FREE.
FOR two or three hours before the cessation of bombardment flames had
been bursting out from several buildings in the neighbourhood of the
palace of Ras-el-tin. These being in the line of fire, had doubtless
been struck by shell from the ships passing over the forts in front.
When the fire ceased the Egyptians rose and motioned the boys to return
to their prison.
"Well, you see, my friend," Jack said to the man who spoke English, "you
have not sunk the English vessels in a few minutes, as you talked about.
Not even one of the little gun-boats; and as far as I can see from here
you have not even damaged them."
The man made no reply. To him and his comrades the escape of the British
ships was a mystery. That they were made of iron they understood, but
had no idea of the enormous thickness of their sides; and could not even
imagine that ships could be built sufficiently strong to keep out the
missiles discharged by the immense cannons in the forts. That not even a
mast should have been knocked away seemed to them almost miraculous. In
point of fact the ships had been struck but once or twice with the
shells from these massive cannon. The Egyptian gunners were unaccustomed
to the use of the huge pieces, and had consequently aimed too high, and
the shell had passed either between the masts or far overhead.
Upon the other hand the smaller guns had been worked with accuracy, but
their missiles had dropped harmless from the iron plates of the ships.
The fire of the men-of-war had, in the first place, been directed mainly
against these great cannon. The machine-guns in the top had created
terrible havoc among the men who were carrying on the laborious and to
them difficult operation of loading them, while the huge shell from the
great guns had carried wholesale destruction among them. Thus the
powerful guns upon which the Egyptians had relied to beat off any
attack from the sea, had been fired but seldom, and one by one had been
dismounted or rendered unserviceable by the fire from the ships.
The gallantry with which the Egyptian gunners stuck to their work was
the object of surprise and admiration to the British sailors. It seemed
scarce possible that men could work under so tremendous a fire as that
to which they were exposed. The forts were literally torn to pieces, and
at the end of the day were little better than heaps of ruins scattered
thickly with the corpses of the Egyptian artillerymen.
"Well, what do you suppose they will be up to next, Jim?" Arthur Hill
asked when the door had again closed upon them.
"I suppose they will begin again to-morrow if these fellows have not had
enough of it. You see, they hardly fired a gun for the last three hours,
and as far as we could see the forts were pretty well knocked to pieces;
the one at the mouth of the harbour blew up, and there were several
other explosions. They held out a lot better than I thought they would
do, I must say, but I cannot believe they will be fools enough to go on
to-morrow."
They chatted for some time as to the chances of surrender or of
resistance to the last, and as to what was likely to befall themselves;
then, wearied with the excitement of the day their voices became more
and more drowsy and they dosed off upon their heaps of straw. Jack was
the first to wake. He sat up and looked round, puzzled for a time.
"I say, wake up, you fellows!" he exclaimed suddenly. "There is a
tremendous fire somewhere."
The others sat up at once. They had been asleep for some hours and
night had fallen, but there was a red glow of light in the cell.
"Here, Arthur, you jump up on my shoulders," Jim said, standing under
the opening in the wall.
Arthur climbed up, and uttered an exclamation as his eyes became level
with the opening. "I cannot see the town, but I think it must be all on
fire; it is almost as light as day outside, the whole air is full of
sparks and red clouds of smoke. It is tremendous!"
"Jump down and let us have a look," Jim said impatiently, and he and
Jack had by turns a view of the scene. A quarter of an hour later the
door opened suddenly and four of their guards ran in.
"Come, quick!" one of them said, and seizing the boys by their wrists
they hurried them up the stairs. The house was in confusion. Men were
packing up bundles and the bey giving directions in an angry voice. As
soon as his eye fell on the boys he gave an order in Egyptian.
"Take off your clothes, quick!" The guard translated the order.
It was evidently no time for hesitation. The boys took off their
waistcoats, jackets, and trousers, then the guard picked up from a
bundle lying beside him three women's dresses, and wound them round
them, bringing an end as usual over the head and falling down to the
eyes. Then he put on the thick blue veil, extending across the face just
under the eyes and falling down to the waist. The disguise was thus
completed, and the three boys were transformed into Egyptian peasant
women, of whom only the eyes were visible.
Another five minutes all were ready, and the bey with ten or twelve men
and the boys started out from the house. Most of the men carried
muskets, all had large bundles upon their shoulders. As they issued from
the house the boys obtained a full sight of the city, and uttered a
simultaneous exclamation as they did so. Half the city appeared to be in
flames. A sea of fire extended from the port over the European quarter,
including the great square, while in many other parts separate
conflagrations were raging.
