"If I go under first, you'll not let Noreen fall alive into the hands of those brutes, will you, sir?"
The girl raised her revolver.
"I'll keep the last cartridge for myself, dear," she said.
She looked lovingly at Dermot whose arm was still about her. Her brother betrayed no surprise.
"I'm not afraid to die, dear one," she whispered to her lover. "I couldn't live without you now. And I'm happy at this moment, happier than I've ever been, I think. But I wish you had saved yourself."
He mastered his emotion with difficulty.
"Darling, life without you wouldn't be possible for me either."
He could not take his eyes from her; and the minutes were flying all too swiftly. At last he looked at his watch and held out his hand to the boy.
"Good-bye, Daleham, you've got your wish. You're dying like a soldier for England," he said. "We've done our share for her. Now, we've three minutes more. If the Rajah and Chunerbutty come into view again I'll have them with my last two shots."
He turned to the girl and took her in his arms for a last embrace.