Then, tearing aside the undergrowth, he found that the supposed Chinaman was a young boar, killed outright by the severing of the spinal cord.
Alwyn decided that his luck was right out. There was Hilda lying murdered while her ruffianly assailant Ah Ling had escaped, and was probably hiding safe from pursuit in the dense undergrowth that covered the greater part of the island.
"I'll have the brute yet," he vowed, "even if we have to burn the rest of the scrub."
He was on the point of hailing Mostyn to warn him of what had occurred, when he heard his own name shouted in a voice that he hardly recognized as Minalto's.
Retracing his course, Burgoyne found Jasper trying to restore Miss Vivian to consciousness.
"I've lost the blighter, Jasper," announced Alwyn regretfully. "He's somewhere in the scrub."
"He is, sir," agreed Minalto with firm conviction.
"I'd give my right hand," continued the Third Officer, "to see Ah Ling dead as a door-nail."
"Then put it here, sir," rejoined Jasper, extending his hand.
"What do you mean?" demanded Burgoyne.