They hurried with Codd to the spot where he had discovered the bodies,
to find that his tale was too true. Their two unfortunate servants were
to be seen lying one on either side of the track, both dead and
shockingly mutilated. Kitwater knelt beside them and examined them
more closely.

"Chinese," he said laconically. Then after a pause he continued, "It's a
good thing for us we had the foresight to take our rifles with us
to-day, otherwise we should have lost them for a certainty. Now we shall
have to keep our eyes open for trouble. It won't be long in coming, mark
my words."

"You don't think they watched us at work in that courtyard, do you?"
asked Hayle anxiously, as they returned to the camp. "If that's so,
they'll have every atom of the remaining treasure, and we shall be
done for."

He spoke as if until that moment they had received nothing.

"It's just possible they may have done so, of course," said Kitwater,
"but how are we to know? We couldn't prevent them, for we don't know how
many of them there may be. That fellow you saw this evening may only
have been placed there to spy upon our movements. Confound it all, I
wish we were a bigger party."

"It's no use wishing that," Hayle returned, and then after a pause he
added--"Fortunately we hold a good many lives in our hands, and what's
more, we know the value of our own. The only thing we can do is to
watch, watch, and watch, and, if we are taken by surprise, we shall have