"
They turned back to Theriere now. The man still lay,
unconscious and moaning, where Byrne had deposited him.
The mucker removed the gag from Oda Iseka's mouth.
"Which way is water? Ask him," he said to Barbara.
The girl put the question.
"He says that straight up this ravine behind us there is a
little spring," translated the girl.
Byrne lifted Theriere in his arms, after loosening Oda Iseka's
feet and tethering him to his own belt with the same grass
rope; then he motioned the youth up the ravine.
"Walk beside me," he said to Barbara Harding, "an' keep
yer lamps peeled behind."
Thus, in silence, the party commenced the ascent of the trail
which soon became rough and precipitous, while behind them,
under cover of the brush, sneaked four trailing samurai.
After half an hour of the most arduous climbing the mucker
commenced to feel the effects of loss of blood from his
many wounds. He coughed a little now from the exertion, and
when he did the blood spurted anew from the fresh wound in
his breast.
Yet there was no wavering or weakness apparent to the girl
who marched beside him, and she wondered at the physical
endurance of the man. But when at last they came to a clear
pool of water, half hidden by overhanging rocks and long
masses of depending mosses, in the midst of a natural grotto
of enchanting loveliness, and Oda Iseka signaled that their
journey was at an end, Byrne laid Theriere gently upon the
flower-starred sward, and with a little, choking gasp collapsed,
unconscious, beside the Frenchman.
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