“Go! Help search for the one who entered the valley. Bring him hither, dead or alive. I am still your chief, and shall be as long as I breathe.”
The men obeyed at once, and besides Donatus and Ruteni only Maro and Tyrus were left by the fire.
The guard still paced before the dark mouth of the cave, in which Flavia had once more been placed.
“It is now our time!” whispered Maro, in the ear of Tyrus. “I have recovered my pistol, and you are armed. Here are the saddled horses. Donatus is helpless. If necessary, we can slay Ruteni and the guard, and we can be away with Flavia before the others return.”
Tyrus grasped the wrist of his desperate companion.
“I think too much of my life to try it,” he declared. “If you attempt that, you do it alone, and you will be slain. Do not be a fool!”
Finally there was a great commotion in another portion of the valley. A single shot was fired, but shouts of triumph came faintly through the darkness.
“They have captured the spy!” said the chief, with a smile of satisfaction on his ashen face. “Are you done, Ruteni?”
“I have done everything possible, chief. The wound is in your lung. If you do not bleed internally——”
“If I do—what?”