"I do not mean that," she replied. "Of course, I know you were there with Romero, but who else?"
"The others had not arrived," said Colt.
"You mean you two went in alone?" she asked.
Colt hesitated. "You see," he said, "the blacks refused to enter the city, so the rest of us had to go in or abandon the attempt to get the treasures."
"But only you and Miguel did go in. Is that not true?" she demanded.
"I passed out so soon, you see," he said with a laugh, "that really I do not know exactly what did happen."
The girl's eyes narrowed. "It was beastly," she said.
As they talked, Colt's eyes were often upon the girl's face. How lovely she was, even beneath the rags and the dirt that were the outward symbols of her captivity among the Aarabs. She was a little thinner than when he had last seen her, and her eyes were tired and her face drawn from privation and worry. But, perhaps, by very contrast her beauty was the more startling. It seemed incredible that she could love the coarse, loud-mouthed Zveri, who was her antithesis in every respect.
Presently she broke a short silence. "We must try to get back to the base camp," she said. "It is vital that I be there. So much must be done, so much that no one else can do."
"You think only of the cause," he said; "never of yourself. You are very loyal."