“Captain,” said Miss Markham, “do you think those Rackbirds killed the three sailors?”

“I am very much afraid of it,” he answered.  “If they did, they must have known that these poor fellows were survivors of a shipwreck, and I suppose they stole up behind them and shot them down or stabbed them.  If that were so, I wonder why they have not sooner been this way, looking for the wreck, or, at least, for other unfortunates who may have reached shore.  I suppose, if they are making this sort of a search, they went southward.  But all that, of course, depends upon whether they really saw Davis and the two other men.  If they did not, they could have no reason for supposing there were any shipwrecked people on the coast.”

“But that thought is of no use to us,” said Miss Markham, her eyes upon the ground, “for, of course, they will be coming after the black man.  Captain,” she continued quickly, “is there anything I can do?  I can fire a gun.”

He looked at her for a moment.  “That will not be necessary,” he said.  “But there is something you can do.  Have you a pistol?”

“Yes,” said she, “I have.  I put it in my pocket as soon as I came into the cave.  Here it is.”

The captain took the pistol from her hands and examined it.  “Five chambers,” he said, “all charged.  Be very careful of it,”—­handing it back to her.  “I will put your brother and Mrs. Cliff in your charge.  At the slightest hint of danger, you must keep together in the middle room.  I will stand between you and the rascals as long as I can, but if I am killed, you must do what you think best.”

“I will,” said she, and she put the pistol back in her pocket.

The captain was very much encouraged by the brave talk of this young woman, and it really seemed as if he now had some one to stand by him, some one with whom he could even consult.

“I have carefully examined this cavern,” said the captain, after a moment’s pause, “and there are only two ways by which those men could possibly get in.  You need not be afraid that any one can scramble down the walls of that farthest apartment.  That could not be done, though they might be able to fire upon any one in it.  But in the middle room you will be perfectly secure from gunshots.  I shall keep Maka on guard a little back from the entrance to the passage.  He will lie on the ground, and can hear footsteps long before they reach us.  It is barely possible that some of them might enter by the great cleft in the cave on the other side of the lake, but in that case they would have to swim across, and I shall station that new African on the ledge of which you have heard, and if he sees any of them coming in that direction, I know he will give very quick warning.  I hardly think, though, that they would trust themselves to be picked off while swimming.”

“And you?” said she.

“Oh, I shall keep my eyes on all points,” said he, “as far as I can.  I begin to feel a spirit of fight rising up within me.  If I thought I could keep them off until Rynders gets here, I almost wish they would then come.  I would like to kill a lot of them.”