d the foreigners in my service, and two of them,
he who is called Black Windows, whom we rescued from the Fung, and the
soldier named Quick, came to watch over me, while the Lord Orme and the
Doctor Adams stayed in the cave to send out that spark of fire which
should destroy the idol. Nor did they come back without need, for
presently arrived a band of Prince Joshua's men to take me.

"Then Black Windows and the soldier his companion fought a good fight,
they two holding the narrow passage against many, and slaying a number
of them with their terrible weapons. The end of it was, men of the
mountains, that the warrior Quick, charging down the passage, drove
away those servants of Joshua who remained alive. But in so doing he was
wounded to the death. Yes, that brave man lies dead, having given his
life to save the Child of Kings from the hands of her own people. Black
Windows also was wounded--see the bandages about his head. Then came the
Lord Orme and the Doctor Adams, and with them your brother Japhet, who
had barely escaped with their lives from the cave city, and knowing that
I was no longer safe in the palace, where even my sleeping-room has been
drenched with blood, with them I have fled to you for succour. Will you
not protect me, O men of the mountain-side?"

"Yes, yes," they answered with a great shout. "Command we obey. What
shall we do, O Child of Kings?"

Now Maqueda called the officers of the regiment apart and consulted with
them, asking their opinions, one by one. Some of them were in favour of
finding out where Joshua might be, and attacking him at once. "Crush the
snake's head and its tail will soon cease wriggling!" these said, and I
confess this was a view that in many ways commended itself to us.

But Maqueda would have none of it.

"What!" she exclaimed, "shall I begin a civil war among my people when
for aught I know the enemy is at our gates?" adding aside to us, "also,
how can these few hundred men, brave though they be, hope to stand
against the thousands under the command of Joshua?"

"What, then, would you do?" asked Orme.

"Return to the palace with these Mountaineers, O Oliver, and by help of
that garrison, hold it against all enemies."

"Very well," he replied. "To those who are quite lost one road is as
good as another; they must trust to the stars to guide them."

"Quite so," echoed Higgs; "and the sooner we go the better, for my leg
hurts, and I want a sleep."

So Maqueda gave