“I know too much about gunpowder, Princess,” said Chase drily, “to fool with it.  It’s like a mule.  It kicks hard.  ’Gad, it was hard to stand there and hear those brutes planning it all and not be able to stop them.”

The Princess was once more at his side; he had clasped her arm to lead her securely in the wake of Neenah’s electric lantern.  She came to a sudden stop.

“And pray, Mr. Chase,” she said sharply, as if the thought occurred to her for the first time, “why didn’t you stop them?  You had the advantage.  You and Selim could have surprised them—­you could have taken them without a struggle!”

He laughed softly, deprecatingly, not a little impressed by the justice of her criticism.

“No doubt you consider me a coward,” he said ruefully.

“You know that I do not,” she protested.  “I—­I can’t understand your motive, that is all.”

“You forget that I am the representative of these very men.  I am the trusted agent of Sir John Brodney, who has refused to supplant me with another.  All this may sound ridiculous to you, when you take my anomalous position into account.  I can’t very well represent Sir John and at the same time make prisoners or corpses of his clients, even though I am being shielded by their legal foes.  I don’t mean to say that I condone the attempt Von Blitz is making to rob his fellow-workmen of this hidden plate and the plunder in the bank.  They are traitors to their friends and I shall turn them over sooner or later to the people they are looting.  I’ll not have Von Blitz saying, even to himself, that I have not only stolen his wives but have also cast him into the hands of his philistines.  It may sound quixotic to you, but I think that Lord Deppingham and Mr. Browne will understand my attitude.”

“But Von Blitz has sworn to kill you,” she expostulated with some heat.  “You are wasting your integrity, I must say, Mr. Chase.”

“Would you have me shoot him from ambush?” he demanded.

“Not at all.  You could have taken him captive and held him safe until the time comes for you to leave the island.”

“He would not have been my captive in any event.  I could do no more than deliver him into the hands of his enemies.  Would that be fair?”

“But he is a thief!”

“No more so than Taswell Skaggs and John Wyckholme, who unquestionably cheated the natives out of the very treasure we have seen carried away.”

“Admitting all that, Mr. Chase, you still forget that he has stolen property which now belongs quite as much to Lady Deppingham and Mr. Browne as it does to the natives.”

“Quite true.  But I am not a constable nor a thief catcher.  I am a soldier of the defence, not an officer of the Crown at this stage of the game.  To-day I shall contrive to send word to Rasula that Von Blitz has stolen the treasure chests.  Mr. Von Blitz will have a sad time explaining this little defection to his friends.  We must not overlook the fact that Lady Deppingham and Robert Browne are quite willing to take everything from the islanders.  Everything that Taswell Skaggs and John Wyckholme possessed in this island belongs to them under the terms of the will.”