loosening his grip on the other's wrist. In an instant the man had
gained the door of the tent, and was lost in the darkness, while poor
Frobisher lay upon the ground gasping.

It was fully ten minutes before he had so far recovered as to be able to
stand upright; but as soon as his strength returned he struck a match
and lighted a lantern. By its light he examined the pile of blankets
which had formed his bed, and, as he expected, found them pinned to the
ground by a long, wavy-bladed knife, very similar in appearance to a
Malay kris, which had been driven into the earth up to the very hilt by
a blow that would assuredly have killed him, had he continued to slumber
for another five minutes.

Frobisher drew out the knife, and tried to remember whether he had ever
seen it before--whether he had observed it in the possession of any of
the men composing the caravan; but he could not remember having seen a
knife of the kind in the hands of any of the drivers. He therefore
threw it aside, and cautiously opened the flap of the tent to see
whether there was any mischief going on outside. But all was silent,
and he could see some of the shadowy forms of the men on guard.

It was then half-past eleven, as he found by looking at his watch, and
too late to go to sleep again, even if he felt inclined.

Precisely half an hour later a figure appeared at the door of the tent,
and a voice observed quietly: "Time to wake up, mastel. You tellee me
wake you one piecee time twelluf. Twelluf now, and me welly sleepy."

It was Ling.

CHAPTER FOUR.

BETRAYED.

Frobisher scrutinised the Korean's face closely, but there was no shadow
of change in its Oriental impassivity. For all that the man's bearing
betrayed, he might never have moved from his post since the camp had
been pitched; yet the young Englishman could not rid himself of the
suspicion that Ling was not exactly what he appeared to be. Moreover,
now that the man was standing inside the tent, Frobisher again became
conscious of a faint suggestion of the odour of sandal-wood oil.
However, it would not in any way suit his plans to betray his suspicions
of the Korean at present, therefore he merely contented himself with
remarking quietly:

"Very well, Ling. You had better get to sleep, so as to be rested by
the morning; and I'll wake you as soon as it is time to break camp and
be stirring. By the way, I fancied I heard someone prowling about my
tent half an hour