enly, as we went forward, the great bell in one of the high turrets
of the Naya's stronghold boomed forth the first stroke of the midnight
hour.

Then, in an instant, a bright red flash blinded us, followed by a report
so deafening, that the very rock whereon the city was built trembled, and
we saw amid the dense smoke before us the great black gateway, with its
watch towers where the sentries were pacing, break away, and shoot in
huge masses high towards the sky.

The explosion was terrific; its effect appalling. The glare lit the whole
city for a brief second with a light like a stormy sunset, then upon us
showered great pieces of iron and stone with mangled human limbs, the
_debris_ of a gateway that for centuries had been considered absolutely
impregnable.

The first blow against tyranny and oppression had been struck, terrible
and decisive. It was the people's call to arms. Would they respond?

CHAPTER XXVII.

BY THE NAYA'S ORDERS.

A SHORT time only did we remain in doubt as to the intention of the
populace. The suppressed excitement found vent even before the clouds of
choking smoke had rolled away. The signal had been given, and instantly
they responded with fierce yells, throwing themselves suddenly upon the
soldiers, using weapons that seemed to have been produced like magic.

Those who had effected our capture, dumbfounded, first by the appalling
explosion, and then by the hostile attitude of the people, released us
instantly, being compelled to fight for their lives back towards the
smoking ruins of the palace-gate.

Within a few moments the great broad thoroughfare, with its handsome
houses, became the scene of a most fierce and sanguinary conflict. Rifles
flashed everywhere, in the street, from the windows and roofs of
surrounding buildings, pouring a fire upon the soldiers so deadly that
few succeeded in escaping back to the place whence they came. With
startling suddenness I found myself in the midst of this stirring scene,
fighting for life beside Omar. Both of us had snatched rifles and
ammunition from fallen soldiers, while someone in the crowd had given me
a fine sword with bejewelled hilt, which I hastily buckled on in case of
emergency. Behind us a great barricade was being built of the first
things that came to hand. The houses were being divested of their
furniture by a hundred busy hands, and this, piled high, with spaces here
and there for the guns, soon presented a barrier for