.

At last Oda Yorimoto reached the far side of the long chamber.

"Here!" he said, and took her by the shoulders.

"Here!" answered the girl in a low, tense voice, and at the instant that
she spoke Oda Yorimoto, Lord of Yoka, felt a quick tug at his belt, and
before he guessed what was to happen his own short sword had pierced his
breast.

A single shriek broke from the lips of the daimio; but it was so high
and shrill and like the shriek of a woman in mortal terror that the
woman in the next room who heard it but smiled a crooked, wicked smile
of hate and turned once more upon her pallet to sleep.

Again and again Barbara Harding plunged the sword of the brown man into
the still heart, until she knew beyond peradventure of a doubt that her
enemy was forevermore powerless to injure her. Then she sank, exhausted
and trembling, upon the dirt floor beside the corpse.

When Theriere came to the realization that Barbara Harding was gone he
jumped to the natural conclusion that Ward and Simms had discovered
the ruse that he had worked upon them just in time to permit them to
intercept Miller and Swenson with the girl, and carry her back to the
main camp.

The others were prone to agree with him, though the mucker grumbled that
"it listened fishy." However, all hands returned cautiously down the
face of the cliff, expecting momentarily to be attacked by the guards
which they felt sure Ward would post in expectation of a return of the
mutineers, the moment they discovered that the girl had been taken
from them; but to the surprise of all they reached the cove without
molestation, and when they had crept cautiously to the vicinity of the
sleepers they discovered that all were there, in peaceful slumber, just
as they had left them a few hours before.

Silently the party retraced its steps up the cliff. Theriere and Billy
Byrne brought up the rear.

"What do you make of it anyway, Byrne?" asked the Frenchman.

"If you wanta get it straight, cul," replied the mucker, "I tink youse
know a whole lot more about it dan you'd like to have de rest of us
tink."

"What do you mean, Byrne?" cried Theriere. "Out with it now!"

"Sure I'll out wid it. You didn't tink I was bashful didja? Wot fer did
you detail dem two pikers, Miller and Swenson, to guard de skirt fer if
it wasn't fer some special frame-up of yer own? Dey never been in our
gang, and dats just wot you wanted 'em fer. It was easy to tip dem off
to hike out wid d