"A mighty good shot happened," said Jack. "The best I ever saw."

I looked inquiringly at Edmund. He saw that I could bear it, and he
began:

"When that fellow snatched you up and leaped inside the circle I had my
furs wrapped so closely around me, not anticipating any danger, that for
quite ten seconds I was unable to get out my pistol. I tore the garment
open just in time, for already he was pressing you against the accursed
altar with his spear poised. I didn't waste any time finding my aim, but
even as it was the iron point had touched you when the bullet crashed
through his brain. The shock swerved the weapon a little and you were
only wounded in the shoulder. You got a scratch which might have been
serious but for your Arctic coat. The fellow fell dead beside you, and
under the circumstances I felt compelled to shoot the other one also, for
he was insane with the delirium of their bloody rite, and I knew that our
lives would never be safe if he remained ready for mischief.

"I'm sorry to have had to begin killing right and left again, but I guess
that's the lot of all invaders, wherever they may go. It's the second
lesson for these savages, and I believe it will prove final. When their
priests were dead and the others had no fight in them, even if they had
intended any harm to us. Nobody knows to what those chaps might have led
them, and my conscience is easy this time."

"How long have I been here?" I asked.

"Two days by the calendar clock?" replied Jack.

"Yes, two days," Edmund assented. "I never saw a man so knocked out by a