There was, however, no time to pause to examine the scene. The party
hurried along until they came down upon the road leading across the
narrow strip of land running between the two inland lakes. It was
crowded with fugitives: mixed up pell-mell together were Egyptian
soldiers in great numbers, and the population of the town--men, women,
and children. For four hours they walked along. Then the throng along
the road thinned; the Egyptian drums were sounding, and the soldiers
turned off and lay down in the fields, ready to form into regiments
again in the morning.
The rest of the fugitives, feeling that they were now beyond danger of
pursuit, soon followed their example. The party to which the boys
belonged kept on for a short distance further and then turned off. They
followed a by-road for a quarter of a mile, and then stopped at a farm
building. On their knocking at the door a peasant came out, but at a
word from the bey he at once drew aside for the party to enter. The bey
took possession of the cottage, and the men leaving their bundles inside
threw themselves down on the ground without and were soon fast asleep.
The idea that their captives might escape did not even occur to them.
The boys had thrown themselves down a little apart from the rest.
"This is a nice go," Jim said. "I suppose this chap is taking us off as
hostages, and we may be dragged about like this for any time; for until
an army is got together and conquers the whole country, I do not see how
we are going to be released."
"I don't see what there is to prevent us going straight back again,"
Jack said; "we have got splendid disguises and might go anywhere."
"That is not a bad idea, Jack; but how are we to do it? Every one is
coming the other way."
"Yes, I don't think we can go back by that road," Jack agreed; "but we
might get round the other side of the lake, I should think."
"But how are we to do that, Jack? We do not know anything about the
country."
"No, we do not know much about it, Jim; but I remember the day before we
landed, when we were looking at that book Mr. Hoare lent us so as to get
up something about Alexandria before we landed, there was a map of the
town. I remember that the lake behind it, called Mareotis or some such
name, extended some eight or ten miles to the west of the town, and is
only separated from the sea by the high beach on which the Mex Forts
stand. I do not see why we should not work round there, and get down on
to the beach and make our way on to the town. Our fellows are sure to
land to-morrow morning and take possession of it. We have passed across
the isthmus between the two lakes, so the one we want to get round must
lie somewhere to the north-west. Anyhow, the fire will be a guide to us.
If we keep rather to the left of that we must strike the lake, and have
only got to follow that to keep right."
"I am with you," Jim said. "What do you say, Arthur?"
"I am game," Arthur replied, "but let us be off at once. What time do
you think it is?"
"I have no idea. I don't know how long we slept, but it was quite dark
except for the fire, so it must certainly have been past eight o'clock.
We set out half an hour later. I should say that it must be between
twelve and one now, if not later. It will begin to get light again soon
after four, so we have no time to lose."
"Well, let us crawl away as quietly as we can," Jack said. "I think
those chaps are all asleep, but we cannot be too careful until we get a
bit away from them."
The boys found it very difficult to crawl in their female garments, but
kept on as noiselessly as possible until some distance from the cottage,
then they stood up. They followed the lane until they came to the road,
crossed the line of railway beyond it and swam the fresh-water canal,
and then, guided by the glare of light over Alexandria, made their way
across the fields. After half an hour's walking they found themselves on
the shore of the lake. It was low and swampy, and they had to keep some
distance from its edge. The reflection of the light on its smooth
surface enabled them to follow its direction as well as if they had been
walking close to it. They kept on until morning broke, by which time
the glare of light above Alexandria lay due north of them.
"We had better lie up here," Jim said. "There is sure to be a village
near the lake, and the first person who came across us and questioned us
would find us out."
"I shall not be sorry to stop at all," Jack said, "for these loose
yellow slipper things are horrid for walking in. I have tried going
barefoot for a bit, but there are prickly things in the grass and I soon
had to give that up."
There was no difficulty in finding shelter, for in many places belts of
high rushes bordered the lake. Entering one of these for some little
distance, and pressing down a lot of the rushes to make a dry bed on the
damp earth, the lads lay down and were soon fast asleep. The sun was
blazing high overhead when they awoke.
"My eye, isn't it hot!" was Jim Tucker's first exclamation. "It is
enough to roast a fellow alive."
"It is hot," Jack agreed; "and the worst of it is there isn't anything
to eat."
"No, and there is not likely to be," Jack replied, "till we get to
Alexandria. There are the guns of the fleet still at it. It is evident
that the forts have not surrendered. I don't see how we can possibly get
along past those forts on the beach to the west as long as they hold
out, besides it is not likely that there has been a landing from the
ships yet, and the rabble of Alexandria will be plundering and killing.
