“You’re right, Selim.  If he’s tried that game we’ll beat him at it.  Ten to one, if he hasn’t already chucked them into the sea, they’re now confined in one of the mills over there.”

They were ready to start in a very short time.  Selim carried a quantity of food and a small supply of brandy.  Each was heavily armed and prepared for a stiff battle with the abductors.  They were to go by way of the upper gate, taking chances on leaving the park without discovery by the sentinels.

“We seem constantly to be saying good-bye to each other.”  Thus spoke the Princess to Chase as he stood at the top of the steps waiting for Selim.  The darkness hid the wan, despairing smile that gave the lie to her sprightly words.

“And I’m always doing the unexpected thing—­coming back.  This time I may vary the monotony by failing to return.”

“I should think you could vary it more pleasantly by not going away,” she said.  “You will be careful?”

“The danger is here, not out there,” he said meaningly.

“You mean—­me?  But, like all danger, I soon shall pass.  In a few days, I shall say good-bye forever and sail away.”

“How much better it would be for you if this were the last good-bye—­and I should not come back.”

“For me?”

“Yes.  You could marry the Prince without having me on your conscience forevermore.”

“Mr. Chase!”

“It’s easier to forget the dead than the living, they say.”

“Don’t be too sure of that.”

“Ah, there’s Selim!  Good-bye!  We’ll have good news for you all, I hope, before long.  Keep your eyes on Neenah.  She and Selim have arranged a set of signals.  Don’t lie awake all night—­and don’t pray for me,” he scoffed, in reckless mood.

The three men stole out through the small gate in the upper end of the park.  Selim at once took the lead.  They crept off into the black forest, keeping clear of the mountain path until they were far from the walls.  It was hard going among the thickly grown, low-hanging trees.  They were without lights; the jungle was wrapped in the blackness of night; the trail was unmade and arduous.  For more than a mile they crept through the unbroken vegetation of the tropics, finally making their way down to the beaten path which led past the ruins of the bungalow and up to the mountain road that provided a short cut around the volcano to the highlands overlooking the mines district in the cradle-like valley beyond.

Deppingham had not spoken since they left the park grounds.  He came second in the single file that they observed, striding silently and obediently at the given twenty paces behind Selim.  They kept to the grassy roadside and moved swiftly and with as little noise as possible.  By this time, their eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness; they could distinguish one another quite clearly.  The starlight filtered down through the leafy canopy above the road, increasing rather than decreasing the density of the shadows through which they sped.  None but strong, determined, inspired men could have followed the pace set by the lithe, surefooted Selim.