"That," said McKay, coldly, "is a lie!"
"What! You offer a Swiss officer such an injury—"
"Yes; and I may add an insulting bullet to the injury in another minute. You've lied to me. I have already done what you say is an impossibility. I have reached the plateau below Les Errues by way of this forest. And I'm going there again, Swiss or no Swiss, Hun or no Hun! And if the Boche do drive me out of this forest into the east, where you say there is no water to be found among the brush and bowlders, and where, at last, you say I shall stand with my back to the last sheer precipice, then tell your observation post on the white shoulder of Thusis to turn their telescopes on me!"
"In God's name, for what purpose?"
"To take a lesson in how to die from the man your nation has betrayed!" drawled McKay.
Then, lying flat, he levelled his pistol, supporting it across the palm of his left hand.
"Yellow-hair?"' he said in a guarded voice, not turning.
"Yes, Kay."
"Slip the pack over your shoulders. Take the pigeon and the rifle.
Be quick, dear."
"It is done," she said softly.