campering after us, sir," he observed coolly.

"All right," answered Terence. "Their friends inside the fort, then,
will be less likely to keep firing at us; and I should like to see the
followers of the prophet, whether Turk or Egyptian, who can catch us in
a fair race like this."

To do them justice, however, the enemy made good play over the ground.
The outside garden wall was reached and leaped, and now the three
adventurers had a fair run for it along the beach towards their boat
with the red-capped gentlemen, as Adair called them, in hot pursuit. A
long straggling branch of a tree had been thrown upon the beach. Adair
did not observe it, and suddenly he found himself toppled over on his
head. He thought that he had broken his leg.

"Take the flag and run, Alick," he exclaimed, throwing the flag-staff to
Murray. "Never mind me, I'm too much, hurt to move."

"Not when I have a pair of legs to run off with you, sir," cried Dick
Needham, lifting Paddy upon his shoulders, running off with him as if he
had been a baby. "It was not for that, sir, that I comed here to look
after you."

Paddy felt that it was not a moment to stand on his dignity, so he was
very much obliged to Dick for carrying him. Murray took the flag, but
would not leave him till he had seen him hoisted upon Dick's shoulders.
Away they went then as before; but the Egyptians had gained considerably
on them, and hallooed and shouted, and, worse than all, fired off their
pistols with as good an aim as they could take, running as they were at
full speed. Fortunately the bullets did not reach the fugitives; just
then the latter caught sight of their boat, which they had left under
shelter of a rock. The Egyptians did not see her, and so they ran on,
which they otherwise would not have done. What was their surprise,
then, to find themselves saluted with a round of grape-shot from a gun
in her bows, and a volley of musketry, while a true British cheer
reached their ears. Dick and Murray responded to it, and so did Paddy
in a voice which showed that there was not much the matter with him, and
all three very speedily tumbled into the boat, while the enemy turned
tail and scampered back to the fort. The boat immediately shoved off to
return to the frigate.

"What is the matter with you, Paddy?" asked Murray, as soon as they had
taken their seats. "I hope you are not much hurt. Let me see."

"My knee bothers me a little, but my side is the wor