"No, Pat! No, no, no! You shall do no such thing!" Incoherently the words rushed out, and with them the old familiar name, uttered all unawares. "Do you think I'd let you go? Why, the place may be thronged with snakes. And you--you have nothing to defend yourself with. How can you dream of such a thing?" He heard her out with absolute patience. His face betrayed no sign of the tumult within. It remained perfectly courteous and calm. Yet when he spoke he, too, it seemed, had gone back to the old intimate days that lay so far behind them. "Yes, but, Princess," he said, "what about our pals? If there is any real danger we can't let them come stumbling into it. We'll have to warn them." She was still clinging to his arm, and her hands tightened. For an instant she seemed about to renew her wild protest, but something--was it the expression in the man's steady eyes?--checked her. She stood a moment silent. Then, "You're quite right, Pat," she said, her voice very low. "We'll go straight back to the boat and stop them." Her hands relaxed and fell from his arm, but Hone stood hesitating. "You'll let me go first?" he said. "You stay here in the open! I'll come back for you." But at that her new-found docility at once evaporated. "I won't!" she declared vehemently. "I won't! Don't be so ridiculous! Of course I am coming with you. Do you suppose I would let you go alone?" "Why not?" said Hone. He remembered later that she passed the question by. "We are wasting time," she said, "Let us go!" And so together they went back into the danger that lurked in the darkness. VI They went side by side, for she would not let him take the lead. Her hand was in his, and he knew by its convulsive pressure something of the sheer panic that possessed her. And he marvelled at the power that nerved her, though he held his peace. They entered the dense shadow of the strip of jungle that separated them from the stream, and very soon he paused to strike a match. She stood very close to him. He was aware that she was trembling in every limb. He peered about him, but could see very little beyond the fact that the path ahead of them lay clear. On both sides of this the undergrowth baffled all scrutiny. He seemed to hear a small mysterious rustling sound, but his most minute attention failed to locate it. The match burned down to his fingers, and he tossed it away. "There's nothing between us and the water," he said cheerily. "We'll make a dash for it." "Stay!" she whispered, under her breath. "I heard something!" "It's only a bit of a breeze overhead," said Hone. "We won't stop to listen anyway." He caught her hand in his once more, grasping it firmly, and they moved forward again. They could see the moonlight glimmering on the water ahead, and in another yard or two the low-growing bush to which Hone had moored the boat became visible. In that instant, with a jerk of terror, Nina stopped short. "Pat! What is that?"