Standing as he was on the edge of the rock, this was a point he could not guard against.
When her welcome assurance recalled his scattered senses, he stepped back to speak to her, and in the same instant a couple of bullets crashed against the rock overhead.

Iris had unwittingly saved him from a serious, perhaps fatal, wound.
He sprang to the extreme right of the ledge and boldly looked into the trees beneath.

Two Dyaks were there, belated wanderers cut off from the main body.

They dived headlong into the undergrowth for safety, but one of them was too late.

The Lee-Metford reached him, and its reverberating concussion, tossed back and forth by the echoing rocks, drowned his parting scream.
In the plenitude of restored vigor the sailor waited for no counter demonstration.