sunrise."

"One moment." Cheniston's voice was harsh, and he moistened his lips
before he spoke. "Weren't you armed? Couldn't you have--have made a
fight for it?"

For the first time Anstice lost control of himself. The dark blood
rushed to his brow and his eyes flashed with anger.

"Good God, man, do you suppose if I'd been armed we should have
submitted tamely? As a matter of fact, the brutes who attacked us in the
first place seized my revolver before I had a chance to draw it ... and
though I'm pretty tough, when it came to a struggle with those Indian
devils they were like steel--iron--anything you choose to compare them
with."

"I know--their muscles are marvellous--especially the Hill-men." His
tone held a note of apology. "Of course, if you had had half a
chance--but"--suddenly his voice changed, grew suspicious--"you had a
revolver, in the end?"

"Yes. Miss Ryder's. They did not suspect her of carrying a weapon, you
see, and it was a tiny one her uncle had given her, more as a toy than
as a serious protection."

"She couldn't get at it to use it?"

"No. We were bound as well as blindfolded, you know." He spoke grimly.
"Luckily Miss Ryder had the presence of mind to say nothing about it
till we were alone in the hut, our hands untied. Then she gave it to me,
and we found to our dismay that there was only one cartridge left."

"How was that?" He spoke quickly, but there was no suspicion in his tone
now.

"Miss Ryder explained that she had been practising shooting with her
uncle and had forgotten to reload. But"--he paused--"even had it been
fully charged, I'm afraid our fate would have been unchanged."

Cheniston rose suddenly, took a few aimless steps across the floor, and
then sank down on the bed again almost in his former position. In front
of him Anstice stood motionless, his hands, clenched now, still in his
pockets, his eyes the only live feature in the grey pallor of his face.

"Well!" Suddenly he threw back his head with a restless gesture, as
though the strain of the interview was beginning to tell on him. "After
hearing our sentence we were taken back to our hut, there to await the
moment of sunrise--of our death."

"They gave you no food?" The question was almost futile in its
triviality; but Anstice answered it quite naturally.

"Oh, yes, we were given food of a sort. Luckily I had a little flask of
brandy, and once--at midnight--I persuaded Miss Ryder to take a few
drops. She was s