et.

"Oh, I'm all right." He seated himself on the ledge of the window near
the Major. "You had a tight go of it last night. Did you hear the
little agong ring?"

"Yes."

"The young Hillmen wanted to wipe you out. I had to work pretty hard
with Ohto--the old chief--to persuade him to let you come in
unharmed." His face clouded. "I have been worried ever since you
started into the Hills."

"How did you know that I was coming?"

"Major, that's why I have been so worried about not being able to
start back--I knew that you would come as soon as you heard."

The Major flushed in quick pleasure at the unconscious tribute to his
friendship and his courage. He filled his pipe and smoked contentedly.
It was the biggest hour that he had ever known. Terry unharmed, well;
his own hazards surmounted; and the Hill Country penetrated at
last--the impossible again achieved by the Constabulary. He settled
back comfortably, using his pack as a pillow.

"Tell me all about it," he said.

"There is not much to tell, Major. You must already know all about the
way in which the Macabebes finished what Malabanan started, and of
Sakay's leap into the pool--did Sears dynamite that pool?"

Horror shadowed the steady eyes till the Major assured him that the
pool and its dweller were of the past.

"Major, that Sakay affair was pretty--bad: I keep wondering if I
missed him--I would hate to think that.... Well, I had not felt well
all day. I must have been exposed to that fever at Dalag and--"

"Yes, I guess you had! Merchant told me about that!"

Terry flushed and went on. "I started through the brush to get to the
doctor, but I must have been sicker than I thought, for I don't
remember anything after entering the woods. It's all a dream to me.
Something pulled me up this way--I've always hoped to be the one to
open up the Hills--and I kept coming. I remember lying down at dusk
and being picked up and carried through the night. I must have been
delirious for about ten days, but had conscious periods every day.
Every time I had a clear spell I swallowed several tablets of the
quinine Sears gave me. I guess that quinine saved me--I would like to
have Sears know about it.

"Those ten days are rather confused, of course, but I remember the
care the women gave me and some of their rough remedies. I came out of
the delirium two weeks ago but was pretty weak, so did not try to get
up, but lay there listening to their talk. Their dialect is