LI

Saidee, down in the courtyard, shrieked as she saw her sister's danger.

"Fire!--wound him--make him fall!" she screamed to Rostafel. But to fire

would be at risk of the girl's life, and the Frenchman danced about

aimlessly, yelling to the men in the watch-towers.

In the tower, Stephen heard a woman's cry and thought the voice was

Victoria's. His work was done. He had signalled for help, and, though

this apparatus was a battered stable lantern, a kitchen-lamp reflector,

and a hand-mirror, he had got an answer. Away to the north, a man whom

perhaps he would never see, had flashed him back a message. He could not

understand all, for it is easier to send than to receive signals; but

there was something about soldiers at Bordj Azzouz, changing garrison,

and Stephen believed that they meant marching to the rescue. Now, his

left arm wounded, his head cut, and eyes half blinded with a rain of

rubble brought down by an Arab bullet, he had made part of the descent

when Saidee screamed her high-pitched scream of terror.

He was still far above the remnant of stairway, broken off thirty feet

above ground level. But, knowing that the descent would be more

difficult than the climb, he had torn into strips the stout tablecloth

which had wrapped his heliographing apparatus. Knotting the lengths

together, he had fastened one end round a horn of shattered adobe, and

tied the other in a slip-noose under his arms. Now, he was thankful for

this precaution. Instead of picking his way, from foothold to foothold,

at the sound of the cry he lowered himself rapidly, like a man who goes

down a well on the chain of a bucket, and dropped on a pile of bricks

which blocked the corkscrew steps. In a second he was free of the

stretched rope, and, half running, half falling down the rubbish-blocked

stairway, he found himself, giddy and panting, at the bottom. A rush

took him across the courtyard to the gate; snatching Rostafel's rifle

and springing up the wall stairway, a bullet from Maïeddine's revolver

struck him in the shoulder. For the space of a heart-beat his brain was

in confusion. He knew that the Arab had a knee on the wall, and that he

had pulled Victoria to him by her dress, which was smeared with blood.

But he did not know whether the blood was the girl's or Maïeddine's, and

the doubt, and her danger, and the rage of his wound drove him mad. It

was not a sane man who crashed down Rostafel's rifle on Maïeddine's

head, and laughed as he struck. The Arab dropped over the wall and fell

on the ground outside the gate, like a dead man, his body rolling a

little way down the slope. There it lay still, in a crumpled heap, but

the marabout and two of his men made a dash to the rescue, dragging the

limp form out of rifle range. It was a heroic act, and the Highlanders

admired it while they fired at the heroes. One fell, to rise no more,

and already two masked corpses had fallen from the wall into the

courtyard, daring climbers shot by Rostafel as they tried to drop.

Sickened by the sight of blood, dazed by shots and the sharp "ping" of

bullets, frenzied with horror at the sight of Victoria struggling in the

grasp of Maïeddine, Saidee sank down unconscious as Stephen beat the

Arab off the wall.

"Darling, precious one, for God's sake say you're not hurt!" he

stammered, as he caught Victoria in his arms, holding her against his

heart, as he carried her down. He was still a madman, mad with fear for

her, and love for her--love made terrible by the dread of loss. It was

new life to hold her so, to know that she was safe, to bow his forehead

on her hair. There was no Margot or any other woman in existence. Only

this girl and he, created for each other, alone in the world.

Victoria clung to him thankfully, sure of his love already, and glad of

his words.

"No, my dearest, I'm not hurt," she answered. "But you--you are

wounded!"

"I don't know. If I am, I don't feel it," said Stephen. "Nothing matters

except you."

"I saw him shoot you. I--I thought you were killed. Put me down. I want

to look at you."

She struggled in his arms, as they reached the foot of the stairs, and

gently he put her down. But her nerves had suffered more than she knew.

Strength failed her, and she reached out to him for help. Then he put

his arm round her again, supporting her against his wounded shoulder. So

they looked at each other, in the light of the bonfires, their hearts in

their eyes.

"There's blood in your hair and on your face," she said. "Oh, and on

your coat. Maïeddine shot you."

"It's nothing," he said. "I feel no pain. Nothing but rapture that

you're safe. I thought the blood on your dress might be----"

"It was his, not mine. His hands were bleeding. Oh, poor Maïeddine--I

can't help pitying him. What if he is killed?"

