niards up there"--he pointed or the ruins of one, "and it is a
pleasant place to rest. I doubt not they rested there, if--"

"If they reached it!" remarked Dyck with crisp inflection. "Yes,
they would rest there--and it would be a good place for ambush by the
Maroons, eh?"

"Good enough from the standpoint of the Maroons," was the reply, the
voice slightly choked.

"Then we must go there. It's a damnable predicament--no, you must not
come with me! You must keep command here."

He hastily described the course to be followed by those of his own men
who stayed to defend, and then said: "Our horses are fagged. If you loan
us four I'll see they are well cared for, and returned in kind or cash.
I'll take three of my men only, and loan you three of the best. We'll
fill our knapsacks and get away, Boland."

A few moments later, Calhoun and his three men, with a guide added by
Boland, had started away up the road which had been ridden by Mrs. Llyn
and Sheila. One thing was clear, the Maroons on the hill did not know of
the absence of Sheila and her mother, or they would not be waiting. He
did not like the long absence of the ladies. It was ominous at such a
time.

Dyck and his small escort got away by a road unseen from where the
Maroons were, and when well away put their horses to a canter and got
into the hills. Once in the woods, however, they rode alertly, and
Dyck's eyes were everywhere. He was quick to see a bush move, to observe
the flick of a branch, to catch the faintest sound of an animal origin.
He was obsessed with anxiety, for he had a dark fear that some ill had
happened to the two. His blood almost dried in his veins when he thought
of the fate which had followed the capture of ladies in other islands
like Haiti or Grenada.

It did not seem possible that these beautiful women should have fallen
into the outrageous hands of savages. He knew the girl was armed, and
that before harm might come to her she would end her own life and her
mother's also; but if she was caught from behind, and the opportunity of
suicide should not be hers--what then?

Yet he showed no agitation to his followers. His eyes were, however,
intensely busy, and every nerve was keen to feel. Life in the open had
developed in him the physical astuteness of the wild man, and he had all
the gifts that make a supreme open-air fighter. He sensed things; but
with him it was feeling, and not scent or hearing; his senses were such
perfect liste