“Confound their caution!  What are they thinking of?” he muttered savagely.  “If they only came straight ahead they would be bound to find us.”

And then a yelling crowd of dim figures breasted the rocks and dashed forward with the force of a hurricane upon the little body of Goorkhas.  In a second Derrick was fighting in the dark with mad enthusiasm for bare foothold, and shouting at the top of his voice exhortations to his men to keep together.

It was a desperate struggle, but once more the little party of invaders held their ground.  And Derrick, yelling encouragement to his friends and defiance to his foes, became vaguely conscious of a new element in the strife.

Someone, not a Goorkha, was standing beside him, fighting as he fought, but in grim silence.

Derrick wondered considerably, but was too busy to ask questions.  Only when he missed his footing, and a strong hand shot out and dragged him up, his wonder turned to admiration.  Here was evidently a mighty fighting-man!

The tribesmen drew off at length baffled, to wait for the moon to rise.  They were pretty sure of their prey despite the determined resistance they had encountered.  They did not know of the new force that had come to strengthen that forsaken little knot of men.  Had they known, their estimate of the task before them would have undergone a very material amendment.

“Hullo!” said Derrick, rubbing his sleeve across his forehead.  “Where on earth did you spring from?”

A steady voice answered him out of the gloom.  “I came up from the valley.  The troops are halted at the entrance of the ravine.  There will be no further advance to-night.”

Derrick swore a sudden, fierce oath.

“No further advance!  Do you mean that?  Then Carlyon doesn’t know we are here.”

“Oh, yes, he knows,” answered the man indifferently.  “But he says very reasonably that he didn’t order you to come up here, and he can’t sacrifice twice the number of men here to get you down again.  Unfortunate for you, of course; but we all have to swallow bad luck at one time or another.  Make the best of it!”

Derrick swore again with less violence and greater resolution.

“And who, in wonder, may you be?” he broke off to enquire.  “I’m a war correspondent myself.”

There was a vein of humour in the quiet reply.

“Oh, I’m a non-combatant, too.  It’s always the non-combatants that do the work.  Have you got a revolver?  Good!  Any cartridges?  That’s right.  Now, look here, it’s out of the question to remain in this place till moonrise.”

“I won’t go back,” said Derrick doggedly.  “I’ll see Carlyon hang first.”

“Quite right.  I wasn’t going to propose that.  It’s impossible, in the first place.  Perhaps it is only fair to Colonel Carlyon to mention that he had no notion that there is anything so important as a newspaper man at the head of this expedition.  It’s a detail, of course.  Still, if you get through, it is just as well that you should know the rights of the case.”