In a few moments I will join thee. I must examine this
chamber ere I depart."

"I will not go without thee," she answered with calm decision.

"Why riskest thou thy life?" I cried in excitement. "Fly, or in a moment
it may be too late, we may both be overwhelmed or suffocated."

But she stirred not. She stood by me in silence, gazing in fear at the
red roaring flames that, raging outside, now cut off our retreat by
either door. The cause of my hesitation to rush away at first sight of
the flames, was the suspicion that somewhere in that chamber was a secret
exit. The sudden manner in which the Arab chieftain had eluded me could
only have been accomplished by such means. The chamber, well furnished
and supported by three great twisted columns of milk-white marble, had
its floor covered with costly rugs and its walls hung with dark red
hangings, bearing strange devices and inscriptions in long thin Arabic
characters. Few rooms in the Kasbah were decorated in this manner, and it
had instantly occurred to me that, concealed somewhere, was one of those
secret ways which, whether in the Oriental palace, or the mediaeval
European castle, are so suggestive of treachery and intrigue.

Although one horse-shoe arch of the place led into the Court of the
Eunuchs, the other, I noticed, was in direct communication with Samory's
private apartments. With consummate skill he had led me here by such a
circuitous route that I had not at first noticed that it joined a kind of
ante-room to his pavilion.

But the roaring flames that every moment leaped nearer, crackling
furiously and fanning us with their scorching breath, allowed me no time
for further reflection. Escape was now entirely cut off; only by
discovering the secret exit could we save ourselves. In breathless haste
I rushed around the walls, tapping them with my sword; but such action
proved useless, as I could hear nothing above the roaring and crackling
on either side. With my hands I tried to discover where the door was
concealed, rushing from side to side in frantic despair, but the exit,
wherever it existed, was too cunningly hidden.

So dense had the smoke become that we could not see across the chamber;
tongues of fire had ignited the heavy silken hangings, and the whole
interior was alight from end to end.

"We are lost--lost!" shrieked Liola in despair "We have fallen victims
to our own terrible vengeance upon our enemies."

Within myself I was compelled to admi