fireworks, and the
blood drummed horribly in his ears. Besides, good heavens! there was
that deadly spark hissing and sputtering its way along the fuse, and
unless it was quenched within a minute, the _Ting Yuen_ and her crew
would be flying skyward, a cloud of splintered steel and dismembered
human bodies.

This last thought gave Frobisher back his strength for a moment, and
with a herculean effort he wrenched his throat from Hsi's grip; then,
recovering himself quickly, before the Chinaman had his knife more than
half-way out of its sheath, he drew back his arm and struck Hsi a mighty
blow full on the point of the chin.

The Prince's neck clicked like a breaking stick, and he was dashed
senseless against the steel walls of the magazine, falling in a tumbled
heap upon the floor. Without looking to see whether the man was
unconscious or not, Frobisher dashed at the fuse and trampled it
fiercely underfoot until the smouldering spark was entirely
extinguished; then, with a sob of relief, he withdrew its other end from
a pile of explosives and tossed it out of the door.

Then he lifted Hsi on his shoulders, carr