Without hesitation the young lieutenant let drive with his pistol. The report and the echo were followed by the falling of a piece of the idol to the floor, and a mad yell from the priest, who now flung himself bodily upon Gilbert. Sword met sword in the darkness; and then the pair clinched and rolled over, down the steps to a cleared space below. The priest was a heavy man, fully six feet tall; and it was he who came down on top.
“Get off!” gasped Gilbert. “Get off, or I will fire!” And he brought around his pistol; but, as it was discharged, his wrist was twisted around, and the bullet crashed into the roof far above, bringing down dust and splinters upon their heads.
The priest continued to call out; and soon a light appeared, and with it two men, one being the messenger who had come for Gilbert. Both were armed with daggers of the Malay pattern. In a trice Gilbert had the pair at his side, both trying to drag him away, and thus save the old priest from harm.
“Capture him alive! Do not kill him!” screamed the Buddhist priest, in Chinese. “I must have him for a sacrifice.”
“We will do our best,” answered one of his followers. “But he looks like a mighty fighter.”
“So much the better. It is what our good god needs,” returned the old Buddhist.
He leaped up, and reached for the lantern, to place it where it would be more to his followers’ advantage. Meanwhile the two new-comers were hauling away at Gilbert, one at one arm and the other at the other.
Gilbert could not use his sword, but the pistol was available; and, watching his opportunity, he blazed away, and brought one of the men down with a serious wound in the abdomen. Then he turned upon the second fellow, and fired once more. But the man dropped his hold and fell flat, and the bullet passed over his head.
The second shot had scarcely left the pistol when Gilbert struggled to his feet. The lantern was a fairly bright one; and by its rays he made out a door at the far end of the joss house, and started to run for it.
“Stop him!” roared the priest, in Chinese; and then, as he saw Gilbert nearing the door, he leaped toward an idol standing to one side of the building. Behind the idol was a knob, attached to a long iron chain. The Buddhist waited until Gilbert had reached a certain spot in the floor, then he pulled upon the huge knob with all his might.