I must say he was very disagreeable, referring to us as highwaymen and using uncomplimentary language.  But, as Tish observed, we might as well be thorough while we were about it.

For the nonce we had forgotten the other man.  But now I noticed that the pseudo-bandits wore a watchful and not unhopeful air.  And suddenly one of them whistled—­a thin, shrill note that had, as Tish later remarked, great penetrative power without being noisy.

“That’s enough of that,” she said.  “Aggie, take another of these guns and point them both at these gentlemen.  If they whistle again, shoot.  As to the other man, he will not reply, nor will he come to your assistance.  He is gagged and tied, and into the bargain may become at any time the victim of wild beasts.”

The moment she had said it, Tish realized that it was but too true, and she grew thoughtful.  Aggie, too, was far from comfortable.  She said later that she was uncertain what to do.  Tish had said to fire if they whistled again.  The question in her mind was, had it been said purely for effect or did Tish mean it?  After all, the men were not real bandits, she reflected, although guilty of theft, even if only for advertising purposes.  She was greatly disturbed, and as agitation always causes a return of her hay fever, she began to sneeze violently.

Until then the men had been quiet, if furious.  But now they fell into abject terror, imploring Tish, whom they easily recognized as the leader, to take the revolvers from her.

But Tish only said:  “No fatalities, Aggie, please.  Point at an arm or a leg until the spasm subsides.”

Her tone was quite gentle.

Heretofore this has been a plain narrative, dull, I fear, in many places.  But I come now to a not unexciting incident—­which for a time placed Tish and myself in an unpleasant position.

I refer to the escape of the man we had tied.

We held a brief discussion as to what to do with our prisoners until morning, a discussion which Tish solved with her usual celerity by cutting from the saddles which lay round the fire a number of those leather thongs with which such saddles are adorned and which are used in case of necessity to strap various articles to the aforesaid saddles.

With these thongs we tied them, not uncomfortably, but firmly, their hands behind them and their feet fastened together.  Then, as the night grew cold, Tish suggested that we shove them near the fire, which we did.

The young lady, however, offered a more difficult problem.  We compromised by giving her her freedom, but arranging for one of our number to keep her covered with a revolver.

“You needn’t be so thoughtful,” she said angrily, and with a total lack of appreciation of Tish’s considerate attitude.  “I’d rather be tied, especially if the Moslem with the hay fever is going to hold the gun.”

It was at that moment that we heard a whistle from across the stream, and each of the prostrate men raised his head eagerly.  Before Tish could interfere one of them had whistled three times sharply, probably a danger signal.