“Did—­the thing—­grip you there?” she nervously inquired.

“There, and elsewhere.  All over at once, it felt like.  The beast attacked me with five arms.”

She shuddered.  “I don’t know how you could fight it,” she said.  “How strong, how brave you must be.”

This amused him.  “The veriest coward will try to save his own life,” he answered.  “If you use such adjectives to me, what words can I find to do justice to you, who dared to come close to such a vile-looking creature and kill it.  I must thank my stars that you carried the revolver.”

“Ah!” she said, “that reminds me.  You do not practice what you preach.  I found your pistol lying on the stone in the cave.  That is one reason why I followed you.”

It was quite true.  He laid the weapon aside when delving at the rock, and forgot to replace it in his belt.

“It was stupid of me,” he admitted; “but I am not sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because, as it is, I owe you my life.”

“You owe me nothing,” she snapped.  “It is very thoughtless of you to run such risks.  What will become of me if anything happens to you?  My point of view is purely selfish, you see.”

“Quite so.  Purely selfish.”  He smiled sadly.  “Selfish people of your type are somewhat rare, Miss Deane.”

Not a conversation worth noting, perhaps, save in so far as it is typical of the trite utterances of people striving to recover from some tremendous ordeal.  Epigrams delivered at the foot of the scaffold have always been carefully prepared beforehand.

The bandage was ready; one end was well soaked in brandy.  She moved towards the cave, but he cried—­

“Wait one minute.  I want to get a couple of crowbars.”

“What for?”

“I must go back there.”  He jerked his head in the direction of the reef.  She uttered a little sob of dismay.

“I will incur no danger this time,” he explained.  “I found rifles there.  We must have them; they may mean salvation.”

When Iris was determined about anything, her chin dimpled.  It puckered delightfully now.

“I will come with you,” she announced.

“Very well.  I will wait for you.  The tide will serve for another hour.”

He knew he had decided rightly.  She could not bear to be alone—­yet.  Soon the bandage was adjusted and they returned to the reef.  Scrambling now with difficulty over the rough and dangerous track, Iris was secretly amazed by the remembrance of the daring activity she displayed during her earlier passage along the same precarious roadway.

Then she darted from rock to rock with the fearless certainty of a chamois.  Her only stumble was caused, she recollected, by an absurd effort to avoid wetting her dress.  She laughed nervously when they reached the place.  This time Jenks lifted her across the intervening channel.

“Is this the spot where you fell?” he asked, tenderly.