"And there is the man who is uttering them," remarked Lethbridge--"that little dot on the hill some two miles away. I doubt if you can make him out with the naked eye. It is as much as I can manage, although I know exactly where to look for him. Can you see him, Ida? Or you, Mlle. Sziszkinski? Oh!"--as he turned round and made the discovery that Mildmay had emerged from the pilot-house, and had by some occult process drawn mademoiselle away from the rest of the party and to his side. Lady Olivia smiled. "Has it ever occurred to you, Colonel," she said, "that a very pretty little romance is gradually unfolding itself here in our small circle?" "Well," replied Lethbridge, with a smile that lighted up his somewhat saturnine features in a marvellous manner, "I must confess that there have been moments when I have had my suspicions. And I shall be by no means sorry if those suspicions turn out to be well founded; for she is an exceptionally charming girl, and as good as she is charming, I feel sure; while, as for Mildmay--well, he is one of the very few men whom I thoroughly admire and esteem." "Yes," assented Lady Olivia. "And they would make a handsome pair, wouldn't they?" "That," he answered, with a laugh, "is so obvious that it needs no confirmation from me. And--" What further he might have said upon so interesting a subject Lady Olivia was not destined to know; for at that moment an interruption came from Sir Reginald, who exclaimed-- "Look yonder, Lethbridge! Do you see that? There is the village from which that troop of native cavalry turned out to dispute our passage when last we came this way; and I'll be shot if the fellows have not turned out again. Do you see them, drawn up there on that ridge?" Lethbridge turned his binoculars in the direction indicated by his friend, and presently saw a body of mounted warriors, armed with bow, spear, and shield, drawn up in two divisions, one on either side of the track over which the _Flying Fish_ was heading to pass; and their formation was such as to suggest that they actually again intended to oppose the passage of the ship. "Yes, you are right; I see them," answered Lethbridge. "I think, Lady Olivia, it would be advisable for you to retire from the deck until we have passed those fellows. It is just possible that a stray arrow _might_ reach the deck here, with unfortunate consequences to one of you ladies. And you can observe everything almost as well from below. Permit me. Come along, little sweetheart,"--to Ida--"let us go below, and watch what happens from the cabin windows. Mildmay, do you see our old friends, the black troop of horsemen, yonder? I am taking Lady Olivia and Ida below, out of harm's way."