"Don't think of him. If he's dead, I killed him, not you, and I don't

repent. I'd do it again. He deserved to die."

"He tried to kill you!"

"I don't mean for that reason. But come, darling. You must go into the

house, I have to take my turn in the fighting now----"

"You've done more than any one else!" she cried, proudly.

"No, it was little enough. And there's the wall to defend. I--but look,

your sister's fainting."

"My Saidee! And I didn't see her lying there!" The girl fell on her

knees beside the white bundle on the ground. "Oh, help me get her into

the house."

"I'll carry her."

But Victoria would help him. Together they lifted Saidee, and Stephen

carried her across the courtyard, making a détour to avoid passing the

two dead Arabs. But Victoria saw, and, shuddering, was speechless.

"This time you'll promise to stay indoors!" Stephen said, when he had

laid Saidee on the pile of blankets in a corner of the room.

"Yes--yes--I promise!"

The girl gave him both hands. He kissed them, and then, without turning,

went out and shut the door. It was only at this moment that he

remembered Margot, remembered her with anguish, because of the echo of

Victoria's voice in his ears as she named him her "dearest."

As Stephen came from behind the barricade which screened the dining-room

from the courtyard, he found Rostafel shooting right and left at men who

tried to climb the rear wall, having been missed by Nevill's fire.

Rostafel had recovered the rifle snatched by Stephen in his stampede to

the stairway, and, sobered by the fight, was making good use of it.

Stephen had now armed himself with his own, left for safety behind the

barrier while he signalled in the tower; and together the two men had

hot work in the quadrangle. Here and there an escalader escaped the fire

from the watch-towers, and hung half over the wall, but dropped alive

into the courtyard, only to be bayoneted by the Frenchman. The

signalling-tower gave little shelter against the enemy, as most of the

outer wall had fallen above the height of twenty feet from the ground;

but, as without it only three sides of the quadrangle could be fully

defended, once again Stephen scrambled up the choked and broken

stairway. Screening himself as best he could behind a jagged ledge of

adobe, he fired through a crack at three or four Arabs who made a human

ladder for a comrade to mount the wall. The man at the top fell. The

next mounted, to be shot by Nevill from a watch-tower. The bullet

pierced the fellow's leg, which was what Nevill wished, for he, who

hated to rob even an insect of its life, aimed now invariably at arms or

legs, never at any vital part. "All we want," he thought half guiltily,

"is to disable the poor brutes. They must obey the marabout. We've no

spite against 'em!"

But every one knew that it was a question of moments only before some

Arab, quicker or luckier than the rest, would succeed in firing the

trail of gunpowder already laid. The gate would be blown up. Then would

follow a rush of the enemy and the second stand of the defenders behind

the barricade. Last of all, the retreat to the dining-room.

Among the first precautions Stephen had taken was that of locking the

doors of all rooms except the dining-room, and pulling out the keys, so

that, when the enemy got into the quadrangle, they would find themselves

forced to stay in the open, or take shelter in the watch-towers vacated

by the defenders. From the doorways of these, they could not do much

harm to the men behind the barricade. But there was one thing they might

do, against which Stephen had not guarded. The idea flashed into his

head now, too late. There were the stalls where the animals were tied.

The Arabs could use the beasts for a living barricade, firing over their

backs. Stephen grudged this advantage, and was puzzling his brain how to

prevent the enemy from taking it, when a great light blazed into the

sky, followed by the roar of an explosion.

The tower shook, and Stephen was thrown off his feet. For half a second

he was dazed, but came to himself in the act of tumbling down stairs,

still grasping his rifle.

A huge hole yawned where the gate had stood. The iron had shrivelled and

curled like so much cardboard, and the gap was filled with circling

wreaths of smoke and a crowd of Arabs. Mad with fear, the camels and

horses tethered in the stables of the bordj broke their halters and

plunged wildly about the courtyard, looming like strange monsters in

the red light and belching smoke. As if to serve the defenders, they

galloped toward the gate, cannoning against each other in the struggle

to escape, and thus checked the first rush of the enemy. Nearly all were

shot down by the Arabs, but a few moments were gained for the Europeans.

Firing as he ran, Stephen made a dash for the barricade, where he found

Rostafel, and as the enemy swarmed into the quadrangle, pouring over

dead and dying camels, the two Highlanders burst with yells like the

slogans of their fighting ancestors, out from the watch-towers nearest

the gateway.

