"At Sungan."
Sir Lionel looked up at the American, and Gray saw the pain mirrored in his inflamed eyes.
"Was she with Ram Singh?"
"Ram Singh is dead."
"The others?"
"Killed. I do not think that Mary was killed."
Gray drew a deep breath and was silent. From the knoll the hunters watched intently.
"I will tell you what happened." Sir Lionel drew his hand across his eyes. "The sun—I'm rather badly done up. No food for two days. No——" as Gray started to rise. "I'm not hungry."
He lay back on the sand with closed eyes. His face was strained with the effort he made to speak. Yet what he said was uttered clearly, with military brevity.
"The night after we sighted the camel tracks we were attacked in force. I think that was four nights ago. There was a crescent moon. Of course I had stationed sentries. They gave the alarm. There was a brisk action."