was mounted, and
they knew him at once for U Saw, the great ruby in his head-dress
glinting scarlet fire in the rays of the sun. At the tail of his horse
strode the Strangler, and a dozen busy little blue-kilted figures ran
hither and thither, chattering and calling to each other, and
searching eagerly for traces of the fugitives.

A loud shout presently told the Haydons that something had been
discovered. Half a dozen Kachins began to yell together, and Mr.
Haydon listened intently.

"They've found the hole," he murmured coolly. "What next?"

"It's very lucky for us that Mrs. Stripes is at home and on guard,"
said Jack. "We could hold them in the narrow stairs there with our
_dahs_, but she'll do the job much better."

"Yes, for a time, without doubt," replied his father, shaking his
head. "But these chaps are splendid little shikarees, and fear nothing
that stands on four legs."

They could not see the group of Kachins which had gathered before the
opening, but they saw the Ruby King wave his hand, and knew that the
blue-kilts had been ordered to explore. They listened breathlessly,
but, for some moments, all was silence. Then in the vault below there
broke out a frightful roar of anger, and mingled with it came yells
and outcries. The two watchers looked eagerly from their apertures,
and saw the Kachins recoiling in a disorderly body, carrying among
them a man whose legs dragged along the ground.

"Looks as if she'd settled one of them," remarked Mr. Haydon. It was
soon apparent that the tigress had thinned by one the number of their
enemies. The man was laid down in the open space, and his fellows
gathered about him. But very soon they left the body lying where it
had been placed, and collected about the Ruby King in a chattering
crowd.

"Clearly the man is dead," said Jack. "They do not attempt to do
anything for him."

"I should say she smashed his skull in, by the look of things from
this distance," remarked his father. "See how the blood spreads in a
pool about his head!"

Their eyes were fixed on the debating crowd, and they were wondering
what the next move of the Kachins would be, when they heard a low call
behind them. Both whirled round at once, and saw that it was their
companion who was attracting their attention. She was kneeling on the
floor, and they ran to her at once. She knelt beside a large stone
which was sunk three or four inches below its fellows and shook easily
under the touch.