The sudden apparition of these gigantic twin figures, bare-legged,

dressed in kilts, appalled the Arabs. Some, who had got farthest into

the courtyard, were taken in the rear by Angus and Hamish; and as the

Highlanders laid about them with clubbed rifles, the superstitious

Easterners wavered. Imagining themselves assailed by giant women with

the strength of devils, they fell back dismayed, and for some wild

seconds the twins were masters of the quadrangle. They broke heads with

crushing blows, and smashed ribs with trampling feet, yelling their

fearsome yells which seemed the cries of death and war. But it was the

triumph of a moment only, and then the Arabs--save those who would fight

no more--rallied round their leader, a tall, stout man with a majestic

presence. Once he had got his men in hand--thirteen or fourteen he had

left--the open courtyard was too hot a place even for the Highland men.

They retreated, shoulder to shoulder, towards the barricade, and soon

were firing viciously from behind its shelter. If they lived through

this night, never again, it would seem, could they be satisfied with the

daily round of preparing an old lady's bath, and pressing upon her

dishes which she did not want. And yet--their mistress was an

exceptional old lady.

Now, all the towers were vacant, except the one defended by Nevill, and

it had been agreed from the first that he was to stick to his post

until time for the last stand. The reason of this was that the door of

his tower was screened by the barricade, and the two rear walls of the

bordj (meeting in a triangle at this corner) must be defended while the

barricade was held. These walls unguarded, the enemy could climb them

from outside and fire down on the backs of the Europeans, behind the

barrier. Those who attempted to climb from the courtyard (the

gate-stairway being destroyed by the explosion) must face the fire of

the defenders, who could also see and protect themselves against any one

mounting the wall to pass over the scattered débris of the ruined

signal-tower. Thus every contingency was provided for, as well as might

be by five men, against three times their number; and the Europeans

meant to make a stubborn fight before that last resort--the dining-room.

Nevertheless, it occurred to Stephen that perhaps, after all, he need

not greatly repent the confession of love he had made to Victoria. He

had had no right to speak, but if there were to be no future for either

in this world, fate need not grudge him an hour's happiness. And he was

conscious of a sudden lightness of spirit, as of an exile nearing home.

The Arabs, sheltering behind the camels and horses they had shot, fired

continuously in the hope of destroying a weak part of the barricade or

killing some one behind it. Gradually they formed of the dead animals a

barricade of their own, and now that the bonfires were dying it was

difficult for the Europeans to touch the enemy behind cover. Consulting

together, however, and calculating how many dead each might put to his

credit, the defenders agreed that they must have killed or disabled more

than a dozen. The marabout, whose figure in one flashing glimpse Stephen

fancied he recognized, was still apparently unhurt. It was he who seemed

to be conducting operations, but of Si Maïeddine nothing had been seen

since his unconscious or dead body was dragged down the slope by his

friends. Precisely how many Arabs remained to fight, the Europeans were

not sure, but they believed that over a dozen were left, counting the

leader.

By and by the dying fires flickered out, leaving only a dull red glow on

the roofs. The pale light of the stars seemed dim after the blaze which

had lit the quadrangle, and in the semi-darkness, when each side watched

the other as a cat spies at a rat-hole, the siege grew wearisome. Yet

the Europeans felt that each moment's respite meant sixty seconds of new

hope for them. Ammunition was running low, and soon they must fall back

upon the small supply kept by Rostafel, which had already been placed in

the dining-room; but matters were not quite desperate, since each minute

brought the soldiers from Bordj Azzouz nearer, even if the carrier

pigeon had failed.

"Why do they not blow us up?" asked the Frenchman, sober now, and

extremely pessimistic. "They could do it. Or is it the women they are

after?"

Stephen was not inclined to be confidential. "No doubt they have their

own reasons," he answered. "What they are, can't matter to us."

"It matters that they are concocting some plan, and that we do not know

what it is," said Rostafel.

"To get on to the roof over our heads is what they'd like best, no

doubt," said Stephen. "But my friend in the tower here is saving us from

that at the back, and they can't do much in front of our noses."

"I am not sure they cannot. They will think of something," grumbled the

landlord. "We are in a bad situation. I do not believe any of us will

see to-morrow. I only hope my brother will have the spirit to revenge

me. But even that is not my luck."

