THE SIEGE--THE ESCAPE--A DESPERATE RUSE.
Jack now left his dangerous elevation, and returned to his friends.
"Quite as bad as it can be," he said; "there's nothing for it but to
make a desperate resistance, and to die game."
The yells and shouts of the crowd outside were like the combined roar
of a large herd of wild beasts.
The blows became more furious on the door.
It quivered beneath the repeated shocks; but its own strength, and that
of the fastenings, and particularly the barricade behind it, still
defied the efforts of the besiegers.
Suddenly the hammering ceased, the yells of the crowd subsided.
Then came a volley of musketry.
They were firing at the door.
The volleys came thick and fast; the woodwork, strong as it was, began
to be penetrated by the bullets.
It was clear the place would soon be untenable.
Should the besiegers enter, all hope of escape would be over.
"At least, we'll return their fire," said Jack.
The windows in the wall facing the street were mere loopholes.
At each of these, Jack commanded one of his men to take his stand, and
pick off the enemy with the rifle.
It was a dangerous game, but it served its purpose.
Several of the besiegers fell before the well-aimed shots of the
besieged.
The Turks began to think that they were being opposed by a considerable
force of well armed men.
Their own shots failed to reach the highly-placed and narrow windows,
which were now so many portholes for the fire of the besieged.
The captain and Abdullah accordingly ordered their troops to fall back.
The excited crowd gave a yell of disappointment.
"I do believe we've defeated them, after all," cried Harry Girdwood.
But it was only a lull in the storm--a fatal presage of overwhelming
disaster.
The Turkish commanders now resolved to make certain of victory by
bringing up a cannon.
If, by this means, their troops could once effect an entrance--and this
was almost certain--what could stop their progress.
What were Harkaway's mere handful of men against the thousands they
would have to encounter!
Once more, and at greater peril than ever, Jack went on the housetop to
reconnoitre.
He laid himself down flat that he might not be seen, but yet contrived
to take a rapid glance of the position.
The house was detached on three sides; the fourth side was built
against the wall of a mosque.
Upon those three sides the building was entirely surrounded by troops.
The only chance of escape would be by the mosque.
But how was this to be effected?
The wall of the sacred building rose high above that of the house.
Jack raised himself to examine it more closely.
A flash--a report--and the whiz of a bullet told him that he was
observed.
A volley followed from all sides.
It would therefore be impossible for his party to raise a ladder, and
thus escape from their own roof on to that of the mosque.
Jack, the bullets whistling thickly around him, managed to crawl unhurt
to the trapdoor and again descend into the courtyard.
"Well, Jack, what think you of the situation now?" asked Harry.
"Desperate, indeed."
"They gave you a very warm reception, my boy," said Mr. Mole.
"It will be warmer still when they capture us," said Harkaway.
"Oh, gracious, gracious! how shall we ever get out of this? Oh, dear!
oh, dear! I wish I was in London once more," cried the orphan, wringing
his hands.
His distress contrasted strongly with the calm, self-possessed
demeanour of the beautiful Thyra at this time of supreme peril.
"There is but one thing we can do," said Jack.
"What is that?" asked Harry, anxiously.
"Break through that wall and get into the mosque; that's the only side
of the building which isn't surrounded."
"But it is impossible to pierce such a wall as that," said Harry.
"We'll try, at all events," Jack responded. "Come, boys," he added,
"one last desperate effort, and we'll baffle 'em yet."
The waiter and diver understood in a minute.
Hurriedly they collected the tools--pickaxes, crowbars, chisels, and
hammers--and they all set to work on the masonry.
But their momentary hopes soon subsided.
The mortar had, in the course of ages, become even harder than the
stone itself.
It was impossible to make any impression upon it.
When they saw this, disappointment was depicted upon every countenance.
Jack flung down, in sheer despair, the chisel with which he had
attempted to break the mortar.
As the implement fell upon the stones of the courtyard, Thyra's quick
ear noticed the peculiar sound.
"It is hollow beneath here," she exclaimed, eagerly.
Again testing the floor in the same way, they became convinced that she
was right.
There were probably vaults beneath this courtyard, and this stone
concealed the entrance to them.
Animated by this fresh hope, the party now worked away, and in a few
minutes had lifted the ponderous flagstone.
A flight of rude steps, leading down into utter darkness, was
discovered.
"As I thought," cried Jack, "these are vaults; we may baffle them after
all. Bogey, run down immediately and see what they are like."
Bogey hesitated not a moment, but skipped down the rude steps and
disappeared.
The others waited his return with great anxiety.
At this moment, a shout of triumph was raised by their enemies outside.
It signified that the cannon had been brought, and that the attack
would soon recommence.
The hope of escape was still of the very slightest.
In a few moments Bogey returned.
"Well?" asked Jack.
"All cellars, massa, goin' along--oh, miles and miles under de earth,
all dark, 'cepting a bit of light that comes here and there through
little holes in de roof. Plenty of room to hide all of us, sar. Oh,
golly, won't de nasty Turks go mad?"
"Hurrah! down you go immediately," said Jack. "Now then, ladies first.
Harry, I commend Thyra to your care. Take her down."
