that a chit came down the Pass from a woman who never went up it?
Or shall I say she went up while I was looking the other way?"

"Help yourself!" laughed King.

"Laugh on! I envy you! I f the worst comes to the worst, you'll
have had the best end of it. If you fail up there in the 'Hills'
you'll get scoughed and be done with you. You'll at least have
had a show. All we shall know of your failure will be the arrival
of the flood! We'll be swamped ingloriously--shot, skinned alive
and crucified without a chance of doing anything but wait for it!
You're in luck--you can move about and keep off the fidgets!"

For a while, as he ate Courtenay's broiled quail, King did not answer.
But the merry smile had left his eyes and he seemed for once to be
letting his mind dwell on conditions as they concerned himself.

"How many men have you at the fort?" he asked at last.

"Two hundred. Why?"

"All natives?"

"To a man."

"Like 'em?"

"What's the use of talking?" answered Courtenay. "You know what
it means when men of an alien race stand up to you and grin when
they salute. They're my own."