n a somewhat delicate mission, Mr. Burke," he
said. "You know the ground. I want you to go quickly on shore and see
first of all whether there is safe landing for us, and then whether the
ground between the town and the fort is occupied. Be quick and secret; I
need waste no words. Mr. Watson has a boat's crew ready."

"I think, sir," said Desmond, "that it will hardly be necessary, perhaps
not advisable, to take a boat's crew from this ship. If I might have a
couple of natives, there would be a good deal less risk in getting
ashore."

"Certainly. But there is no time to spare; indeed, if you are not back in
a couple of hours I shall land at once. But I should like to know what we
have to expect. You had better get a couple of men from the nearest
grab."

"The Tremukji is only a few cable lengths away, sir, and there's a man on
board who knows the harbor. I will take him, with your permission."

"Very well. Good luck go with you."

Desmond saluted, and stepping into the boat which had rowed him to the
Kent, he was quickly conveyed to the grab. In a few minutes he left this
in a skiff accompanied only by Fuzl Khan and a lascar. Not till then did
he explain what he required of them. The Gujarati seemed overcome by the
selection of himself for this mission.

"You are kind to me, sahib," he said. "I do not deserve it; but I will
serve you to my life's end."

There was in the man's tone a fervency which touched Desmond at the time,
and which he had good cause afterwards to remember.

A quarter of an hour after Desmond quitted the deck of the Kent, he was
put ashore at a sandy bay at the farther extremity of the isthmus, hidden
from the fort by a small clump of mango trees.

"Now, Fuzl Khan," he said, "you will wait here for a few minutes till it
is quite dark, then you will row quickly along the shore till you come to
within a short distance of the jetty. I am going across the sand up
toward the fort, and will come round to you."

He stepped over the soft sand towards the trees and was lost to sight.
The bombardment had now ceased, and though he heard a confused noise from
the direction of the fort, there was no sound from the town, and he
concluded that the people had fled either into the fort or away into the
country. It appeared at present that the whole stretch of land between
the town and the fort was deserted.

He had not walked far when he was startled by hearing, as he fancied, a
stealthy footstep follow