"You will not have the diamonds. Would I let you go, if I weren't sure? But, and I've told you so: you are lost."
"Lost? And why?" he sneered.
"I feel it."
He was about to reply. But the sound of voices nearer came to their ears. He leapt out of the guardroom and ran for it, bending low, through the bushes.
Dorothy, who had darted after him, aimed at him, with a sudden determination to bring him down. But, after a moment's hesitation, she lowered her weapon, murmuring:
"No, no. I cannot.... I cannot. And then what good would it be? Anyhow my father will be avenged...."
She went towards her friends. The boys had had great difficulty in freeing them, so tangled was the network of cords that bound them. Webster was the first to get to his feet and run to meet her.
"Where is he?"
"Gone," she said.
"What! You had a revolver and you let him get away?"