Wu and Long Sin had opened fire on Kennedy, and Kennedy was
replying in kind. In the cavern it sounded like a veritable
bombardment. As they retreated, they came nearer and nearer to me
and I could see the revolvers spitting fire in the darkness. So
intent were they on Kennedy that they forgot me.

I watched them fearfully as they hopped deftly from one stone to
another to avoid the lime--and were gone.

"Craig! Craig!" I managed to cry feebly. "Be careful. Keep to the
stones."

He strained his eyes toward the ground in the darkness, at the
sound of my voice. Then he struck a match and instantly took in
the situation which, to me, under any other circumstances, would
have been ludicrous.

Stepping from stone to stone, he followed the retreating Chinamen.
But they had already reached the mouth of the cave and were making
their way rapidly down the road to a bend, in the opposite
direction from which we had come. There, Wu's automobile was
waiting. They leaped into it and the driver, without a word, shot
the car off into the darkness of early dawn.

A moment later, Kennedy appeared, but they had made their getaway.
Baffled, he turned and retraced his steps to the cave.

I don't think that I ever welcomed him more sincerely than I did
as, finally, I crawled slowly out from the bird lime, exhausted by