"Same's what I was a-sayin', sir," replied the imperturbable man, for his agitation had vanished at his companion's return. "But seems best as if we wur tu tak the young leddy out o' this. She ain't much hurt as I can see. Looks more like a graze than a bullet hole or a stick wi' a knife."
"Right-o," agreed Alwyn. "What we want is fresh water to dress the wound. Yes, you're right, Jasper; it is a graze."
Burgoyne raised the unconscious girl.
"Best let me, sir," interposed Jasper. "Seein' as' 'ow we might be fallin' foul of that there Chink, an' I left me rifle up along."
Realizing the soundness of Minalto's advice but ignorant of the motives that prompted the tendering of it, Burgoyne transferred the girl's limp form to Jasper's massive arms. Then, with his revolver ready for instant use, Alwyn led the way back to the spring hard by the devastated camp.
Suddenly he stopped dead, hardly able to credit the evidence of his eyes, for lying in his path was the head of the pirate Ah Ling.
Burgoyne glanced over his shoulder and met the stolid gaze of his companion.
"You did this, then," he said.
"Ay, ay, sir," was the calm admission.
"Then why on earth didn't you tell me?"