We shall be safer anywhere than there."
"So we should," Jack agreed. "But there is one thing quite certain, we
cannot stop here without food or water. We might perhaps do without
grub for a day or two, but certainly not without water. There is maize
and grain ripe in the fields, so we shall do well enough for eating."
"I suppose they must have wells. People must drink here, Jack."
"I suppose there must be wells," Jack said doubtfully. "But, you see,
the water in this lake is salt, and I should say they get no fresh water
anywhere near, because the ground is so sandy. I rather expect they get
it in small channels from the fresh-water canal."
"Well, anyhow, we can get water there," Arthur Hill said. "I vote we go
back there again. Not of course anywhere near where the Egyptians are;
though I do not know whether that would make much difference, for we
should be on one side of the canal and they on the other. Still, we had
better go beyond them; then we can, as you say, keep ourselves going by
picking maize or corn or whatever we can find for a day or two, till we
hear the firing cease."
"There are sure to be some boats somewhere on this lake," Jack said,
"and we might get hold of one and go across to Alexandria some night,
and reconnoitre. If we find there are no sailors or troops there, we can
take to our boat and pull back again. I think it would be better to do
that than to try to work round by the sea-shore, for I believe they have
fortifications running across from the sea to the lake, so as to prevent
the place from being attacked by a force landing beyond the forts."
"Well, I vote we set out at once," Jim Tucker said. "I am frightfully
thirsty. There are very few houses as far as I can see; if we keep a
sharp look-out we ought to be able to manage so as not to meet anyone.
If any peasant does run against us and ask questions, so much the worse
for him."
The others agreed, and they at once started across the country, which
was only cultivated here and there. They laid their course so as to
strike the canal at a point some miles higher up than that at which they
had left it. They only saw a few peasants in the fields, and made
detours so as not to come near any of these. On the way they picked a
dozen heads of maize, but were too thirsty to attempt to eat them. After
three hours' walking the vegetation became brighter and greener, the
cultivated fields thicker, and in another half hour they stood on the
bank of the canal. They went down to the edge, knelt down and took a
long drink.
"Shouldn't I like a dip!" Arthur Hill said.
"We will have one, Arthur, when it gets dark; it would never do to bathe
now. I do not see a soul about, but still someone might come up on the
further bank at any moment, and our white skins would betray us at once.
Now we have had a good drink we can hold on. We will go back again now,
and sit down among the bushes and eat our corn."
When they had finished their meal the boys agreed that maize eaten raw
was not by any means desirable food; however, it satisfied their hunger,
and they sat discussing their plans until evening. They agreed that
Arthur Hill's plan was certainly the best.
"We will give them one more day," Jim Tucker said. "I vote we stop here
to-night, then have a good drink in the morning and then start back
again, keeping along the canal here until we are close to the lake; then
we will have another good drink and start out and walk along the lake
until we find a boat, then we will hide away somewhere near it and cross
after it gets dark."
It was agreed that this plan should be carried out, and after a good
night's rest they started again next morning. They kept down by the foot
of the bank of the canal, and followed it until they saw the lake
stretching away on the left, then they went up and had another drink.
"Hurrah!" Arthur Hill exclaimed, as he picked up a broken earthenware
pot, which had apparently been thrown out by some passing boat; "this
will hold a quart of water. That will give us a drink each to-night."
As they walked they had heard the heavy guns still booming over the sea,
and felt by no means certain that the troops had yet landed. However,
they determined not to put off their expedition across the lake if they
could find a boat. Carrying their jar of water carefully with them, they
struck across to the lake and followed it as before, keeping a careful
look-out for boats. They had proceeded about two miles along its edge,
when they saw the stern of a boat projecting beyond the rushes that
fringed the water's edge, and pushing more rapidly forward they came
upon a beaten path through the reeds, and following this came upon a low
flat boat, very roughly constructed.
"It is not much of a craft," Jim Tucker said; "but it will do for us
capitally. Now, we have only to lie down and take things quietly until
dark. I fancy it is about three o'clock in the afternoon now by the
sun."
They lay down among a clump of bushes a short distance from the lake,
and as soon as the sun had set went back to the boat again. They had
already made another meal, and had finished their maize and water. They
stood by the boat waiting until it should become perfectly dark, and
looking across the tranquil sheet of water at the distant town, over
which the smoke still hung heavily, and as the sky darkened flashes of
fire could be seen. They were at last just going to get on board when
they heard an exclamation of surprise behind them. Looking round they
saw two natives, who had evidently come down with the intention of going
out in their boat.