He was right. The Arabs had thought of something--"a something" which

they must have prepared before their start. Suddenly, behind the mound

of dead animals arose a fitful light, and while the Europeans wondered

at its meaning, a shower of burning projectiles flew through the air at

the barricade. All four fired a volley in answer, hoping to wing the

throwers, but the Arab scheme was a success. Tins of blazing pitch were

rolling about the courtyard, close to the barrier, but before falling

they had struck the piled mattresses and furniture, splashing fire and

trickles of flame poured over the old bedticking, and upholstered chairs

from the dining-room. At the same instant Nevill called from the door of

his tower: "More cartridges, quick! I'm all out, and there are two chaps

trying to shin up the wall. Maïeddine's not dead. He's there, directing

'em."

Stephen gave Nevill his own rifle, just reloaded. "Fetch the cartridges

stored in the dining-room," he said to Rostafel, "while we beat the fire

out with our coats." But there was no need for the Frenchman to leave

his post. "Here are the cartridges," said Victoria's voice, surprising

them. She had been at the door, which she held ajar, and behind this

screen had heard and seen all that passed. As Stephen took the box of

cartridges, she caught up the large pail of water which early in the

evening had been placed in the dining-room in case of need. "Take this

and put out the fire," she cried to Hamish, who snatched the bucket

without a word, and dashed its contents over the barricade.

Then she went back to Saidee, who sat on the blankets in a far corner,

shivering with cold, though the night was hot, and the room, with its

barred wooden shutters, close almost beyond bearing. They had kept but

one tallow candle lighted, that Victoria might more safely peep out from

time to time, to see how the fight was going.

"What if our men are all killed," Saidee whispered, as the girl stole

back to her, "and nobody's left to defend us? Cassim and Maïeddine will

open the door, over their dead bodies, and then--then----"

"You have a revolver," said Victoria, almost angrily. "Not for them, I

don't mean that. Only--they mustn't take us. But I'm not afraid. Our

men are brave, and splendid. They have no thought of giving up. And if

Captain Sabine got our message, he'll be here by dawn."

"Don't forget the shot we heard."

"No. But the pigeon isn't our only hope. The signals!"

"Who knows if an answer came?"

"I know, because I know Stephen. He wouldn't have come down alive unless

he'd got an answer."

Saidee said no more, and they sat together in silence, Victoria holding

her sister's icy hand in hers, which was scarcely warmer, though it

tingled with the throbbing of many tiny pulses. So they listened to the

firing outside, until suddenly it sounded different to Victoria's ears.

She straightened herself with a start, listening even more intensely.

"What's the matter? What do you hear?" Saidee stammered, dry-lipped.

"I'm not sure. But--I think they've used up all the cartridges I took

them. And there are no more."

"But they're firing still."

"With their revolvers."

"God help us, then! It can't last long," the older woman whispered, and

covered her face with her hands.

Victoria did not stop for words of comfort. She jumped up from the couch

of blankets and ran to the door, which Stephen had shut. It must be kept

wide open, now, in case the defenders were obliged to rush in for the

last stand. She pressed close to it, convulsively grasping the handle

with her cold fingers.

Then the end came soon, for the enemy had not been slow to detect the

difference between rifle and revolver shots. They knew, even before

Victoria guessed, exactly what had happened. It was the event they had

been awaiting. With a rush, the dozen men dashed over the mound of

carcasses and charged the burning barricade.

"Quick, Wings," shouted Stephen, defending the way his friend must take.

The distance was short from the door of the watch-tower to the door of

the dining-room, but it was just too long for safety. As Nevill ran

across, an Arab close to the barricade shot him in the side, and he

would have fallen if Stephen had not caught him round the waist, and

flung him to Hamish, who carried him to shelter.

A second more, and they were all in the dining-room. Stephen and Angus

had barred the heavy door, and already Hamish and Rostafel were firing

through the two round ventilating holes in the window shutters. There

were two more such holes in the door, and Stephen took one, Angus the

other. But the enemy had already sheltered on the other side of the

barricade, which would now serve them as well as it had served the

Europeans. The water dashed on to the flames had not extinguished all,

but the wet mattresses and furniture burned slowly, and the Arabs began

beating out the fire with their gandourahs.

