“The herr will keep watch?”
“Yes; for whoever it is that is watching and trifling with us—”
“Then the herr thinks—”
“That we have an enemy hanging about our camp and following us.”
“Ah!”
“And that it was he who threw off the rope.”
“Then the herr thinks that?”
“Yes, I feel sure now, for I have been thinking it over, and I know that Melchior Staffeln, the tried old guide, could not possibly have fastened that rope so that an accident would result.”
“The herr gives me hope and life again,” said the guide warmly.
“Yes, Melchior, I was all wrong. There—shake hands, man, like we English do.”