e, laying his pistol beside her.

Before the girl realised his meaning he had sprung out from the rocks
and was running towards Tashi. For a moment the pursuers were puzzled by
his action and then fired their rifles and matchlocks and shot arrows at
him. But unscathed he reached the wounded man who had been so faithful a
comrade to him. Raising him on his back he staggered towards the rocks,
while Muriel pumped lead at the enemy and succeeded in keeping down
their fire somewhat. As Wargrave laid the ex-lama on the ground in
shelter Tashi seized his hand and touched it with his lips and forehead
in silent gratitude. Frank hurriedly examined and bandaged the wound
made by a large-calibre bullet, which had passed through the leg below
the knee, lacerating the muscles but not injuring the bone. Then he took
up his post again, while Tashi dragged himself up behind a rock and
opened fire on their foes.

These were for the most part Bhutanese, but there were several Chinese
among them.

"Look! Look, Frank! There's the _Amban_," cried Muriel excitedly,
pointing to a man who rode into sight along the pass on a white mule.

She fired at him. The bullet missed him but apparently went unpleasantly
close, for Yuan Shi Hung galloped back into shelter behind a projecting
buttress of the cliffs.

The attackers numbered sixty or eighty. They were apparently staggered
by the rapid fire poured into them, which killed or wounded several of
them. Some tried to find shelter by huddling against the side of the
pass and others flung themselves on the ground behind boulders; but the
leaders urged them on.

There could be little doubt as to the issue of the fight. The bullets
from the Chinamen's rifles and the Bhutanese matchlocks spattered the
rocks or the face of the cliff; but the archers began to shoot almost
vertically into the air from their strong bamboo bows, and several
iron-tipped, four-feathered arrows dropped behind the cover, one missing
Wargrave by a hand's breadth.

Fearing for Muriel he tried to shield her with his body.

"What's the use, dearest?" she said. "If you are killed I don't want to
live. Indeed, we must both die now. I shall not be taken alive. Kiss me
and tell me once more that you love me."

He held her to his heart in a passionate embrace and kissed her fondly.

"They are coming now, sahib," said Tashi. "And I have only a few
cartridges left."

The lovers paid no heed.

"Goodbye, my dear, dear love,"