Again there was a deadlock. For the moment neither side could harm the

other: but there was little doubt in the minds of the besieged as to the

next move of the besiegers. The Arabs were at last free to climb the

wall, beyond reach of the loopholes in door or window, and could make a

hole in the roof of the dining-room. It would take them some time, but

they could do it, and meanwhile the seven prisoners were almost as

helpless as trapped rats.

Of the five men, not one was unwounded, and Stephen began to fear that

Nevill was badly hurt. He could not breathe without pain, and though he

tried to laugh, he was deadly pale in the wan candlelight. "Don't mind

me. I'm all right," he said when Victoria and Saidee began tearing up

their Arab veils for bandages. "Not worth the bother!" But the sisters

would not listen, and Victoria told him with pretended cheerfulness what

a good nurse she was; how she had learned "first aid" at the school at

Potterston, and taken a prize for efficiency.

In spite of his protest, Nevill was made to lie down on the blankets in

the corner, while the two sisters played doctor; and as the firing of

the Arabs slackened, Stephen left the twins to guard door and window,

while he and Rostafel built a screen to serve when the breaking of the

roof should begin. The only furniture left in the dining-room consisted

of one large table (which Stephen had not added to the barricade because

he had thought of this contingency) and in addition a rough unpainted

cupboard, fastened to the wall. They tore off the doors of this

cupboard, and with them and the table made a kind of penthouse to

protect the corner where Nevill lay.

"Now," said Stephen, "if they dig a hole in the roof they'll find----"

"Flag o' truce, sir," announced Hamish at the door. And Stephen

remembered that for three minutes at least there had been no firing. As

he worked at the screen, he had hardly noticed the silence.

He hurried to join Hamish at the door, and, peeping out, saw a tall man,

with a bloodstained bandage wrapped round his head, advancing from the

other side of the barricade, with a white handkerchief hanging from the

barrel of his rifle. It was Maïeddine, and somehow Stephen was glad that

the Arab's death did not lie at his door. His anger had cooled, now, and

he wondered at the murderous rage which had passed.

As Maïeddine came forward, fearlessly, he limped in spite of an effort

to hide the fact that he was almost disabled.

"I have to say that, if the ladies are given up to us, no harm shall

come to them or to the others," he announced in French, in a clear, loud

voice. "We will take the women with us, and leave the men to go their

own way. We will even provide them with animals in place of those we

have killed, that they may ride to the north."

"Do not believe him!" cried Saidee. "Traitors once, they'll be traitors

again. If Victoria and I should consent to go with them, to save all

your lives, they wouldn't spare you really. As soon as we were in their

hands, they'd burn the house or blow it up."

"There can be no question of our allowing you to go, in any case," said

Stephen. "Our answer is," he replied to Maïeddine, "that the ladies

prefer to remain with us, and we expect to be able to protect them."

"Then all will die together, except one, who is my promised wife,"

returned the Arab. "Tell that one that by coming with me she can save

her sister, whom she once seemed to love more than herself, more than

all the world. If she stays, not only will her eyes behold the death of

the men who failed to guard her, but the death of her sister. One who

has a right to decide the lady's fate, has decided that she must die in

punishment of her obstinacy, unless she gives herself up."

"Tell Si Maïeddine that before he or the marabout can come near us, we

shall be dead," Victoria said, in a low voice. "I know Saidee and I can

trust you," she went on, "to shoot us both straight through the heart

rather than they should take us. That's what you wish, too, isn't it,

Saidee?"

"Yes--yes, if I have courage or heart enough to wish anything," her

sister faltered.

But Stephen could not or would not give that message to Maïeddine. "Go,"

he said, the fire of his old rage flaming again. "Go, you Arab dog!"

Forgetting the flag of truce in his fury at the insult, Maïeddine lifted

his rifle and fired; then, remembering that he had sinned against a code

of honour he respected, he stood still, waiting for an answering shot,

as if he and his rival were engaged in a strange duel. But Stephen did

not shoot, and with a quick word forbade the others to fire. Then

Maïeddine moved away slowly and was lost to sight behind the barricade.

As he disappeared, a candle which Victoria had placed near Nevill's

couch on the floor, flickered and dropped its wick in a pool of grease.

There was only one other left, and the lamp had been forgotten in the

kitchen: but already the early dawn was drinking the starlight. It was

three o'clock, and soon it would be day.

