if you attempted
it. We are cut off for the present."

He interrupted himself to speak to an officer who was awaiting an order
then turned again to Derrick.

"I tell you the truth, Dick," he said, a sudden note of kindliness in
his voice. "She is safe. I had the opportunity--for one only. I took
it--for her. You can't follow her. You have forfeited your right to
throw away your life. Don't forget it, boy, ever! You have got to live
for her and let the blackguards take the risks."

He ended with a faint smile, and Derrick fell back abashed, an unwilling
admiration struggling with the sullenness of his submission.

Later, at Carlyon's order, he joined the party that had been detailed to
watch over the club-house, the most precious and the safest position in
the whole station. He chafed sorely at the inaction, but he repressed
his feelings.

Carlyon's words had touched him in the right place. Though fiercely
restless still, his manhood had been stirred, and gradually the
strength, the unflinching resolution that had dominated Averil, took the
place of his feverish excitement. Derrick, the impulsive and headstrong,
became the mainstay as well as the undismayed protector of the women
during that night scare of the Frontier.

There was sharp fighting down in the camp. They heard the firing and the
shouts; but with the sunrise there came a lull. The women turned white
faces to one another and wondered if it could be over.

Presently Derrick entered with the latest news. The tribesmen had been
temporarily beaten off, he said, but the hills were full of them. Their
own losses during the night amounted to two wounded sepoys. Fighting
during the day was not anticipated.

Carlyon, snatching hasty refreshment in a hut near the scene of the
hottest fighting, turned grimly to Raymond, his second in command, as
gradual quiet descended upon the camp.

"You will see strange things to-night," he said.

Raymond, whose right wrist had been grazed by a bullet, was trying
clumsily to bandage it with his handkerchief.

"How long is it going to last?" he said.

"To-night will see the end of it," said Carlyon, quietly going to his
assistance. "The rising has been brewing for some time. The tribesmen
need a lesson, so does the Government. It is just a bubble--this. It
will explode to-night. To be honest for once"--Carlyon smiled a little
over his bandaging--"I did not expect this attack so soon. A Heaven-sent
messenger has been amo