"Monsieur,
what does this mean?"
I swore at him and at the hour he had made me lose. "Men passed me in
a fog. They have been hiding here for a day at least. Show me your
canoe. We must get to camp. Yes, come with me. Come, show me your
canoe."
CHAPTER XX
WHAT I FOUND
Once in the canoe I bade Lord Starling crouch low, and I paddled
fiercely. I breathed hard not from exertion, but like a swimmer
fighting for his breath. I was submerged in waves of terror, yet I had
no name for what I feared. I learned then that there is but one real
terror in the world,--fear of the unseen. The man who feels terror of
an open foe must be a strange craven.
Lord Starling respected my mood and was silent. He sat warily,
shifting his weight to suit the plunging canoe.
"The fog chokes me," he said at length. "How large a camp have you?
Whom did you leave on guard?"
I told him.
"That should be sufficient."
"Not for a concerted attack."
"But who would make a concerted attack?"
I lengthened my stroke till the canoe quivered. "I am not sure. I
have been shadowed. I thought it was by your order. I cannot talk and
paddle, monsieur."
But I could paddle and think.
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