For some minutes there was no more firing. Stillness had fallen in the

quadrangle. There was no sound except the faint moaning of some wounded

animal that lived and suffered. Then came a pounding on the roof, not in

one, but in two or three places. It was as if men worked furiously, with

pickaxes; and somehow Stephen was sure that Maïeddine, despite his

wounds, was among them. He would wish to be the first to see Victoria's

face, to save her from death, perhaps, and keep her for himself. Still,

Stephen was glad he had not killed the Arab, and he felt, though they

said nothing of it to each other, that Victoria, too, was glad.

They must have help soon now, if it were to come in time. The knocking

on the roof was loud.

"How long before they can break through?" Victoria asked, leaving Nevill

to come to Stephen, who guarded the door.

"Well, there are several layers of thick adobe," he said, cheerfully.

"Will it be ten minutes?"

"Oh, more than that. Much more than that," Stephen assured her.

"Please tell me what you truly think. I have a reason for asking. Will

it be half an hour?"

"At least that," he said, with a tone of grave sincerity which she no

longer doubted.

"Half an hour. And then----"

"Even then we can keep you safe for a little while, behind the screen.

And help may come."

"Have you given up hope, in your heart?"

"No. One doesn't give up hope."

"I feel the same. I never give up hope. And yet--we may have to die, all

of us, and for myself, I'm not afraid, only very solemn, for death must

be wonderful. But for you--to have you give your life for ours----"

"I would give it joyfully, a hundred times for you."

"I know. And I for you. That's one thing I wanted to tell you, in

case--we never have a chance to speak to each other again. That, and

just this beside: one reason I'm not afraid, is because I'm with you. If

I die, or live, I shall be with you. And whichever it's to be, I shall

find it sweet. One will be the same as the other, really, for death's

only a new life."

"And I have something to tell you," Stephen said. "I worship you, and to

have known you, has made it worth while to have existed, though I

haven't always been happy. Why, just this moment alone is worth all the

rest of my life. So come what may, I have lived."

The pounding on the roof grew louder. The sound of the picks with which

the men worked could be heard more clearly. They were rapidly getting

through those layers of adobe, of whose thickness Stephen had spoken.

"It won't be half an hour now," Victoria murmured, looking up.

"No. Promise me you'll go to your sister and Nevill Caird behind the

screen, when I tell you."

"I promise, if----"

The pounding ceased. In the courtyard there was a certain confusion--the

sound of running feet, and murmur of excited voices, though eyes that

looked through the holes in the door and window could not see past the

barricade.

Then, suddenly, the pounding began again, more furiously than ever. It

was as if demons had taken the place of men.

"It is Maïeddine, I'm sure!" cried Victoria. "I seem to know what is in

his mind. Something has made him desperate."

"There's a chance for us," said Stephen. "What I believe has happened,

is this. They must have stationed a sentinel or two outside the bordj in

case of surprise. The raised voices we heard, and the stopping of the

work on the roof for a minute, may have meant that a sentinel ran in

with news--good news for us, bad news for the Arabs."

"But--would they have begun to work again, if soldiers were coming?"

"Yes, if help were so far off that the Arabs might hope to reach us

before it came, and get away in time. Ben Halim's one hope is to make an

end of--some of us. It was well enough to disguise the whole band as

Touaregs, in case they were seen by nomads, or the landlord here should

escape, and tell of the attack. But he'd risk anything to silence us

men, and----"

"He cares nothing for Saidee's life or mine. It's only Maïeddine who

cares," the girl broke in. "I suppose they've horses and meharis waiting

for them outside the bordj?"

"Yes. Probably they're being got ready now. The animals have had a

night's rest."

As he spoke, the first bit of ceiling fell in, rough plaster dropping

with a patter like rain on the hard clay floor.

Saidee cried out faintly in her corner, where Nevill had fallen into

semi-unconsciousness behind the screen. Rostafel grumbled a "sapriste!"

under his breath, but the Highlanders were silent.

Down poured more plaster, and put out the last candle. Though a faint

dawn-light stole through the holes in door and window, the room was dim,

almost dark, and with the smell of gunpowder mingled the stench of hot

tallow.

"Go now, dearest, to your sister," Stephen said to the girl, in a low

voice that was for her alone.

"You will come?"

