s belong?"

"They are not likely to come here to-day. A friend of theirs was
wounded in the fight at Fort Dupres, and they have found him and carried
him off. I have been with them. Tell me, is there any blood on my face?"

The man shook his head.

"Now I want you to go to one of the shops near the gate and get food for
me. It matters not what it is some kabobs, or a pillau, or anything they
may have, and a large bowl of milk. I am faint and weary. Here is
money."

In a quarter of an hour the man returned, and Edgar, after eating a
hearty breakfast and drinking a quart of milk, felt greatly better.

He now entered the town. There were no signs of renewed fighting, and
listening to the talk of the officers near the headquarters, he gathered
that Bonaparte had granted a pardon to the inhabitants, but that the
prisoners taken in the attack on Fort Dupres, among whom were many of
those most deeply concerned in the rising, were to be tried at ten
o'clock by court-martial, and that probably a great part of them would
be shot.

CHAPTER VII.

SAVED.

Hiring a donkey, for he still felt weak, Edgar rode out to the citadel.
He found the town gate open, as Napoleon, to show his contempt for the
population and his perfect confidence that they would not venture to
rise again, had ordered everything to go on as usual. Paying the
donkey-boy when within a short distance of the citadel, he sat down on a
block of stone a little way off the road, and waited for the hour when
the court-martial was to open. From what he had heard in the square he
was afraid that the Arab prisoners would all be among those sentenced to
death, as the general opinion was that a stern lesson was needed in
their case, as they had, with the exception of those dwelling near
Alexandria, proved themselves bitterly hostile to the French.

"I am afraid that I shall have to lie," he said to himself. "I hate
that, and I would not do it for myself, but the lie will hurt no one and
may save Sidi. Anyhow I won't tell more than I can help."

During the two hours that he sat there he made up his mind as to the
story that he should tell. As the hour approached, several French
officers of rank rode into the citadel. He saw a few people go in on
foot, but all were questioned by the sentry at the gate. A few minutes
before ten he went up.

"You cannot pass without an order," the sentry said in French.

"I wish to speak to the officer," Edgar replied in a mi