For a little while I thought that I was still dreaming. Then the low murmur of voices became so persistent that at last, with a tremendous effort, I managed to open my eyes. "What's that?" I demanded. There was the scrape of a chair, and the next moment Bobby and Christine were standing beside the bed. "It's all right, old lad," said the former soothingly. "We're both here." I looked up in bewilderment. I had a vague feeling that I was back in my cabin on the _Neptune_ and that somehow or other Bobby ought to be Ross. "Some blighter pushed me into the dock," I said irritably. Then, with the same startling abruptness as before, a wave of memory surged through my aching brain. "Good Lord!" I cried, starting up. "Where am I? What's happened?" Christine sat down beside me, and very tenderly took my hand in hers. "You are back on the island, dear, in your own room. There's nothing to be anxious about or worried over. It's all finished, and we are just here together--you and I and Bobby." I let my head sink back on the pillows. "I remember now," I said. "I stopped a bullet, didn't I? I've a sort of recollection of seeing a lot of stars, and after that everything's a blank." Bobby seated himself on the other side of my couch. "This is splendid," he remarked. "You'll be asking for a whisky and soda before we know where we are." Christine leaned forward and rearranged the pillows. "Tell me," she whispered, "is your head hurting you very much?" I put my hand to my forehead and found it encircled by a wet bandage. "It's aching a bit," I admitted. "What's the damage? Anything serious?" "Well, it was rather a close shave," said Bobby drily. "Manning's bullet ripped along the side of your skull and knocked you out as clean as a whistle. A devilish good shot--under the circumstances." There was a moment's pause. "Go on, Robert," I said, "you're just getting interesting." Christine made a faint movement of protest. "The doctor will be here in a minute. Hadn't we better wait?" "No, no," I protested. "I must hear what happened." She glanced across at Bobby. "Very well, then," she said quietly, "you tell him." "I don't know if Manning saw you fall," continued Bobby, "but if so it was the last thing he did see on this earth. We all fired directly he raised his hand. He got three bullets, one from Christine, one from Campbell, and one from me. It will be a very interesting point as to which of us killed him." "And Craill?" I asked. "You laid Craill out all right. At the present moment he's in the Pen Mill Police Station nursing a sick elbow." For an instant I hesitated. Christine must have guessed my unspoken question, for when I looked up at her her eyes were wet with tears. "We found my uncle lying dead on the deck," she whispered. "Dr. Ross had always told me that any great shock or excitement----" Her voice faltered, and, breaking into a pitiful little sob, she buried her face in her hands.