I went on with my digging.
Half an hour later I finished my self-imposed task, swung the spade over my shoulder, and prepared to return to the cave. I could see Moira in the distance moving towards me, and I guessed that my prolonged absence had made her feel somewhat uneasy.
"Where have you been all the time, Jim?" was her greeting. "I was just beginning to fear that something had happened to you."
"Something has," I answered, "but not in the way you mean. I've located the exact position of the hut. That piece of wood you tripped over must have been only a log that escaped being fully consumed. We're well on the way towards finding the treasure now."
She eyed me keenly before she spoke again, and I knew what she was going to ask me almost before she put her thoughts into words.
"Was that all you went to do?" she asked.
"No," I said, "I came out mainly to bury the dead."
She gave a little shudder at that, but her voice was steady enough as she said, "And you did? All of them?"
I shook my head. "Not him," I said ungrammatically.
"Why?" she demanded, with Heaven knows what idea at the back of the question.