urther advance! Do you mean that? Then Carlyon doesn't know we are
here."

"Oh, yes, he knows," answered the man indifferently. "But he says very
reasonably that he didn't order you to come up here, and he can't
sacrifice twice the number of men here to get you down again.
Unfortunate for you, of course; but we all have to swallow bad luck at
one time or another. Make the best of it!"

Derrick swore again with less violence and greater resolution.

"And who, in wonder, may you be?" he broke off to enquire. "I'm a war
correspondent myself."

There was a vein of humour in the quiet reply.

"Oh, I'm a non-combatant, too. It's always the non-combatants that do
the work. Have you got a revolver? Good! Any cartridges? That's right.
Now, look here, it's out of the question to remain in this place till
moonrise."

"I won't go back," said Derrick doggedly. "I'll see Carlyon hang first."

"Quite right. I wasn't going to propose that. It's impossible, in the
first place. Perhaps it is only fair to Colonel Carlyon to mention that
he had no notion that there is anything so important as a newspaper man
at the head of this expedition. It's a detail, of course. Still, if you
get through, it is just as well that you should know the rights of the
case."

Derrick broke into an involuntary laugh.

"Did Carlyon get you to come and tell me so?" He turned and peered
through the darkness at the man beside him. "You never got up here
alone?" he said incredulously.

"Oh, yes. It wasn't difficult. I was guided by the noise you made. How
many men have you?"

"Ten or twelve; not more--all Goorkhas."

"Good! We must quit this place at once. It will be a death-trap when the
moon rises. There are some boulders higher up, away to the right. We
can occupy them till morning and fight back to back if they try to rush
us. There ought to be plenty of shelter among those rocks."

The man's cool speech caught Derrick's fancy. He spoke as quietly as if
he were sitting at an English dinner-table.

"You had better take command," said Derrick.

"No, thanks; you are going to pull this through. Are you ready to move?
Pass the word to the men! And then all together! It is now or never!"

A few seconds later they were stumbling in an indistinguishable mass
towards the haven indicated by the latest comer. It was a difficult
scramble, not the least difficult part of it being the task of keeping
in touch with each other. But Derrick's spirits returne