"It's not insubordination," said the girl. "You are not my superior officer, you know. I heard the firing and the sound of men scuffling, so I did my level best to imitate a man's voice, and at the same time I stamped hard upon the ground. Have they gone?"
"Yes; but if they find out that you're only a girl—a jolly plucky one, I must say—they may take it into their thick heads to renew the attack. I'll find that pistol and be on the safe side."
While the sub. was searching for the lost weapon, Doris listened intently.
"I cannot hear anything of them," she reported.
"That's rather a pity," said Tressidar, as he groped in the prickly furze. "They may still be hanging round, waiting to stalk us. Hurrah! I've found it."
His hand had come in contact with the barrel of the pistol. He withdrew the firearm, to find that it was a powerful weapon of the automatic type. Examination of the magazine revealed the fact that there were seven unexpended cartridges.
"Where's your great-coat?" asked Doris.
"I left it down there," replied Tressidar, indicating the dim outlines of the gorse-bushes on the other side of the road.
"You'll get a fearful cold without it. Go and get it," continued the girl authoritatively. "We have no sympathy with patients at Auldhaig Sick Quarters who get pneumonia through their own carelessness."
Tressidar laughed.