nd dried into blocks, for
the purpose of building fort Bab-el-Oued. In this block the poor martyr
was built into the wall of the fort, which was thereafter named the
"Fort of the Twenty-four Hours." The incident was soon nearly
forgotten. Two and a half centuries afterwards, (in December 1853), the
French, while carrying out their improvements in the town, destroyed the
ancient "Fort of the Twenty-four Hours," but were warned, by one who was
well read in the history of the place, to be careful on razing a certain
part of the walls to examine them well. They did so, and found the body
of Geronimo--or, rather, the _mould_ formed by his body, which latter,
of course, had crumbled to dust. A plaster cast was taken from this
mould, and this cast--which gives an almost perfect representation of
the martyr lying on his face, with his hands tied behind his back--is
now in the museum of the library of Algiers.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

THE DARK CLOUDS BEGIN TO THICKEN--A RESCUE ATTEMPTED--MASTER JIM PLAYS A
CONSPICUOUS PART.

In the course of a few days the rumour reached Algiers that England was
in right earnest about sending a fleet to bombard the city, and at the
same time Colonel Langley learned, through information privately
conveyed to him, that the report of Padre Giovanni was to some extent
incorrect. The old man had misunderstood the message given to him, and
represented the fleet as being in the offing, whereas it had not at that
time left England.

The caution, however, was useful, inasmuch as it put the British consul
on his guard.

It was at the end of one of the Mohammedan festivals when the news
reached the Dey's ears. He was engaged at the time in celebrating the
festival, surrounded by his courtiers and those of the consuls who
chanced to be in favour. The tribute due by Denmark and Spain not
having been paid, their respective representatives were not present, and
the Dey was debating in his mind the propriety of sending them to work
in irons with the slaves.

Among other entertainments there was a wrestling match about to take
place in the skiffa of the palace. Before proceeding to the skiffa,
Omar had shown his guests his menagerie, which contained some remarkably
fine specimens of the black-maned lion, with a variety of panthers,
jackals, monkeys, and other animals. This was rather a trying ordeal
for the nerves of the timid, because the animals were not in cages,
being merely fastened by r