--coldly calm, with all my energies in full vigour, with a self-control
which I felt to be perfect and with all my feeling and instincts alert.

Now I knew the full extent of my danger: I was watched and surrounded by
desperate people! I could not even guess at how many of them were lying
there on the ground behind the shanty, waiting for the moment to strike.
I knew that I was big and strong, and they knew it, too. They knew also,
as I did, that I was an Englishman and would make a fight for it; and so
we waited. I had, I felt, gained an advantage in the last few seconds,
for I knew my danger and understood the situation. Now, I thought, is
the test of my courage--the enduring test: the fighting test may come
later!

The old woman raised her head and said to me in a satisfied kind of way:

'A very fine ring, indeed--a beautiful ring! Oh, me! I once had such
rings, plenty of them, and bracelets and earrings! Oh! for in those fine
days I led the town a dance! But they've forgotten me now! They've
forgotten me! They? Why they never heard of me! Perhaps their
grandfathers remember me, some of them!' and she laughed a harsh,
croaking laugh. And then I am bound to say that she astonished me, for
she handed me back the ring with a certain suggestion of old-fashioned
grace which was not without its pathos.

The old man eyed her with a sort of sudden ferocity, half rising from
his stool, and said to me suddenly and hoarsely:

'Let me see!'

I was about to hand the ring when the old woman said: