plunged his hand into the water again and raised it quickly to
his mouth to wash away the bitter taste before applying his lips once
more to the wounded arm.

This time the water reached his mouth, but he felt a repetition of the
pricking in his fingers, and to his astonishment two tiny silvery fish
fell into the bottom of the boat, while he found that two of his fingers
were red.

But he had no time to think of self, and he worked hard bathing and
encouraging the bleeding from both orifices of the wound and applying
his lips to them again and again.

Sir Humphrey was sitting motionless in the bottom of the boat with his
back against the side, bearing the pain he suffered patiently, and
lighting bravely to master the mental agony which attacked him with
suggestions of all the horrors that attend a poisoned wound.

Meanwhile Briscoe had not been idle. The keen inquisitiveness of his
nature was now shown in a very different way, for his eyes were
searching the depths of the forest as he peered through the gloom among
the dimly-seen trunks again, and he fired twice in the direction from
which the splashing of paddles had been heard.

He never turned his head nor shifted his eyes for a moment from that
point, reloading by touch alone, while after he had fired the first shot
he took upon himself to give orders to the sailors in a stern, firm
voice.

"Get back to the brig as fast as you can, my lads."

It was not until he had assured himself of the fact that their enemy was
in retreat that he turned for a moment to where Brace was busy with his
amateur surgery.

"That's right," he said; "I shouldn't bandage it up yet. Let it bleed,
in case the arrow was smeared with anything nasty. It's hardly likely
that it was, though."

As he spoke he picked up the barbed head, glanced at it, and then
slipped it into his pocket in the most indifferent way.

"I wouldn't fidget about that," he said to Sir Humphrey. "Most of the
things we hear are old women's tales. Here, hold my gun," he added
sharply to his man.

He thrust an arm round Sir Humphrey, just as his eyes were closing and
he glided slowly along the side of the boat.

The next moment he too leaned over to scoop up some water and trickle it
over the fainting man's face.

"Bah!" he ejaculated, "how sharp they are!" For a little silvery fish,
which in company with a shoal had darted at his finger, fell with a pat
on the wounded man's breast, and lay quivering