wenty-four hours before. I could not take my eyes
off them till they were gone. And when I looked for my revolver, it also
had disappeared.

Jose had not got it--he lay insensible. Santos was whispering to Harris.
Neither of them seemed armed. I made sure that Rattray had picked it up
and carried it off with Eva. I looked wildly for some other weapon. Two
unarmed men and a woman were all I had to deal with, for Braithwaite
had long since vanished. Could I but knock the worthless life out of the
men, I should have but the squire and his servants to deal with; and in
that quarter I still had my hopes of a bloodless battle and a treaty of
war.

A log fire was smouldering in the open grate. I darted to it, and had a
heavy, half-burned brand whirling round my head next instant. Harris was
the first within my reach. He came gamely at me with his fists. I sprang
upon him, and struck him to the ground with one blow, the sparks flying
far and wide as my smoking brand met the seaman's skull. Santos was upon
me next instant, and him, by sheer luck, I managed to serve the same;
but I doubt whether either man was stunned; and I was standing ready for
them to rise, when I felt myself seized round the neck from behind, and
a mass of fluffy hair tickling my cheek, while a shrill voice set up a
lusty scream for the squire.

I have said that the woman Braithwaite was of a sinister strength; but I
had little dreamt how strong she really was. First it was her arms
that wound themselves about my neck, long, sinuous, and supple as the
tentacles of some vile monster; then, as I struggled, her thumbs were on
my windpipe like pads of steel. Tighter she pressed, and tighter yet. My
eyeballs started; my tongue lolled; I heard my brand drop, and through
a mist I saw it picked up instantly. It crashed upon my skull as I still
struggled vainly; again and again it came down mercilessly in the same
place; until I felt as though a sponge of warm water had been squeezed
over my head, and saw a hundred withered masks grinning sudden
exultation into mine; but still the lean arm whirled, and the splinters
flew, till I was blind with my blood and the seven senses were beaten
out of me.

CHAPTER XVI. A DEADLOCK

It must have been midnight when I opened my eyes; a clock was striking
as though it never would stop. My mouth seemed fire; a pungent flavor
filled my nostrils; the wineglass felt cold against my teeth. "That's
more like it!" muttered a