Barney drew it out and held it up.
"God!" muttered Curtiss. "It's hers."
"He must 'ave come down there after we left, an' got his spear an' stole your sister," said Brown.
Curtiss drew his revolver and pushed closer toward the unconscious Nu.
"The beast," he growled; "shootin's too damned good for him. Get out of the way, Barney, I'm going to give him all six chambers."
"No," said Barney quietly.
"Why?" demanded Curtiss, trying to push past Custer.
"Because I don't believe that he harmed Victoria," replied Barney. "That's sufficient reason for waiting until we know the truth. Then I won't stand for the killing of an unconscious man anyway."
"He's nothing but a beast—a mad dog," insisted Curtiss. "He should be killed for what he is. I'd never have thought to see you defending the man who killed your sister—God alone knows what worse crime he committed before he killed her."
"Don't be a fool, Curtiss," snapped Barney. "We don't even know that Victoria's dead. The chances are that this man has been helpless from fever for a long time. There's a wound in his head that was probably made by your shot last night. If he recovers from that he may be able to throw some light on Victoria's disappearance. If it develops that he has harmed her I'm the one to demand an accounting—not you; but as I said before I do not believe that this man would have harmed a hair of my sister's head."