Ramey stiffened, his feathering oars shipped swiftly. Over the steady lap-lap of lake water he too now heard that which had alarmed the bonze. He whispered, "Over that way!"
"Ravana's men. The rebellion has been subdued, and they've come after us!"
Ramey laughed; a short, hard, mirthless husk it was.
"Well, they'll never take us—now! Not while we're alive!" He tugged from his waistband that which until now he had avoided using; his automatic. Leveled it uncertainly toward the fear-inspiring sound. Waited....
And a cold voice gritted on his eardrums.
"You there in the other boat! Who are you, and what are you doing?"
CHAPTER XV
Land-bridge to Lanka
It is in moments of great stress that man's emotions play the strangest pranks.