"Yes. Soon. But the door and window must be guarded. We can't have them

breaking in two ways at once."

"Give me your hand," she said.

He took one of hers, instead, but she raised his to her lips and kissed

it. Then she went back to her sister, and the two clung together in

silence, listening to the patter of broken adobe on the floor. At first

it was but as a heavy shower of rain; then it increased in violence

like the rattle of hail. They could hear men speaking on the roof, and a

gleam of daylight silvered a crack, as Stephen looked up, a finger on

the trigger of his revolver.

"Five minutes more," were the words which repeated themselves in his

mind, like the ticking of a watch. "Four minutes. Three. Can I keep my

promise to her, when the time comes!"

A shout broke the question short, like a snapped thread.

He remembered the voice of the marabout, and knew that the sisters must

recognize it also.

"What does he say?" Stephen called across the room to Victoria, speaking

loudly to be heard over voices which answered the summons, whatever it

might be.

"He's ordering Maïeddine to come down from the roof. He says five

seconds' delay and it will be too late--they'll both be ruined. I can't

hear what Maïeddine answers. But he goes on working still--he won't

obey."

"Fool--traitor! For thy sentimental folly wilt thou sacrifice thy

people's future and ruin my son and me?" Cassim shouted, as the girl

stood still to listen. "Thou canst never have her now. Stay, and thou

canst do naught but kill thyself. Come, and we may all be saved. I

command thee, in the name of Allah and His Prophet, that thou obey me."

The pounding stopped. There was a rushing, sliding sound on the roof.

Then all was quiet above and in the courtyard.

Saidee broke into hysterical sobbing, crying that they were rescued,

that Honoré Sabine was on his way to save them. And Victoria thought

that Stephen would come to her, but he did not. They were to live, not

to die, and the barrier that had been broken down was raised again.

* * * * * * *

"What if it's only a trap?" Saidee asked, as Stephen opened the door.

"What if they're behind the barricade, watching?"

"Listen! Don't you hear shots?" Victoria cried.

"Yes. There are shots--far away," Stephen answered. "That settles it.

There's no ambush. Either Sabine or the soldiers marching from Azzouz

are after them. They didn't go an instant too soon to save their skins."

"And ours," murmured Nevill, roused from his stupor. "Queer, how natural

it seems that we should be all right after all." Then his mind wandered

a little, leading him back to a feverish dream. "Ask Sabine, when he

comes--if he's got a letter for me--from Josette."

Stephen opened the door, and let in the fresh air and morning light, but

the sight in the quadrangle was too ugly for the eyes of women. "Don't

come out!" he called sharply over his shoulder as he turned past the

barricade, with Rostafel at his back.

The courtyard was hideous as a slaughter-house. Only the sky of rose and

gold reminded him of the world's beauty and the glory of morning, after

that dark nightmare which wrapped his spirit like the choking folds of a

black snake.

Outside the broken gate, in the desert, there were more traces of the

night's work; blood-stains in the sand, and in a shadowy hollow here and

there a huddled form which seemed a denser shadow. But it would not move

when other shadows crept away before the sun.

Far in the distance, as Stephen strained his eyes through the

brightening dawn, he saw flying figures of men on camels and horses; and

sounds of shooting came faintly to his ears. At last it ceased

altogether. Some of the figures had vanished. Others halted. Then it

seemed to Stephen that these last were coming back, towards the bordj.

They were riding fast, and all together, as if under discipline.

Soldiers, certainly: but were they from the north or south? Stephen

could not tell; but as his eyes searched the horizon, the doubt was

solved. Another party of men were riding southward, toward Toudja, from

the north.

"It's Sabine who has chased the Arabs. The others are just too late," he

thought. And he saw that the rescuers from Oued Tolga must reach the

bordj half an hour in advance of the men from Azzouz.

He was anxious to know what news Sabine had, and the eagerness he felt

to hear details soothed the pain and shame which weighed upon his heart.

"How am I to explain--to beg her forgiveness?" was the question that

asked itself in his mind; but he had no answer to give. Only this he

could see: after last night, he was hers, if she would take him. But he

believed that she would send him away, that she would despise him when

she had heard the whole story of his entanglement. She would say that he

belonged to the other woman, not to her. And though he was sure she

would not reproach him, he thought there were some words, some looks

which, if she could not forget, it would be hard for even her sweet

nature to forgive.