"I can not, will not leave you, dear Jack," she cried, desperately
clinging to our hero.
"No, no; I will soon be with you. For Heaven's sake. Thyra, do not
hesitate now, or we shall all be lost. Go quietly; it is my wish."
Thyra resisted no more, but with Harry's assistance descended the steps
into the vault.
"Now, Mr. Mole, down you go," said Jack. "Here, Figgins, you take his
legs and go first, or they'll be running away with him again. Tinker,
follow behind, supporting his head."
But Mr. Mole objected to this arrangement.
"What! do you think I'm an infant, to need carrying?" he said, with
offended dignity. "No, though I have got patent self-controlling cork
legs, I can walk down by myself."
And to prove this, he began jauntily descending the steps.
But the next moment he lost his footing, and with a cry, tumbled right
down to the bottom, on to the body of the unfortunate orphan.
Luckily, it was not very far to fall, and Mr. Mole was very little
hurt, though Figgins got the worst of it.
"Now, boys, down you go," cried Jack. "Hark! they are battering down
the gate with artillery."
At that moment a ball tore through the doorway, shattered the top of
the barricade, and at length lodged in the solid masonry.
Yells of triumph broke from the Turks.
"Quick! Tinker, Bogey, for your lives!" cried Jack.
"Is it that we are to desart ye!" cried the Irish diver. "No, Mr. Jack,
I'll see you down first."
"Please make haste," said Jack almost imploringly. "Of course I shall
save myself; but I'm the captain, you know, and I mustn't leave the
ship till the last."
Thus reassured, the rest descended, and no sooner was the last safe in
the vault, than Jack Harkaway shut down the stone in its place, thus
closing the opening.
Then he hastily laid earth in the interstices round it, and tried to
efface all signs of its having been recently removed.
With equal rapidity, he gathered up the crowbars, chisels, etc.
All this time the firing continued.
The door would soon give way and the enemy pour into the courtyard.
Was our hero mad, thus to remain behind while his friends escaped?
No.
His conduct was part of a desperate and deep-laid design.
He saw that if he had followed them in their rapid flight, the Turks
would be sure to perceive that the stone had been removed, and this
would at once enable them to discover the retreat of the whole party.
By remaining outside, he could restore the stone to its original
appearance.
And this he had now done.
But his own safety?
He had thought of that, too.
Wild and desperate as was his scheme--one that required far more than
ordinary courage to accomplish--gathering up the tools, he re-entered
the house, and rapidly ascended to his own room.
Here, from the window, he could perceive how much the crowd of enemies
had increased outside.
He was almost shaken off his feet by another discharge of artillery.
But every second was precious.
Hastily Jack robed himself in the ordinary garb of a middle-class
Turk--for he had plenty of Oriental garments--bound a turban round his
brows, and rubbed his face all over with a chemical powder, which
greatly darkened his complexion.
He quickly stained his eyebrows a deep black, with henna.
None of his friends could now have recognised Jack Harkaway.
But how were his enemies to be deceived and eluded?
Having completed this hasty transformation, Jack descended the stairs.
He looked out into the courtyard.
A third discharge of artillery had now broken down the door, and the
troops were rapidly clearing away the obstacles before entering in a
body.
Loud were their shouts of triumph, and Jack recognised the countenance
of Abdullah, lit up by a savage satisfaction.
But a glance sufficed.
Jack then retired into the smaller garden at the back, where he
completely concealed himself under some thick shrubs.
In a few moments, the troops were all over the yard, probing and
seeking in every corner.
Just as Jack had calculated, the soldiers were followed by a wild
helter-skelter of Turks, of all ages and conditions, fanatical Moslems,
who were ready to raze to the ground the accursed house where the
Christians had taken refuge.
The soldiers were considerably surprised to find no one.
They sought in every room in vain, to their intense disappointment.
Abdullah's fury was terrible to witness.
Speedily the whole house was filled with a motley Turkish rabble.
In this fact consisted Jack's safety.
Seeing the moment when a number of the Turks were passing his
hiding-place, he stepped out and mingled with them.
In the confusion, nobody noticed him.
In appearance, he was just like a score of other wild Turkish youths
who were in the throng, shouting lustily "Death to the Christians!" in
which cry Jack joined with great vigour.
The crisis of his danger was now over.
He had only to follow the movements of the crowd, and join the first
group who, tired of their search, went back through the gate.
This soon happened, and amongst those disappointed Turks, Jack Harkaway
was not for a moment conspicuous.
Mingling now with the crowd outside, Jack soon found an opportunity of
slipping down a side lane, and reaching the suburbs of the town.
He was free, his disguise still protecting him.
He now increased his speed, making towards the desert.
For there dwelt the tribe of Arabs with whom he was friendly, who hated
the new pasha as much as the old one, and who would be sure to extend
their assistance to the gallant young Englishman, and enable him to
rescue his friends. They received him kindly.
Jack told his story--in which they were all powerfully interested--but
they told him that nothing could be done until the chief returned.
In the meantime, our hero was so overcome by excitement and fatigue
that a deep sleep fell upon him, despite his efforts to keep it off.