He shouted exultantly and dashed at Mercer, who stood quietly waiting for him at the edge of the crowd.
Mercer's ideas evidently were different from mine, for as his adversary came within reach he stepped nimbly aside and hit him a vicious blow in the face. The man toppled over backward and lay still.
I ran over to where Mercer was bending over his fallen foe. As I came up he straightened and grinned at me. "Oh, shucks," he said disgustedly. "You can't fight up here—it's too easy."
[ CHAPTER XV.
THE MOUNTAIN CONCLAVE.]
"It is reasonable," Miela said thoughtfully. "And that our women will help as you say—of that I am sure."
We were gathered in the living room after the evening meal, and I had given them my ideas of how we should start meeting the situation that confronted us. We had had no more trouble that day. After the encounter in the king's garden Mercer and I had followed the two girls swiftly home. We were not molested in the streets, although the people crowded about us wherever we went.
"Why did none of Baar's friends come to his rescue up there in the garden?" I asked Miela. "Surely there must have been many of them about."
"They were afraid, perhaps," she answered. "And they knew the people were against them. There might have been serious trouble; for that is not their way—to fight in the open."
Her face became very grave. "We must be very careful, my husband, that they, or Tao's men do not come here to harm you while you sleep."