“True,” said the girl, and came suddenly back to earth. “Lead on, Monsieur. We will follow.”

As we turned, I heard a groan at my feet.

“So he is not yet dead,” muttered Fronsac between his teeth, and picked up his musket for another blow. “Well, we will finish it.”

But I caught his arm and held it back.

“No, no,” I protested. “Not that. He is not a man to kill here like a dog. Let us find some other way?”

“What other way can there be?” demanded my friend impatiently.

“We must not leave him lying here for the sentries to stumble over,” I said. “We must conceal him somewhere.”

“Well?” and Fronsac made a gesture towards the battlement. “The cliff will settle all that.”

But again I shook my head. He was worthy a better fate. Besides, to kill a wounded man——

“Let us take him with us down into the tower,” I said at last. “They will not find him there, and we can still end it should there be need.”