He went back to the dining-room with the news of what he had seen. And

as there was no longer any need of protection for the women, the

Highlanders came out with him and Rostafel. All four stood at the gate

of the bordj as the party of twelve soldiers rode up, on tired horses;

but Stephen was in advance, and it was he who answered Sabine's first

breathless question.

"She's safe. They're both safe, thank God. So are we all, except poor

Caird, who's damaged a good deal worse than any of us. But not

dangerously, I hope."

"I brought our surgeon," said Sabine, eagerly. "He wanted to be in this

with me. I had to ask for the command, because you know I'm on special

duty at Tolga. But I had no trouble with Major Duprez when I told him

how friends of mine were attacked by Arab robbers, and how I had got the

message."

"So that's what you told him?"

"Yes. I didn't want a scandal in the Zaouïa, for _her_ sake. Nobody

knows that the marabout is for anything in this business. But, of

course, if you've killed him----"

"We haven't. He's got clear away. Unless your men have nabbed him and

his friend Maïeddine."

"Not we. I'm not sure I cared to--unless we could kill him. But we did

honestly try--to do both. There were six we chased----"

"Only six. Then we must have polished off more than we thought."

"We can find out later how many. But the last six didn't get off without

a scratch, I assure you. They must have had a sentinel watching. We saw

no one, but as we were hoping to surprise the bordj these six men, who

looked from a distance like Touaregs, rushed out, mounted horses and

camels and dashed away, striking westward."

"They dared not go north. I'd been signalling----"

"From the broken tower?"

"Yes. As you came, you must have sighted the men from Azzouz. But tell

me the rest."

"There's little to tell, and I want your news more than you can want

mine. The Arabs' animals were fresh, and ours tired, for I'd given them

no rest. The brutes had a good start of us and made the best of it, but

at first I thought we were gaining. We got within gunshot, and fired

after them. Two at least were hit. We came on traces of fresh blood

afterward, but the birds themselves were flown. In any case, it was to

bring help I came, not to make captures. Do you think _she_ would like

me to see her now?"

"Come with me and try, before the other rescue party arrives. I'm glad

the surgeon's with you. I'm worried about Caird, and we're all a bit

dilapidated. How we're to get him and the ladies away from this place, I

don't know. Our animals are dead or dying."

"You will probably find that the enemy has been generous in spite of

himself and left you some--all that couldn't be taken away. Strange how

those men looked like Touaregs! You are sure of what they really were?"

"Sure. But since no one else knows, why should the secret leak out?

Better for the ladies if the Touareg disguise should hide the truth, as

it was meant to do."

"Why not indeed? Since we weren't lucky enough to rid his wife--and the

world of the marabout."

"Then we're agreed: unless something happens to change our minds, we

were attacked by Touaregs."

Sabine smiled grimly. "Duprez bet," he answered, "that I should find

they were not Arabs, but Touaregs. He will enjoy saying 'I told you

so.'"

* * * * * * *

That night, and for many nights to come, there was wailing in the

Zaouïa. The marabout had gone out to meet his son, who had been away

from school on a pilgrimage, and returning at dark, to avoid the great

heat of the day, had been bitten by a viper. Thus, at least, pronounced

the learned Arab physician. It was of the viper bite he died, so it was

said, and no one outside the Zaouïa knew of the great man's death until

days afterwards, when he was already buried. Even in the Zaouïa it was

not known by many that he had gone away or returned from a journey, or

that he lay ill. In spite of this secrecy and mystery, however, there

was no gossip, but only wild wailing, of mourners who refused to be

comforted. And if certain persons, to the number of twenty or more, were

missing from their places in the Zaouïa, nothing was said, after Si

Maïeddine had talked with the holy men of the mosque. If these missing

ones were away, and even if they should never come back, it was because

they were needed to carry out the marabout's wishes, at a vast distance.

But now, the dearest wishes of Sidi Mohammed would never be fulfilled.

That poignant knowledge was a knife in every man's heart; for men of

ripe age or wisdom in the Zaouïa knew what these wishes were, and how

some day they were to have come true through blood and fire.

All were sad, though no tongue spoke of any other reason for sadness,

except the inestimable loss of the Saint. And sadder than the saddest

was Si Maïeddine, who seemed to have lost his youth.