"Nay, surely, Rat," I murmured; then sat silent for a time, striving to collect my scattered thoughts, which so far had remained a wild unruly throng. The moon, which I had last seen shooting down the sky with Ammon’s head for company, now shone brightly; and what was that which flashed its light back from the grass? My sword! When I saw that, the past rushed on me pell-mell. The poisoned arrow! Surely it was time that death was stealing over me! The throbbing of my head--was that not part of it? I gave a shuddering downward glance towards my breast. The murderous little shaft was hanging from my coat. Ratlaw’s eyes had followed mine and seen it also. "Whoy, what be that?" says he, and tried to seize it, but I dashed his hand away. "Have a care!" I cried, "’tis poisoned!" And with that I plucked the arrow out and cast it clear into the bushes at my back. "Poisoned!" gasped Dan, and very nearly let me drop. "Yes," said I, "tipped with deadly poison. Say," I added, "do I look strange? Is my face black, or green, or blue?" He laughed and answered: "Nay, ’tis a lovely red, I vow." That relieved me greatly; still, being far from satisfied, my hand went creeping to the spot where, as it seemed, the arrow had struck clean through to the breastbone, and there, beneath my coat, I felt the Black Box. "Heaven be thanked!" said I aloud. "It saved me." "What saved thee, friend?" asked Ratlaw with a puzzled look. "Nothing," I answered quickly; then added, "or rather, you did, surely." "Mebbe I did," said he; "you’m right agen, I reckon. Another minute--and----" "Yes, yes," I put in eagerly; "pray, tell me all about it"--for indeed it seemed astonishing that Tubal Ammon had not finished me while yet he had the power to do so. "Well, ’twere like this," quoth Ratlaw. "As I were a-cooming ’long oop over from--well, from minding that as needs the minding, I saw what looked like one great whopping man a-swaying in the moonlight. ’Twere a terror of a thing, I tell ’ee, and I were just a bit afeard; but on I coome, and then may I be drownded if that whopping man did not break clean in two, and one half of it (that’s you) went flop. I heard your head go crack upon yon stump, then t’other half jumped on you, and I saw the flashing of a knife. I were close by then--a dozen yards away, not more--so I whips out my hanger here and cooms on roarin’ like a lion. Joost in toime and only joost. The knife wor raised to stroike, when, hearing me, he joomps oop, snarls at me loike any dog, and flies off cursing. And oh, the face of en! Zur, if ’twere not the Evil One hisself, who wor it?" "The Evil One himself," I answered slowly. "Aye, sure, or you had killed a dozen such as he wi’ that." He pointed to my sword. I nodded, then asked: "How long have I been here?" "Mebbe the quarter of an hour." "Ah! so long? And which way ran this villain?"