to
listen, but could distinguish nothing, and concluded therefore that he
was mistaken. So we retired to our posts and waited patiently for the
moon to rise. But as it chanced no moon rose, or rather we could not
see her, because the sky was completely covered by thick banks of
thunder-clouds presaging the break-up of a period of great heat. These,
as the wind had now died down, remained quite stationary upon the face
of the sky, blotting out all light.

Perhaps another hour had passed when, chancing to look behind me, I saw
what I thought was a meteor falling from the crest of the cliff against
which the palace was built, that cliff whither the head of the idol
Harmac had been carried by the force of the explosion.

"Look at that shooting star," I said to Oliver, who was at my side.

"It is not a shooting star, it is fire," he replied in a startled voice,
and, as he spoke, other streaks of light, scores of them, began to rain
down from the brow of the cliff and land upon the wooden buildings to
the rear of the palace that were dry as tinder with the drought, and,
what was worse, upon the gilded timber domes of the roof.

"Don't you understand the game?" he went on. "They have tied firebrands
to arrows and spears to burn us out. Sound the alarm. Sound the alarm!"

It was done, and presently the great range of buildings began to hum
like a hive of bees. The soldiers still half asleep, rushed hither
and thither shouting. The officers also, developing the characteristic
excitement of the Abati race in this hour of panic, yelled and screamed
at them, beating them with their fists and swords till some kind of
control was established.

Then attempts were made to extinguish the flames, which by this time
had got hold in half-a-dozen places. From the beginning the effort was
absolutely hopeless. It is true that there was plenty of water in the
moat, which was fed by a perennial stream that flowed down the face of
the precipice behind; but pumping engines of any sort were quite unknown
to the Abati, who, if a building took fire, just let it burn, contenting
themselves with safeguarding those in its neighbourhood. Moreover,
even in the palace, such articles as pails, jugs, or other vessels were
comparatively few and far between.

Those that we could find, however, were filled with water and passed
by lines of men to the places in most danger--that is, practically
everywhere--while other men tried to cut off the advance of